Page 29 of Façade

I slowly nodded. With Princess Evelyn’s arrival, I now better understood the reasons why Estoria had desired to sever the contract. I ached to speak the news of its fulfillment, but I respected Father too much to interrupt him, even with an announcement as welcome as this.

He sighed. “Upon my arrival to negotiate, I’m afraid I was met with a rather shocking discovery that…complicates matters.”

He undoubtedly referred to the fact that the princess hadn’t been in Estoria, having instead secretly met with me to escape the arrangement with Thorndale. I opened my mouth, to explain but Father held up a hand, a gentle admonition to be patient.

“Please wait a moment; what I have to say is too important to delay.”

With an obedient nod I reluctantly snapped my mouth shut, doing my best to curb the temptation to disobey.

Father leaned forward. “Upon arriving to Estoria, I learned that the Princess Evelyn whom you’ve spent these past several years courting isn’t the princess at all.”

The words immediately doused my restless impatience, causing icy dread to slowly seep over my limbs. “I…what?” Shock paralyzed my thoughts, making it impossible to fully comprehend Father’s incomprehensible words.

He seemed to mistake my confusion and nodded gravely. “To say I was stunned is quite the understatement. Even now, after I’ve had time to comes to term with it…I still can’t believe it.”

I frantically tried to sort through his words, but no matter how I arranged them they didn’t make even a semblance of sense. “But—I don’t—what do you mean Princess Evelynisn’tPrincess Evelyn? Since our meeting several years ago we’ve courted somewhat regularly. Who is that woman ifnotthe princess?”

Father’s solemn gaze met mine. “Apparently, she’s nothing more than a decoy.”

Decoy…the word set my heart pounding wildly. A…decoy?What did that mean? In truth I knew exactly what it meant, even if my brain still refused to comprehend the implications.

“The woman I’ve been courting all of these years…isn’t the real princess?”

Father shook his head. “I don’t know the full details, but I’ve been able to garner enough for some understanding of the story—at the princess’s birth, there was a prophecy foretelling her death. The royal family felt it prudent to hide her and brought in a fake princess to be killed in her stead, should it come to that.”

The act felt entirely heartless, even as I empathized with the desperation of the Estorian king and queen, who rumor claimed had struggled for years to have a child. To discover after her birth that her life was threatened and they risked losing not only the child they’d waited years for but the heir of their small but powerful magical kingdom…

Despite some understanding of their actions, I still failed to comprehend the implications of the situation. My mind whirled even as a sinking feeling of palpable dread filled my stomach, making me ill.

“So the Princess Evelyn I’ve been courting…”

“Isn’t the real princess,” Father confirmed. “That is correct.”

It felt as if all the air had left my lungs, leaving me breathless. No…that couldn’t…no. But as much as I ached to deny it, I couldn’t, not when his explanation finally assembled the pieces I’d been struggling to fit together ever since our union. It was no wonder Evelyn had repeatedly insisted on waiting to showcase her powers—she didn’t possess any, causing my dreams of using them to aid my kingdom to disappear like the effects of the curse afflicting the land.

My mouth had gone dry, rendering words impossible. With an agonized groan I burrowed my forehead in my hands, as if I could bury myself and my mistake alive. But I knew it wouldn’t be so easy. Though my mind remained numb with shock, my thoughts stirred just enough to comprehend the full implications of this revelation.

Father continued to speak of his plans for me to leave at first light to travel to Estoria, where apparently many of the surrounding royalty had assembled to meet the new princess. I was to shift our precious plans to her and begin an acquaintance; duty rather than affection had dictated my previous meetings with the fake, and duty was easy to shift. Little did Father know that what had begun as a dutiful possibility had become a binding contract that would be impossible to sever.

I scarcely heard his plans, given with far more calm than the situation warranted. My horrified thoughts were entirely eclipsed by the reality pressing against me so heavily I could scarcely breathe, one I’d do anything to escape: I had married not a princess but a decoy. Adecoy. I let out another groan even as my hands knotted my hair.

Father finally paused. “Ryland?” Worry wrenched his voice, a sound followed by his chair scraping the floor as he pushed away from his desk and approached to crouch beside me. “What is it, Son? Are you alright?”

“I—I’ve made a terrible mistake.” Shame filled each word, an emotion so deep I’d rather be buried alive than admit to Father what I’d done.

He rested a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Whatever mistake you feel you’ve made, please share it with me so that I can help you.”

I peeked up to take in his love and concern, emotions I had no doubt would shift to disappointment the moment I made my confession. I’d spent my entire life struggling to measure up to his expectations for me and had believed I’d finally achieved them…only to now realize that because of me everything had instead gone terribly wrong.

“I thought…Princess Evelyn…was the real princess.”

He frowned. “So did I, a misunderstanding easy to make considering the Estorian Royal Family purposefully misled us. But it’s easily remedied: you can simply woo the real—“

I helplessly shook my head. “I…can’t. It’s too late.”

The worried lines furrowing his brow deepened even as his grip on my shoulder tightened. “I see that whatever has occurred is beyond my current understanding. Please share it with me, Ryland.”

I ached to keep the words forever locked away so he never need learn of my foolishness that had ruined everything, but this was something I couldn’t keep hidden, not when my wife resided in the palace Father had just returned to.

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