Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

T ears trickled down my face as I looked at myself in the full-length mirror, dressed in the regal wedding dress that was never meant to belong to me. I hadn’t been made into a princess; I was a traitor in a costume, nothing more.

“Most brides smile on their wedding day,” Gerta teased, giving my elbow a slight jiggle. “I hope those are happy tears.”

I managed a watery smile but feared that any speech would exit as a croak. Already, a lump had formed in my throat that was impossible to swallow away. I took several deep breaths, trying to steady myself and prevent a full breakdown.

“I know it’s sad that your father wasn’t here for this,” she went on, bending down to fix my train and handing me my bouquet of pure white roses as she straightened. “But Prince Korth is a lucky man.”

How wrong she was. Korth was the least lucky man in the world. Each time I thought of him, I was seized with guilt so acute that I feared I would be eaten alive from the inside out from the shame of it all. Korth deserved someone who wouldn’t use him as I had done. He deserved someone who would love him without reservation, the way he had so freely loved me.

If I went through with it…

Korth’s face appeared in my mind, kneeling across an altar as a priest joined us in matrimony. I had my vows planned out, the few words I managed to string together that I would be able to say that weren’t complete lies. The moment I tried to think of what vows he would give, I was hit with the realization that he would be making those vows to Princess Odette, not to me. Even if we both signed our marriage license, our union would never be real because I wasn’t Princess Odette. I was an imposter, and Korth deserved better.

“I want to see Korth,” I announced suddenly. “Right now.”

“But…it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride on?—”

“I don’t care.” It would be worse than any amount of bad luck if I married Korth under a false pretense. He would be devastated when I finally revealed that our entire relationship had been a lie, but at least that way, I could do one thing honorably. Curdy and the other members of the rebellion would be furious, but I couldn’t continue the fa?ade any longer. The ships had been sent; it was better to turn myself in than marry Korth and force him into marriage with the likes of me. The truth would be revealed eventually; it was better to do it now than after our wedding. I dropped my bouquet, gathered my skirts, and strode purposefully toward the door.

“But…my lady!” Gerta scurried after me, trying to lift my train so it wouldn’t pick up dirt. “Please wait!”

I didn’t wait.

I ran through corridors and down winding staircases until I came to Korth’s door, breathless and windswept from the run. A few strands had come loose from my hairdo and hung in front of my face and over my ears. The guards on either side of the door froze as I lifted my fist and pounded on the door.

“Korth!” I shouted, still winded from my run. “I need to talk to you!”

“My…my lady,” Gerta panted. She caught up to me, clutching a stitch in her side and gasping for breath. “It’s tradition…for the bride…”

“I’m aware of the tradition, Gerta. But this is too important.” I turned back to the door. “Korth!”

The door opened. Korth stood there, dressed in a suit of pure white trimmed with gold buttons and sewn with golden thread. His hair was perfectly combed, he was clean shaven, and I could immediately smell that he had bathed using fragrant soaps. He looked every inch a groom.

His mouth hung open. “You look beautiful, Odette.”

It was the use of the false name that was my ultimate undoing. “I need to talk to you. Now. And privately.”

“I told her about our tradition, Your Highness,” Gerta panted, still holding her hand to her side. “She wouldn’t listen.”

“What my bride wants is more important than any tradition. Come in,” Korth said graciously, sweeping his hand to invite me to enter. Godfrey, ever at hand, made to follow, but Korth held up his hand. “She said privately.”

“But you need a chaperone!” Godfrey looked appalled.

“I’m sure a few minutes alone won’t make much difference in the grand scheme of things when we’ll be married today anyway,” Korth said politely. “If you stay outside the door, we will finish our conversation quickly, and I promise to sit on my hands.”

The door clicked shut and Korth turned to stare at me, his eyes soft. “You really do look stunning. I don’t have words to express?—”

“I need to tell you something,” I said, keeping my eyes downcast. “Before we get married…if you still want to marry me?—”

“Of course I want to marry you,” Korth interrupted. “We’ve been planning our entire lives to get married, and these past weeks have only reinforced just how much I’ve come to love you.”

I held up my hand to stem his speech before he went any farther. “Wait until you hear what I have to say.”

Korth clamped his mouth shut and sat on the cedar chest at the foot of his bed. True to his word to Godfrey, he tucked his hands beneath him. I paced up and down the room, crossing from the wall panel that hid the dumbwaiter all the way to the window that boasted an open view of the ocean and back again.

“I haven’t been totally honest with you,” I confessed, but then fumbled for where to begin.

“Start with what you’ve told me that is true, then,” Korth prompted gently. “We can work through the other things together.”

