Page 57 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

“ S weets, you have to let me know who did this to you.” His voice is gentler this time. “I need to know.”

“Need to know to do what?” I ask.

“To kidnap and torture them so they feel the pain you went through. I want to feel their lives drain away by my hand, watching as they die and beg for mercy.” His voice is ice cold.

My mouth hangs open, not believing he just said those words.

“When it comes to you, Sweets, I want to do things I normally wouldn’t do. I want to torture and kill anyone who dares look at you wrong. I want to see the life drain from their eyes,” he slowly explains. “I want to keep you safe.”

I clench my thighs together, not daring to look away from Kieran. He takes a deep breath in, his nostrils flaring and eyes darkening.

“Does someone like what I said?” he purrs, his face getting closer to mine. “I think you do. I think you secretly want to watch that happen. Watch as I take care of what’s mine.”

I shouldn’t be turned on by this, but my body has other thoughts.

“Kieran,” I gently say.

“Who did this to you?” he whispers. “Who wrapped their hand around your neck and hurt you?”

“The prince,” I reply without thinking.

Kieran steps back, and a murderous look flashes across his face. “I knew it. I should have killed him when I had the chance,” he growls. “He deserves to die a slow and painful death. He doesn’t deserve to walk on this land, threatening my mate and hurting her.”

“Kieran.” I try to get his attention. “Kieran, look at me.”

“I’m going to kill him now. I’m going to show him who is really in control and who you belong to.” Kieran raises his voice.

“Be quiet!” I slap his arm.

Kieran looks down at me, his eyes full of anger. “I will not be quiet when someone in power has hurt my mate. He and his father should never have been in power to begin with. None of the humans should have.”

“Listen,” I start, but he doesn’t let me finish.

“No, I am going to go after him and show him he can’t do whatever he wants without any consequences. That is not how life works.”

Before I can think it through, I wrap my arms around his waist, keeping him in place.

“Sweets, let me go,” he slowly says.

“No,” I stubbornly reply. “You are not going to do anything that is going to put you in harm’s way. I know you want revenge for what he did to me, but you aren’t going to do it right now. Not when you aren’t thinking clearly, and not when you still have the curse placed on you.”

“This is the clearest I’ve ever thought,” Kieran cups my face with his hands. “I know what I want and who I want it from.”

“But you aren’t going to do anything because you could start a war,” I point out.

“A war we could easily win,” he replies.

“Yes, you can easily win the war between humans and Fae, but you don’t know who the witch is. You don’t know how to break the curse. Do you really want to kill all the humans who oppose you and your rule without finding the witch or have her place another curse on you?” I ask.

“She would not be able to place a curse on us Fae again. Not unless she had a willing participant to drink or eat whatever she serves. While she is a witch and a powerful one, she still has her limits,” Kieran explains.

“But you don’t know who the witch is. It could be anyone,” I whisper. “Just don’t do anything yet. I don’t want my time with you to be over because you want to avenge me.”

I never want my time with Kieran to be over. I want to spend the rest of my life with him, going through ups and downs and getting closer to each other. I want all of that with him and if he goes and kills the prince now, we won’t have it.

“Please, don’t do anything. I don’t want to lose the time I have with you,” I gently say.

Kieran searches my face before nodding. “Fine.”

I lean my head on his chest and take a deep breath, allowing my shoulders to relax fully. I hadn’t even realized how tense I had grown.

“Everything is going to be fine.” He runs his hand through my hair. “We believe we are getting closer to figuring out how to break the curse. Before we know it, we will be free of this dreaded curse and able to live our lives the way we want it… together.”

“I can’t wait for the day,” I reply honestly.

“Good because I can’t either.” He kisses the top of my head. “Now, you need to go back home before people start to wonder where you are.”

I pull away, pouting. “I don’t want to.”

“I don’t want you to either, but it will all be worth it in the end. We will get through this and will have our whole lives together,” he gently says.

