Page 39 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

T he prince has once again left for some unknown business in a nearby town.

I’m happy, excited that he’s once again gone because it means his guards are as well.

The town is so much quieter and more peaceful.

It also allows me to go out to the forest more often without fearing that he will show up at random when I’m trying to talk to Kieran.

“I’ll be gone for a couple of days,” Father says as he walks over to the door. “I won’t be far in case the baby arrives, but winter is when some of the animals are out that normally aren’t. I want to hunt a few so we can sell the pelts and meat if we want.”

Placing the last pot to dry on the cloth, I nod. Father is never around much. There is always something out there that he could be hunting. It helps keep us alive, but growing up, I wished he were around more so I got to know who he really was.

“And when you come back, you’ll teach me some more?” I ask, looking at him hopefully.

We went out the other day in the forest to practice with the bow and arrow. I was terrible at it, but everyone has to start somewhere. Father bought me my own bow and a couple of arrows to practice with while he is gone.

“Yes, we will. Practice while I’m gone. It’ll give you an excuse to go outside.” He chuckles and walks out the door.

“Not that you need an excuse,” Mother mutters. “You are just like your father, always wanting to be outside. Maybe this child will be more like me.”

Guilt festers inside of me. Even though he wasn’t around much when I grew up, I have a connection to the forest like he does.

“Sorry, Mother. I can stay inside more if you want,” I offer, but deep down I hope she doesn’t say yes.

I don’t think I will be able to stay inside any more than I already am. I get maybe thirty minutes to an hour outside and I want more. I’ve always wanted more.

Mother waves her hand in the air. “No. You spend the majority of your time in here. Being outside for an hour won’t hurt you. Now, I bet you want to go outside now?”

I give her a small smile. “I finished all my morning chores,” I tell her. “And I would like to try and spend time outside as the prince isn’t in town,” I whisper the last part.

She knows that I don’t like the prince, and this is the perfect opportunity for me to enjoy nature while I can.

“Go, I’ll be fine. Agnes is close enough that if I yell, she’ll hear me. But nothing is going to happen. Have fun walking in the forest.” Mother chuckles.

I skip over to her and kiss her cheek, before dashing out of the house and straight toward the forest. I really want to see Kieran and how he is. Has his back gotten any better since the last time I saw him or has the poison made it impossible to heal?

“I’ll let him know you are here,” Zahra says as she leans up against the tree like she’s been there for hours. “You need to change up your schedule if you don’t want to get caught. One of these days, someone is going to get curious and follow you.”

I shake my head. “No one will. I’m not interesting enough.”

“Yet you have the eye of the prince and Kieran,” she points out. “I would say you are interesting enough.”

“No, I really am not.”

Zahra chuckles and pushes herself off the tree and walks straight toward me. “Whatever you want to believe, but you are important. You are important in the human world and in the Fae world. Everyone knows who you are to my people.”

“Because Kieran says I’m his mate?” I ask. “Has he been telling everyone that?”

“You don’t believe that you are his mate?” She tilts her head to the side. “Interesting. But yes, he told a select few people. When he got whipped, he had to let us know who you were so they wouldn’t retaliate.”

“You believe we are mates?” I look at her strangely. “You actually do?”

“I do. I have a mate of my own.” She cocks an eyebrow.

“The sparks you feel are real. The connection you can’t explain is all part of having a mate.

Having thoughts of him all the time is part of him being your mate.

Or him always being on your mind. It might seem like you have a lot of people on your mind and it’s just another person, but with him it’s every single thought.

Even if he doesn’t relate to it at all.”

I had never told anyone about him constantly being in my thoughts. Somehow, even when I shouldn’t think about him, he’s on my mind all the time.

“Why don’t you ask him about the birthmark on his hip?” Zahra says as she starts to walk off. “And what it means. Everyone gets one when they are born.”

“Can I see yours?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “Ask him about it, and then later I’ll show you.”

Zahra chuckles as she walked away. I stand in the middle of the forest, waiting for Kieran. She said she was going to tell him I was here. Was he close by or is she just now leaving to tell him?

