Page 54 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

“ D id you get the salve I gave Henry?” Zahra asks as she steps out from behind the tree.

I scream, dropping the bucket of ice on the ground and groan as most of it falls out.

“Would it kill you to maybe try and not scare me every single time you talk to me?” I ask.

She shrugs, a smile on her face. “Would it kill you to pay better attention to your surroundings?”

Sighing, I close my eyes for several seconds to calm myself down. Whenever I talk with Zahra, I always end up using all my patience with her. She makes me want to rip all my hair out.

“I do pay attention to my surroundings,” I snap, picking up the ice and placing it back in the bucket. “Sorry, you Fae are so light on your feet that no one can hear you but your own kind.”

I take a deep breath before looking at Zahra, who has a smile on her face, a bigger one than before.

“We have some perks to being different. And from the looks of it, you haven’t been putting the salve on your hand.” She looks down at my hand.

It’s still swollen and angry from the beating I got from Hilga. It hurts to move, but I’ve been pushing through the pain to try and get my chores done.

“I didn’t know whether it was genuine or not. I didn’t want to put it on and then be marked somehow and get in trouble,” I explain. “You have to understand.”

She just looks at me, blinking several times.

“Henry is a palace guard. I don’t trust easily.

When he hands me a random jar of salve and says a mutual friend whose name starts with a Z wanted me to have this but wouldn’t let me say your name, it made me suspicious,” I explain, annoyed.

“For all I knew, he could have been giving me something illegal and waiting to see if I would use it or not. It could have made my hand turn purple so when the prince saw me next, he knew I used something I wasn’t supposed to have and then I’d get thrown into jail or banished to Tarravega. ”

Does she not realize how careful I have to be since the prince has me on his radar?

“I can see how it would have made you suspicious,” she finally says. “Next time, just trust him. No Fae likes to see you hurt. If this doesn’t stop, someone is going to do something to the human who keeps hurting you. A war is going to start. You don’t want to start a war, correct?”

“No, I don’t, but I had my reasons for being cautious,” I tell her. “Now I know to hide whenever I’m hurt so they can’t see it.”

“Good. If you need any more of the salve, let Henry know and I’ll get you more. That is, unless you see me first.” She takes a step back.

I place the last bit of ice in the bucket and stand fully. “Who is Henry to you?”

Zahra stills and her eyes narrow onto me. “That is none of your concern.”

“He seemed awfully protective of you. Said he was the only one who could say your name out loud,” I point out. “Is he your mate?”

She looks away, and that is all the answer I need.

“I won’t tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me. I won’t use it against you either. I hope we can get this curse figured out so we all can be with our mates,” I gently say.

Zahra looks at me in shock.

“Didn’t think I was going to say that?” I lift an eyebrow.

“Most people find humans weak, and to have a male human as a mate isn’t the best,” she quietly replies.

I give her a small smile. “I don’t care. If he is your mate, you should be with him. Just because he is technically weaker doesn’t mean he won’t still be protective of you and want what’s best.”

Zahra doesn’t look at me as I finish talking. I wish I knew what she was going through, but I’m not going to pretend I know. My situation is quite different from hers.

“He is a palace guard, which has to mean something,” I point out.

“That he could turn on me at any point and kill both of us? That he could tell the prince and king what is going on and have every Fae executed or whipped for finding their mates?” Her gaze narrows on me.

“Well, that wasn’t what I was talking about.

I was going more toward him knowing how to handle himself.

They don’t just pick anyone to be guards.

They probably have to go through tests and some kind of physical endurance test,” I explain.

“He is strong and has to be able to handle himself. Don’t underestimate him. ”

Zahra looks at me in shock before nodding. Silence fills the air around us as we look at each other. I wasn’t expecting to give her advice, but it felt natural, the words coming from my mouth. It felt like I was meant to say it.

“I can see why you are going to make an amazing High Lady.” She tilts her head to the side. “You just know the right thing to say, don’t you?”

I shrug. “Not all the time, but that just flowed out of me.”

Zahra chuckles and shakes her head as she looks up at the sky.

“Tell Kieran I said hi.” I pick up my bucket.

She sobers up and looks at me. “You aren’t going to wait for him?”

Shaking my head, I look in the direction of the town. “I’ve been gone long enough. I don’t need anyone getting suspicious.”

“All right, I will.” She nods.

“Oh.” I raise my free hand to stop her from turning around.

“Can you let him know that I am cautious of Skylar, but that we are now on the same page and she is not going to go behind my back anymore. Unless it’s for my apparent soon-to-be engagement to the prince, but don’t worry.

I’m not going to marry him,” I quickly say.

“He doesn’t have to worry about anything. ”

“He’s always worried, but I’ll let him know you told him not to.” She chuckles once again.

“I’ll see you when I see you,” I mumble and start walking back to the village.

