Page 140 of Kingdom of Death and Hope

He shakes his head. “They hadn’t told me anything yet.”

“But… but I thought by the way you reacted that they had,” I mumble.

“No, they haven’t.”

“But—” I stop myself. “Why didn’t you stop me?”

“You just assumed they had told me when I asked if it was the Fae,” he replies.

“Because you sounded so confident,” I whine. “I wouldn’t have told you if I knew they hadn’t said anything to you.”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. So much for trying to keep it a secret from him.

Kieran moves and cups my face with his hands. “I don’t want you to keep anything from me, do you understand?”

I crack my eyes open and look up at him. “I understand. I just didn’t want you to worry about me. I was trying to make sure that you were at ease.”

“One thing you should know is I will not be at ease right now. I know you are in pain. I don’t even have to feel what you are going through to know that. Our people described what you looked like to me, and from that alone we all know that you were in a lot of pain,” Kieran explains.

“I almost passed out several times,” I mumble.

“And I’m proud that you pushed through it and made it safely back to your house. And I wish I could go back in time and tell you not to go get the book if I knew this was going to be the result,” he says.

“Then you wouldn’t have the book and we wouldn’t be close to figuring out how to break the curse. No one else would have been able to get the book but me,” I tell him.

“Even so, I wouldn’t have allowed you to do it if I knew you would be tortured for weeks. I would rather spend eternity being a slave than allow you to go through that,” he whispers.

“But I don’t want you to be a slave. I don’t want you to not have your powers or never be able to fly again. I want you to have all of that back. I want everyone to be equal and no one get hurt,” I say. “I know you don’t care, but I do.”

“It’s not that I don’t care,” he replies.

“That was the wrong word on my part. You don’t want me to get hurt and would sacrifice not having the cure so that I wouldn’t. If me going through all of that allows for you guys to be free soon, I would do it over and over,” I tell him honestly. “It wouldn’t cross my mind to not go through all of that.”

Kieran closes his eyes and places his forehead against mine. “What did I do to deserve you?” he whispers.

“I should be the one saying that,” I mumble back.

Kieran chuckles and lies back down, pulling me closer to him. I snuggle into his side and fully relax against him.

“How are you feeling?” Kieran asks after several minutes. “I could feel how anxious you were this morning before you contacted me.”

“I just needed to see you. I was getting worried and just needed to see you to make sure that you were okay,” I mumble into his chest. “I don’t know why.”

“That’s okay,” he coos.

I want to ask him how it’s going with figuring out how to break the curse, but I don’t want to ruin the mood. They have been working on it and I know if they found anything Kieran would tell me right away.

“Prince Archie said that I don’t have to worry about the wedding right now,” I whisper. “I think it’s going to get postponed with how small and weak I’ve gotten.”

“Good. That gives us more time to figure out how to break the curse.” Kieran kisses my forehead. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“It’s okay, I don’t hold it against you.” I pat his chest. “I will never hold it against you. You warned me several times and I knew the risks. So I don’t want you to feel bad any longer, understand?”

“Yes, Sweets,” he chuckles. “It’s easier said than done but I will try my best.”

“Good. Now, when the curse is broken the first thing I want is to walk around town with you, holding hands,” I declare.

“And the second?” he asks.