Page 25 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

C arelessly, I step away from Kieran, toward the river, trying to put distance between us. I slowly start to fall backward, a yell ripping from my mouth as I hit the ice covering the river. I sit there in pain, dazed, as my brain comes back to the present.

“Adeline,” Kieran kneels in front of me.

Tears form in my eyes as the ice starts to melt underneath me, soaking my dress. It’s just my luck that something like this would happen, in front of three Fae men.

“Are you okay?” Kieran asks, looking up and down my body to the best of his ability.

I blink several times, trying to get the threatening tears to go away. I don’t need to cry, because once I start, I’m not going to be able to stop. I hate crying in front of people.

“Sweets, answer me. Are you okay?” Kieran asks again, lightly touching my chin and pulling my face toward him.

I nod and look away when I realize the other two males are standing a little farther back, watching us. Why are they here? How did they know we were here?

My body starts to shiver, the cold seeping into my bones. I am going to pay for this later, but I can’t get up. I’m worried that if I attempt to, I am going to slip again, and I can’t humiliate myself any further.

“I’m going to pick you up,” Kieran says before I feel his arms around me.

He holds me close to him, not letting go once he is standing. My legs wrap around him, arms around his neck as I try to keep myself up.

“I’m not going to drop you,” he gently says. “I would never dream of it.”

“Sorry,” I whisper.

“Elias and Zayden are going to fill your bucket with ice,” Kieran instructs before turning to me. “And you are going to stay right where you are so you can warm up,” Kieran firmly says, almost like he knows I am going to argue with him about it.

Sighing, I nod and relax into his embrace, letting his warmth engulf me. I don’t know how he is so warm in this terrible weather. But whatever he has, I want.

“We are sorry for scaring you,” a familiar voice apologizes.

Where have I heard his voice before? Why do their names sound so familiar and yet like I don’t know them at all?

“They were with us when I carried you to my tent. When you almost died that night,” Kieran quietly tells me.

I gasp and pull away from his chest to look at Elias and Zayden. I remember hearing them talk with Kieran about me. I never got to see what they look like, but before I can take them in, Kieran pushes my head back to his chest.

“No,” I mumble.

“Yes, you need to stay warm. I know you want to look around, but you need to stay warm, or you are going to get even more sick,” Kieran chastises me.

I want to sass back at him, but he’s right. I know I’m going to get sick from this. Being out in the cold the whole time and getting wet is not good for me.

“We were there that night. We were pretty worried about you,” Elias chimes in, or I think it’s Elias from the little I remember that night. “We are part of Kieran’s inner circle. She does know you are High Lord, right?”

“Well, if she didn’t know then she does now.” Zayden chuckles. “There are more of us, but they are making sure that nothing happens to us while we are here. Especially since you technically aren’t supposed to be in a Fae’s arms. We don’t want either of you to get into trouble.”

Right. How thoughtful of them for looking out for us. But how will they know if someone is trying to get to us?

“We can talk in our minds. Not a lot of people can do it, but Kieran still has a little power left and has opened a channel for us to talk through,” Elias explains.

“That’s how you knew I was in trouble?” I ask, looking at Kieran.

“You called out to me. Opened up the bond when you didn’t even know what it was,” he replies.

“Bond?” I look at him, puzzled.

Kieran kisses my forehead. “Later.”

I huff out a breath. It’s always later. Am I going to learn anything with him? Or is he going to always keep me at arm’s length? Frustration builds inside of me.

“Actually later?” I ask.

“Yes, we will talk about it later, but right now we need to focus on keeping you warm while they break up the ice and fill your bucket,” Kieran replies.

“She isn’t going to let you forget it.” Zayden chuckles as I hear some ice breaking. “You can hear the fire in her voice.”

“If I ever find my mate, I won’t be trying to infuriate her.” Elias whistles. “That is one sure way of sleeping outside.”

“Hopefully, when you find your mate, we won’t be in this same situation,” Kieran retorts. “Hopefully, we’ll be free of the curse and you can freely court her and not have to sneak around. Hopefully, when you find her, you will be able to hold her at night, every night.”

Silence fills the forest. It really would be terrible if you couldn’t openly be with the person you loved in fear of getting punished. That must feel awful.

“Sorry, High Lord,” Elias quietly says. “I did not mean to throw that in your face.”

