Page 44 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

My eyebrows pull together as I really think about it. “My father used to take me for walks in the forest when I was younger?” I offer.

“Anything else?” he asks.

“I almost tumbled down the well one time.” I grimace at the thought. “But that’s not really a happy memory.”

“How did you manage that?” He raises his right eyebrow. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone falling down the well, human or Fae.”

“Because they now have a guard standing by it for that reason, but also other reasons that are dumb. I don’t know if it was because of me, but they implemented that when I was younger,” I explain.

“And how did you almost fall into the well? I need to know that story.”

“Well, I was helping my mother out, and she needed water. I wasn’t nearly strong enough to get the water out of the well. I wasn’t tall enough either, but I was determined to help.” I chuckle at the end.

“My little helper,” Kieran mumbles as he looks at me with love in his eyes. “Even at a young age, when you should have been playing with other girls and being a child.”

I look away for a brief second. “So I walked up to the well and started to pull, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so heavy so I nearly fell in. Thankfully, Marvin was there to help catch me.” I ignore his earlier comment.

I know my mother wanted me to have a normal childhood, and for a lot of it, I did. But as I grew older and realized there was a lot to be done around the house when Father was away, I knew I had to help. There was no other way.

I wish there was, but this is the society we live in and every girl and boy has to help out when they hit a certain age.

“I’m glad Marvin was there to help save you.”

I nod. “Me too. I’m not good with water above my head so if I went down there, I don’t think I would have come up alive.”

“Anything happy?” Kieran kisses my forehead.

Sighing, I close my eyes for a couple of seconds. There has to be something good I remember from my childhood.

“My mother makes clothes. She makes a lot of clothes in town so if you see anyone wearing something new, it probably came from her,” I tell Kieran. “I grew a lot over one winter and wasn’t fitting into any of my clothes, but I was still wearing them. Then one day Mother handed me this beautiful purple dress and said it was mine. A brand-new dress all for me,” I whisper. “I didn’t take it off for a week. I showed everyone in town and was so proud that my own mother had made it. I let everyone know that little detail and it helped a lot. She got so many orders from it.”

It was one of the best times of my life.

“After that, Mother got to splurge on a couple of things that we normally wouldn’t have. That was a really good week,” I mumble toward the end. “I honestly don’t even remember everything we got, but it was amazing.”

“One day, you’re going to have all of those things again. You won’t have to repair your clothes to try and save money,” Kieran softly tells me. “I’ll buy you all the dresses you want and any food you desire. You’ll never want for anything.”

I hum in agreement. “That would be nice.”

Letting out a breath of air, I dreamily look at Kieran and smile. He looks so handsome, lying on his side, completely relaxed.

“What are you thinking about?” Kieran whispers, his thumb sliding across my cheek.

My cheeks heat up, and I look away from him.

“Hmm, I think I can guess,” he teases.

“I was not,” I quickly reply and look at him.

He raises his right eyebrow. “I didn’t say anything.”

Biting my lower lip, I groan. I just gave myself away… once again.

“What were you thinking about, Sweets?” His eyes are half open, giving him an even sexier look.

“You,” I breathlessly reply. “I was thinking about you.”

A huge smile splits his face, his eyes lighting up as I say those words.