Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

“ H old them, Dahlia!” Father cried, leaping after Curdy and drawing his own weapon. “Don’t let them get away!”

With a terrified look down at Garrik’s prone figure, I snatched Odette’s wrist, kneed her in the stomach, then slammed her hand repeatedly against the table until she dropped the stone she’d picked up during my momentary distraction. While she was doubled over, gasping for breath, I pulled out the dagger I’d taken from Curdy. Panting, I straightened and pulled Odette’s arms behind her back, knife to her throat.

She tried to jerk out of my grasp and nearly succeeded. Her time tending the geese had made her stronger, but I had years of servant’s work on my side. I held her fast and pressed the blade more firmly against her neck.

“Don’t move,” I snarled, then raised my voice, panic tightening my chest. “Garrik, can you hear me?”

A ragged breath sounded, then Garrik coughed once, lifting his face from the ground to look at me, a dribble of blood running from the side of his mouth.

“Dahlia…don’t—don’t let the rebellion die too,” Garrik whispered before his eyes closed for the final time as his head fell to the floor. He didn’t move again.

My entire body trembled as I stared at him, distraught. Odette tried once more to pull away, but I redoubled my grip and pressed the dagger hard enough that she gasped in pain.

“I dare you to try me,” I whispered menacingly in her ear. “Give me an excuse to kill you and I swear I will.” The rage turning my vision scarlet had a mind of its own, urging my hand to fell the quick blow that would rid me of Odette forever. She deserved it. From all the cruelty and abuse she and her father dealt out to her complete lack of regret…she deserved to die. The animalistic fury that was consuming me after Garrik’s death applauded the thought. I could end this, right here and now.

I hoped my father would find and kill Curdy. He deserved it, too. His betrayal in Haven Harbor had been a blow, and this second betrayal turned my stomach. Such is the danger of dealing with one whose allegiance can be bought.

“There’s no chance of you winning,” Raquel sneered at me. “The guards will be on their way.”

“Big words from a man who’s tied up. How fitting that this is your final throne.” I nodded at the dilapidated wooden chair. “You have nothing.” My hand itched to silence him and his daughter both.

He sneered. “You’re wrong. I’m a king. It doesn’t matter if you take my throne and my crown; I’ll always be worth more than you. You’re simply an imposter with a blade. I was born to lead; you were and always will be a nobody.”

I let out a harsh bark of laughter. “So much bluster for someone whose daughter is at my mercy. Here’s my offer: publicly revoke your claim to the throne when the guards come, and I’ll let your daughter live. You can choose to cling to your crown or protect her.”

Odette whimpered.

“You must be mad,” Raquel sniffed. “You think threats will change anything?”

I glared at him. “It’s no threat; it’s a promise. The people are suffering under your rule. They deserve a leader who cares for them, not one who bleeds them dry for his own gain.”

Raquel laughed openly. “You think you and your little band of rebels can do any better? You have no idea what it takes to lead.”

“We certainly couldn’t do worse than you have. Answer me, or I’ll kill her.”

“Kill her, then.”

Odette let out a gasp of horror and I froze. “Wh-what?”

Raquel’s smile broadened. “Kill her. You think I care for one girl’s life more than the fate of the entire kingdom? I don’t negotiate with traitors and terrorists, and my guards will be here any moment. I knew Curdy’s plan would work. Once they see the dead bodies and me tied up, you’ll have no chance of escape.”

“Once I kill her, I would kill you next.”

“Prove it, then. Show me your commitment.”

“I’m your daughter!” Odette cried. For the first time, I heard genuine pain in her voice.

“She won’t do it,” Raquel told her with a yawn. “You aren’t at risk. Real power is never given; it’s taken, and your handmaiden there lacks the proper will. I see it in her eyes.”

I tightened my grip on Odette, but my knife hand shook. The world would be a better place without her or her horrible father. I could strike a fatal blow against them. The rebellion would succeed. Our coup would be victorious. It was all within reach.

“Dahlia,” Odette whispered. “Please don’t.”

