Page 10 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

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.”

We walk into the town square in complete silence. I surreptitiously look around, trying to find the cobalt blue eyes from the other day, craving to see them. I want to see who they belong to. Every other time I’ve looked into the eyes, I get so distracted and by the time I think of looking to see who they belong to, they are already gone.

Are they doing that on purpose? Do they know I get lost in their eyes? Do they get lost in mine?

“Can you believe he wants me to take classes to be a proper lady?” I chuckle, bringing it up once again. “Wants me to stop walking in the forest. Wants me to be someone I’m not. Who does he think he is?”

“He’s—”

“I know who he is, Skylar. I just.” I sigh. “I don’t want to give up who I am to become who he wants me to be. I want to continue to walk around the forest, taking in nature and everything it has to offer me. I want to be around people and not be stared at all the time. Do you know how many times people were looking at us both yesterday? I don’t know how he gets used to that. I don’t think I ever would. No privacy at all. I don’t want to be with him, plain and simple.”