Page 104 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

The Prince of Bellhollow has taken an interest in me and wants me to get married to him, and I’m mates with the High Lord of the Fae.

“I rule over the Fae, and you are my mate, which makes you a ruler over the Fae as well,” Kieran simply says. “You are to stand beside me and help me rule them.”

“But—”

“I know we are enslaved right now, but there still needs to be law and order. I know you are human and can’t be around my people—your people—much, but they still look at you when they see you. They look for you when they are working to see if they can get a glimpse of their High Lady.”

“That’s why they’ve been glancing over at me more often?” I ask.

Kieran nods. “After I was whipped, I needed to explain who you were to them. I couldn’t keep it a secret any longer, and I shouldn’t have to begin with. I should have been honest with them from the very beginning, but I was unsure whether you were going to accept me or not.”

“Why should you have told them sooner?” I look at him, confused.

“So, in case anything happened to me, they would know who to turn to. I know you don’t know much about Fae, and you didn’t believe me back then, but I had faith that you would one day. I knew you would,” he gently says. “Now, come here. I want to hold you a little bit longer.”

Sighing, I gladly take a step closer to him and wrap my arms around his torso. I melt into his embrace as he holds me with his strong arms.

“Why do you think I had that nightmare? Why do you think she said that?” I ask after a couple of seconds. My mind can’t shut down. “Do you think it was some kind of warning?”

He holds me tighter. “I don’t know, Sweets, but we aren’t going to dwell on it too much. We will be cautious from now on, but we aren’t going to let it dictate our lives. We knew we were going to have to be careful, but we are going to continue with our lives.”

My shoulders relax, though I still have this feeling that we should be paying attention. My mother would never say something like that, and I have to take it as a warning of some kind. First, I’m going to enjoy this, being in Kieran’s embrace and not having to worry about anything.

“I’m sorry for scaring you earlier,” I mumble. “Is there a way to block out you feeling my emotions?”

“There is, but I don’t want you to learn it. I want to be able to feel your emotions, even if they scare me at times with how intense they are,” Kieran explains.

“But what if one of us is in a dangerous situation and needs to block the other out to focus? I don’t want to block out my emotions either but I need to know how in case of a situation like that.”

“Then you think of placing a wall between us in your mind, and it should work. I don’t want you to do that unless it is absolutely necessary, do you understand?” Kieran pulls away a little so I can see his face.

“I understand and I won’t unless it’s absolutely necessary,” I reply, repeating his words.

Hopefully, it never comes to that for either one of us. Hopefully, soon the curse will be broken, the prince will be dead, and we can live our lives.

Kieran pulls me back into his embrace, placing his hand on the base of my neck to hold me. I close my eyes and take several deep breaths, enjoying our time.

“I wish this could be different,” I mumble.

“Me too⁠—”

“Hey!” a man yells. “What are you doing?”

My whole body stiffens as I try to pull away from Kieran, but he holds me close to him, hiding my face from the man.

“I’m talking to you!” the man continues to shout, his voice getting closer.

“Kieran, let me go,” I plead with him.

This situation is dire. We were never supposed to get caught. This was never supposed to happen. Why is it happening to us now after so many meetings? Zahra’s warning echoed in my head, but we are meeting at a different time than the regular one. Is that what caught the man’s attention?

“I’m just comforting her.” Kieran’s calm voice fills the forest. “We know each other.”

“Let me go,” I whisper, trying to push against his chest, but Kieran doesn’t budge an inch.

“Stay still.” Kieran hisses at me. “Keep your face hidden.”

“More like you are going to eat her!” His voice is angry. “Let her go, and I won’t report you to the prince. Let her go, and nothing will happen to either of you.”