Page 55 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

I clench my jaw and stare at him. I don’t want to go to lunch with him, and I really don’t want to talk to him about marriage. I’m not going to get married to him.

“I have a picnic being set up in the forest right now. Let’s head there and we can eat and discuss it further.” He holds his hand out, but I look at it, stunned.

There is no way in hell I’m about to take his hand as we walk through the town. I don’t want everyone to think we are together.

“I need to talk to my mother about this. I need to make sure she is okay with me going. She could have the baby at any moment,” I tell him. “Just give me one second alone with her?”

Prince Archie looks visibly annoyed as I finish talking, but right now I can’t find it in myself to really care.

My mother is important to me, and the fact that she could have her baby any day now makes me want to stay closer.

But I have been spending time in the forest recently, which she has given me permission for because she hasn’t been having any contractions.

But that could have changed.

“Go.” He dismisses me with his hand.

I pick the bucket back up and bring it further into the house, placing it by the fire. Mother is finishing up the pair of pants she started yesterday.

“Mother?” I hesitantly call out her name.

When I came back after my lesson, she was caring and wanted to make sure I had everything I needed, but that has stopped.

She has gone back to ignoring me unless she needs something or I need to tell her I’m going out.

But I am taking that over her kicking me out and wanting nothing to do with me anymore.

“Yes?” She briefly looks at me before going back to sewing.

“Prince Archie is outside and wants to have lunch with me. Is it all right is I go with him?” I ask, hoping she tells me no.

“I’m not having any contractions. If I need you, I will have someone get you,” she replies, not even looking up from her work. “You will be eating in the forest?”

My mouth falls open as I look at her. She knows I don’t want to be with him, yet she is saying she doesn’t need me. Why couldn’t she have just lied and said she was nervous and wanted me close by?

“Adeline?” She stops sewing and looks up at me. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

I sober up and blink several times as I look at her. “I.”

“You what?” she impatiently asks. “You can go with him. It’ll be good for you to spend some time with him instead of being out in the woods alone or doing chores. There isn’t much to do, you’ve been on a roll this morning.”

“Right,” I mutter.

The one time I was trying to get ahead so I could relax, it backfires and bites me in the ass. I can never win in either situation and it’s exhausting.

“Go have some fun,” she gently says before getting back to the pair of pants. “But don’t be too long. An hour and no more. While you got ahead, there are still a lot of things to do around here and I have a feeling the baby is going to make an appearance very soon.”

“Thanks.” I turn and walk back to the door.

“Well?” Prince Archie doesn’t even wait for me to fully step outside before he is asking.

“I can be gone for an hour but she wants me back no later than that,” I tell him, hoping he doesn’t get mad at the restrictions.

“An hour is plenty of time.” He smiles.

Eyebrows raised, I stare at Prince Archie. When he smiles, he doesn’t look wicked. But I know that underneath all of that, there is someone who shouldn’t be trusted at all.

Has no one else seen how terrible Prince Archie actually is or has he only shown me and charmed everyone else?

“Let’s go,” he snaps his fingers, gaining my attention.

Taking a deep breath, I close the door behind me and walk next to him, straight toward the forest. I hope no Fae are around to hear what we are going to talk about. I don’t need them getting mad like Zahra said they were and do something to start a war or get them all killed.

“Your lessons with Hilga are going well?” Prince Archie inquires as we step into the forest. “You are progressing far enough that soon you will be able to have lunch with me and my father?”

My steps falter, and I shake my head. “I am learning a little at a time, but there is so much to learn. It may take longer than I thought it was going to. You can ask Hilga. I don’t think she likes me very much.”

Her not liking me is an understatement. I’m pretty sure she loathes me. Hilga doesn’t try to hide it either. Anytime I step inside that room, she is looking at me in disgust and glares at me.

“Hilga says you have a lot to learn.” Prince Archie hums. “Have you been practicing at home?”

I rub the back of my neck. “I try to, but by the time I eat, I am so exhausted from the day and just try to get food in my stomach before I go to bed.” And that isn’t a lie. I don’t have hours to dedicate to getting better at this like he did.

“Unacceptable,” he snaps. “You should be practicing every day.”

I bow. “Sorry. I will try harder.”

But that’s a lie. I’m not going to waste my time on practicing that when I’m never going to use it. No one in town cares how you eat or hold your utensils.

“You may leave us for a little while,” Prince Archie dismisses the guards. “Thirty minutes of alone time. Nothing will happen.”

The guards leave us, and Prince Archie sits on the blanket.

“Sit here. We will eat.” He pats the spot next to him.

I hesitantly walk toward the blanket and sit on the opposite side of it. His eyes narrow on me, but I don’t pay any attention to him. He wants me close to him, but I want to make it clear that I don’t want to be. I don’t want to be anywhere near him but he doesn’t seem to get that.

Will he ever?

Prince Archie doesn’t say anything as he pulls out bread and ham, handing me some before taking some for himself. I should eat, but I’m not hungry. I don’t know if Prince Archie didn’t have his people poison the food and he knew which one to give me.

I shouldn’t be this paranoid, but so many things weren’t what I was expecting. Things are coming unraveled that I thought were right and could never be wrong.

“I would like to talk about marriage. I’ve been speaking to your friend, Skylar, about what you would like when I propose, but I wanted to hear from you. Is there anything specific you want that she doesn’t know about?”

For him not to propose.

I hold my tongue and think about it. Can I tell him how I really feel or is it going to bite me in the ass later?

“Adeline?” he asks, tilting his head to the side. “Is there anything else you want that she doesn’t know? Money is not a problem. I will give you whatever you want.”

I suck in a small breath. He will give me whatever I want in regard to the wedding and proposal, but not what I actually want in life.

“May I be frank?” I gently ask.