I take a step away and give him a little wave before turning around and walking back to town. With each step I take, it feels like my chest grows tighter and tighter. I hate walking away from Kieran, but I know I have to right now. If we are caught together, it’s the end of us.

I fix my scarf before stepping into the town, not wanting any prying eyes to see the bruise around my neck and start talking.

“Everything is going to be okay,” I mutter to myself as I make my way home.

I have to believe it or else I won’t get through the day. It doesn’t take me long to get home, and when I do, Mother is sitting at the table, holding her stomach, grimacing. I rush to her side and drop to my knees.

“Are you all right?” I ask, panic running through me as I look over her body.

There isn’t any water on the ground, and I don’t see any blood anywhere.

“Mother, are you okay?” I ask again when she doesn’t reply.

“The baby was just kicking,” she whispers, her voice shaky.

“Kicking or were you having a contraction?” I pressure her. “Do I need to get the midwife?”

She waves her hand in the air. “They are the same thing to me. It is not time to have the baby yet, but soon.”

I take a deep breath and slowly let it out as I relax on the ground.

“You gave me a fright.” I chuckle as I look up at her but Mother is back to sewing and not paying attention to me.

Right. After she helped with my neck the other day, we haven’t really talked to each other since. I shouldn’t allow it to hurt me so much, but it stings every single time she doesn’t reply.

Time.

Mother just needs time to gather all her thoughts and come to terms everything. I can be patient and can show her that even if she is pushing me away, I won’t go away and I’ll be there for her.

Mother deserves that.

I push myself up off the ground and walk toward the dishes and start putting them away. We aren’t starting huge projects anymore since the baby could come any day and I miss them. I hate this time in between, not knowing if I should start something or if I need to wait.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

My eyebrows pull together as I look at the door before looking at Mother.

“Are you expecting anyone?” I ask.

“No,” she replies and holds her stomach again.

I walk over to her, ignoring the knocking on the door again and kneel in front of her. “If you are having contractions, let me know so I can get the midwife.”

“Not yet. They aren’t contractions, just the baby kicking my stomach demanding to be let out, but my water hasn’t broken yet,” she replies.

Nodding, I stand and walk to the door right as the person knocks again.

“What can I do for yo—” the words fall off my lips as I stare at Avira. “What are you doing here?”

“Are you going to let me in?” she asks .

Unease fills my body as we stare at each other. I don’t want her in the house, not when Mother is so close to going into labor.

“Well?” she impatiently asks once again.

“What are you doing here?” I keep my body in the doorway so she can’t get in.

“Adeline,” she growls. “Let me in so we can talk.”

“About what?”

She glares at me. “You know what it’s about. Let me in so we can talk.”

“I don’t know if that is wise,” I start off. “Mother is about to go into labor, and I have a lot to prepare beforehand.”

It’s not a lie, but I also really don’t want to talk to my own sister. A lot has been going on, and she is the last person I want around at the moment.

“Adeline, who is at the door?” Mother asks.

“Avira,” I reply.

“Let her in!”

Sighing, I open the door and allow Avira to walk into the house. She gives me a smug look as she walks by me, and I grit my teeth to stop myself from saying something nasty to her. After closing the door, I walk back into the kitchen to see Avira next to Mother, her hand on her belly.

“Oh, the baby kicked.” She looks shocked.

“That’s what they do,” I sarcastically say, rolling my eyes as I lean against the counter and look at her. “What do you need so desperately to talk to us about?”

“Adeline!” Mother scolds me, but I don’t pay any attention to it.

“You normally visit us once a month, but you didn’t last month. You weren’t even there for Father’s funeral, so why should you be here now? You have never taken an interest in the baby before, so you don’t have that excuse,” I continue, trying to take a little metaphorical punch at her.

I know Mother would hate for me to physically punch her, so saying these things is the next best thing. And they aren’t lies.

“Adeline!” she scolds me again.

“It’s okay, Mother.” Avira takes her hand off her stomach.

“I understand you are upset with me because I have a job at the palace and am actually busy, but I did try to make it to Father’s funeral.

