Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

N either Curdy nor Odette returned to the prison. I had assumed they wouldn’t, but it was nevertheless a blow to have stark evidence of the side Korth had taken. From the brief snippets of conversation I’d overheard from guards occasionally passing by, it sounded as though Korth planned to marry the true Princess Odette.

I didn’t doubt it. My only visitor was Gerta, who brought me a solitary dress for a change of clothing and wouldn’t look me in the eye. I kept my undergarments and slip but shoved the flowing wedding gown I had been wearing back through the bars to her, the pure white soiled to a dull grey color that matched my prison cell. As she gathered the fabric and retreated, I couldn’t help watching the future I had dreamed of fade even faster than Gerta’s profile did. The replacement dress she’d given me looked horribly familiar. It had been washed, but as I felt the scratchy cloth brush against my skin, the memory of handing this same dress to Odette on the voyage to Haven Harbor burst into the forefront of my mind’s eye in full, vivid color. How perfectly fitting.

Ignoring the droplets that splattered against my head from above, I huddled in a corner, arms wrapped around myself, as the cheerful sounds of wedding preparations filtered in from the barred window. That wedding was never meant to be mine. I couldn’t rid my mind of the conjured image of Korth holding hands with Odette as a minister pronounced them man and wife.

I had failed, simple as that. The risk had always been there, yawning its jaws as it stalked closer towards me, but I had naively and foolishly let myself fall for Korth and forget the danger. Now, I had not only failed the rebellion and all of my country, but I’d also lost the only man I’d ever loved. The ships would be recalled, and all I had to show for my months of effort was a broken heart.

A quiet sob caught in my throat as I buried my eyes into my knees. Odette had won. The horrified expression on Korth’s face when the truth had been revealed haunted me, continually cropping up at the forefront of my mind no matter how firmly I tried to suppress it.

“Whatcha crying for?” the boy in the cell next to me asked. His light, carefree voice made it sound as though he was lounging on a beach while being fanned with palm fronds, not locked in a miserable, dank prison cell.

“Because I am a deceitful, lying fraud,” I answered, my voice ragged.

“Aren’t we all, though?”

I raised my head to stare at him through my puffy, bloodshot eyes. The red-headed boy looked to be about sixteen years old, but his eyes had a mischievous glint in them that hinted at decades of knowledge.

“Are you one as well?” I asked waspishly.

“Sure am. Everyone is, even if they pretend otherwise.” He interlaced his fingers behind his head and reclined back against the wooden bench that served as his makeshift bed. “So what are you in for?”

“Trying to start a war.”

“I presume you failed at that simple little task.”

I glared at the boy, wishing I could muster the energy to slap the knowing smirk off his face. “Such a simple little task is more difficult than you think, little boy.”

“I doubt it.”

“Enlighten me, then. How would a boy like yourself start a war?”

“Easy. Instead of swapping places with the princess and letting her run free like you did, kill her on the voyage over, then set about pillaging every city you come across.”

I sneered. “You’d be dead on the first raid. Pirates aren’t welcome here, and no ship can stand up to a fully armed city.”

He shook his head. “They wouldn’t expect an attack from a ship running up Ebora’s colors if they thought the princess was coming to marry Prince Korth. Strike swiftly at night, and they wouldn’t have time to prepare an adequate defense. I would set a task force of men to do cosmetic damage to any ships in the harbor while we attacked the armories usually kept near the beacon, then set sail again. In and out within twenty minutes.”

I stared at my fellow prisoner with newfound respect, even if it was twisted and warped. He deserved to be here just as much as I did.

“Why only cosmetic damage?”

He hopped off his bunk and shifted his weight onto one of his feet as he leaned casually against the bars. “With enough damage to force them to delay for a day or two, you ensure that you have adequate time to disappear, but as long as you flew that flag during the attack, word of what Ebora did would spread very quickly. Haven Harbor would have been ready to go to war within a few weeks without you ever needing to marry the prince, and while Ebora’s army was busy defending against Haven Harbor, your rebellion strikes when the king is weakest.” He picked up a small stone from the bottom of his cell, threw it into the air, and caught it again. “Your emotions were your downfall.”

