Page 125 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

“I don’t know who you are anymore. You are caving in on yourself and pushing everyone away.” Skylar throws her hands in the air. “I’m worried about you! Everyone is. That’s part of the reason I’ve been following you. I’m just trying to make sure you are okay.”

I shake my head, tears pooling in my eyes as I talk. “I haven’t changed that much, and the little I have, there is a reason behind it! My father died! Everything is going up in flames around me, and I’m trying to put them out. But when I put one out, five more appear around me. I don’t know what to do.”

Heaving in a breath, I place my hand over my chest to try and calm myself down.

“It’s like I don’t know you anymore,” she whispers.

“Skylar.” I take a step forward. “I haven’t changed much. Maybe I have stepped back from a lot of things, but I am still the same old me,” I partially lie.

The only thing that has changed is that I’m mated to a Fae, the High Lord of the Fae. My view on Fae and how they are treated has slightly changed. I am going to try and help them break the curse, but she doesn’t need to know that.

She shakes her head. “I don’t think you are. Something about you has changed. I’m worried about you.”

“And I’m worried about you hanging out with the prince so much,” I snap back.

Her eyes go wide as she stares at me, her mouth slightly open.

“When I suggested you get to know the prince to see if you could take his attention away from me, I thought you were going to get to know him a little. I didn’t think you were going to spy on me or plot something behind my back!” I accuse her, having little proof of them plotting anything. But by the look on her face, I just found out they are. “What are you planning?”

“It’s nothing bad!” she quickly replies. “I promise it really wasn’t anything bad, but he has been asking me questions about how you would like your wedding to be. I’ve been answering, but he isn’t going to propose soon, I promise. I told him to wait a while since there is a lot going on. I care about you.”

I shake my head, not believing her. “If you wanted what was best for me, you would tell him I don’t want to marry him. You would tell him you wanted to marry him and would be a better match.”

“You know I can’t do that!” She raises her voice. “I’ve tried to be subtle about it, but he only wants you. I’ve tried pointing out other girls, but he has his eyes on you, and I don’t know why! He has this obsession with you, like you hold the world in your hands. Like you hold the key to everything,” she explains with such certainty.

“I don’t,” I whisper.

“And I know you don’t, but he really thinks you do. I don’t know why. I’ve tried asking, but he keeps saying something about the witch and an old tale,” she mumbles toward the end.

“Witch?” I freeze in my spot. “Do you know who the witch is?” I lean forward, waiting for her to answer.

She looks at me weirdly. “No, I don’t. Prince Archie hasn’t told me who it is. I don’t think they want anyone to know in case anyone is listening and someone wants to break the curse.”

Shit.

Of course they would keep it on lockdown. I hoped Skylar might have found something out so I could see if they say anything about the curse so I could tell Kieran. I need them to be free, so Prince Archie doesn’t become king and make everything worse.

I want no part in that.

“But it doesn’t matter. We don’t need to know who the witch is.” Skylar waves her hand in the air, dismissing the idea. “Are you going to continue to push me away?”

“I wasn’t pushing you away,” I point out. “I’ve just been busy, but I thought you were pushing me away and hanging out with the prince more.”

“I can’t deny that I’ve been hanging out with him more, but nothing has happened between us, you have to believe that,” she almost pleads.

My nose scrunches up as my eyebrows pull together. “I don’t care if you sleep with him. You know I don’t want to be with him. So, sleep with him if you want. Kiss him if you feel like it.”

“You aren’t supposed to say that about someone you are going to marry,” Skylar hesitantly replies.

“I’m not going to marry him,” I declare. “You know that. I am going to somehow get out of it, and if that means I spend the rest of my life by myself, then I will gladly do it.”

“You don’t mean that.” She shakes her head.

“I do. Don’t try and pretend like you don’t. I’ve told you since day one that I don’t want anything to do with him. We don’t have any similarities, and I don’t want to be with someone like that,” I tell her once again.

When is Skylar going to understand that I don’t want anything to do with the prince? That I would rather be alone for the rest of my life than be with him.

I don’t know why she doesn’t believe me. I know myself the best, better than her.