Page 24 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

“When you do go, don’t spend a lot of time there. You’re still recovering, and I don’t want you outside for too long,” she reminds me.

“Don’t worry, I will be going there, grabbing the ice, and coming back right away,” I reassure her. “I don’t want to be gone long either. But it might take me a little while to get down there and back since there is snow on the ground.”

And because I’m already exhausted sitting at the table and I know walking down there and getting ice is going to make me even more exhausted. Am I going to make it? I will but I may make myself a little bit more sick by expending all of this energy and being out in the cold.

But I’m not going to tell my mother that. She no doubt already knows that and there’s no use in reminding her, making her even more worried. It’s either her getting it or me and it’s definitely not going to be her. Not when she’s this pregnant.

Pushing myself off the chair, I take a deep breath, put the jacket on, and grab a bucket.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell her before walking out of the house.

I keep my head down as I make my way to the river, my breathing coming in pants the further I go. I shouldn’t be exerting this much energy when I’m so weak, but my father isn’t here so it falls onto my shoulders now… Even when I’m sick.

I take several short breaks before I make it to my destination, my breathing now coming out chaotically.

Looking at the river, I sigh when I realize it’s frozen over.

How am I going to break the ice and carry the bucket back up to my house when I’m already so out of breath?

I can’t hit it with the bucket in fear I’ll break the bucket.

Tears form in my eyes.

“You shouldn’t be out here. You shouldn’t be working. You should be home, taking care of yourself because you are sick,” Kieran chastises.

I whirl around, glaring at him. “I don’t have a choice. Things need to get done, and I’m the person who’s going to do them.”

Does he really think that I want to be doing this right now? I would much rather be lying in bed, staying warm and resting. But this has to get done, and there is no alternative.

My father isn’t here which means it falls onto my shoulders. It always does since he is gone most of the year. Even when my mother wasn’t pregnant, I would still do a lot of the things around the house or the heavy jobs.

I can’t complain too much since they are letting me stay here free and not pay rent at one of the houses for single girls.

They are saving me money and I should be grateful and I am.

But in an instance like this, I just want to sit down and recover.

I don’t want to go out and do things and possibly make myself worse.

No one does.

“If I had a choice, I would be inside, staying warm and recovering, but I can’t.” Annoyance fills my voice as I talk.

Does he think I don’t know what I should be doing? I know I shouldn’t be out here.

I just wanted to get some fresh air for a couple of minutes, but I didn’t want to work. The only way out is by doing something productive and getting a fresh breath of air isn’t productive.

Kieran growls, “No mate of mine will run herself into the ground.”

“No mate of yours. Well, I’m not your mate,” I reply.

Kieran grips my chin and bends down, so we are looking at each other. “You are my mate. Never say you aren’t. You are and you cannot back out of this. We will always be tethered together, no matter what you think.”

He lets go of my chin and stands to his full height.

I crane my neck back to look at him. I never realized how exhausting it is to have my head in this position all the time.

How did people do it back then when they were with Fae?

Did the Fae use some type of magic to make them shorter or have their head appear somewhere else so they didn’t have to look up so much?

“What exactly is a mate?” I ask.

I honestly can’t remember whether he has told me what it is or not. Someone I’m destined to be with? But that still doesn’t answer my question. What is a mate to him? Why is it so important to him and why should it be important to me?

“You don’t need to know that right now,” Kieran brushes me off, which annoys me.

“No,” I force out. “I want to know what a mate is and why I should care. I want to know what’s so important about it.”

I look at my feet, taking in a deep breath before quickly looking back up at him. Dizziness assaults me, and I groan, holding my hand out to catch something before I fall.

Arms wrap around my waist, holding me close to him as I try to regain my balance. What was that? Sparks dance around my skin as he embraces me, and I can’t help but lean forward, wanting more.

“Wha-what?” I whisper, looking up at him.

“You’re okay. Take your time,” he gently murmurs.

His face is so far away from me, but it sounds like it is right next to my ear. Magic?

Behind me, something rustles, and I push away from him, grabbing my bucket. If we are caught together, that would be the end of us.

That could be the end of Kieran .

I don’t know him that well, but I don’t want anything to happen to him. I don’t want anything bad to happen to anyone when they haven’t done anything wrong.

“Kier—” but the words fall from my lips as two Fae males emerge from the trees.