Kieran sighs, and I lean my head on his chest. “It’s okay, Elias.

While we all want to find our mates, and I have, just know it will be hard, no matter what.

Some information has to be told over time, right now since we can’t spend a lot of time together.

Is it my first choice? No, but it is the way it has to be right now. ”

I feel bad for the Fae. Is it really necessary for them to be slaves and be under so many rules? Everything I’ve seen of them has shown them to be wonderful people. None of them have tried to hurt me, and they want what’s best for people.

What do the king and prince see to make the Fae so bad in their eyes?

“We’re almost done,” Zayden breaks through my thoughts.

Kieran looks down at me as I look up at him. He smiles, and it steals the breath out of me.

Beautiful.

Handsome.

He just looks so perfect, smiling. To be able to get him smiling painted on a canvas so I could look at it any time would be a dream.

“You need better clothes, Adeline,” he gently says. “Better, thicker ones to keep you warm in the winter.”

“We don’t have the money for that,” I mumble, looking away. “We are making do with what we have. I have everything I need at the moment. My mother is pregnant and the extra money we have is going toward the baby.”

I don’t know why I am explaining this to him. I know Fae’s have babies, but do they have complications like humans have ?

“You should still be the priority. If you get any sicker, then you won’t be able to help your mother. You need to take better care of yourself.” Kieran looks at me with an expression I can’t place.

It’s almost like he’s looking at me with love, but then it’s like he’s looking at me with worry. And yet, it’s like he’s looking at me for the first time.

“You are important. You are so important, and I don’t think you realize how important you are to this world.

” His voice softens. “If I had all my magic, I would help you. I would make sure you have the right clothes you need and that you are wanting for nothing. I would make sure that everyone on Bellhollow had everything they need to live.”

“Would you really be able to do that? Would you really be able to make clothes for us?” I ask. “What is your magic? I know you don’t have it right now, but what did you have?”

“As the High Lord, I have a lot more than people think, but I don’t like to flaunt it. Neither did my father. He liked to walk around with our people and get to know them. He pretended to be like them, which he was, but everyone knew who he was,” Kieran explains.

“So, what was your magic?” I press, wanting to know. “Unless you don’t want to tell me.”

But I really hope he does tell me. I want to see what it was like all those hundreds of years ago.To see what we could have had together.

“You know I have wings, so I was able to fly. I could also teleport, read minds, heal, and many other things,” Kieran lists them off.

“Now, though, I can barely do any of those. They don’t know I have some magic left, and we are going to keep it that way.

If they found out the spell didn’t take away everything, I don’t know what would happen to us. Something terrible.”

“I would never,” I gasp. “It is not my place to tell, and even if they did ask me, I would lie.”

“You’ve got a keeper, Kieran.” Elias raises his voice. “I would hold on tight and not let her go.”

“I don’t plan on it,” Kieran growls.

Keep me? Kieran wants to keep me? No way. I am just a simple human who lives with her parents while trying to avoid the prince. Kieran should not want to keep me.

“Thank you for not telling anyone if they ask,” Kieran gently says, looking down at me.

“Do your friends have their powers?” I ask.

He says he is the High Lord, but I don’t know how to tell whether he is or not. He could be lying to me. His friends could be in on it, and I wouldn’t know. I know nothing about the Fae to understand if they are telling the truth.

“We have similar powers to Kieran, but not as strong,” Zayden replies. “We don’t have any now, though. We suspect that Kieran has stronger powers, and that’s why he kept a small amount, but we don’t have any.”

My eyebrows pull together. “Does everyone have powers?”

“No, not everyone has powers. Just the higher-ups essentially,” Kieran explains.

I’m trying to wrap my brain around everything.

I really wish I could access the books on the Fae in the library, but I’m worried that if I even ask for them I will be questioned and thrown into the castle, never to be seen again.

I don’t want that to happen. But it would make things so much easier if I could see whether Kieran and his friends are telling the truth.

“Does the High Lord have the only wings, or does everyone have them?” I ask, pulling my head back to look at Kieran and his friends.

They don’t have any wings that I can see. So they must not be anyone high up.

“Everyone has wings and can fly,” he says.

“You don’t,” I point out. “And neither do your friends. Are you sure you are telling me the truth?”