Page 14 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

“I’m good. I saw you with the prince the other day. Something I should know?” she asks. “Is he all right?”

I shake my head. “Nothing you need to know. There is nothing going on between us. I would tell you if there was,” I lie. She would be the last person I tell. “I haven’t heard about the prince since he got taken away, and don’t know what happened.”

Her hand lands on my arm. “He’s such a lovely boy, nothing like his father.”

She has one part right. Prince Archie is nothing like his father. He is even more cruel, and wants to be firmer with the Fae when they’ve done nothing wrong. Or at least here in Bellhollow they haven’t.

But Prince Archie has his way of showing people how ‘kind’ he is and how he wants things to be better for everyone in town. But I know differently.

“What a shame. It looked like he was in pain when he got carried away.” She giggles. “Poor boy. You’ll have to let me know if you hear anything.”

“Of course.” I smile, lying once again.

Agnes is the town gossip. Any information she gets, she spreads it like wildfire. Everyone knows it, yet so many people tell her information anyways.

Not me, I’ve never told her anything.

I don’t want my life to be spread around the town. I don’t want people to know my business.

“How’s your mother?” she asks. “I was just about to go visit her. I was going to drop off some fruit for her and the baby.”

“She’s good, and thank you for that. Just let me know how much I owe you, and I can pay you.”

She waves her hand. “It’s free. I’ve known your mother since we were in diapers. We grew up together. She made my daughter’s baby clothes when she was born. It’s the least I can do.”

I smile and bow my head slightly. “That is really kind of you. Thank you. She’s at home, sewing, so you can go visit her.”

“Thank you, Adeline. I’ll see you later. Have fun on your walk!” She raises her voice as she heads toward my house.

Shaking my head, I turn my attention to the Fae. My eyes connect with the cobalt blue once again, and I suck in a breath. Every single time I look into them, I feel like I see something new. I know it’s impossible to see from this far away, but I swear there are some gold flecks in his eyes.

My eyes burn, begging me to blink, but I don’t want to. I want to stare into his beautiful eyes, lose myself in them with every passing second. But my eyes win, and I blink.

He’s gone.

Again.

My shoulders slump as my eyes look around, trying to find him again. He’s nowhere to be seen. I curse at myself for not being strong enough to look away. Every single time I see him, it’s almost like I can’t see what he looks like.

Is he Fae?

“Next time,” I mutter to myself. “Next time, I’ll see what he looks like.”

I need to see what he looks like.

I start to walk toward the forest, taking several deep breaths as I look around, searching for his eyes once again. Every time I walk out of my house, I always search for those cobalt blues, wanting to gaze into them again.

Will I ever find out who he is and what he looks like? I don’t know if I can go on with the rest of my life without knowing who they belong to.

Shaking my head once again, I sigh and make my way down to the forest. Not many humans venture out here, not wanting to get lost or hurt by the Fae. I could count on one hand who goes into the forest to explore.

Most of the hunters, my dad included, go between this town and the next, where the Fae don’t go. They are out there for days, weeks, to hunt animals to eat and sell at the market. They can defend themselves with their weapons against the Fae, so it’s safe for them to explore the forest.

I don’t carry any weapons.

Some call me foolish, but I don’t feel like I need to.

I chuckle. That’s a lie.