I don’t look back as I make my way toward the cobblestone road. Chatter fills my ears as people walk around, talking to each other. Today is one of the nicer days in the winter. There is still snow on the ground, but it isn’t falling, and the sun is shining down on the town.

“Adeline!” Skylar yells my name.

“Adeline.” Prince Archie’s voice fills my ears.

I gently place the bucket on the ground and bow as he comes into view. I want to ignore him, but last time he gave me a warning… I don’t want to do it again and suffer from his wrath.

“What can I do for you?” I politely ask.

“Once again, I was asking around town, wondering where you were. I stopped by your house to see how you and your mother were doing, but you weren’t there.” He looks at me disapprovingly.

“I was getting ice. We ran out again since we are trying to make as much clothing as possibly before the baby comes,” I explain. “I am back now.”

“You are always off in the forest,” he says in disgust.

“Just to get ice!” I reply, panicking when he takes a step closer to me. “You can even ask Mother. I told her we needed more. I didn’t want to run out and have to wait for the ice to melt.”

My heart rate picks up, and my hands start to sweat as he looks at me. Is he going to do anything else? Is he trying to make me so nervous that I start spilling my guts and tell him anything he wants to know?

No.

That isn’t going to happen. He doesn’t just get to look at people and find out everything he wants to know.

“If I had permission to use the well, I wouldn’t have to go out into the forest so much,” I gently say, keeping my voice calm and even.

I don’t want to place any blame, but he is the one who probably told the guards not to allow us common people to get water from the well unless it was for drinking. Does Prince Archie think we are going to run out of water if we use it for something else?

Foolish.

But it could also have been the guard who was in a bad mood and didn’t want to watch me come to the well several times to get water.

“No, no one is permitted to get water from the well for anything but drinking,” Prince Archie declares.

And I was wrong about the guard just being in a bad mood. It was definitely Prince Archie who set the rule in our town. I remember being able to draw water from there, but something changed.

A lot has changed recently.

There is no winning when it comes to Prince Archie, and I’m afraid I’m about to get into trouble with him.

He doesn’t want me to go into the forest and yet he won’t let anyone draw from the well if it’s for anything other than drinking water.

Where am I supposed to go to get water to wash the clothes?

“No worries.” I wave my hand in the air and put a smile on my face. “I just thought I would ask. I can understand why you don’t want us to use the well for anything but drinking water. It keeps it clean, but it also keeps it full.”

All I want to do is punch him in the face and tell him how stupid he is. How he is making it harder on everyone else. Prince Archie doesn’t even need to come to the well for water. None of his people do. They all have something fancy in the palace, living like kings.

I hold in a chuckle as I stare at him.

“I have been looking for you everywhere.” Skylar finally stands next to me before turning to Prince Archie and bowing.

“I asked Adeline if she could get me one piece of ice to melt at the shop I work at. We have a piece of clothing that needs to be washed. I saw her walk into the forest and just knew she would save me time.”

Prince Archie’s eyebrows raise as he looks at Skylar. “You needed something from the forest?”

I look back and forth between them, trying to work out what is going on.

She nods. “Just a piece of ice, and look at this bucket, overflowing. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to do that for me so I didn’t have to go do it.

” She pulls me into a hug and takes the piece she never asked for.

“This is so cold. I can understand why you put it in the bucket now.”

I look at her and blink.

“What?” Skylar chuckles. “I know what I said, but we aren’t going to pay any mind to it. I know why you use a bucket.”

“Women.” Prince Archie clears his throat.

We both turn back to him. He is still here. I was hoping that with Skylar coming up and talking that he would go back to the palace and leave us alone.

“Oh, sorry, Prince Archie.” Skylar slightly bows. “I didn’t mean to take you out of the conversation. I just am so grateful for Adeline thinking about me and helping me out.”

Is she trying to save me from his wrath?

“Can I speak with Adeline alone?” he asks.

“Right.” Skylar gives me a nervous smile. “Thank you again for grabbing the ice.”

I watch her walk off, holding the piece of ice, back to the shop she works at.

Prince Archie clears his throat once again, bringing my attention back to him. “Yes?” I politely ask.

“Let us walk to your house so you can drop it off to your mother,” he suggests.

I smile tightly and grab the bucket of ice as we slowly make our way home. Silence envelopes us as we walk, and I want to say something, anything, but I don’t talk to him.

“Here we are. Thank you so much for walking me back.” I open the door and place the bucket inside before turning to him. “I really appreciate it.”

His face hardens. “Do not dismiss me. I am the one who dismisses people.”

I slightly bow and take a deep breath. “Sorry, Prince Archie.”

“Don’t do it again,” he sneers at me.

We stare at each other for several seconds, and I don’t dare say anything.

“Would you accompany me to lunch?” he asks, but it’s more of a demand. “I have things I would like to discuss with you… about our soon-to-be marriage.”