Page 97 of Kingdom of Death and Hope

“I’m her daughter, Piper.” Another lady steps forward and waves. “Normally we would hug, but I don’t want to overwhelm you.”

“Hi.” I force a smile on my face.

Everyone else introduces themselves and I say hi to each and every one of them. By the time they say all of their names, my head starts spinning with too much information.

Kieran steps in front of the other people, blocking my view of them and cups my face with his warm hands.

“Are you okay?” he gently asks as we lock eyes.

“A little overwhelmed,” I reply honestly. “It’s a lot but I’m okay.”

“Do you want to take a break and go do something else?”

I shake my head before leaning into his right hand, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. “I’m okay. We still need to give her the ingredients and I would feel really bad if we just left right after that.”

How rude would it be for me to meet them for the first time, drop things off, and then just leave like they didn’t matter?

No.

I can’t do that. I need to show them that I will be a good High Lady and that everything is going to be okay.

“I don’t want you to overwork yourself,” Kieran whispers.

“I’m not working,” I mumble back.

I open my eyes to see Kieran giving me a knowing look.

“You know what I mean. You are still recovering from not sleeping well for the past several months and coming back to life,” Kieran says.

“She died?” Nila raises her voice. “When did this happen? Are you okay? How are you alive?”

I grip Kieran’s arm and stare into his eyes. I had completely forgotten that they could hear us talking.

Kieran steps to the side of me and faces them. “When the curse was broken, she died. That is how the curse was able to be broken.”

Everyone gasps and looks over at me, their eyes filled with tears.

“Are you alright?” Piper asks. “Why are you out here right now and not resting at home?”

“That’s what I’ve been asking,” Kieran says.

“Kieran,” I mumble and glare at him. “You aren’t helping.”

“Dear, you should be home resting right now. You don’t have to come out and meet us. We are willing to wait until you have gained your full strength back and aren’t as overwhelmed with everything,” Nila says as she grabs my right hand and gently pats it. “We have waited hundreds of years, and waiting a couple more days isn’t going to hurt us.”

“I’m okay though,” I whisper.

She gives me a knowing look. “I know you probably feel restless, but you still need to rest and not push yourself. Listen to your mate and allow him to take care of you. It’s one of the many things he wants to do for you.”

“She’s right. I don’t mean to confine you, but I want you to get the rest that you need. You are finally getting full nights of sleep and you need plenty of those before you will be really recovered,” Kieran says.

“There is just a lot to do right now,” I mumble.

“And there are several people who can step up and help out. We are here to help everyone, and that includes you.” Nila pats my hand. “I know before this you stayed to yourself and had to do things on your own, but that’s not the case any longer. We are here to help you and we want to. It would be our honor if we could. You don’t have to hand everything over but you can start off small.”

“She’s right,” Piper chimes in. “So right now you don’t have to feel like you should stay with us because it’s our first time meeting. Go home and get some rest. We’ll have plenty of other days where we can meet and talk to each other.”

I look at everyone and they all nod their heads. “Okay.”