“Sweets.” Kieran’s voice fills the forest.

I quickly turn in his direction, a smile blossoming across my face. Kieran grins back and approaches me. Wait. When did I get so excited to see him? When did I get all giddy inside and accept this?

Since the beginning, but I’ve been trying to fight it.

“Zahra told me you were in the forest,” he gently says as he gets closer. “What’s wrong? Your mood has gone all sour.”

“Nothing.” I wave my hand in the air.

“Addie,” he scolds me.

I take a step back, but all I want to do is wrap my arms around him. But how is his back? Would I hurt him?

“Your back, how is it doing?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Better than the last time you asked me. They are all scabbed now, but if I lift heavy objects they open up a little,” he honestly replies.

I look down at my feet. “I’m so sorry about that,” I whisper, the guilt returning.

Kieran has told me time and time again that I shouldn’t feel guilty. That he would do it again and again if it meant looking at me, but I can’t help but feel bad for what happened.

“You have nothing to feel guilty for,” he gently says, cupping my face with his hands so I have to look at him. “If it happens again, I want you to promise me something.”

“What?” I ask.

“If that ever happens again, I don’t want you anywhere near it.

I don’t want you to try and step in and save me.

It will only put you in danger, make you a target, and I won’t have that,” he sternly says.

“We can take a whipping and will survive, but putting a target on your back, that can’t happen. I will not lose you.”

“You really think it will happen again?” I search his face.

He sighs. “I wish I could tell you it won’t, but it probably will.

I don’t want to lie to you and say it won’t when I don’t know what the future holds.

They happen almost every single day, here or in other towns.

But that doesn’t matter. We will heal in a week or two but for you, it will put a target on your back and you could die from it. ”

Silence fills the air around us as we look into each other’s eyes.

“I sound like a broken record, but you really think we are mates?” I whisper.

“Yes,” he replies. “You can ask me it however many times you want, and I will always reply with yes.”

I pull away from his hands and take a step back. “Zahra said something about a birthmark on your hip that signifies your mate?” I sound crazy when I ask that. “Can I see it?”

Kieran cracks a smile. “Of course she did.”

“She said it showed up when you were born.” I continue to talk. “That you know who your mate is from birth.”

“That’s not exactly true for me. Some people have the tattoo, or birthmark if you want to call it that, when they are born, and some don’t have it until they meet their mate for the first time,” Kieran explains.

“Normally, the higher-up Fae don’t have it when they are born.

I didn’t. Not until you showed up in the woods and we spoke for the first time. ”

“But we connected before then,” I point out. “Several times.”

He nods. “We did, but mine wanted to be hard and wait until we met in person to appear on my hip.”

I look at his hip. What exactly is the birthmark he is talking about? Will I have the same thing? I am going to have to check when I get home. I so badly want to do it now, but I don’t want to show him everything underneath my dress...not yet.

“Turn around!” I point at Kieran. “I need to check something.”

Amusement flies across his face before he turns around. I scan the area, making sure no one else is around, before lifting up my dress and looking at both sides of my hips. My shoulders relax when I realize I don’t have any sort of birthmark or tattoo.

Part of me wished there was a birthmark there that would match his so I knew that we were destined to be together. It would make everything so much easier right now. But nothing in life is ever easy.

“You can turn around,” I calmly say, trying to keep my voice even without any emotions.

“Did you look at your hips to see if you had anything?” he smiles.

My mouth hangs open as I look at him. “No! I did not.”

“Are you sure about that? It’s okay if you did. Most human mates do when they find out their mate has a birthmark on their hip.” Kieran chuckles.

“Okay fine, I did look. Can you blame me? It would make things a whole lot easier if I had a tattoo that was the same as yours,” I bite back, irritated and slightly embarrassed.

Who wouldn’t be, though? I got caught red-handed.

“Can you just show me your birthmark?” I wave my hand in the air to get him to move it along. “How do I know you didn’t get whatever this is until after you met me? You didn’t show it to me when we first met.”

“You would have freaked out if I showed it to you the first time we met,” he points out. “I wanted to, but I didn’t want to push you further. I had to take things slowly.”