“I have demands!” I shouted, my trembling growing worse than ever. “You will reunite the families you’ve torn apart, slavery will end, and we will restructure the government to give people a stronger voice.” When would Father get back here? Or would Curdy kill him, too?

Raquel laughed openly. “You think I would ever listen to your pathetic pleas? You know nothing.”

An icy, invisible hand had a death grip on my heart, twisting and wrenching it as I grappled with my morality. How far was I willing to go to achieve what I wanted? If I didn’t stay my hand, how was I any different from Raquel and Odette? I had told Korth that I didn’t regret my actions from before, and that was true. My gaze settled on Garrik. Did I want to avenge him enough to act on the temptation tugging at me? I screwed up my face. It was wrong to take a life. Even if they deserved to die, I didn’t want to be the one to strike that final blow. No matter how long a list of crimes I had, there had to be an end.

Raquel was sneering at me. “I told you she wouldn’t. These commoners are all talk. They claim they want control but are too weak to seek it.”

Valuing life was not weakness. Listening to my moral compass and wanting to do the right thing, even if others refused to, was not weakness. Could I commit the ultimate sin on the quest for righteousness? I had come so far—victory was within reach. But now that the time for action had come, I felt paralyzed by indecision.

“Dahlia,” Odette whispered once more. “Please.”

The icy hand around my heart dug its nails in, shredding the very fibers of my being. Everything I’d ever wanted was within reach. One quick cut was all that was required, and Odette would be silenced forever. I could do it. For once, everything was on my side. We were alone. They were guilty, and I had the upper hand. And yet…if I killed Odette and the king, what would that prove? That we were the exact type of bloodthirsty rebels we were painted to be?

I disgusted myself. What had I become?

I could kill her. I could…but I chose not to.

“I’m not a murderer.” With a grunt, I flung my dagger to the ground. It skittered away, spinning in circles before it came to rest halfway between Raquel and Odette. “You will both stand trial so everyone can see you answer for your crimes.” I gave Odette a shove, and she fell to her hands and knees then flipped over and clawed her way backward away from me.

“See?” Raquel said silkily. “I told you she wouldn’t. Bring that dagger here before your treasonous handmaiden gets any other bright ideas.”

Odette scrambled upright and scooped up the knife, staring back and forth between her father and me. I backed away to the door. I would lock them in and wait for my father. Surely, he would be here soon.

Slowly, Odette stepped toward her father, never taking her eyes off me. “You told her to kill me,” she told Raquel in utter shock.

Raquel laughed out loud. “I knew she wouldn’t. She’s already proven?—”

His words were cut off as Odette whirled about and plunged the dagger into his chest. He spluttered and choked, fingers scrabbling helplessly on the arms of his chair as the blade was buried up to the hilt over his heart.

“Like you said,” Odette hissed in his ear. “Real power isn’t given. It’s taken. And even if others lack it, I do have the proper will.”

The glimmer of a laugh flickered in Raquel’s eyes before they dimmed as he gurgled, “Well done, Daughter. You finally proved yourself worthy of the throne.”

Odette withdrew the knife and shoved her father, whose chair toppled to the ground. A small cloud of dust puffed up as a final tribute to the fallen king.

I stared back and forth between Raquel and Odette then down at Garrik, unable to breathe. For all of my plotting and planning and scheming, I had never imagined this. Blood still dripped from the dagger Odette held.

Without breaking eye contact with me, Odette withdrew the scrap of fabric she always carried in her bodice and delicately dabbed it to the tip of the dagger to add another stain.

“Have you ever wondered why I’ve carried this my entire life?” Odette said, waving the fabric dry before carefully folding it and replacing the scrap into her bodice again.

I didn’t answer. Each second ticking by lasted an eternity, and my entire body tingled from the desire to run. Where was Father? How close were the guards Curdy had gone to get?

Undeterred by my silence, Odette went on, “It serves as a constant reminder of the threats that surround being in a position of power, and a reminder that I have the strength to eliminate those threats. After your little coup, I had intended for you to be the fourth placed here. But now I can see—you’re no threat to me at all.”

