Page 32 of Façade

Her admission caught me off guard. When I’d first learned of her duplicity, I’d assumed she’d possessed a mastermind role in deceiving me all along, not that her being a decoy would be as startling to her as it’d been for me.

I released a whooshing breath. “How long have you known?”

She didn’t immediately answer, as if hoping she could continue to deny it…but then all at once her defensive manner vanished, leaving her utterly exhausted. “Only about a week before I met with you. If you thinkyou’resurprised, imagine howIfelt at the discovery. Even after all this time, part of me still can’t believe it.”

A sudden wave of compassion that had no place considering the circumstances overcame me, leaving me feeling less angry and merely tired. With a sigh I collapsed beside her on the lawn, pretending not to notice her scoot several inches away to increase the distance between us, as if I had the plague, a gesture which admittedly attacked my manly pride far more sharply than it should have.

She rolled her eyes at my disgruntled expression. “I have no doubt that not only did the news come as a shock, but you took it as a personal affront, as if you were the sole victim in this without any consideration for my experience.”

“What does your position manner when you’re the one—”

But she talked over me, cheeks blotched pink and eyes glistening with passion. “How wouldyoufeel if you’d discovered that your entire life was nothing more than a lie? Your parents, your home, your title, your very identity…everything. I’m haunted by every memory, ones I used to view with love and joy, tainted by the fact they aren’t real. Not only do I not have a family, but the only one I’ve ever known and still love have so little regard for me that they not only masqueraded our entire life together, but considered me so expendable they’d allow me to die in place of theirrealdaughter.”

She hastily averted her glassy eyes to hide her tears…but I’d already seen them, which gave them power to wriggle past the defenses my anger had erected to protect my heart from feeling any remorse…walls which were now rapidly crumbling.

“I—“ But I had no response to her emotional declaration.

I desperately tried to regather the fury that had compelled me to seek her out so I could erect it back over my heart like a shield to protect me from the effects of her tears…but instead I found myself rummaging for my handkerchief, which I awkwardly tried to hand her.

Naturally, she stubbornly ignored it. I sighed. “It’s only polite to accept such a token when offered.”

She slowly turned the force of her fiery gaze on me, displaying more emotion than her previous careful composure had allowed since our marriage. “Perhaps I’d be compelled to follow every ridiculous dictate protocol requires…if I were a princess.” She lowered her voice as she leaned closer. “But I’m not, am I? As you now know.”

Her ire should have put me in my place, but instead it only made me feel…alivein a way I’d only ever experienced with her. This perplexing feeling compelled me to gently tease her, a notion that felt entirely out of place but which I couldn’t resist.

“Nonetheless, you were raised as one. Such a shame such lessons went to waste.”

She snorted, a rather inelegant sound that caused my lips to twitch. “Thankfully, none of those tedious lessons were a waste, considering they allowed me to marry you, a rather useful fate, even as it’s an undesirable one.”

My mild amusement vanished in an instant, leaving me sour. “It appears Estoria’s magic is greater than I could have ever imagined—not just anyone could take a common girl and successfully utilize her in a grand plot against another crown.”

“It wasn’ttheirplot,” she snapped. “My parents—or rather, Their Majesties…” For a moment she looked rather lost, vulnerability that softened my disgruntlement against my better judgement. Her tears returned, but she hastily blinked them away and lifted her chin. “The plot is my doing alone; the king and queen don’t even know I’m here.”

I sincerely doubted that, a skepticism not lost on her. She glared.

“They’d have no need to send me if what you claimed at the beginning of this pleasant conversation was true: your Father just came back from negotiations with Estoria, ones he was forced to make considering the engagement contract was apparently in danger.”

I tightened my jaw and didn’t respond, but my silence was answer enough. She smirked bitterly.

“I had no knowledge of such a thing, else I wouldn’t have sacrificed myself on the altar. It appears I’ve wasted much of my time…though I suppose it’s not too late to put our time together to some use. After all, now that you’re married to me, you’re unable to try and force a union with therealprincess.”

Unfortunately that was true, a huge setback in my kingdom’s carefully laid plans. Even if I succeeded in annulling our marriage, it’d cost me precious time, during which the real Estorian princess could create an arrangement with another prince, giving another kingdom access to the magic ours so desperately needed.

Until that occurred, not all was lost; so long as there remained even the slimmest chance I could unite with Estoria, I wouldn’t give up. Yet though I said nothing that would expose these plans, I couldn’t mask my determination, allowing her to guess the scheme it was imperative to keep hidden to prevent her interference.

“You’re going to toss me aside just like my supposed parents, aren’t you?”

Remorse tugged on my heart, an emotion I fought valiantly to ignore. When she put it so bluntly, she made me feel like the world’s biggest cad. “Our marriage likely isn’t even legal, considering it was done under a false name, so it dissolving is nothing more than a natural consequence.”

The words acted as a revelation, causing the weight pressing heavily against my shoulders to finally lift. I wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of annulling the marriage after all! But this thought had no sooner occurred to me than her hollow laugh pierced my elation.

“What’s so funny?” I asked sourly.

“Oh, wouldn’t that be convenient,” she said. “Unfortunately, you can’t free yourself from me that easily. You forget I don’t know my real name…because I don’t have one, save for the one I’ve gone by my entire life. So even if I’m notPrincessEvelyn, I’m stillEvelyn…the very name we married under.” She tilted her head, her smile sickly sweet. “It appears you failed to notice I gave my vows under simplyEvelyn. How disappointing it must be for you to only learn of that little detail now. Too bad.”

I could only gape at her, hoping she was fibbing…but by the triumph tainting her smirk, she clearly wasn’t. It deepened at my muttered curse. Blast, what was I to do now? I rose to my feet and began pacing, trying to keep up with the frantic chaos of my thoughts.

“How did I get myself into such a mess?”

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