Page 2 of Decoy

A pensive crease furrowed his brow before his lips lifted in a wry smile. “I suspect you must be very confused, considering you expected to be swinging from the gallows at this moment.”

I remained silent, but he didn’t seem to be awaiting a reply.

“I ordered the commander to take you through the courtyard on your way here so you could see them. Let the experience serve as a reminder of your possible fate and make you more open to the opportunity I’m about to present you.”

It took a moment for his words to register and for me to swallow my apprehension enough to manage a raspy response. “Mypossiblefate?”

“Indeed.”

The man retook his seat and motioned for me to sit in the one across from him, but my lingering paralyzing terror made it impossible to move. Again he didn’t seem to notice or care.

“Do not misunderstand: you are still a criminal condemned to die, which is part of the reason you were the one chosen. But because of the delicate nature of your task, you need an incentive to motivate you to succeed, and for that reason the gallows are now only apossibility, one that will become a surety if you fail to cooperate to the best of your ability.”

His words should have invited hope, but instead only dread twisted my stomach. What opportunity could he possibly offer to a prisoner on death row? Whatever it was, it’d likely be a fate no better than the one I’d just narrowly escaped.

“What’s your name, prisoner?”

He sought my help for whatever his mysterious purpose was yet hadn’t bothered to learn my identity?Prisoners have no need for a name. The somber realization only confirmed that no matter my circumstances, nothing could change who I was; I’d remain forever trapped in the chains that had bound me within the dungeon. I ached to protest against the unfairness of my situation but was in no position for rebellion.

He’d been monitoring my reaction and gave a nod, as if he’d sensed my thoughts and wanted to confirm them. “It would be in your best interest to fully cooperate lest I change my mind about selecting you, for there are others equally up to the task. Now tell me: what is your name?”

I briefly debated defying him either by refusing to answer or by giving him a pseudonym…but by the calculating look in his eyes I realized he already knew my identity and that his asking was nothing more than a test to see how easily I’d comply to his eventual demands.

With my current position standing before the man who held my fate in his hands, unfortunately, defiance was not a prospective path.

I lifted my chin. “Blair.”

He eyed my stance with a look of approval. “You’re stubborn and defiant, as evidenced not only by your posture but by that gleam in your eyes. Such traits will be both a hindrance to our plan and a useful tool, a double-edged sword if you will. For your sake, you’d best wield it the way we require.”

His words caused the careful walls guarding my emotions to falter. If he could sense it, there was no use in hiding my resistance any longer. “You assume I’ll go along with a plan you have yet to disclose even though I have yet to hear any reason why I should.”

“I’m confident in your cooperation, considering the will to live is stronger than even your rebellious desires…but if I’m mistaken, I can summon the captain to return you to the gallows, if that is your wish.”

I obediently snapped my mouth shut, earning me a dark smirk. I cringed, hating how pliable I’d become in the enemy’s hands. How had I sunk so low?

He nodded. “Much better. Your spirit is admirable, but it can lead you to trouble if you’re not careful. We’ll mold it to a more useful tool once you accept my terms…and you will, I have no doubt. Now let us begin.” He straightened in his seat. “I’m Rupert, chief advisor to the king. I have consulted with Their Majesties on the plan I’m about to present. First, I must determine your current understanding of the situation you’re soon to navigate: have you heard about the false princess?”

It was a needless question. The news had shaken the kingdom to its core. I’d heard the whispers and had used the resulting confusion to slip into the palace, an opportunity that had unfortunately led to nothing except my subsequent capture and a death sentence.

If only everything hadn’t gone so terribly wrong.

Rupert’s words tugged me from my dark reminiscences. “You’re perhaps wondering at the rumor’s validity—after all, the claim that the princess who’s stood beside Their Majesties all these years being a fake is quite alarming—but I assure you it’s the truth, a secret so well kept that even I was unaware our princess was a decoy.” His lips pursed in annoyance, his first exhibited emotion other than contempt.

I frowned. “Why was a decoy necessary for such a length of time?”

“Because of the prophecy given at her birth that foretold her death by the hand of one of our enemies, she was whisked away to safety, where she still remains, and a decoy was put in her place. You have no need to know the details.” He sighed. “We believed the threat to be eliminated and thus got rid of the fake princess in order to restore the real one to her proper place, but unfortunately we acted too soon, as we’ve since discovered that the threat still remains. We have postponed bringing the true one to court until we can find the assassin plotting to murder her…which is where you come in.”

Apprehension pounded my heart as I finally realized the reason for my summons. “I’m to be the new decoy.”

His eyebrows rose in surprise I’d caught on so quickly. “Indeed. The plan is to bring you in as the supposedrealprincess in hopes of trapping the assassin.”

The truth settled over me, a weight almost heavier than my dread when I’d first learned of my impending execution, for in the end this pronouncement wasn’t any different.

Accepting such a dangerous assignment would be like consuming poison, a process that would kill me slowly—but kill me it would. The best way to uncover the assassin would be to serve as bait and expose the threat, thus protecting the true princess even as it disposed of the one who’d die in her place.

I set my jaw. “So I’m to die anyway.” Despite the illusion of a chance to live, death would come for me at an unexpected time rather than the dreaded certainty of the noose that had awaited me at dawn after a long night in the dungeon; in the end, there’d been no escape.

“Not necessarily.” He spoke with callous disregard for my life.

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