“Of course. You are to be my wife, and you should be able to talk to me about anything,” Prince Archie replies.

Talk to him about anything and yet I don’t feel like I can. I feel like I could get killed for a simple mistake and he wouldn’t blink an eye to that.

“I do not want to marry you,” I quietly say. “I have no intention of saying yes when you ask me.”

Prince Archie stares at me, blinking as the words sink into his brain. I hold my breath, waiting to see his reaction. Should I have kept it to myself?

“What was that?” he asks. “I think I heard you wrong.”

But he didn’t.

“Adeline? I would like you to repeat what you said,” he demands.

“I do not want to marry you, and I have no intention of saying yes when you ask me,” I repeat, a little louder this time.

He hums. “That’s what I thought you said. I was hoping I heard it wrong.”

I place the sandwich on the blanket and change positions, in case I need to get up and away from him quickly.

“Why?” he asks, incredibly calm.

Abort. Abort.

“Why?” he yells.

I flinch and close my eyes for a couple of seconds. “I just don’t think we are going to be a good match. I don’t want to be a princess or queen. Skylar, my friend, would make a better princess and future queen. You should be with her.”

Wrong thing to say. I can see that when he takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out. He’s trying to control his emotions, but he’s failing.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to be with you. I never have and I never will. I have no desire to become queen of the humans one day,” I explain. “I really think you should be with Skylar. She was born for the role and would love to rule by your side.”

They would be perfect for each other. Both of them have a mutual hate for Fae and want to rule the realm.

“No,” he growls, and I push myself up, getting ready to bolt. “You don’t get to tell me no.”

Prince Archie lunges at me, but before he can touch me, I’m standing up and running for my life through the forest. I can’t go right or else I’ll run into the frozen stream and won’t be able to cross without fear of slipping or falling through it.

“Get back here!” he yells, but I don’ t stop running.

I can hear him and the guard’s feet hitting the ground after mine, gaining traction.

I pump my legs faster, staying away from the Fae camps while also trying to find my way back to town.

Prince Archie won’t do anything if he is in front of all the townspeople.

I have to have faith he will try and save face when we get there.

My heart beats faster as nerves and terror run through my veins.

“Adeline!” he screams my name. “Get back here, and we can talk about it!”

I’m not going to fall for that. I know once I stop in the forest that he is going to try and harm me until I submit and tell him I’ll marry him.

But I’m not going to do that. I’ll just have to be smart and cautious for the rest of my life.

I honestly thought he was going to be okay with it since he is so close to Skylar… but I was very wrong.

Little branches slap my cheeks and arms, cutting into my smooth skin. I hiss as one gets close to my eyes, and I try not to let it slow me down, but I can hear them gaining on me.

“If you stop now, nothing will happen to you!” Prince Archie yells, his voice booming through the forest.

I whip my head to the left, turning when I recognize where I am. If I continue down this path and then make a slight right soon after, I’ll be close to the town. But as I run, I see Fae faces appearing left and right.

Shit.

Zahra’s voice rings in my head about them being protective and willing to do anything.

“Come on, Adeline!” Prince Archie doesn’t sound out of breath, but he sounds closer than before. “Just stop so we can talk about this.”

“No!” I yell, making eye contact with one of the Fae.

I don’t want them interfering with anything and being punished or a war starting. I don’t want anything to happen to them because I decided to tell the prince no to marriage. It wouldn’t be fair.

“No?” Prince Archie shouts back, his voice full of anger. “You’ll regret that.”

“Shit,” I whisper as I pump my legs faster, trying to get to the edge of the forest so I can make my way through to the town.

But as I see the light at the end of the forest, my foot trips over a root, and I fall face-first into the ground, whimpering as pain erupts across my whole body.

Hands dig into my hair, yanking me up so I’m face to face with Prince Archie. Before I can do anything, his hand wraps around my throat, tightening with each passing second, cutting off my air supply.

“You’ll regret saying no to me,” he whispers, his voice deadly calm as he looks me in the eye.

Tears pool in my eyes and run down my face as I blink. My lungs are screaming for me to take in a breath of air, but I know I won’t be able to with Prince Archie’s hand around my neck.

“You are going to listen, and you are going to listen well.” He gets closer to me, garnering all my attention.

His hand loosens just a little bit, and I gasp for a much-needed breath before he tightens his grip again.

I don’t dare look around the forest to see if any Fae are watching our interaction.

I don’t want to give Prince Archie a signal that Fae are watching and might do something.

I don’t want the Fae to think a single moment of eye contact is me wanting them to step in.

“We are going to revisit you marrying me in a couple of months after we get to know each other better,” he demands.

“But know this, the wedding and us getting married are going to happen. No matter what, we are going to get married. Even if I have to drag you down the aisle to the priest myself. Do I make myself clear?”

I nod, black dots starting to form in my vision with every passing minute as he continues to squeeze my neck. Suddenly, Prince Archie lets go, and I drop to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath.

“I will see you in a couple of days,” Prince Archie announces. “Make sure you cover your neck. If I find out you told anyone what just happened, there will be consequences.”

Leaning my head on the ground, I heave in deep breaths, trying to ease the ache in my throat but also trying to calm down my pounding heart.

Everything is going to be okay. I just need to avoid Prince Archie at all costs and if I can’t, then I need to make sure I’m never alone with him.

I push myself up to stand, gingerly touching my neck and hissing as pain explodes across it.

“Shit,” I hoarsely whisper.

Slowly, I start to walk back toward my house, making sure once I get to town I cover up my neck and keep my head down.

I quietly walk into the house, hoping Mother is off doing something else and not in the kitchen.

“Adeline!” she gasps. “What happened to your neck?”

“You can’t tell anyone,” I start before I go into detail, knowing she’ll keep it safe.