Page 27 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

“ T his is the palace. After the class, a guard will take you back home. Next week, you’ll be able to walk on your own, and when you get to the castle, a guard or maid will be here to escort you to the room you will be studying in,” Prince Archie says as we walk down the hallway.

I slow my pace, wanting to take in every single detail.

Not a lot of people have been in here, and I want to remember it accurately.

Maybe I can tell one of the artists what it looks like in detail so they can paint it and sell it to someone.

Maybe they could sell it to the prince and king and earn a lot of money.

Looking up, I realize just how tall the ceilings are. They are painted with intricate details of people, Fae, and animals. How did they manage to paint all of this ?

“Who painted the ceiling?” I ask, completely ignoring what he just told me.

I’m not interested in how I am going to get to the room my lessons are going to be in. I’ll figure it out when the time comes, but I want to know who painted these. Who the artist is and if they are still alive. Maybe then I can talk to them and ask if they can paint the hallway for people to see.

Why won’t the king and prince let people in to see the beauty of this?

The hallways are wide, way too wide for just humans to walk through. But then I remember the Fae were here first, and they built this building. Which means there is a possibility that the artist is still alive.

“Some Fae a long time ago. We don’t know, but it was here when humans were looking for asylum all those years ago,” Prince Archie replies. “The Fae have an eye for art and building things.”

They really do, and I am so jealous. I want to have an artistic skill, but I don’t have a single artistic bone in my body. Not in this lifetime or the next.

“From what I’ve heard, they took years and years to perfect this building, taking their time with every single step. They don’t care how much time it takes since they have plenty of it.” Prince Archie stops and looks at everything in front of him.

If I lived here, I would admire this every single day. Someone could probably find something new every single day with how intricate the paintings are. How I would love to do just that.

“They made these hallways wide for their wings as they liked to have them out back then,” he tells me as if the Fae have any choice in not having them out now.

I clench my jaw and turn my body away from Prince Archie. The Fae don’t have a say in keeping their wings inside, if Kieran is telling the truth. They are bound by the curse. If they had their wings, would they fly to another realm? Could they even do that?

“I don’t know why they would have them out all the time. Kind of foolish if you ask me,” Prince Archie continues. “Anyone could come up and cut into them or worse, they could hit someone else with them.”

I’m sure they would be aware of their surroundings. If Kieran and his friends were aware of their surroundings when I met up with them, they were aware of them all those years ago. There is no doubt in my mind. No one would be able to sneak up on them and put a knife in their wings.

“Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about their wings anymore.

No one can see them or run into them. They can’t fly off and will never be able to fly off as long as the curse is in effect.

” Prince Archie smiles at me, his voice lilting with joy.

“And I am going to make sure it stays as long as I live. They won’t get a taste of freedom ever. They will always be our slaves.”

Part of me wants to help the Fae figure out how to break the curse. They can’t all be that bad, can they? Kieran and his friends have been nothing but kind to me. Maybe it’s all a show so I can help them or they can torture me later, but deep down I know they won’t.

I just have a feeling.

“Anyway, let’s head to the room. The teachers are expecting you,” he says. “Come along, let’s get going. They don’t have all day.”

I look at Prince Archie and start to follow him. “Is that why they are constructing the new building?”

“Yes, I want it to be very ornate. It is going to be perfect.” Prince Archie looks back at me. “It is going to be my new home. It won’t be as big as this one as I’ll still be doing all my business here, but I wanted a home for us. Somewhere different than the palace.”

I take a shaky breath in as he says the word ‘us’ like we are going to stay together. If I ever get a chance to tell him no and be safe, I will. I am not going to get married to him, no matter what.

“This way. We are almost there,” he says, taking a left turn.

Gasping, I quickly close my eyes and look away. I am never going to get that horrific image out of my head. Tears pool in my eyes, and my heart breaks just thinking about them hanging on the wall.

Wings.

Fae wings.

