Page 26 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

Maybe I shouldn’t be getting this close to Kieran and his inner circle. Maybe I should heed the warning like Skylar was telling me. Think the worst of them until they prove me wrong. How can I trust them? I shouldn’t.

Unease fills my stomach as I look at Kieran. Something isn’t right. I shouldn’t be here with them.

Kieran chuckles. “Good observation.”

“Don’t make fun of me,” I snap, unable to help it. I’m on edge. I should have been on edge and alert a while ago, but I let everything cloud my judgment.

He stares at me for several seconds, and I start to feel guilty.

I shouldn’t, but there was no reason for me to shout at him.

He has been nothing but kind to me and has saved me several times.

I should be telling him thank you and seeing if I can do anything for him since he has done so much for me, but I’m snapping at him.

No.

I can’t do this. I need to stay away from him. My emotions are getting the better of me around him, and I shouldn’t be trying to justify things. But everything in me wants to be around him and get to know him more. I don’t think he’s lying to me.

But I have no way of checking if he is or not. There is no way for me to know because I don’t have access to any of the readings and I don’t know anyone who knows the Fae really well and wouldn’t tell the king about my questions.

I take a deep breath and slowly let it out. I’m not going to apologize when he was literally making fun of me for pointing out the obvious. How do I know if he is telling the truth when he doesn’t have any wings? None of the Fae do. So they must be lying to me.

“I’m not making fun of you,” Kieran soothes. “That was not my intention, and I’m sorry you feel that way. I was merely saying well done for noticing. Most people would believe us and move on because we are Fae. They believe anything, but not you.”

I’m not sure if I should take that as a good thing or a bad thing. Should I be insulted?

“It’s a good thing, love,” Zayden calls.

“Do not call her love,” Kieran growls.

So possessive, butterflies start in my stomach. Does he really feel something for me? Or is he just putting on a show?

“Our wings are tucked inside of us. It’s part of the magic. We can feel them, and the ache they have to be let free so we can stretch them and fly, but we can’t,” Kieran explains to me. “The curse is keeping them inside, and no matter what we try or do, they will not come out.”

I can’t imagine what they are going through.

The ache and discomfort of having them trapped inside of them.

I get restless when I can’t go outside for a while, and it only grows as time goes on until I can get out.

I can’t imagine what they are going through, as they haven’t been able to stretch their wings in hundreds of years.

“You guys must be really important if you have wings.” I look at Kieran. “And magic.”

“I thought you said she knew,” Elias says.

“She does, but I don’t think she fully believes me,” Kieran replies. “You don’t believe that I’m actually the High Lord?”

I shrug my shoulders and look away. No one has ever seen the High Lord of the Fae before. How am I supposed to know whether he is telling the truth or if he is just trying to impress me? The High Lord could be dead for all I know but they are trying to make it seem like he isn’t.

“That’s okay,” he says. “I’m a patient man. I’ve waited hundreds of years for you. I will wait longer for you to believe me. I’ll just have to show you I am the High Lord.”

“How?” I raise an eyebrow.

I look behind me to see the bucket filled up with smaller pieces of ice.

Those are going to melt much faster than how I would have gotten them.

Maybe I should see if they can help me every time I have to come and get ice.

They would save me a lot of valuable time but then they would take away from me my happy place, being out in nature.

“I’ll show you another time.” He gives me a smile.

I scowl at him. “Why can’t you just tell me now? I’m tired of hearing ‘I’ll tell you next time’.”

Kieran chuckles. “Besides the obvious time constraint we have each time we visit, I want to make sure you come back to me. If you got all your answers in one go, you wouldn’t need to come and visit.”

I shake my head. “That is your reasoning?”

“It is. I want you to spend time with me. I want to spend time with you. I know if you still have questions, it is one way to make sure you do come back,” he explains. “Call it being selfish, but I don’t care. I want to see you and if this is how I can ensure that, I am going to do it.”

I can see his logic and what he is trying to do. I would do the same thing if I were in his position, but I hate having it done to me.

“I don’t know when I’ll be able to come next,” I tell him. “I’ll try to make time to come outside, but things have gotten more difficult.”

Like the prince. Not knowing when he is going to be out in our little town is putting me on edge and making me not want to go out as much. I don’t want to see him and give him the opportunity to talk to me. But he knows where I live and could easily come to the house if I don’t.

But if I’m not outside, he can’t talk to me in front of other people.

Then they won’t be able to gossip about me.

Prince Archie is going to be at my house next week to pick me up for my class in the palace, which people will see.

They’ll see me walking to the palace with him. What are they going to think then?

I don’t want to go with him, but I can’t say no.

I can’t tell him to leave me alone and never come back.

He will surely make my parents’ lives miserable and do something to me.

No. I won’t have that happen. I just need to be smart about how I get him away from us, specifically me and him not having any more interest in me.

I think Skylar should be with me next time, to show Prince Archie that she is a much better choice than me. She is more ladylike than I am and is far more knowledgeable. She would be easier to manipulate and would gladly be the princess, standing by him. I’ll never be manipulated by him.

“Even if it’s once a week, that is better than nothing.” Kieran smiles.

He sets me on the ground, and my eyes fall again to the filled bucket.

Carrying the empty bucket from the house to here winded me, and this is going to be even worse.

I take a deep breath and pick it up, already feeling the fatigue hitting my body.

Everything in me wants to beg one of them to bring it back to the house for me, but I know they can’t.

Our time is up, and I know they need to get back to their work, and I need to get home.

“I’ll see you soon,” Kieran gently whispers close to my ear. “I’ll be watching you to make sure you make it home safely.”

There’s clear struggle on his face as he looks at the bucket I’m holding. I want to hand it to him and see if he would carry it for me, but he said he would keep watch of me. A warm, fuzzy feeling fills me as I think about that. He is extremely protective of me and wants to ensure I’m safe.

“I don’t know if I’ll come back,” I whisper, sadness overtaking me as I speak.

Kieran just smiles at me knowingly. “You’ll be back.”