Page 133 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

“I got hurt,” I mumble.

I’ve been careful not to use my voice a lot to give my vocal cords a rest. That’s what my mother told me, at least.

“How?” she asks. “I can tell you got hurt by the way you are talking, but also because you are hiding your neck.”

Sighing, I take a deep breath and look at her. “The prince did it,” I quietly reply.

Her mouth falls open as she looks at me. “What do you mean?”

“I told him that I wouldn’t marry him and he chased me through the forest and choked me,” I explain.

Deep down, I know I shouldn’t be telling her this. Prince Archie told me not to tell anyone, and I’ve told two people now. I have no doubt some of the Fae saw it and told Kieran, but he can’t do anything. I won’t allow him to.

“He wouldn’t,” she mumbles.

I pull the very top of the scarf down and show her the deep blue, almost purple-looking bruises that wrap around my neck. “He did. I wouldn’t lie about it. He didn’t like me telling him no and suggesting you. This is the consequence of it.”

I wouldn’t change a thing, though. If I could go back in time, I would do the same thing to show him that he shouldn’t get everything that he wants. We aren’t property for him to pick and choose without hearing what we have to say. But I don’t think he’ll ever learn that, but I can show him every chance I get… as long as the consequences aren’t too severe.

“He really did that?” she whispers.

I nod. “He did.” I place the scarf back around my neck, hiding the evidence.

It’s already enough that the townspeople see my hand and know something is going on. I don’t need to give them another reason to talk about me. I want to live in the shadows for the rest of my life, peacefully and without prying eyes. But if the Fae get the curse broken, I will be standing right next to Kieran as High Lady… in the public eye.

Several Fae walk by, not paying any attention to us, and my shoulders relax a little more. Maybe they don’t know who I am, or maybe they are just pretending. Either way, I’m thankful because I don’t need Skylar trying to figure something out.

“He just randomly did it after you told him no?” she asks again.

I nod once more. Does she not believe me?

“I can’t believe he did that to you. I thought he would have taken that news better,” she mumbles toward the end. “And nothing happened before that?”

“No, he told me we needed to talk about the marriage, and I said I didn’t want to marry him and never will. Then I told him he should ask you since I know you want it and you would be so much better at it than me,” I explain.

Kieran says I will be an amazing High Lady, and so did Zahra, which is like being queen. But I don’t want to be queen with Prince Archie. He is a cruel man, and I want no part of that, but Kieran on the other hand. It feels natural and like it was meant to be. It comes easy with Kieran.

Several more Fae walk past, but now they are looking straight at me. One man in particular has a smile on his face, and I grow uneasy.

“High Lady.” He bows and makes eye contact with me.

My eyes go wide as I stare at him. What is he doing? Why is he bowing in front of me and calling me High Lady? Thankfully, he walks away quickly, but Skylar turns toward me, her eyebrows pulled together. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see one of the other Fae smack the man on the back of the head.

“What was that?” she asks, looking back at the now-disappeared group of Fae. “Why did he just bow to you and call you High Lady?”

I shrug my shoulders, pretending I don’t know. What am I supposed to say to that? She can’t know the truth.

“Do you know him?” she inquires, grabbing one of my shoulders.

I shake my head. “No, I don’t. Maybe he thought I was someone else. You know there are other people who look like me.”

Lie.

“You are the only young person with white hair in this town,” Skylar points out. “While some may look like you a little, the white hair changes a lot.”

Right.

“I don’t know. I don’t know him, never talked to him in my life.” I’m not lying.