Page 61 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

A whole week has passed since Mother had the baby, and since I’ve seen Kieran. So much has changed in only seven days. There are more guards in the town, patrolling up and down the streets. The prince has come to our house once a day to see how the baby and Mother are doing.

Weird.

Unusual.

Terrifying.

I don’t know what Prince Archie is up to, and I can’t figure it out to save my life. Maybe he isn’t up to anything and there is a threat to our town.

“What do you think is going on out there?” I ask as I look out the window.

With each passing hour, it seems like more and more guards are coming into our town, but by nighttime, they are mostly gone.

“Maybe someone important is coming to town. You know there are other rulers over Hellhollow, Hollowtone, and the other towns. They could be preparing for all of them to come into town and want to make sure they are safe,” Mother explains.

“They have never come to town before, so why now?” I turn to her.

Mother looks at the wall as she feeds the baby. “They came when I was a little girl, but they don’t come often. Just when things need to be talked about.”

Are some of the Fae in the other towns retaliating, and they are trying to figure out what to do with them?

I hope it’s not that.

I take a deep breath in as I watch them walk down the street in a line.

“They should be going back to the palace soon. It’s getting dark,” Mother says.

“Right,” I mumble to myself.

And soon I am going to go outside to meet Kieran and finally talk to him. He told me he would come every night to see if I was there. I feel bad it’s taken so long, but with the prince visiting and there being so many more guards, I didn’t want to risk it.

But I’m done.

I need to see him.

Desperately.

Every time I think about Kieran, my heart aches and physically hurts. I need to see him soon or else I think I am going to die.

I pace up and down the kitchen, trying to calm myself, but I can’t. Excitement and worry run through me like a waterfall. Kieran has reassured me every single time we meet that he has people around to make sure no one is coming near us and finds us. Marvin was the first and last time we got caught.

“Adeline, sit down,” Mother lightly scolds me. “You have been pacing the kitchen all afternoon.”

I have because I knew I was going to go out and see Kieran tonight. It’s been on my mind. I’m worried that we are going to get caught with all of these guards. Taking a deep breath, I go over to the table and sit down, but my leg immediately starts bouncing.

“What is going on?” Mother asks. “What are you so worried about?”

I shrug my shoulders and look away. I am worried about a lot of things and the majority of them I can’t talk about with anyone but Kieran or his friends.

“Adeline,” she gently says and places a hand on mine. “You can talk to me.”

I take a deep breath and slowly let it out before looking back at her. “I’m just worried about the guards being in town. It makes me uneasy,” I tell her part of the reason. “I want to walk in the forest, but before they came into town, the prince asked me why and Skylar questioned me.”

Mother’s eyebrows pull together. “Questions?”

Nodding, I relax into my chair. “They were asking me why I was going into the forest so much. I said walking because it’s the truth. I want to be out in nature to relax and not have any noise around me.”

“You are so much like your father,” she whispers, getting choked up. “He was the exact same way, and people didn’t understand.”

“What did he do about it?” I ask.

Mother purses her lips together. “He didn’t do anything. He just let them think whatever they wanted to think and lived his life. You can’t let people dictate how you live your life. But it was different when your father was growing up.”

I have no doubt it was.

“He didn’t have the prince interested in him.” Mother chuckles. “It was just the townspeople who didn’t understand him and thought he was talking to the Fae.”

“Was he?” I sit at the edge of my seat.

Mother shakes her head. “Not regularly, but he did have a couple of run-ins with the Fae. It was hard not to when he was walking in the forest so much and then hunting. He told me one time he met the king of the Fae. There was a word he used, but it was so long ago when we first met that I can’t remember what it was.

Said he was really nice and just a boy, really. ”

“Dad met him?” My mouth is hanging open as I look at her.

“Yes, he did. Only once, and it was for a brief second, so he didn’t get to talk to him much,” she explains. “But enough about that. Don’t let people tell you not to walk in the forest. If you are anything like your father, you need to walk out in the forest to make sure you are centered.”

I wish it were that easy.

“Now, the guards should be all back in the palace but a few. You may go on your walk. I am going to feed the baby and go to bed.” She stands up.

“I won’t be long. I just need a couple of minutes to get fresh air in my lungs,” I gently say.

