Page 114 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

Heading toward Kieran’s and my spot, I look around at the branches bent with the weight of the snow. I can’t wait for spring. To see the different colors blooming on the flora and fauna and the animals running and grazing.

“Soon,” I mutter to myself.

Soon it is going to be spring and before I know it summer will come and then we’ll be right back to winter. A vicious cycle and I wish there was some way for the witch or Fae to make it one season all the time. I wouldn’t mind it being winter with snow, but I would need better clothes which I’m not getting right now.

“What are you doing in the forest?” Skylar asks.

I whirl around, my eyes wide. I didn’t hear her follow me. She was working at her booth, talking to a customer, and didn’t even look my way.

“Well?” she asks, cocking her hip to the side.

“You know I like to go out to get some fresh air, and the forest is calm and quiet,” I explain. “I go to the forest almost every single day. You know that. The whole town knows it.”

She nods and takes a step closer.

“I’m also going to get ice so it can melt over the next couple of hours inside. We are washing more cloth,” I hold up the bucket. “You know I do this every winter. It’s not a surprise so why are you acting like it is?”

Skylar is acting so strangely, she has been the past couple of times I’ve seen her. Has something gone on that I don’t know about, or is she jealous that I’m who the prince wants? She can have him.

“I know, but you just seem to be going to the forest a lot more recently. Are you secretly meeting up with someone behind the prince’s back?” She raises an eyebrow.

I thought I’d been doing a good job at covering my tracks. I thought Kieran had the Fae keeping watch for anyone coming. Wouldn’t they have heard her following me?

“No.” I fake offense, my mouth dropping open. “There is no one else. Why would you think that?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe because there is no other reason for why you want to go into the forest so much. Unless you are meeting with a Fae and getting some action.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

“Skylar!” I scold her. “I’m not. You know no one in the town has caught my eye. I’m better off by myself.”

“So why the forest?” She folds her arms over her chest.

“Are you really asking me this?” I look at her like she’s grown two heads. “We’ve known each other our whole lives, and you know I love being out in nature. You know every chance I get, I’m out here, walking and enjoying nature. What is going on with you?”

Skylar raises her hands in the air and takes a step back. “I just wanted to see if you were hiding anything. You’ve been really distant lately. I’m worried about you.”

“My father died a week ago. Of course I’m a little distant. I have a lot going on,” I explain. “The prince said he was going to take care of food for us, but he hasn’t done anything. I can’t rely on him. I have a lot of things to figure out. Mother is going to have the baby any day now, and I’ll have to pick up the slack for her and my father.”

“Adel—”

“No.” I hold my hand up, stopping her. “You don’t get to judge me right now. I’m going through a lot. Things aren’t going to look the same as they were. I won’t be able to tell you everything because my life is so busy and I forget things. I can’t promise things will go back to how they were.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispers.

I feel guilty, but I’m not going to apologize for it. Skylar has been different lately, and I don’t like it. She is skeptical of where I am and what is going on in my life. She hasn’t been this way before.

“Has the prince put you up to this?” I ask, placing the bucket on the ground. “Has he asked you to keep tabs on me?”

She looks at me sheepishly. “He did ask if I could just watch over you. I really wasn’t doing it, but then I saw you walking into the forest again. I just wanted to see if you were hiding anything.”

“Well, I’m not,” I reply. “I am just trying to survive right now, and it means that I’m busier.”

“I really am sorry, Adeline,” she says sincerely.

“Just don’t do it?” I suggest. “When did you start getting closer to the prince?”

I know she had met up with him several times, but I didn’t think they were that close. The last time all three of us were together, she kept back-talking and suggesting things.

“We aren’t close.” She looks away from me. “We have just hung out a couple of times. We’ve talked about the town and our mutual hatred for the Fae.”