My mouth felt as dry as a scorched desert. Words failed me.

“The first drop was my uncle’s. Father killed him so that he had no sibling to challenge his claim to the throne. Framing others when you are in a position of power really is child’s play. The second drop was the previous captain of the guard who suspected my father. I took care of him—it’s so easy to poison an untended cup. The third was my nursemaid. She tried to take me away from my father several years back, telling me it would be better to be raised as a commoner. Can you believe it? I couldn’t have that.”

Every muscle in my body was tensed, but I couldn’t move at all. I remembered when Odette’s old nursemaid took her on a brief vacation some years back. I had been told that they went to the seaside, but Odette had returned alone, sobbing and claiming that the nursemaid had been taken by sirens. I couldn’t believe that I had ever trusted her story.

Odette exhaled through her nose, nostrils flaring. “She didn’t understand true power. This drop signifies that I was ready to do what was necessary to claim the throne. I always knew if I ever wanted to rule, I’d need to kill my father. He’d never relinquish the throne otherwise, and I don’t want to wait until I’m old to become queen. Why do you think he wanted to send me to a foreign land? All I had to do was play the part of a superficial princess all this time to mask any crimes. No one ever suspects a vain, spoiled princess of duplicity. You understand the need to act, don’t you?”

My mouth hung agape.

“I’ll admit—I was angry at first,” Odette went on. “Not really at you, but at myself for not seeing through your fa?ade. But the more time I spent watching you, even from afar, it became painfully obvious that you weren’t worthy of any kind of throne.”

I couldn’t stop my eyes from drifting over to the king’s dead body. His death felt surreal; the rebellion had been plotting it for so long that I couldn’t believe it had finally happened. Then Garrik…he had been a good man who simply wanted to build a better future. My feet felt rooted to the ground, incapable of fleeing.

“You actually fell for Korth, didn’t you?” Odette shook her head. “That is the first rule of leadership. Look out for yourself and only for yourself.” She gestured at her father. “No one will ever care, not even your family, so the only person you can count on is yourself.”

“You’re wrong,” I choked out. “Korth cared.”

“Oh, is that why he had you thrown in prison and planned to marry me?” Odette let out a guffaw. “Because he cared for you so much? Curdy thought he cared about you, too. If both of you hadn’t let emotions get in the way, your little plot might have succeeded, but no. Curdy’s jealousy was eating him alive.” Odette snickered. “It only took a few hints from me about how you used to talk about having feelings for him all the time, and how it was such a shame that a prince was stealing away your heart when it could have been him instead… The poor, besotted boy started running off to spy on you every other night, and it was simple to bend him to my will after that.”

I could just imagine how easy it would have been for Odette to play off Curdy’s insecurities and fears and tell him lies that fed his absurd crush on me. No wonder he started leaving his post so frequently.

“I wish you could have heard our conversations after he saw you falling for your oh-so-noble prince. People are so easy to manipulate when they feel vulnerable.” She laughed. “It’s ironic, really. I had planned to use Korth in the same way you did. With Haven Harbor’s navy at my back, my father would have been forced to step down and let me rule in his stead. We’re not so different, you and I.”

My breath came in short bursts. In that moment, all I wanted was to be near Korth. I wanted to feel safe, even if I had to pay for my crimes. Men’s shouts grew louder and louder, as did the sound of clanking weapons.

“Go on,” Odette told me, flicking her dagger once toward the door. “You spared my life and now I’m sparing yours. I suggest you run before they find you next to these dead bodies.”

I took a step backward in surprise. Was this…kindness from Odette?

She tilted her head severely. “I won’t tell you again. Get running before I change my mind.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. As I pelted out the door, I heard Odette screech from behind me, “Guards! Guards, help! She murdered the king! Catch her!”

My senses sharpened and my pace quickened. Odette had showed no kindness. She had simply needed a scapegoat for her father’s murder, and here I was, running away from the scene of the crime…and I couldn’t stop.