Page 68 of Kingdom of Death and Hope

Kieran runs his thumbs across my cheeks as he shakes his head. “Do you know what I want to do with you when the curse is broken and everything has calmed down?”

But he answers before I can even open my mouth.

“I want to walk down the street with you. I want to go buy the lemon candies that you have grown to love and may even get addicted to one day. I want to show you the halls in the palace where I grew up part of the time. I want to hold you. I want to get hugs from you whenever I want and not have to wait until you can sneak into the forest to come and see me,” he says. “But you know what we are also going to continue to do?”

“No.”

“We are going to continue to go to the forest when we want to get away from everyone and everything going on in life. It’s going to be our little refuge when we need it,” Kieran says. “We’ll sneak to the forest at different times just like we do now. It’ll be our time to tell each other anything and just be together.”

“Maybe we could build a little house out here that we can come to,” I whisper. “Maybe we can even bring our future children here as a little getaway.”

Kieran smiles. “I like the sound of that. Just a place for us to get away from all the noise and be together.”

I nod. It sounds like pure heaven right now and I would do anything to have it this instant.

“All done,” Alaric interrupts.

Turning my head, I look down at my arm and realize there is a little bandage on it, and the same on Kieran’s arm.

“Already?” I ask.

“Yes, you two were pretty focused on each other and you didn’t even flinch when the needle went in.” Alaric chuckles. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone your plans on sneaking to the forest or building a little house back here. Though, I don’t doubt people will find out rather quickly when the house is built and you two are nowhere to be found.”

My cheeks flush and I look away from the healer.

“But it’s a good idea and everyone will respect your privacy when you come out here. It’s good for you two to have something like this,” Alaric says as he starts packing up his things. “Your father had something similar with your mother.”

“He did?” Kieran asks.

“Yes, he did. There was a hidden room in the palace that they would sneak off to. Only a couple of people knew where it actually was, but whenever no one could find them, they just assumed they were together there to get away from everything and be normal for a couple of minutes,” Alaric explains. “They even brought you there when you were just a baby and needed some quiet with you. But it was their spot, and when you got older they didn’t take you there. Probably in fear that you would hide in there for the rest of your life and never go out to meet the people.”

“Were you that shy?” I ask, tilting my head to the side.

Kieran shakes his head. “I loved going out and being with the people. I remember some guards having to drag me back to the palace because I wouldn’t leave the town.”

“But he did love to hide away and make people worried. When he didn’t want to be social, it could last for days and people would always be looking for him. Or when he didn’t want to see someone he would hide.” Alaric shakes his head.

“You would hide when you didn’t want to see someone? I didn’t expect that,” I mumble.

Kieran huffs. “What three year old wouldn’t want to hide when they had to meet girls. I knew they weren’t my mate and I didn’t want to be around them. Most of them were older than me anyway, and I didn’t like when my cheeks got pinched and my hair ruffled.”

Giggling, I cover my mouth as I look at Kieran.

“Are you laughing at me?” he asks.

I shake my head. “I would never.”

His eyes narrow on me before he looks over to Alaric. “Don’t tell her any more stories or she’s going to be laughing at me all the time.”

“If you ever want to hear stories about Kieran, there are a lot of people who will sit down and tell you them,” Alaric says as he wiggles his eyebrows. “You just need to let me know and I can introduce you to them. Or you could just walk and ask and anyone who knew Kieran when he was little or even now will tell you stories.”

My eyes light up. “I would love that.”

“Sweets, no,” Kieran pulls my face toward his. “You are not going to ask them to tell you stories. If you want to hear some then you can come to me and I will tell you some.”

“But if I ask you then you won’t tell me the embarrassing ones,” I point out.

“How do you know?” he asks.