Page 34 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

“ W hen do you think you’ll have the baby?” I ask as I finish up the last of my chores.

“It could be today or it could be another week. We just need to be prepared,” Mother replies. “The midwife is on standby. No one else is having a baby right now, so when the time comes, one of you will fetch her and she’ll come right away.”

And for that, I am grateful. I don’t think I could handle helping my mother birth my sibling. It’s a line that I would rather not cross if I didn’t have to.

“So I can still go out on walks?” My words are laced with hope.

I’ve been waking up a little earlier every single day to get all my chores done. I need my time outside before she has the baby. I may also want to see Kieran one last time before my life gets turned upside down .

A lot of things have changed since I got the note from the prince four days ago.

The presence of guards has diminished, but no one is complaining.

I think people are actually going outside more, even though it’s still the depths of winter.

There is something peaceful about the guards not being around as much.

“Yes, you may. As long as you finish your chores,” she says.

“I just finished now. Can I go on my walk today before the snow starts to come down again?” I ask.

Mother sighs. “Don’t be out too long. I know you have been well for a while, but I don’t want you getting sick again.”

I smile. “I know. I’ll get the bucket and fill it with ice again. That way I’ll be productive while I’m out. It may take me a little while if I have to break the ice.”

She waves a hand dismissively. “Just be careful. If it’s too hard to get, don’t worry about it. We’ll manage with what we have.”

Nodding, I grab the bucket and my coat before heading outside. I take a deep breath of the icy, clear air, letting it shock my lungs. After spending hours in the house with the blazing fire, it’s a relief to step outside and inhale the fresh air. My lungs crave the feeling.

As I walk through the quiet town and into the forest, I wrap my arms around my waist, holding the bucket close to my side. I should’ve grabbed my mother’s jacket as well, but I wanted to get out fast, needed to get out fast.

I walk further into the forest, straight toward the frozen stream.

I still haven’t figured out how to break the ice since Kieran has always been there to help.

I can’t use the bucket in fear of it breaking so maybe I can use the heel of my foot to break it up.

I might ruin my shoes a little, but we do need this and there are no sticks sturdy enough to break the ice.

I place the bucket on the ground and start to stomp the heel of my foot onto the ice. It flies everywhere as I crack the surface. Bending down after several hits, I grab a piece of thick ice, trying to pry it away from the surface, but I slice my finger instead.

Hissing, I hold my finger up and watch as blood lines the cut. Without thinking, I quickly place the side of my finger in my mouth, trying to stop the bleeding. My nose wrinkles as the metallic warmth flows in my mouth, but I don’t pull it away.

“Let me see your hand,” Kieran says from behind me.

I fall flat on my ass, looking at him with wide eyes. I didn’t hear him approach. How out of it was I? Or does his magic allow him to move silently?

But that doesn’t make sense because I’ve heard him walk before when we were together.

“Trust me,” he gently encourages. “I’m not going to harm you.”

I pull my finger out of my mouth and look down at it. Blood starts to pool again. How badly have I cut it?

“Let me see your hand.” He holds his own out. “I want to see if it still works.”

My eyebrows knit together. “See if what still works? I’m not going to give you my hand if I don’t know what’s going to happen,” I tell him and shake my head. “No. No, I won’t do it.”

“I haven’t harmed you yet, and I’m not going to. You mean too much to me,” he declares. “You mean the world to me, and I would cut off my own hand before harming you.”

I hold my bloody hand close to my chest, unsure of what to do. I’ve trusted him previously, but I’m scared right now.He hasn’t told me what he is going to do with my finger.

“Come on,” he soothingly says. “I want to see if I can heal you.”

“Heal me?” I whisper, pulling my hand away from my chest. “You can heal people?”

“Not people, my mate,” Kieran explains. “Now, let me see your hand.”

Hesitantly, I offer him my hand, red coats my finger and trails down my arm. He gingerly holds my wrist and brings my finger to his mouth, gently licking the blood away. I scrunch my nose up, pulling my head back slightly as I look at him.

“What are you doing?” I ask and pull my hand away from him.

“Look,” he urges me.

Looking down at my finger, my eyebrows rise as the wound starts to close up.

“Wh-what?” I continue to look at my finger.

The cut is completely healed, and I stare at it in amazement.

“How did you do that?” I whisper, looking up at him. “What was that? I’ve never seen anything like it. What was it?”

Kieran chuckles. “Mates can do that, or well, Fae mates can. But we can heal our mates if something is wrong. Only smaller cuts so if you had a huge gash in your side or on your thigh, I could heal some of it, but we would need to go to a healer since I don’t have my full magic.

If the curse is ever broken, and I have all of my magic, then I could help heal you almost completely. ”

My mouth hangs open as I look at him. What in the world?

“How do I know if you are telling the truth about it only being between mates?” I ask, finally voicing my concern. “You could just be making something up about mates only being able to do it.”

“Then let Elias lick your finger,” Kieran suggests, his voice grumpy. “I don’t like it. I don’t want another male touching you, but if it will help you believe, then I will suffer through it.”

Suffer through it? I want to laugh, but the seriousness on his face tells me he isn’t joking.

“Elias isn’t here,” I point out.

I don’t want to reinjure myself, but I want to show that he is lying.

Then maybe it will be easier to hate him like I should.

It definitely would and now I just need to prove that he is lying to me.

A huge part of me believes him, but there is still a small part of me that doubts everything he has said.

“He is here. Elias,” Kieran calls out.

Walking from the tree line, Elias is confident as he makes his way toward us. Had he been there the whole time? Elias made it to us quickly and knelt in front of me.