This was no boy. He was a monster…a beast. I stared at him, suddenly glad for the bars that separated us as my mouth hung open. His plan was so brutally elegant. Why hadn’t we thought of that? “So why are you in here?”

He shrugged. “Murder, kidnapping, imprisonment of pixies, theft…take your pick.”

He spoke of it so casually that my stomach turned. At least with my crimes, I had remorse for how low I was forced to stoop. There was no guilt in this prisoner’s voice.

“What’s your name?”

The boy swept his dark green cap from his head and bowed low. “Peter Pan’s the name. Delighted to make your acquaintance. I must say, this beats the solitary confinement I’ve had until now.”

Peter Pan? That was the name of the prisoner whose trial Korth was supposed to attend when he decided to stay and help me instead…the one who should’ve been put to death, but Tess let off with life in prison instead.

No matter. What did I care if I was placed alongside other people whose crimes were just as heinous as my own?

“Let me guess,” Peter said, a smirk playing across his face. “You fell for that hoity-toity prince and your lies got found out, am I right?”

I frowned. “How would a prisoner like you know anything?”

“I have my sources.” He grinned. “Sounds like you did quite a number on Mr. Perfect. My informant said that your handsome prince has been moaning and groaning and trying to convince himself that he was never in love with you.” The boy closed his eyes and blew a puff of air up to flip the strands of red hair out of his face.

How could this boy know anything about what Korth and I had been through if he had been locked in the cell next to me? I hadn’t heard any informant come or go.

“How do you know about…” I couldn’t bring myself to say his name.

“What, how do I know about you and Korth?” He snorted. “Everyone knows.”

A wave of dread washed over me. No doubt Odette, once she had been let out, spread the story as far and wide as she could to gain sympathy. I could just imagine her self-righteous face now, fawning over Korth as she planned their wedding…the wedding that I still longed for. I hated the idea of her walking down the aisle. Would Korth smile for her the way he did for me? Would he continue our tradition of kissing on bridges with Odette?

I scrunched my eyes shut, as if doing so would block out the images flashing through my mind at lightning speed. My life’s mission had always been to overthrow my kingdom’s rulers. I’d known that from the cradle. For a few short weeks, I had allowed myself the fleeting idea that perhaps, my future could contain some vestige of happiness.

What lies.

People who were good and honorable like Korth deserved happy endings and bright futures. I deserved what I had—a damp jail cell to protect others from me.

Peter tried to engage me in conversation several more times, but I ignored him. Everyone I’d ever known other than Korth was a liar or a criminal. There was no need for me to engage in conversation with someone even more unethical than myself.

“Oi, you.” A burly guard with mutton chops had a pillow and a couple scratchy woolen blankets tucked under his arm. “Here.” He shoved them unceremoniously through the bars so they fell to the floor.

I sighed, then wearily rose and collected them. At least while I wasted away in prison, I’d have something to give my aching backside some reprieve from the hard slats of my wooden bunk. By the time I’d picked them up, the guard had disappeared.

The scrape of wooden legs against a stone floor ground against my ears, tugging me from my sleep. I squinted in the dim light of the passageway and spotted Tess settling herself onto a stool outside Peter Pan’s cell, two copies of a children’s book in her hands.

My eyes darted back and forth between Korth’s little sister and the prisoner in the cell next to mine as I realized who Peter Pan’s informant was.

“Tess?” I asked cautiously.

Her hands flew up to her mouth as she spotted me emerging from underneath the blankets. “Odette! I mean?—”

“It’s Dahlia,” I supplied. The girl who might have been my sister hadn’t even known my name.

Who was I kidding? I had nearly married a man who thought I was someone else. He wouldn’t have even known his own wife’s real name.

“Dahlia, I’m sorry you’re here.” Tess’s wide, innocent eyes blinked rapidly. “Korth misses you.”

My smile was strained. “You’re sweet, Tess, but I promise, he’s better off without me.”

“But I thought you loved him.”

“I do, but sometimes that means knowing that you want something more for the person you love. Is…” I licked my chapped lips. “Is he marrying Odette?”

Her gaze dropping was all the answer I needed. The force of the realization impaled me, skewering my heart so that physical pain tore at my chest. Korth really had been in love with my title, after all.

