Page 41 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

“ I t’s been a couple of days since Father said he would be back. Do you think something happened, or do you think he just decided to stay out for a little longer?” I ask Mother as I finish up mixing the spices.

There have been a couple of times that he has been late by a day, but never three. What could possibly be going on? Worry has been churning inside of me for the past twenty-four hours as we wait for him to come home.

“He’s fine,” Mother replies. “He probably just caught something big and is trying to carry it back and not attract a wolf.”

I take a deep breath in and slowly let it out. Everything is going to be fine. Father is going to come back soon with several different animals for us to prepare and several pelts to make into things.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

My head snaps to the door, and I quickly walk over.

“Fath—” but the words die on my lips as I look at his hunting partner, Flynn. “Oh, hello. I wasn’t expecting you.”

Flynn doesn’t say anything but looks forlorn.

“Father isn’t home right now, he should be back soon,” I tell him.

Sometimes, they don’t go hunting together. Father went out at the very last minute, so maybe Flynn didn’t know about it.

“I know. Is your mother around?” he asks.

“Come in. She’s sitting at the table.” I open the door wider.

“I’ll make it quick,” he replies.

I follow behind him as he walks into the kitchen and stops in front of Mother.

“Flynn, I wasn’t expecting you. My husband didn’t say anything about you coming over. How can I help you?” Mother asks.

Flynn looks uncomfortable as he wrings his hat in his hands. “I regret to inform you that we lost James while hunting.”

Everything goes quiet as those words process in my mind. Father is… dead? No, that can’t be.

Flynn turns to me, regret and sorrow on his face, and he says something, but I don’t hear a word he says. Tears prick my eyes, and before I know it, they are falling down my face.

“Adeline,” Mother calls out. “Adeline!”

I turn to her to see tears in her eyes, but she doesn’t seem as distressed, almost like she is in shock.

“What are we going to do?” I whisper. “What are we going to do without him? How are we going to survive? What’s going to happen to us?”

“Shhh, you’re okay,” Mother gently says. “I.” She takes a deep breath. “I don’t know what we are going to do.”

I wrap my arms around her, letting the tears fall freely. He can’t be dead. He was just here a couple of days ago, telling us he was going to come back with meat and fur for us to sell.

“I need to do some cleaning,” Mother whispers, her voice so broken as she pulls away from my embrace.

“Mother,” I start to say, but she holds her hand up.

“There are things that need to get done. I just need to do it.” She doesn’t look at me. “Go on a walk. Let the forest help calm you down and process everything.”

Hurt flashes through me as I look at her. She’s cradling her stomach, and I can’t help but stare at her. She just lost her husband, and she’s about to have a baby.

“It’s okay.” Mother smiles at me, but I can see the hurt, sorrow, and concern all across her face. “Everything is going to be okay. I just need some alone time. You go to the forest and walk around. I know what you were about to ask before Flynn came and told us.”

“I don’t want to leave you,” I tell her, my voice cracking at the end. “You need me.”

“I’m okay. I-I had a feeling th-this was going to happen.” She looks away from me. “I’ll be okay by myself.”

I stand in the middle of the kitchen, looking at her and worrying.

“Go,” she tells me. “Go to the forest and walk. I need to be alone.”

“Don’t—”

“I’m not going to do anything but some chores that need to get done. I’m going to bring this baby into the world and be there their whole life. I promise.” She looks me in the eyes. “Why don’t you go get some ice for us? Just a little bit.”

“I… Okay,” I whisper.

I grab my coat, pulling it on as I pick up the bucket and walk out of the house. I don’t pay attention to anything around me as I walk through the town and toward the forest.

He’s gone.

Father is gone.

What are we going to do without him? How are we going to get the meat we need and the pelts to sell? How are we going to do anything without him?

Numb.

Numb is all I feel as I walk into the forest and straight to the stream to grab some ice. I don’t want to feel anything anymore. I don’t want to feel the grief ripping at my heart.

“Adeline,” Kieran’s voice calls out, but I don’t pay any attention.

I continue to walk toward the stream, on a mission to get the ice and not think about anything at all.

“Addie,” he gently says right next to me. “Sweets.”

Tears prick my eyes as I stop, my shoulders slumping, and my head falling as I look at the ground.

“I don’t want to feel,” I whisper, my voice raw and full of so much emotion.

“Oh, Sweets,” Kieran coos and pulls me into his embrace.

The bucket hits the ground, and before I know it, I’m holding onto him for dear life as tears run down my face, soaking Kieran’s shirt. He holds me tight against him as I continue to cry, completely breaking down in his arms.

“Shh, you’re okay,” he whispers. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

Sorrow flows through me the longer Kieran holds me. I thought I was numb, but one touch from Kieran and I broke, the flood gates opened. I don’t know what to do now.

“I know.” His hand runs up and down my back. “Just let it all out.”

I don’t know how long I stay in his arms, but eventually the tears stop and I pull back from him.

“I heard the news.” He cups my face with his right hand. “I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t know what to do,” I whisper. “I don’t know what to do or feel. I feel so lost, so numb. I wasn’t expecting this.”

And now I’m just rambling about anything, trying to fill the silence around us. I thought I wanted quiet, but I don’t. I don’t want to have to think about my father’s death or anything related to it.

“You’re going to get through this. You are strong, and I’m going to be here for you every step of the way,” Kieran tells me. “It’s going to be hard in the beginning, but you will come through this.”

I shake my head, his hand still touching my cheek. “I don’t know.”

“No,” he sternly says. “You are not going to think of anything else but getting through this. I won’t accept anything else.”

Sighing, I close my eyes and lean into his hand. I wish it were that easy to just forget about everything and push through it all, but it’s not. It feels like there is a big hole in my life, a big missing piece and I don’t know how to function.

“What did your father’s friend have to say?” Kieran asks.

“I don’t want to talk about this,” my voice cracks.

Silence fills the air around us as I look at him. He has a small smile on his face as he looks right back at me.

“Adeline,” he gently says. “I heard the news, but I need to know what your father’s friend said.”

“Why?” I pull my face out of his hand. “Why do you need to know right now?”

“Because the things I’ve heard aren’t adding up. I need to know so I can understand,” he explains.

I shake my head and wrap my arms around myself. I can’t believe he is trying to ask me this right now.

“Please, Sweets. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have a reason.” He takes a step toward me. “Please just let me know how he was behaving and what he said.”

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and slowly let it out.

“Flynn looked uncomfortable when he was telling us. He looked sad, but there was something off about him, or I think there was,” I say. “But I was also in shock so I’m not a reliable source.”

“And what did he say?”

I think back to the words Flynn said in the kitchen, the words that changed my mother’s and my life forever.

“He said he regrets to inform us that they lost my father while hunting. That was it,” I tell him.

“And there was nothing else?” Kieran asks.

“Wait!” I raise my hand. “He turned to me, and I remember the regret and sorrow across his face. Why regret? I understand the sorrow since they were best friends. Maybe he couldn’t save him, and that’s why. But then he said something to me, but I didn’t hear a word.”

Now I really wish I would have read his lips or heard what he said.

“Regret,” Kieran mumbles. “It could be because he wasn’t able to save him, but it could also be something else.”

My eyebrows pull together. “ What do you mean?”

“Hear me out, okay?” Kieran looks at me.

What could he possibly say that would make me not want to hear him out?

“I don’t think it was an accident. I think he was murdered,” Kieran says, and everything around me stops once again.