“I am going to prove that you are mates with Kieran.” Elias holds his hand out. “You’ll need to cut another finger.”

I look over at Kieran. Do they really want me to do this? Am I really going to hurt my finger again for Elias to lick it and it heal, proving them both wrong? But they both are confident about this.

“It is one of the ways I can prove that we are connected. Then you will finally believe me,” Kieran gently explains. “I know it is going to cause you a little pain, but when you see that Elias’ saliva won’t heal you, I will fix your finger so you aren’t in any pain.”

I look down at my finger before my eyes find Kieran again. I take a deep breath when he nods at me. Right. This is one of the ways to see if he is telling the truth or not. What if he is? What am I going to do then? Will it change anything?

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I mumble as I place my finger on a piece of metal sticking out from the bucket.

It’s been something I’ve needed to fix for a while, but every single time I think about it, I always am busy doing something else and forget. But now I’m grateful I haven’t sorted it yet.

Without thinking, I slide my finger across it, whimpering as the pain courses through my finger. When I hold it up, blood coats the top and flows down. Thankfully, I’m not queasy at the sight of blood or else I wouldn’t have done this.

I’m crazy for doing this.

What if they have some type of ulterior motive? I guess I’m in it for the ride to see whether he is telling the truth or not.

“I do not want to do this, but I will so you can see that you are mates. This is normally just between mates, sacred. But times are a little different now.” Elias seems uncomfortable. “But I would rather it be me, someone Kieran trusts.”

Sacred between mates? How is that possible?

“More intimate.” Kieran supplies another word. “Now, hurry up and lick her finger so I can get to healing her. I don’t like seeing her in pain.”

Elias gently takes my hand and brings my finger closer to his mouth, licking the blood and cut before letting my hand go. I look at the cut, waiting for it to start closing up, but it doesn’t. Blood pools again, dripping down my finger and onto my hand.

My mouth falls open as I look at my hand and then Kieran. He was telling the truth? There is no way he was actually telling the truth.

“I’m going to clean it with water and then I’ll lick the wound so it closes,” Kieran tells me.

“I wasn’t lying to you before. We are mates, and you matter to me.

I want nothing more than to make sure everything is okay with you and that no harm comes to you.

I want you to believe that you are my mate. ”

Kieran gently runs water over my cut before bringing it up to his mouth and licking the small incision. And just like before, it starts to heal within seconds.

“I hope I was able to help you realize,” Elias offers, bowing his head slightly before standing up and walking away.

Blinking several times, I look back down at my now-healed finger once again, staring at it in awe. Are we really mates? Has Kieran been telling the truth the whole time?

“Why does he bow to me and you?” I ask, trying to change the subject to keep my mind off everything.

Maybe if I don’t think about it a lot, then it won’t be true. Maybe this is all some type of long dream and I haven’t woken up from it yet.

“I will answer that at a later time. Right now, I need to talk to you about us being mates and show you that we are so you believe me one hundred percent. If I tell you now, you won’t believe me,” Kieran says.

Sighing, I shake my head. “No, I want to know now. I don’t want to have to wait. What if I never fully believe that you are my mate?”

Kieran gives me a small smile. “You will. I have faith you will know that we have a connection. I don’t know when you will believe me, but I’m not giving it up.

It can be twenty years from now before you believe me and every single time we see each other, every single day I will try to convince you that we are mates. I will never give up on you.”

“I want to know why Elias bowed to me and you,” I demand.

“And I’m not going to tell you. Not until you fully accept the bond between us. It won’t make sense until you do,” he says before fully standing up. “Now, I’m going to break the ice into smaller pieces as you wait and rest, and I will fill up your bucket.”

I take a step back and watch him getting to work. It’s so kind of him to do this for me when he doesn’t have to. This is the second time he’s done this to help me.

“Whenever I have free time, I will break up more ice and leave it here for you in case I cannot come when you are next here. I don’t want you hurting yourself.

Do not worry about it anymore, I will help you.

All you’ll have to do is fill your buckets and carry them back.

Though, I do wish I was able to help more.

” Kieran sighs as he continues on his task.

“I don’t want you carrying a heavy bucket.

I don’t want you possibly hurting yourself.

I want you in the house, relaxed and doing something you love, but I know you have responsibilities. ”

My heart melts at his words. I can’t help but stare at him as he works. Why is he being so kind to me? I don’t deserve him or any of this, but the way he has been taking care of me and making sure everything is okay makes me weak at the knees. Makes me see him in a whole new way.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” he asks, smiling.

I shake my head. “Thank you,” I say, and I mean it. “Thank you for doing this for me. I really appreciate it.”

He places the last piece of ice in my bucket and sets it right next to me. Bending, he kisses my forehead and I close my eyes, taking it in.

“Anytime,” he gently purrs. “Now, off you go. You need to get out of the cold. Make sure you get home safely. I’ll watch for as long as I can.”

I smile and pick up my bucket, heading home.

“Adeline?” he calls out.

“Yes?” I turn to look at him.

“Make sure you don’t tell anyone we are mates.”

My eyebrows pull together. “Why?” I ask.

I wasn’t going to tell anyone anyway.

“People may hurt you if they find out you are my mate,” he gently says.

“I won’t tell anyone,” I softly reply. “I want to believe you, but I just… I need to wrap my brain around everything.”

My heart aches as I say those words. Everything is getting so overwhelming, and I don’t know what all to believe. I need to think about it, really think about everything and if I trust Kieran and what he is telling me.

“You will soon.” He smiles.