Page 74 of Kingdom of Death and Hope

Kieran chuckles. “When the curse is broken I will introduce you to several females who have had kids so you can talk to them and ask all the questions you want. Does that sound okay?”

“Yes.” I nod my head. “Thank you.”

We hold each other for several minutes.

“How is your thigh doing?” Kieran asks.

“I’ve been off of it all last week and it has healed nicely. Mother helps me clean it and put the salve on it,” I reply. “I think it’s almost fully healed. Thanks to the salve but also you giving me blood.”

“Anytime. Have you been sleeping well?”

Sighing, I snuggle my face into his chest, not wanting to talk about it.

“Have you guys gotten any closer with the book and spells?” I ask after several minutes.

Kieran pulls back. “We are not done talking about your sleeping habits.” He boops my nose. “But we have made progress. We found out which spell it is and are actively trying to translate it and make sure that we are getting it correct.”

Hope blossoms inside of me. “Really?”

“Yes, there are only a couple of us who have remembered the witch’s language and we are each taking a turn translating it to see if we get the same thing,” he explains. “We want to make sure that everything is correct before we try anything.”

Tears pool in my eyes and I quickly blink them back. “That is such a relief. Soon you will be free and soon we will be able to be together.”

Kieran cups my face. “Very soon. Just hang in there a little longer.”

CHAPTER 26

“Sit down and relax,” Mother urges me. “Ever since your leg has healed, you’ve been running around like crazy doing chores.”

It’s been a week since Kieran told me the good news of them finding the spell and I haven’t been able to keep still. Any day now he could tell me they figured it out and the spell will be broken.

Everything is going to change.

“What has made you so happy?” Mother asks as I sit down.

“Just some good news I got told last week,” I say, thinking back to that day. “Things are going to change and I can’t wait.”

Mother gives me a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

I shake my head. “I’ll tell you when things are certain.”

I’m just waiting for Kieran to talk to me. I didn’t think it would be this hard to not ask him every other minute if they have gotten closer, but I’ve stopped myself so many times.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“I’ll go get it.” I get up before Mother can say anything.

I open the door to see Henry standing there, his hand in the air like he’s about to knock once more.

“Prince Archie wants to see you in the castle,” Henry tells me.

My eyebrows bunch together as I look at him. “He does? Are you sure? He hasn’t wanted to see me for a while since I got hurt.”

Henry nods. “Before I left the palace today, he said that he wanted to see you after lunch.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” I ask rudely.

He shrugs. “By the time I got here, you were busy with chores outside and I didn’t want to interrupt you.”