Betrayal Hurts

Has a person you love ever betrayed you?  If so, you aren’t alone. History seethes with stories of betrayal, many of which are committed by close friends or family members. Take the story of King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, and Guinevere, for example.  King Arthur was married to Guinevere who appeared to love him. However, when she met Sir Lancelot, she felt a powerful attraction to him.  For a time she denied the attraction and avoided Lancelot, but ultimately she betrayed Arthur and contributed to the fall of Arthur’s kingdom Camelot.

Are you familiar with the story of Samson and Delilah? Samson was a strong warrior whose enemies tried and failed to destroy him.  His girlfriend Delilah betrayed him to his enemies by telling them how he could be defeated.  He was taken prisoner and blinded.  Ultimately, he got his revenge, but it was at the cost of his life.

Modern literature is also rife with betrayals. For instance, think of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind. She betrayed her own sister Suellen when she lied to Frank Kennedy and persuaded him to marry her instead of Suellen.

Betrayals aren’t only used as a device in novels. A great many Hollywood movies deal with some type of betrayal. Have you seen Payback with Mel Gibson? In this movie Mel is shot by his wife and best friend and left for dead, but he survives and sets out to get his revenge.

Of course, romantic betrayals aren’t the only kind.  Think of how Benedict Arnold betrayed his country.  His name is synonymous with treason.  Another good example of a betrayal is when Brutus betrayed his good friend Julius Caesar.  Brutus was one of the Roman senators who stabbed Caesar to death. 

Don’t forget Disney either. In The Lion King, Mufasa’s brother Scar betrays him and manipulates Simba into running away, ultimately leaving the way clear for Scar to take power.

On a personal note, I’ve written some pretty intense betrayals into my own work. Here’s a betrayal scene from Her Kind of Man which was released by Lachesis Publishing.  In this excerpt, my heroine Kara and her sister Katie have gone to the movie together. Kara had a date with her fiancé, Brandon, but he called and cancelled.  Kelly is Kara’s other sister.

“What a great movie!” Kara gushed as she and Katie left the theater. She tossed her empty popcorn box and leftover soda into the trash can by the door. “Mama and Daddy will want to see it too.”

Katie blew her nose and dabbed at her eyes. “I know. It was too sad for words.”

As they left the theater and crossed the parking lot, Katie turned her head at the sound of a car door slamming. “Why, there’s Kelly and Brandon.”

Kara looked in the direction of Katie’s pointing finger. “Great! They can….” Her voice trailed off as Kelly moved into Brandon’s passionate embrace.

“What…?” Kara’s words choked her as Brandon buried his hands in Kelly’s hair and kissed her as if he held the world’s greatest treasure in his arms.

Katie grabbed her arm. “Come on. We’re getting to the bottom of this.”

Kara dragged her feet as Katie towed her across the parking lot. “Katie, maybe….”

“What’s wrong with you?” Katie glared over her shoulder. “Hurry up!”

Kelly and Brandon were still wrapped around each other when Katie and Kara reached them.

“Kelly!” Katie exclaimed. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Kelly jerked away from Brandon so fast she stumbled and had to grab his arm to keep her balance. Even in the parking lot’s dim light, Kara saw her sister’s face had gone scarlet as had Brandon’s.

Kara didn’t say anything. She couldn’t.

Kelly flinched as Brandon took her hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry, Kara. We never meant for you to find out this way.”

“What were you going to do?” Katie demanded with a wave of her hand. “Leave her at the altar?”

“No,” Kelly replied. Her eyes glittered like two burning blue coals. “We planned to tell her tomorrow night. That way she’d have the weekend off to…to…to get used to things.”

Brandon looked Kara directly in the face for the first time. “I’m sorry, Kara. You have to know I never meant to hurt you, but I can’t marry you if I’m in love with your sister.”

Kara didn’t bother to answer. She didn’t know what to say anyway.  How do you act, what do you do, when you catch the man you love kissing your sister? Her sister! Oh, how could she? This betrayal by one of her nearest and dearest cut to the bone.

She gritted her teeth to hold back her tears and hurled Brandon’s beautiful ring toward him and Kelly. He tried to catch it, but he missed, and the ring landed at his feet.

“Let’s go, Katie,” she said. She spun on her heel and stomped away with her head held high. 

Her Kind of Man is on sale for .99 at Amazon and at Lachesis Publishing for only .99.