“Take as long as you need. You deserve to have some time to yourself and do something you love to do,” she says and walks off.

Tears pool in my eyes, and I take a second to sit there and let them run down my face. I don’t know what was going on with Mother, but I am going to take it. That is the most she has talked to me in a long time.

After several minutes, I push my chair back and grab my coat before heading outside. The ice-cold air hits my face, and I let out a shaky breath, letting the cold penetrate my body. I’m not going to last long out here without being close to Kieran or going back inside.

It’s quiet as I make my way through the town and into the forest. Only a few people are out, closing up their shop or walking with their significant other.

One day, that is going to be Kieran and me.

One day, soon, I hope, Kieran and I will be able to walk down the streets, holding hands and being ourselves.

Until that day, though, we are going to have to meet in the forest in secret.

A smile spreads across my face as I see Kieran leaning against a tree, arms crossed over his chest, as he looks at the ground. I stop, taking him in as he hasn’t noticed my presence. He looks so peaceful.

“Are you going to stare at me all night long or are you going to come over here and talk?” he asks, his voice light as he looks up at me.

“You knew the whole time I was here looking at you?” I walk up to him.

He nods. “I knew the moment you stepped out of your house and were coming toward me.”

“I wish I could paint so I could paint your eyes and you leaning up the tree looking so peaceful,” I mumble as I wrap my arms around his waist.

He cups the back of my head and just holds me as I melt into his embrace. I wish for many things that aren’t coming true right now.

“I wanted to give you something,” Kieran says as he pulls back.

I smile up at him, not being able to contain the excitement on my face.

“A gift?” I place my hands behind my back and rock on my heels.

Kieran chuckles and nods, but he quickly stops when he sees my face.

“What’s wrong?” Kieran cups my face. “Why have you been crying?”

I shrug and close my eyes. It’s silly why I was crying.

“You got me a gift. Can I see it?” I try to change the subject .

“No, you don’t get to do that. What’s wrong?” he asks. “You have been crying. Is your mother okay? The baby?”

“Nothing is wrong with either of them or me. The reason I cried is silly,” I whisper. “My mother just sat and talked to me earlier. Actually held a conversation. Talked about my father and how I am so much like him.”

“Oh, Sweets,” he murmurs and pulls me in for another hug. “I’m so glad she did that.”

I pull away and nod. “I am as well. It was nice. She told me that my father met you when they first met. He was walking in the forest, and you bumped into each other.”

Kieran looks off into the distance, and I wait. Is he trying to remember, or did my mom make it up?

“I do remember that vaguely. Thought he was going to shoot me with his bow and arrow, but he just nodded, said hi, and walked off.” Kieran chuckles. “I was younger then and in a moody phase, but after that encounter, I stopped wandering around on my own.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Because it made me realize that I had people counting on me. Running into your father when he was mad and looking to shoot anything, it made me realize that I needed to be more careful,” he replies.

I hum. “Gift?”

Kieran chuckles and shakes his head. “Of course.”

“Why are you giving me another gift?” I inquire. “Not that I’m ungrateful. I’m just curious. This is the second one, and I haven’t gotten you anything yet.”

“You don’t need to get me anything. You coming to see me in the forest is enough right now,” he gently replies. “And as for the gift and why. Well, I always find you looking into my eyes, and I thought I would give you this.”

Kieran pulls out a piece of paper and turns it over. Gasping, tears pool in my eyes as I stare at the painting of Kieran’s eyes. The painting looks almost identical to the real thing.

“You didn’t,” I whisper, my voice cracking as I gently take the piece of paper from him.

“I did. I thought you would want to have this so when the days are hard and you can’t come and see me, you can look into my eyes on the paper,” he quietly says.

Sobbing, I press the painting against my chest and close my eyes.

“Oh, Sweets. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He pulls me into his chest.

“Happy tears,” I manage to get out.

“Happy, sad, angry. I don’t like tears either way,” he grunts out.

Chuckling, I pull away and wipe away the tears before he can. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

I look back down at the painting and let out a sigh. “I’ve been wanting to get your eyes painted for a while, but I knew no one could do it justice without seeing them in person.”

“I had a feeling, so I asked one of our artists to paint my eyes. Do you like it?” he asks.