I got the days mixed up when one of the guards told me.

And as for the baby, I could be the mother, and it weirds me out, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want Mother to have it. ”

Mother looks at her adoringly, placing her hand on her arm. “It’s okay that you couldn’t come. Your father would have understood. It’s so easy to mix up dates, and we didn’t give a lot of people time to plan anything.”

I clench my jaw, almost cracking a tooth, as I listen to Mother talk to Avira. It’s not okay that she didn’t come, especially after telling us why. It was like she didn’t care at all, which is unacceptable.

“Thank you, Mother,” Avira gently replies. “It means a lot that you understand. I meant to come and explain things, but I just threw myself into work when I realized I had missed it. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Rolling my eyes, I cross my arms over my chest. I don’t buy this act for a minute.

“What do you want to talk to us about?” I interrupt, not able to take any more of it.

Avira glares at me. “Can you at least try to like me?”

I shake my head. “No. Answer my question.”

“I don’t understand where this has come from,” Mother mutters.

“It’s always been there. There are things that don’t add up, but we are not here to talk about how Avira and I don’t really have a sister relationship... We are here because Avira demanded to come into the house and talk to us,” I explain.

My heart is beating faster as I wait for Avira to answer.

“Fine, you caught me.” She raises her hands in the air. “I have questions.”

“We already knew that,” I dryly reply. “You demanded to talk to us, remember?”

Avira glares at me again, fury circulating in her eyes. I know I should stop, but I can’t help myself when it comes to her. She thinks she stands on a high pedestal, and I want her to remember that she really doesn’t.

Mother clutches her stomach, pain spreading across her face.

“Moth—” but she raises her hand before I can say anything else.

“I’m fine.” I can hear the pain in her voice. She has had two other babies before this and knows her body better than anyone else.

I eye her for several moments, trying to see if I need to get the midwife or not, but soon after she relaxes and looks between Avira and me. Tears glisten in her eyes, and I want to kneel in front of her and tell her it’s all going to be okay.

“Why did you tell the prince you didn’t want to marry him?” she asks.

“Because I don’t want to marry him,” I tell her. “I don’t want to marry him, and I asked if I could be honest.”

I move my right arm to rest on top of my left as I gently touch my scarf-covered neck. The bruise is still there, a constant reminder of me telling the prince no and not getting out of there without some type of harm.

But I would do it again… I think.

“You should have just said yes!” She raises her voice. “You don’t say no to the prince!”

“I did. I know I shouldn’t have, but I thought he would rather me be honest about it than blindly go along,” I explain.

“No, you are wrong. He would rather you go blindly along with this marriage than back talk to him!” She throws her hands up in the air.

I chuckle and shake my head.

“No, you don’t get to laugh and brush this off like it’s nothing. He is livid.” Avira points a finger at me.“Livid you told him no.”

“I would do it again,” I nonchalantly reply. “I know he is the prince, but I don’t want to marry him. He should understand and go find someone else to be with. Skylar would love to be with him and stand by his side. She is built for that but I am not. I have no desire to learn either.”

“You… What… Foolish,” Avira mutters under her breath before looking back at me. “You need to go back to him and say yes!”

I shake my head. “I can’t. I’m not going to.”

“He bruised her neck,” Mother whispers, her hands placed around her stomach as she winces in pain.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Do you want me to go get the midwife for you?” I take a step closer to Mother.

“I am fine,” she quietly replies, but I can tell otherwise.

“So what if he bruised your neck. You deserved it. You don’t get away with telling the prince no.

You have to understand that now or else your marriage is going to be hard on you,” Avira explains.

“But if you go to him and tell him you made a mistake, he will have mercy on you. I’m surprised you only got one bruise and not several or some scars. ”

“I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to marry him,” I forcefully say, clenching my hands by my side.

Avira walks up to me, mere inches from my face. “You are going to regret this,” she whispers. “Mark my words. You will regret saying no to him and to me.”

Mother screams, gaining both our attention as she grips her stomach. “Get the midwife!”