Page 12 of Betraying Korth

No such luxuries should ever be afforded to royalty while commoners starved and were abused; we were all human and deserved equal treatment. This royal family was no different than Raquel and Odette, profiting off the backs of servants and the working class while doing nothing but taking long bubble baths as I’d just done.

I stared at the reflection in my mirror as a handmaiden dried and styled my hair. Odette’s gowns fit as if they’d been made for me, but the silk felt odd against my skin. Perhaps it was the combination of the fine fabric against my freshly washed body, but it felt so foreign to me that I couldn’t get used to the slippery sensation.

“Odette?” Tess poked her head into my chambers then let her jaw drop comically. “You looksopretty!” She bounced over and sat next to me on a stool. “Gerta, you did a good job on her hair.”

“You’re always a shameless flatterer, Your Highness,” Gerta said, failing to hide her pleased smile. I observed their interaction with interest, wondering if Odette had ever offered any servant a compliment.

“Korth says that the truth must never be hidden,” Tess stated brightly. “Oh, that reminds me. Korth wanted to take you on a walk and ask you about the lodging preferences of some of the attendants who came with you.” She fiddled with the various powders and creams set on the vanity, occasionally lifting one to examine or pat on her cheeks. “He’s waiting to take you on a stroll around the lake before dinner.”

I tilted my chin up as Gerta applied stain to my lips. Once she was done, I turned to Tess. “When you say he’s waiting…”

“He’s outside your door right now,” Tess informed me, closing one eye while she held my empty water glass up to her opened eye. “If you do this, you’ll feel like a pirate. Did you see any pirates on your trip here? I was going to meet one last year but Mama said I wasn’t allowed.”

“I can’t keep him waiting.” I began to rise to meet Korth, but Tess blinked at me, lowering the glass.

“You don’t need to hurry. Korth said he doesn’t mind waiting for you as long as you need.”

“That doesn’t mean I should make him wait longer than is necessary.”

Tess’s eyes were wide and dark as she stared at me. “My brother never says anything he doesn’t mean. If he says he doesn’t mind waiting, then he doesn’t mind waiting.”

Gerta finished making me presentable in no time at all. Tess bounded ahead of me and pulled the door open herself. “Korth!”she chirruped. “Odette is ready and she looks preeeetty.” She stretched out the last word in a singsong manner.

Korth’s eyes widened when I emerged, and he hastened to offer me his elbow. Beneath my fingers, his arm was just as stiff as his posture. It rather felt like holding on to a statue instead of a living, breathing man.

“Goodbye!” Tess trilled, and skipped away down the hall, leaving us nearly alone. Thirty paces back, a manservant followed us, discreetly keeping his distance so he was out of earshot, but still able to see us clearly.

“Your sister is a little ball of sunshine.”

“She’s very animated,” Korth agreed as he held a door open for me. His face remained rigid, but his tone softened. “Are your lodgings satisfactory?”

“They’re perfect. Just right for after a long voyage.”

“Your attendants have been given accommodations in the barracks or the servants’ quarters, but one father and his adult children requested special living quarters so they could stay together. Did you have anything in particular in mind for them?”

“Oh yes, one of my guards has his son and daughter with him. I had intended to ask you if there were any open positions for families. Maybe something with livestock, though the girl has a fear of horses. It’s tragic, really. Their mother was taken by the sirens and the daughter began having hallucinations and hearing voices. Either her brother or her father has to stay with her all the time to help her distinguish reality from fantasy.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Korth said, and I was pleased to hear a note of real regret in his voice. At least he had some sort of emotions after all.

“She sometimes thinks she is someone she’s not or doesn’t remember who her family members are. Her father was hoping that a change of scenery would help her regain her real memories.”

Korth remained quiet as he mused over the problem while we made our way through the gardens toward the lake. “They don’t have experience beekeeping, do they?”

“I don’t believe so.” The moment I said it, I regretted it. I could have had Odette stung by bees over and over and had missed the opportunity, though I supposed that would have meant Garrik and Curdy would endure the torture as well.

He nodded. “We have enough gardeners, but I suppose we could find something. Our head housekeeper, Merida, would know better than I would.”

“They aren’t afraid of hard work,” I hinted. “The girl’s mind wanders most when she doesn’t have enough to do.”

“It is difficult to have a family member who suffers memory loss,” Korth murmured, so quietly that I could barely hear him and wasn’t even sure if he intended me to.

Soon, we reached the lake. Weeping willows grew on the far side from the castle, slender branches dipping into the water and entwining with the reeds and cattails lining the shore. Occasionally, a ripple would appear in the lake when a fish broke the surface, but the lake was fairly still other than a gaggle of geese gliding across the water’s surface. Their white feathers provided a stark contrast to the lake’s deep blue while they honked at the afternoon sun, their slender necks stretched out as they called.

“Would they be interested in tending the geese?” Korth asked. “I believe Merida mentioned we were in need. There is a small cottage there, but it isn’t in very good repair right now.” He gestured at the small, dilapidated house set so far back that I could barely see it between the shaded trees.

The idea of Odette being confined to a tiny shack on the outskirts of the grounds and tending smelly geese who likely would chase her was the most glorious thing I could haveimagined, even better than being stung repeatedly by bees. “I think that would be perfect for them.”

“I’m glad to hear it; I’ll let Merida know as soon as we return.” Korth’s eyes were still fixed forward, staring at the distant lake.

---