Page 146 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

“They should be going back to the palace soon. It’s getting dark,” Mother says.

“Right,” I mumble to myself.

And soon I am going to go outside to meet Kieran and finally talk to him. He told me he would come every night to see if I was there. I feel bad it’s taken so long, but with the prince visiting and there being so many more guards, I didn’t want to risk it.

But I’m done.

I need to see him.

Desperately.

Every time I think about Kieran, my heart aches and physically hurts. I need to see him soon or else I think I am going to die.

I pace up and down the kitchen, trying to calm myself, but I can’t. Excitement and worry run through me like a waterfall. Kieran has reassured me every single time we meet that he has people around to make sure no one is coming near us and finds us. Marvin was the first and last time we got caught.

“Adeline, sit down,” Mother lightly scolds me. “You have been pacing the kitchen all afternoon.”

I have because I knew I was going to go out and see Kieran tonight. It’s been on my mind. I’m worried that we are going to get caught with all of these guards. Taking a deep breath, I go over to the table and sit down, but my leg immediately starts bouncing.

“What is going on?” Mother asks. “What are you so worried about?”

I shrug my shoulders and look away. I am worried about a lot of things and the majority of them I can’t talk about with anyone but Kieran or his friends.

“Adeline,” she gently says and places a hand on mine. “You can talk to me.”

I take a deep breath and slowly let it out before looking back at her. “I’m just worried about the guards being in town. It makes me uneasy,” I tell her part of the reason. “I want to walk in the forest, but before they came into town, the prince asked me why and Skylar questioned me.”

Mother’s eyebrows pull together. “Questions?”

Nodding, I relax into my chair. “They were asking me why I was going into the forest so much. I said walking because it’s the truth. I want to be out in nature to relax and not have any noise around me.”

“You are so much like your father,” she whispers, getting choked up. “He was the exact same way, and people didn’t understand.”

“What did he do about it?” I ask.

Mother purses her lips together. “He didn’t do anything. He just let them think whatever they wanted to think and lived his life. You can’t let people dictate how you live your life. But it was different when your father was growing up.”

I have no doubt it was.

“He didn’t have the prince interested in him.” Mother chuckles. “It was just the townspeople who didn’t understand him and thought he was talking to the Fae.”

“Was he?” I sit at the edge of my seat.

Mother shakes her head. “Not regularly, but he did have a couple of run-ins with the Fae. It was hard not to when he was walking in the forest so much and then hunting. He told me one time he met the king of the Fae. There was a word he used, but it was so long ago when we first met that I can’t remember what it was. Said he was really nice and just a boy, really.”

“Dad met him?” My mouth is hanging open as I look at her.

“Yes, he did. Only once, and it was for a brief second, so he didn’t get to talk to him much,” she explains. “But enough about that. Don’t let people tell you not to walk in the forest. If you are anything like your father, you need to walk out in the forest to make sure you are centered.”

I wish it were that easy.

“Now, the guards should be all back in the palace but a few. You may go on your walk. I am going to feed the baby and go to bed.” She stands up.

“I won’t be long. I just need a couple of minutes to get fresh air in my lungs,” I gently say.

“Take as long as you need. You deserve to have some time to yourself and do something you love to do,” she says and walks off.

Tears pool in my eyes, and I take a second to sit there and let them run down my face. I don’t know what was going on with Mother, but I am going to take it. That is the most she has talked to me in a long time.