Page 55 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

I feel bad for the Fae. Is it really necessary for them to be slaves and be under so many rules? Everything I’ve seen of them has shown them to be wonderful people. None of them have tried to hurt me, and they want what’s best for people.

What do the king and prince see to make the Fae so bad in their eyes?

“We’re almost done,” Zayden breaks through my thoughts.

Kieran looks down at me as I look up at him. He smiles, and it steals the breath out of me.

Beautiful.

Handsome.

He just looks so perfect, smiling. To be able to get him smiling painted on a canvas so I could look at it any time would be a dream.

“You need better clothes, Adeline,” he gently says. “Better, thicker ones to keep you warm in the winter.”

“We don’t have the money for that,” I mumble, looking away. “We are making do with what we have. I have everything I need at the moment. My mother is pregnant and the extra money we have is going toward the baby.”

I don’t know why I am explaining this to him. I know Fae’s have babies, but do they have complications like humans have?

“You should still be the priority. If you get any sicker, then you won’t be able to help your mother. You need to take better care of yourself.” Kieran looks at me with an expression I can’t place.

It’s almost like he’s looking at me with love, but then it’s like he’s looking at me with worry. And yet, it’s like he’s looking at me for the first time.

“You are important. You are so important, and I don’t think you realize how important you are to this world.” His voice softens. “If I had all my magic, I would help you. I would make sure you have the right clothes you need and that you are wanting for nothing. I would make sure that everyone on Bellhollow had everything they need to live.”

“Would you really be able to do that? Would you really be able to make clothes for us?” I ask. “What is your magic? I know you don’t have it right now, but what did you have?”

“As the High Lord, I have a lot more than people think, but I don’t like to flaunt it. Neither did my father. He liked to walk around with our people and get to know them. He pretended to be like them, which he was, but everyone knew who he was,” Kieran explains.

“So, what was your magic?” I press, wanting to know. “Unless you don’t want to tell me.”

But I really hope he does tell me. I want to see what it was like all those hundreds of years ago. To see what we could have had together.

“You know I have wings, so I was able to fly. I could also teleport, read minds, heal, and many other things,” Kieran lists them off. “Now, though, I can barely do any of those. They don’t know I have some magic left, and we are going to keep it that way. If they found out the spell didn’t take away everything, I don’t know what would happen to us. Something terrible.”

“I would never,” I gasp. “It is not my place to tell, and even if they did ask me, I would lie.”

“You’ve got a keeper, Kieran.” Elias raises his voice. “I would hold on tight and not let her go.”

“I don’t plan on it,” Kieran growls.

Keep me? Kieran wants to keep me? No way. I am just a simple human who lives with her parents while trying to avoid the prince. Kieran should not want to keep me.

“Thank you for not telling anyone if they ask,” Kieran gently says, looking down at me.

“Do your friends have their powers?” I ask.

He says he is the High Lord, but I don’t know how to tell whether he is or not. He could be lying to me. His friends could be in on it, and I wouldn’t know. I know nothing about the Fae to understand if they are telling the truth.

“We have similar powers to Kieran, but not as strong,” Zayden replies. “We don’t have any now, though. We suspect that Kieran has stronger powers, and that’s why he kept a small amount, but we don’t have any.”

My eyebrows pull together. “Does everyone have powers?”

“No, not everyone has powers. Just the higher-ups essentially,” Kieran explains.

I’m trying to wrap my brain around everything. I really wish I could access the books on the Fae in the library, but I’m worried that if I even ask for them I will be questioned and thrown into the castle, never to be seen again. I don’t want that to happen. But it would make things so much easier if I could see whether Kieran and his friends are telling the truth.

“Does the High Lord have the only wings, or does everyone have them?” I ask, pulling my head back to look at Kieran and his friends.