Page 20 of Betraying Korth

“Korth, I need to tell you something. I’m not really Odette. I’m actually a servant who overthrew the true princess becauseI don’t agree with her politics. But even though I led a mutiny and committed treason and sent her entire guard into the hands of pirates, will you still send an army for me against the father of your real fiancée? It would mean a lot.”

I scoffed. Everyone claimed they wanted honesty, but they really didn’t. They wanted to be comfortable living their lives, blissfully unaware of any problem that didn’t affect them. It was one thing to battle a trial on your own and gain new perspective. To watch someone else fight a battle and then have the courage to aid that struggling person even without a personal reward in sight was a quality that I was increasingly sure that almost no one possessed.

“Your Highness!”

I jumped and looked around for the speaker, but the noise was too far away to be in my same room.

“What are you doing?” The voice sounded as though it had come from both below and behind me.

A muffled tone answered the maid’s indignant cry but was too low and garbled for me to understand any of the words. I inclined my ear. It seemed as though the sounds were drifting in through one of the open windows and echoing in the walls of my room as well.

“Even if you are interested in its mechanics, it isn’t a prince’s duty to climb into a dumbwaiter shaft to inspect pulleys, and before the sun is even risen at that. What if something had happened to you?”

I bit back a laugh as Korth’s low, muffled voice rumbled a response. Their conversation faded as I heard the snap of windows below being shut. Eager to hear more, I returned inside and pressed my ear against the doors hiding the dumbwaiter’s shaft, but other than the distant grinding of gears and the whirring of the ropes being fed through the pulleys, I couldn’t make out any more of what they were saying.

A faint pink glow lit up the sky outside and a soft rap came at my door. “Enter,” I called, stepping away from the dumbwaiter.

Gerta came in, laden with a breakfast tray. “Good morning, Your Highness,” she said brightly. “You’re up early. Did you rest well?”

“Very well, thank you.”

Gerta chattered away cheerfully as she helped me get ready for the day. I studied my reflection while she styled my hair. Based on appearance alone, I should have Korth falling at my feet. And while he seemed interested, he wasn’t doing anything about it, and our conversations about bridges and dumbwaiters, while enjoyable, weren’t doing anything to win Korth’s undying loyalty. Looks alone clearly weren’t enough to gain Korth’s confidences, so what was?

When he camefor me that morning, Korth’s shoes were shinier than ever and his hair was so neatly combed that each strand of hair was perfectly in place.

Despite my best efforts to purge the dream from my memory, from the moment I saw Korth, both the images and sensations of my dream came flooding to the forefront of my mind in full force. For the first time, I felt flushed as Korth brushed his lips against my knuckles and found myself tongue-tied.

“Wondergood to see—good morning,” I said in a rush, hating how my voice choked up and I fumbled for words. No blushing, stammering girl would ever be able to win over a powerful prince. I cleared my throat and let out a controlled breath. “My apologies; I seem to have mixed up my greetings today. You have quite the effect on me.”

I slipped my hand around his arm and waited for Korth’s chest to swell with pride each time it did when I complimented him and wasn’t disappointed.

“I was going to take you to meet my Nona today,” Korth told me. “She wasn’t at your dinner, but I try to visit her every day for at least a few minutes. She always said she wanted to meet the girl I would marry.”

“The queen dowager?” I asked as he led me down a long corridor. “I thought she passed away some years ago.”

“She did. Nona is my father’s mother, so they weren’t royalty. My mother inherited the throne, and my father is consort.”

“But your Nona lives at the palace? That is kind of you to have her stay.”

Korth held another door open for me as we wended our way up to the turret, still tailed by Godfrey. “Well, she needs extra tending to these days. She used to be quite brilliant, but her mind sometimes wanders. Not quite in the same way you described the servant girl you brought with you, but…you’ll see. This is her door.” He knocked softly. “Nona? It’s Korth.”

“Who?” A creaky voice came from the other side of the door.

“It’s Korth, your grandson. I have someone I want you to meet.”

The door was opened by a nursemaid, and my nose was immediately filled with the scent of herbs and medicines that lingered around aging individuals. Korth’s grandmother was in bed, sunshine streaming in through the window so that a rectangle of light was cast on her bed. Dust particles floated in the sun’s rays, swirling as the air current from the opening door swept them into some forgotten corner of the room.

Korth’s grandmother was very old, with paper thin, wrinkly skin and fragile white hair. She was squinting at Korth, adjusting wide glasses on her nose with shaking hands. “Orion? Is that you?”

“No, I’m his son. Remember? I’m Korth.” He sat down on the edge of her bed and took her frail hands in his. “I have someone I want you to meet.”

“You look like my son,” Nona babbled. “He’s a handsome boy, Orion is. You look just like him.”

“Yes, because he’s my father,” Korth said patiently. “Remember, Nona? He got married and had me and Tess, your grandchildren. Here, I want to introduce you to my fiancée, Princess Odette.”

Nona didn’t seem to have heard all of what he said. “Orion says he will marry the princess one day.” She let out a creaky laugh. “Isn’t that the silliest thing you’ve ever heard?”

“He did marry her. I’m their son, and this is Princess Odette.” Korth looked pointedly at me, and his grandmother followed his gaze.

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