Page 49 of Betraying Korth

Korth buried his face into his hands. “I didn’t think about that.”

The footman opened the door at the end of the hallway and trumpeted, “Her Highness, Princess Tess.”

“Yes, yes, I know my sister’s name,” Korth said irritably.

Tess’s chin was jutted out defiantly, but her bottom lip quivered.

“Tess,” Korth said as he crouched down to be on eye level with Tess, who was staring at the floor. “Why didn’t you order the execution?”

Tess’s eyes welled with tears, but she put her fists on her hips. “He told me he was sorry. I snuck out at night to talk to him in his cell, and he said he felt bad about what he did.”

Korth closed his eyes and drew in a long, steadying breath. “Of course he told you that, Tess. He’s a criminal and will lie and manipulate anyone he can for his own ends. You heard the stories about how he’s done that in the past.”

“If he was going to lie, he would’ve said he was innocent,” she protested. “Instead, he told me the truth. He said he knew what he did was wrong and that he’s sorry.”

Korth pinched the bridge of his nose. The veins on his temple throbbed as blood pulsed through them. “Tess,” he said in a voice of forced calm. “I know you’re trying to be kind. But this is actually a worse sentence for him. Now, he will have a lifetime of loneliness and isolation in a prison cell. It would have been a kinder fate to spare him from the suffering.”

Tess’s forehead puckered. “I didn’t think of that,” she admitted slowly. “But isn’t that a fitting punishment if he held those other boys hostage for a long time?”

Korth tilted his head to one side, considering. “Perhaps so,” he conceded.

“And he won’t be alone all the time. Aren’t there other people there? He could be friends with a guard.” A glimmer of hope shone in her eyes. “Or another prisoner. They could talk to each other and play games, and…”

Korth let out a hollow laugh. “That isn’t the way prisons work, little shadow. He’s going to be alone most of the time.”

“Oh.” Tess’s face fell again. “I made a mistake, didn’t I?”

“You didn’t make a mistake. You’re just learning, and that’s hard.” Korth wrapped her into a hug. “It’s going to be okay. We can file an appeal and I can take the case if you don’t want to. Or Mother; she just got back.”

She drew in a shuddering breath and let out a quiet sob. “I’m sorry I made a mistake, but I still don’t want him to die. He said he was sorry.”

“No, it was a mistake on my part to expect that of you. I’m the one who’s sorry, little shadow. I asked too much of you.”

“You want him to die.” Tears trickled down Tess’s face.

“I never want anyone to die, but a person like that…he’s a criminal who knowingly committed atrocities. He harmed other people on purpose, and we can’t have anyone like that going free. If they are punished, they asked for it by committing those crimes.”

My brief desire from before, about wanting to tell Korth the truth, was immediately squashed again. I clamped my jaws together, trying to ignore how my palms grew sweaty and my breath quickened.

Korth gave his sister’s shoulder a light squeeze, then wiped the tears from her face. “It’s late; you should get some sleep. Don’t worry, we’ll get everything sorted out. You did the best you could, and I’m proud of you for that. You have a good heart.”

Tess was led out by Korth, and I quietly shut the door after them and pressed my head against the wood.

There were too many people depending on me. I couldn’t fail them, but in order to succeed, I had to maintain my façade. My goal was to free my people from their suffering, even if it came at the cost of my own personal happiness. It wouldn’t be much longer. Once the ships were sent, I would tell Korth the truth.

My gaze drifted over to the ornate full-length mirror. In its reflection, I saw not a princess or even a handmaiden, merely a traitor caught in an intricate web of lies and deceit. I was an imposter, nothing more, and the guilt of my deception gnawed at my soul. If only I could find a way to save my people without losing myself and my heart in the process. My stomach turned as I remembered that it wasn’t just my happiness at stake. Korth had professed to love me—it would destroy him to know of my betrayal.

CHAPTER 22

The days leading up to our wedding became progressively more difficult for me. Each time I saw Korth’s eyes light up when he saw me forced me to imagine how tormented they would be when he learned of my deception. Every walk in the gardens made me cling to his hand a little tighter, wishing I could pause time and exist in a state of perpetual bliss, unburdened by the rebellion’s plans.

Each time I wished for such a thing, I immediately felt guilty for wanting to be free of the rebellion when the citizens depended on me. All I needed to do was keep Korth happy and in love with me. That wasn’t such a hard task when I was falling for him harder each day, but it was slowly shredding my heart.

All the time, I was waiting. Waiting for a message from the rebellion—or even from King Raquel himself, gloating about our failed coup. Anything would have been better than the endless waiting game.

“I love you,” Korth said, for what felt like the eighth time that day. Each time was said with more fervor than the last, and with each subsequent profession of love, I wanted to curl up from shame. My entire life, I had planned for a mission such as this, and I was succeeding, so why did I feel like such a failure?

“You said on the night of the masquerade that you would love me unconditionally.” The sour, twisted feeling in my stomach knotted.

---