Page 5 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

N othing happened after I stared into those deep blue eyes yesterday afternoon.

They sucked me in, entrancing me in some sort of spell.

But they disappeared when I blinked. I spent an embarrassingly long time trying to find out who they belonged to, but I couldn’t find their owner.

When the sun started to set, I knew I had stayed out too long.

How had I lost track of that much time?

“I’m sorry for being out late yesterday,” I whisper again to my mom.

When I arrived home to find my mom trying to move something heavy, I felt guilty. She didn’t scold me. Didn’t tell me she was disappointed about me staying out late.

Part of me wishes she had.

It would make me feel a whole lot better.

“It’s okay, you said the prince wanted to eat with you. I didn’t expect you to turn him down.” My mother gave me a pointed look.

“I know, but I still feel bad,” I mumble, looking away from her and letting the guilt take over once again.

She walks over, cupping my face with her cold hands. “It’s okay, Addie. There wasn’t much to do around the house yesterday.”

I chuckle and shake my head, giving her a certain look this time. “There is a lot to do around the house, yet you still let me go out and walk around the town and forest.”

Mother gives me a tender smile. “Because I know once the baby arrives that you won’t be able to get out much. I want you to have some freedom at the moment. Winter is coming, and you won’t be able to go into the forest much when the temperature drops.”

I sigh, folding another piece of cloth. Winters around here can get dangerous. I don’t wander off into the forest much, or really walk around the town because of how cold it is and how much snow we get. It’s not safe.

But I still try and go outside to get some fresh air, no matter how cold it is.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Adeline!” Skylar yells from behind the door. “I need to talk to you!”

I look at my mom, and she nods. “I’ll be back soon. Thank you.” I kiss her cheek and jog toward the door.

Skylar is standing in the doorway in her capri-style pants.

We are polar opposites. She loves pants and to be less girly, but still getting all dolled up, and I love dresses and to walk around in nature, without a scrap of makeup.

But somehow, we are best friends and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“You have to tell me everything that happened yesterday!” She grabs my arm, pulling me out of the house.

Of course she has already heard what happened. I’m surprised she didn’t come to me earlier, begging for answers.

I laugh, closing the door behind me. “There isn’t much to say.”

“Don’t even start with me! I had to hear from Agnes that the prince was seen walking with you yesterday. Agnes! I didn’t hear it from my best friend who should have rushed over to me right away.” Skylar slaps my arm. “I thought we told each other everything.”

I sigh and give her a smile. “We do, I just haven’t had time yet. I was going to find you when I finished my chores this morning.”

And after I walked out in the woods, but she doesn’t need to know that. Telling her about the prince wasn’t high on my priority list.

“So, tell me!” she squeals.

Everyone’s attention turns to us for a brief second, but they quickly look away when they realize it’s just the two of us. This is a common occurrence with Skylar and me, so much so that most people don’t bat an eye toward us anymore.

I look at the front door, making sure it’s locked before I start talking. I’ve already told my mom, and I don’t want her to worry.

“Prince Archie saw me around town yesterday and told me he wanted to have lunch with me. Not a question but a request. We walked around a little bit, discussing things as we went. He let it slip that he wants me to take lessons to be a proper lady, can you believe that?” I scoff and look at Skylar.

“What would you need that for?” she asks. “No one around here is a proper lady. Some of us have even moved away from wearing dresses.”

That has happened in the past year or two. More women my age want to wear pants and shirts. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy wearing pants, but there is something about dresses that makes me feel giddy inside. Makes me feel more like me and not an impostor.

“Apparently, he has his eyes set on me to be his wife,” I whisper, not needing everyone in town to know my business.

Gossip spreads around the town like wildfire. It’ll morph into something I don’t want it to. It would put a lot of pressure on my parents, and my mother really doesn’t need that while being pregnant.

“But you can’t tell anyone,” I quickly say. “I don’t need it getting around. I just want to keep it quiet. It’s probably not going to happen anyway, and I don’t need people asking me a million questions.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” She grabs my hand, giving it a small squeeze. “What are you going to do about this?”

