Page 74 of Decoy

Luke appeared speechless in the face of this unexpected revelation, but contrary to his stunned silence, the advisor had much to say. “You rescinded on your end of our bargain by failing to fulfill the task you were charged with. If you hadn’t, things needn’t have ended in this way. Once again, your greed sealed your fate.”

“As I said before, I infiltrated the treasury not for my own sake but that of the investigation. You’ll be interested to know that what you told me about the prophecy wasn’t entirely accurate.”

Rather than the condemnation intimidating him, his lips merely curled in response, looking far too pleased by my failure…which only increased my unsettling feeling that there was something off about this arrest. Not only did I find it strange he’d known I’d infiltrated the royal treasury, but he was getting rid of the decoy without a good reason. For the sake of the true princess, he should have wanted my success…but this moment only increased my suspicion that my snippets of clues had been leading me to: this entire time he’d been not my ally, but the mastermind of a different game entirely.

The revelation smothered the last of my will to fight. “I see. You never had any intention of keeping your promise. I was meant to fail from the beginning.”

“You were naive to believe I’d allow a prisoner to get away after the crimes you committed, especially one who knows too much.”

Of course he couldn’t. From the beginning I’d been nothing more than a pawn chosen as a sacrifice to protect the royal family. The threat of death had never vanished, constantly following me to creep ever nearer, patiently awaiting its opportunity to strike. Now it’d finally caught up, robbing me of the last of my borrowed time.

Part of me had always known it’d end this way.

“I was a fool to trust anyone from the putrid royal family, considering they’re the ones who signed my execution warrant in the first place.”

“A mistake that will cost you dearly.” As if beckoned by death itself, the blade grazed my throat. “I believe a trip to the gallows is finally in order.”

The agonizing thought of suffocating to death tempted me to make a sudden movement that would force the guard to slice my throat. The old me wouldn’t have hesitated, but now I had a reason I wanted to live that rendered me frozen, a hope far stronger than my current fear.

A cold chill crept up my spine, but until the rope was draped across my neck, I wouldn’t stop fighting. I lifted my chin to a defiant angle. “I will spend every remaining breath cursing their names.”

Sir Rupert smirked. “Which isn’t much of a threat considering how few of your breaths actually remain.”

My fury seared and I spit in his face. At this show of unregal defiance, the guard holding me in place tightened his grip, trapping me with no hope of escape.

Sir Rupert’s expression remained stoic as he wiped his face with a handkerchief. “I should have sent you to the gallows the moment you betrayed the first hint of that fire and summoned another from the dungeon in your stead. I mistook my initial impression of you, falsely believing your feisty spirit would serve as adequate motivation, but it appears you’ve instead gambled away the opportunity so generously given you. I won’t make that mistake again with the next decoy. I knew you were too dangerous to keep alive, but despite the delay, you’ll still end up exactly where you belong.”

I gritted my teeth. “I should have known you’d rescind on your promise.”

The advisor stepped close enough to coil his fingers around my throat, a foreshadowing of the rope that would soon adorn my neck. “We had no formal contract, so I’m breaking nothing.”

I cursed my own carelessness for that oversight, but now that I knew his true nature, I doubted it’d have been enough. I should have gotten an official sealed promise from the royal family. It was too late now, yet another regret I’d bear when I ascended the gallows.

Sir Rupert faced Luke, who remained completely still, his pained gaze locked to the blade at my throat. “Lord Luke, I presume?”

By his assassin outfit it wasn’t immediately apparent who he was, yet the information I’d provided over the course of my investigation was enough to condemn him.

“I’m surprised you so valiantly fought to protect the woman who used you for information to spare her own life.”

Luke’s expression remained silent and impassive, but his gaze finally lifted from the dagger at my neck to evenly meet the advisor’s gaze.

“I know how important anonymity is for an assassin house, so I promise not to act on my knowledge if, in exchange, you don’t interfere with this prisoner’s capture.”

Still Luke said nothing, a silence that filled me with dread. Surely after everything he wouldn’t make such a deal…though after learning of my true identity and with it the price he’d been forced to pay for my deceit, he no longer had any reason to concern himself with my fate.

Even so, I still hoped we’d built a strong enough relationship that this wouldn’t change anything. He’d already gone against his mission even while believing I was the one he was charged to kill, proving that his devotion to me was greater than the role he’d been trained his entire life to put above all else.

Yet that’d beenbeforehe’d learned that my deceit had forced him to murder his own father for my sake, a sacrifice my role as a decoy rendered unnecessary considering the duke wouldn’t have gone after me in the first place if he’d known I wasn’t the true target. Such a tragedy could have been prevented if I’d been honest with Luke from the beginning. By the hardened look gradually filling his eyes, he was coming to realize this too.

I was familiar enough with his abilities to know that rescue was still possible, yet despite the desperate plea for him to rescue me that wrenched from my throat, he made no motion to save me. Deep down I knew he had no reason to protect the one responsible for his downfall, yet part of me still hoped that he would. Instead, he melted into the shadows without even a lingering look back…and vanished.

The pain that wrenched my broken heart felt more excruciating than what I imagined for my impending execution, now mere hours away. I’d been so close to forging a life of purpose from the ashes of my past to recapture the happiness that had eluded me for so long…only for it to be snatched away.

I almost wished I’d died on my original execution date before I’d become entangled in this scheme so I could die without the hope of freedom that in the end had been far too fleeting, nor the sting of regret. But despite the pain, I was at least grateful I could die with a glimpse of what it meant to love Luke, even though in the end he’d abandoned me.

Deep down I knew I wholly deserved such a fate after having betrayed him. Yet I still felt as if I’d lost something precious that, in this moment, I cherished more than the life I was about to lose at the end of a rope.

CHAPTER21

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