Page 143 of Kingdom of Death and Hope

No, I say sternly. Don’t allow them to do that. I don’t want them to get hurt or die if Avira tries to do something to me. I will never forgive myself if one of them gets hurt because of me.

Worry flows through my body as Henry and I slowly walk toward the bench. There are Fae straight ahead of us, their eyes looking over at us every once in a while.

They know not to engage in anything unless it looks like you are going to die, but they are going to watch you and your conversation with Avira. Even if I told them not to, they still will because they care about you.

I hate that Kieran is right. I know they are going to watch over me even if he tells them not to.

They care for you. Don’t wish that away, Kieran says.

I’m not, but I just want them to be safe as well. I want them to know that they don’t have to step in if something bad happens to me and then they get whipped or even killed. I don’t want them to regret helping me if something really bad happens, I whisper.

They won’t. They think of it as an honor to help keep you safe and look after you. They would lay down their lives for you in a heartbeat.

That’s what I’m worried about. I don’t know how to react to that. I’m just one person and they are willing to do that for me.

No one has ever said those words to me. I’ve never seen them stick up for me, but I know they would. They didn’t hate me when Kieran got taken away and whipped twice because of me. They didn’t give me mean looks, and they were actually worried about me.

You are one very important person to them. They were skeptical of you in the beginning, but when they saw how you treated me and the other Fae you interacted with, they slowly started to realize that you weren’t going to harm them. When you got the book for us, it made them ten times more protective of you because they heard what happened afterwards. You have proven that you are meant to be the High Lady, Kieran says.

“We’re here,” Henry says, pulling me from my conversation with Kieran. “I know you were talking to him. Make sure you don’t while you are in front of Avira. You don’t want her to suspect anything.”

“Right,” I mumble. She thinks I love a Fae, but doesn’t know that he’s actually my mate or who he is.

I need to keep it that way.

“If you want to leave at any point you just let me know and I will get you out of here. The prince does expect you to listen to her and what she has to say, but after that you can be done,” Henry reminds me.

“Okay.” I sit down on the bench.

In hindsight, I wouldn’t have gone out for a walk yesterday if I knew I was going to be meeting Avira here today. My body is sore and aching all over, and being on edge is only making it worse.

“If she tries anything I’m relying on you. I can’t move fast enough,” I tell Henry.

“I will keep a close eye and stay nearby.” He nods.

Silence falls upon us but it doesn’t last long before Avira walks straight up to me. My whole body locks, terror running through me as I stare at her.

“Hello,” she says, smirking. “It’s so nice to see you. How have you been?”

I push my lips together as I continue to look at her.

“Adeline?” she calls. “Are you alright? It looks like you’ve seen a ghost. Did something happen to you?”

She knows exactly what happened to me.

“Get on with what you want to talk to her about,” Henry says as he takes a step closer to me.

I finally manage to get a breath into my lungs as Henry gets closer to me.

“You may leave while we talk.” Avira dismisses him.

“I was told to stay right next to Adeline while you talk to her,” he replies.

Avira glares at him for several seconds.

“He isn’t going anywhere,” I say, my voice weak.

Her eyes snap to mine and narrow. “Because you said so? You don’t have any authority yet. I don’t want him here while I talk to you and ask questions. I want him where he can’t hear anything.”