Page 110 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

“It’s nothing big,” I mumble. “It’s just my mother not wanting to look at me because I remind her of my father. It’s her not really caring anymore about what I do or if things are getting done. I know it’s the grief talking because I feel the same way. I want to sit around and cry or not do anything, but I can’t. Things need to get done around the house, and if I stop, they won’t get done.”

“You have to understand,” Skylar starts, and I raise my hand.

“I said I understand. She lost her husband, the love of her life, and I remind her of him. But I don’t know. Maybe I’m being selfish,” I mumble. “It’s just a lot going on, and I feel like we are surrounded by death. Who else is going to die?”

I hope no one, not even from natural causes. But everyone probably thinks Marvin died from natural causes and that isn’t the case. Only a few people know the truth and I’m burdened with it.

“No one else is going to die. Well, I can’t promise that. You know wintertime is always the worst for deaths. People don’t realize how cold it can get, and they try to do things and don’t dress appropriately,” Skylar explains. “There will probably be some more deaths, but it’s going to be okay. I’m here for you if you need anything.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” I give her a small smile.

“I don’t want you keeping secrets from me again, even if you think it’s going to be a burden. I want to hear them. I’m your best friend.” Skylar gives me a pointed look.

I raise my hands in defense. “Sorry. I just didn’t want to put that on you and make you feel like you had to make me feel better.”

Now I’m going to have to be extra careful about how I act around her. Skylar hates the Fae, and I’ve been talking to one, and I’ve slowly been falling in love with him. No. Not falling in love with him. I can’t. But I also can’t help but feel some feelings for Kieran.

“Skylar! Get back to work!” her boss shouts at her.

“Sorry, I need to go, but maybe on my day off, we can hang out and really talk about everything,” Skylar offers. “I would love that. Has the prince gotten back to you on when you have to go to your lessons again?”

I shake my head and take a step back. “He hasn’t, but it’s only been a week. He said he was going to give me two, but I expect him to come any time now. But we’ll talk about that later!”

Skylar waves, and I head toward the forest, bucket in hand. I was hoping for her to make me happier and not tell me everyone knows that Marvin died when I was expecting it to take a week for them to notice. But life is a big mess right now and nothing is going the way I thought it would.

I take a deep breath as I step into the forest, letting the chirping birds and the quietness surround and relax me. I just need to live in the forest for the rest of my life. I’m never worried and tense here.

“Aren’t people going to get suspicious with how much ice you get from the stream?” Zahra asks as I step further into the forest.

CHAPTER 32

“Nice to see you again.” I smile, brushing off her comment and walking toward the stream.

“It’s a serious question.” She stands in my way.

Sighing, I look up at her, glaring. “No, they won’t. My mother and I sew clothes, which means we need water to wash the fabric so it doesn’t shrink as much after. They know we go through a lot of water, and the guards don’t like us going to the well to get it, so we resort to the stream. It’s clean, so don’t worry.”

She chuckles and takes a step to the side.

“And before you go on about the time of day, it’s different every single time. I’ve changed up my schedule,” I tell her.

“So I’ve heard. I’ve heard quite a lot about you in the past couple of days.” She walks by me as I make my way to the stream.

I don’t say anything, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of piquing my interest.

“You aren’t curious at all?” she asks, tilting her head to the side.

“Yes, but no,” I honestly reply. “I can guess what you’ve heard about me.”

I set the bucket down by the stream and see several broken pieces of ice on the bank, waiting for me to pick up like Kieran told me. My heart warms, and I can’t help but smile.

“So tell me what you think I heard about you.” Zahra starts to put some ice into my bucket.

“You don’t have to do that.” I shoo her hand away, but she continues, and I give up.

“Tell me,” she replies.

“That Kieran killed someone last night because we almost got caught in the middle of the night,” I blurt out.