Hanging on the wall on display. Horrific. How could the king have them displayed like that? How could they have done that to the Fae? The pain they must have been in when they were removed. I can still see the dried blood on the wall like they hung the wings up when they were freshly cut.

I clutch my hands in front of me and take a deep breath. Shivering at the thought, I keep my head ducked as we make our way down the hall. More wings cover the walls the further we walk down.

Prince Archie stops and turns to one of the walls.

Please, no.

“My great-great-grandfather had several Fae tied up by a magical spell from the witch. She got their wings out, and he cut them off and proudly displays them here. We honor him by keeping them up here. If I had it my way, I would fill up the whole palace with them and my new home. Bring in every Fae and have the witch remove their wings.” Prince Archie rubs his hands together.

“When I become king, I am going to do that.”

Shuddering, I take a step away from the prince. Cruel. He is beyond evil for wanting to do that. The Fae haven’t done anything to them, and yet the prince wants to do maim them.

“Wouldn’t you have an uproar if you did that?” I ask tentatively.

“I don’t think we would. They don’t know how to break the spell,” Prince Archie replies as he starts walking again. “They are at our mercy and have been for hundreds of years.”

At some point, they are going to get sick of it and stop caring if their magic and wings come back. At some point, they are going to want their freedom more than they are going to want their wings back.

I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t happened yet.

Unless the High Lord has been keeping all of them at bay, promising that he is actively working on a way to get them out of it.

I don’t know how he would or if he is even still alive, but he very well could be.

It could be Kieran like he said but I don’t know if I should fully trust him on that.

He could have gotten his friends to agree with me and try to manipulate me.

“This is where you are going to take your lessons.” Prince Archie steps in front of a room. “I’ll be back in an hour to bring you to one of the guards so he can take you home.”

Prince Archie doesn’t wait for me to respond as he walks away, and the door opens. Two older ladies in black dresses, their hair pinned up, their hands clasped in front of them, stare at me.

“Oh, um, hi,” I awkwardly greet them.

I was not expecting them to be standing right in front of the door, looking at me like I’m their next toy they are going to torture.

“Do not talk like that.” The one on the right glares at me. “I’m Hilga and this is Maria.”

Hilga is definitely fitting for her with her attitude. Who ate her food this morning to put her in such a foul mood?

“Come in and sit in the chair,” Maria says sweetly. “We’ll start our lesson then. We only have an hour once a week, so we are going to go through a lot to make sure that you learn as much as possible. We have to use our time wisely.”

I’m thankful it’s only one hour a week and not the whole afternoon. We haven’t even started, and I’m ready for us to be done. I can’t wait to walk home and be alone.

“There is a certain manner that the future queen needs. A way she needs to behave and appear. You must act like a queen and not a commoner,” Hilga sneers at me.

I take a step back and glare back at her. Who does she think she is? I am a commoner, and that won’t change. People know me for who I am and it isn’t a queen.

“You will need to change your entire closet.” Hilga looks up and down at me with disgust. “Your clothes are not acceptable. Where do you get them?”

I look at my old dress. There is wear and tear, with patches where my mother and I have made repairs, but it’s one of my nicest ones and blends in with everyone else in Bellhollow.

“Don’t answer that. You will need new clothes if you are going to be queen,” Hilga says before I can say anything.

“I will not,” I reply, straightening my back. “I will stick out when I walk around Bellhollow, and I will not have that. Fancy dresses will be damaged by the work I do.”

Even if the prince says that I have to, I am not going to.

There are some things that I will not budge on, and this is one of those.

I desperately want a new dress to wear around but it’s impractical when I do so much around the house and outside.

It would get ruined in less than an hour and I would feel so guilty about it.

I will not stick out in my own town more than I already do right now. It’s bad enough the prince keeps wanting to see me there. I am not about to let him make me wear newer dresses and have everyone’s eyes on me. It will make me want to dirty the dress up and make it like all my other ones.

Hilga huffs out a breath and rolls her eyes. Right. This isn’t going to be fun for either of us. If I could get out of it, I would, but I know Hilga is loyal to the king and prince.