The lump in my throat shrank slightly. “It was true when I told you about how there are many injustices in my kingdom,” I began. “I want that to change in Ebora. There are far too many traders participating in black market dealings or committing acts of piracy. Ebora has a lot to improve in terms of legal action.”

“We can sort that out,” Korth offered, his brow knotted in concern. “We can draft new laws and?—”

“Our kingdom really is on the brink of a civil war and it will break out any day, if it hasn’t already.”

“I know. I sent the ships to help.”

I bit my lip. He was trying so hard to understand why I was upset.

“I’m not who you think I am,” I whispered. “I’m not an honorable person.”

“Don’t say that,” Korth interjected, rising from the chest and taking my hands in his. “You are the best person I know. You’ve helped me be a better man. You challenged my beliefs about myself and the world, and you are exactly what my kingdom, and yours I’m sure, needs. Our people need a leader who cares about them, and you do. Why else would you be wanting to change these laws instead of keeping things the way they are?”

He folded his arms around me and I allowed my head to rest against his chest. Could I allow myself one last moment of happiness before I destroyed my entire future?

“Korth, you are very generous with your compliments, but?—”

The door was flung open. There, her hair disheveled and a wild expression on her face, was the true Princess Odette. She pointed a finger dramatically at me. “Guards! Arrest that woman! She’s an imposter!”

Korth stepped defensively in front of me. “How dare you accuse the princess! Get out!”

The guards closed their hands over her upper arms, prepared to drag her out. She wrenched at their arms, trying to break free. Her hair, which I was accustomed to always seeing neatly styled and combed back, had come loose and fell in her face. She looked unhinged.

“She’s lying! I’m the true Princess Odette. I have a witness!”

“Who?” Korth demanded, still shielding me from Odette.

She pivoted to beckon to her accomplice, and in came…Curdy.

“You?” I couldn’t suppress my gasp.

“You!” Korth took an aggressive step toward him. “I told you never to come near my fiancée again.”

“I’m simply here to ensure that the real princess isn’t replaced by an imposter.”

Korth turned to stare at me, bewildered. “Who are these people? What are they talking about?”

I could have lied. I could have had them both thrown in prison and clung to the title I’d claimed as my own. But I was done living a life of lies. Korth deserved to know the truth, and he deserved to know who he was about to marry. “I really need to speak with you,” I whispered, my eyes filling with tears. “Please, Korth.”

“It’s true!” Odette shrieked, stamping her feet on the ground and still attempting to break free from the guards.

Curdy leaned against the doorframe, an expression of smug satisfaction on his face. “Go on and tell him. Tell him how you caused a mutiny and marooned the loyal soldiers on the way here so you could take Odette’s place.” He redirected his attention to Korth. “She organized a coup and planned to have the reinforcements you sent aid her rebellion and oust the true king of Ebora and replace him with an imposter, just like her. Tell him, Dahlia.”

“Dahlia?” Korth took a step back from me. The pain in his eyes tore at my soul. “You’ve used that name before.”

“Korth, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it?—”

“So it’s true?” Korth looked so hurt and betrayed that I wanted to shrivel up and disappear. “All this time, you’ve just been using me?”

“She was trying to keep us from being together,” Odette cooed. She had stopped trying to break free from the guards and batted her lashes.

Korth looked from me to everyone else in the room then back again. “Tell me it isn’t true,” he whispered to me, his voice brittle. “Tell me it isn’t true and I’ll believe you, Odette.”

My chin quivered. “My name is Dahlia. What they said is true.”

Korth recoiled in horror.

The guards released Odette, who hurried to Korth’s side. He feebly pushed her hands away but she persisted, fawning over him and easing him into a chair.

“I know I lied,” I said in a rush, “but it was the only way. Odette and her father are tyrants, and?—”

“Guards?” Odette snapped, her haughty voice cutting through the air with authority. “Take that imposter away and lock her up.”

Both guards hesitated, looking at Korth for confirmation.

“Korth, please. I can explain,” I begged.

“Didn’t you hear me?” Odette squawked at the guards. “Take her to the dungeon! She was planning to overthrow the true royal Eborian family—me and my father!”

“Your Highness?” the bearded guard asked hesitantly.

Korth refused to look at me. “Take her away,” he breathed. “Take them all away.”

“But I didn’t do anything! I’m the victim here!” Odette screeched. “Get your hands off me!”

Curdy let out similar shouts of protest, but he was no match for the guards who hauled us away.

My last, fleeting glimpse of Korth was of him sitting on the trunk at the foot of his bed again, elbows on his knees while one hand clutched at his hair and the other dropped the thin wedding band he’d intended to give me to the floor.

It seemed that, despite his previous assertions, his love did have conditions after all.