“Their wedding is tomorrow.”

I cast about for a change in topic. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m teaching Peter to read.”

My eyes darted to glare at the red-headed teenager, who coyly saluted with two fingers. I knew the danger of someone trying to get close to someone in power all too well. Tess was far too young for nonsense like that.

“Tess, that isn’t a good idea.”

“We’re friends! Aren’t we?” She turned her head to Peter, who nodded fervently. “Korth said that we all learn from our mistakes. Besides, if I didn’t visit him, Korth said Peter would be alone all the time. So I’m his friend now.”

I jumped to my feet. “Tess, you can’t!”

She squared her shoulders, a stubborn expression on her young face. “I can be friends with whomever I want, and he’s here because of me. You told me that it’s wrong to make someone suffer, so I want to make sure he’s comfortable.”

“He’s a prisoner . It isn’t meant to be comfortable in here!”

“Korth made sure to send you a pillow and blankets so you were comfortable.”

I stared back at the bedding that had been delivered. It had been Korth’s doing? A red-hot pang of guilt ripped through my chest. Of course it had been Korth. Sweet Korth, who had been kind and trusting and was every inch the polite prince he was born to be. Naturally he would send bedding to ensure the comfort of any prisoner, even if it was the woman who’d intentionally toyed with his affections. Then of course his sister would see his kindness and imitate it.

But I couldn’t let Peter Pan weasel his way into a friendship with Tess the way I’d weaseled my way into getting Korth to fall for me and the way Odette had manipulated Curdy.

“Tess, I know you’re trying to be nice, but you can’t trust criminals. They will lie to your face and tell you whatever you want to hear in order to get what they want. Leave Peter to rot. He deserves it.”

“Thanks. I appreciate the love,” Peter drawled sarcastically.

Tess looked shocked. “I can’t do that! Everyone deserves a second chance.”

“No, we don’t. I consciously made my decisions knowing that they were wrong, but I did it anyway.”

“But you learned from it, didn’t you?” Tess’s eyes were wide. “You wouldn’t do it again, right?”

I sighed. “You’re too young to understand, Tess, but yes, I would do it again. I had my reasons. I’m just sorry that Korth got mixed up in it.”

“What reasons?” she asked. “You said you loved Korth, so that should be enough.”

The void in my chest expanded. “Love doesn’t overthrow governments. Hate does, and it’s stronger than love. And you may not understand it, but the government in Ebora is corrupt. We need to change it, but some things can’t be altered unless we use anger and hate as our tools.”

“I think you’re wrong,” Peter chimed in.

“Of course you do,” I huffed. I didn’t need advice from a child, mastermind criminal or not.

“Why do you think she’s wrong?” Tess asked him curiously.

“Love can inspire crime just as easily as hatred. She claims that she was only using anger and hate as tools and that it’s stronger than love. But it was the love of her people that drove her actions, not pure hatred of her government. So really, any criminal’s actions could be warranted if they love a cause enough. Even a friendship like we have.” He smiled at Tess, who beamed back.

“I see your point. You’re very smart,” Tess told him, and alarm bells clanged wildly in my head once more.

“She doesn’t need your golden tongue filling her head with lies,” I snarled.

Peter raised his eyebrows in amusement. “Tess is smart enough to distinguish truth from lies. Or are you calling her stupid?”

Tess’s eyes snapped to mine.

“No, I’m not! I’m saying”—I sat down heavily and buried my eyes against the heels of my hands—“I’m saying you can’t trust anyone…ever. That’s all.”

“You don’t even need to trust me when I’m behind bars,” Peter told Tess. “But I’m glad I can trust you.”

She perked up. “I brought you the reed pipes you asked for before. How good are you at them?”

“Listen and see,” he told her. After a few experimental notes, he began blowing into the reed pipes. The tune wasn’t particularly melodious, but nevertheless, I found myself drawn into the music, absorbed to the point where I could forget everything. I allowed myself to drift off to sleep, eager to embrace the darkness of slumber, where I would have an escape from the cyclical thoughts racing around my head. I wanted to dream and remember Korth, not stay awake with the knowledge that he would never be in my future.