Skylar knows I don’t like the prince. I don’t know him well, but she knows I don’t like how they pretend like they are better than everyone else.

“Well, I can’t really do anything. I pissed him off a couple of times yesterday when I didn’t answer his questions right away. I can’t go against him, but I don’t want to be his wife. I don’t want anything to do with the king or Prince Archie,” I explain.

Skylar looks at me and shrugs. “Is there anything you can to make him lose interest in you?”

“He doesn’t like it when I talk about the forest and wanting to be in nature.

Said it was foolish for me to do it and love it,” I whisper toward the end.

“That hurt. I may try and see if I can still talk about it, but not get him angry so he sees that I’m not going to change and go for someone else,” I explain.

“Maybe he likes you, too.” I nudge her shoulder with mine and wiggle my eyebrows.

Skylar laughs. “Yeah, right. Like I would want that, I’m content with what I have right now.”

But her voice betrays her. There’s longing in her voice. Even though she has followed the fashion trends, I bet the prince wouldn’t mind that she wears pants when he realizes she actually wants to be a princess.

“Out of the two of us, you are the one who fits the role. You are already more proper than I am. You would shine bright as Princess of Bellhollow, the future Queen of Bellhollow,” I point out.

“You are so right with that statement. I would make a good princess, wouldn’t I? But enough with that. So, what else happened yesterday?” she asks.

I think back to yesterday, and my mind immediately goes to the eyes. The ones I haven’t searched for yet today. Will I see them again, or was it only a yesterday thing? I open my mouth, getting ready to tell Skylar about what I can’t get out of my thoughts or dreams, but quickly close it.

I can’t tell her.

Usually, I tell her everything, but I don’t know anything about the eyes. I can’t answer the most basic questions about them besides what color they are and how I felt when I saw them. Skylar is going to think I’m crazy.

I think I’m going crazy. I’ve never felt this way before.

“What is it?” Skylar asks. “Are you going to tell me what happened to the prince? No one got a good look at what was wrong with him when he was carried to safety by his guards.”

My shoulders relax. “I don’t really know what happened since I wasn’t there.

He walked away after hearing a noise. When he yelled out, I ran to him.

I think his arm was broken,” I quietly say.

“It was at a weird angle, and I called for the guards. They took him away before I could do anything or say much of anything.”

I wasn’t really worried about him, but for myself. What if the guards thought I did something to him? It would be my word against his.

“What do you think could have broken his arm?” She leans in close, trying to keep the conversation between us.

I shrug. “I don’t know. He doesn’t know the forest like everyone else, so he could have tripped on a tree root and fallen on his arm. I have no idea, but I’m going to ask the next time I see him.”

Would it be even longer till I see the prince since he broke his arm? He told me he’s going to the other town, but will he be able to now? I don’t know, and part of me hopes he has to postpone it. Maybe with so much time passing, he’ll forget about me.

“You’ll have to let me know right away what you find out. I need to know.” Skylar bounces on her toes. “So, what are you going to do in the meantime? Have you got any of the princess classes scheduled? Where are they going to take place?”

Why is she so interested in this? She knows I don’t want anything to do with the prince.

“Nothing will be organized until I speak with him next. I need to figure out a day to go to the palace for them, but I hope he forgets by the time he comes back,” I honestly say.

“I’m going to be helping my parents. They are expecting my sibling soon, and we need to prepare for it, especially since winter is coming.

We don’t want to get caught in a bad situation, so we’re trying to plan in advance in case anything goes wrong. ”

Which I hope doesn’t. My mom has only had me and my older sister. Both births were apparently easy, but this one is a little different. It’s in winter, which could cause complications. She’s also much older now.

There are so many things to think about and prepare for. My father hasn’t been around for several weeks. He’s trying to hunt as much meat as he can before winter comes and animals are hibernating. But even then, he’ll be hunting regularly for smaller animals during the cold months.

“Oh, that’s no fun.” Skylar pouts. “Walk with me for a little bit?”

I look back at the front door before turning to her and nodding. “Just a little bit. I need to get back soon.”