Page 90 of Kingdom of Death and Hope

“High Lord, it’s time to go now,” Elias interrupts. “The longer we stay in here, the more people are going to wonder if you are coaching them on what to say.”

Will they actually think that?

Kieran lets go of my face and takes several steps back.

“Everything is going to be okay,” Mother whispers as Elias opens the front door.

Blinding light from the sun shines through and I hold my hand up to cover my eyes. Has the sun somehow gotten brighter since the curse has been lifted?

I push that thought to the back of my mind as we slowly make our way out of the palace and in front of hundreds of people.

“Hello, everyone!” Mother yells.

“Are you okay?” someone screams. “If they are holding you hostage, just blink twice and we’ll come and get you.”

My grip on Mother’s arm tightens at the realization of them being serious. Even if we somehow were being held captive, they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. The Fae have gotten their powers back and us humans are no match for them.

Take a deep breath, Kieran reminds me.

I take several breaths as I try to calm myself down. Everything is going to be okay. Mother is going to get them to understand that we aren’t being held hostage and they are going to slowly start to realize the Fae aren’t a threat.

“Adeline and I are perfectly fine. She was injured by the witch and has been recovering the past couple of days,” Mother explains. “We are safe with the Fae and they are not going to harm any of you.”

“That’s not true! They broke the curse so they could rule over us again!” a man yells.

My whole body locks up. They weren’t the ones to break the curse.

“Have they harmed you yet?” I find myself asking.

Everyone goes quiet as their eyes fall on me. I suck in a breath as nerves run through me.

“Have they?” I ask again. “Since the curse was broken, have they harmed you?”

No one dares to speak.

“They haven’t because they don’t want to harm you,” I continue. I swallow, trying to coat my dry throat.

Sweets, Kieran’s soft voice says through the bond. Don’t push yourself.

But I can’t just not do anything. They are spewing things that aren’t true.

“What do you know about this?” another person asks.

“Because for the past year, I’ve fallen in love with a Fae. They don’t want to harm us and back before the curse was placed they never wanted to harm us. They want us to be equals and to live a peaceful and happy life. They want everyone to thrive and not live wondering when their next meal is going to be,” I say right before I go into a coughing fit.

My whole body protests and my grip on my mother’s arms tightens as my legs threaten to give out.

Kieran comes over to me, a glass of water in hand, and helps me take several sips of water.

“Don’t push yourself,” he says. “It’s going to take a while for them to believe anything we say. We have to show them.”

“But—”

“No buts. I don’t want you to exhaust yourself with this right now. You need to focus on getting better first.” He gives me a firm look.

Sighing, I nod and turn back to the people.

“I know it’s going to take a while for you to understand that they don’t want to harm you and I’m willing to be patient. I just ask one thing,” I say.