Page 118 of Kingdom of Death and Hope

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I whisper, not sounding confident at all.

Sweets. Kieran’s voice breaks. I don’t want you in pain.

Everything is okay. I am fine, I lie.

Kieran tugs at the bond, making me suck in a breath.

“What did he do for you to fall so in love with him? How did he brainwash you into thinking that you should help them?” She walks back and forth in the room. “I thought everyone in town hated the Fae and wanted them dead. I know you hated violence but I didn’t think you were that sympathetic with them.”

My eyes track her movements as I stay silent, letting her talk and come up with wild accusations. Maybe she will come up with some bizarre reasoning that is so far from the truth and she’ll stick with it.

“That’s okay, though. The Fae are all going to die soon anyways,” she chuckles. “The prince has a plan to become king sooner than planned and I think I might actually let him do it.”

My eyebrows bunch together as I process her words.

“I never thought the day would come when the Fae would all die, but it’s coming a lot sooner than I thought. How exciting,” she says as her shoulders pull up, a big smile on her face.

“Why are you telling me this?” I ask.

She shrugs. “I want the realization to sink in that the one you love is going to die soon, you are going to marry the prince, and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Biting my lower lip, I stop myself from spewing out things she shouldn’t know. I need to be smart about this.

“I’ll be back tomorrow. Let you think about everything I just said and what kind of situation you’re in. Maybe then you’ll be more willing to answer my questions,” she says, and walks out of the door.

CHAPTER 4

The light on the side of the right wall stays on the whole time, flickering every once in a while. I don’t know how long has passed since Avira left the room but it feels like eternity. My stomach still aches with each deep breath I take.

How long has passed since I got taken? I ask Kieran.

It’s the middle of the next day. You’ve been gone for almost a whole day, he replies.

Tears pool in my eyes and I tilt my head back, blinking several times to stop myself from crying.

Has Henry gone to talk to my mother? I ask. Has anyone else noticed that I’m gone? Have you gotten closer to figuring out if you can break the curse?

I can’t help but ask questions. Even though I’ve only been gone a day, it feels like it’s been months and I’m missing out on everything.

Henry did go and talk to your mom. He said she was worried about you but that she understood that you had to do something at the palace and didn’t know when you would be back. We have not gotten closer to figuring out if we can break the curse yet or not. We have been focused on you, Kieran replies.

Focused on me? Why? You need to figure out how to break the curse before it’s too late, I rush out.

Before it’s too late? It will be too late if you are dead. He trails off at the end.

Avira says that the prince is thinking about becoming king before it was originally planned. I think he is debating killing his father, and when he does that, he has talked about killing all of the Fae right away multiple times. You need to figure out how to break the curse before that happens. My voice is full of panic.

My chest rises and falls as I think about all the possible scenarios that are going through my head. What my life is going to be like if the prince succeeds and becomes king before his time and kills off all of the Fae. I don’t want to see any of them die, especially not Kieran.

I don’t think I would be able to live without them.

I haven’t known any of them long, but they have a place in my heart… a place in my life and they aren’t going anywhere.

Calm down, Sweets. The prince is not going to do anything like that right now. There is too much going on with the Fae in some other towns. It would be foolish for the prince to try and take over right now, Kieran tries to tell me.

You can’t stay focused on me. You have to figure out the spell.

I’m not going to forget you. You are my mate!