Chapter 4
The light on the side of the right wall stays on the whole time, flickering every once in a while. I don’t know how long has passed since Avira left the room but it feels like eternity. My stomach still aches with each deep breath I take.
How long has passed since I got taken? I ask Kieran.
It’s the middle of the next day. You’ve been gone for almost a whole day, he replies.
Tears pool in my eyes and I tilt my head back, blinking several times to stop myself from crying.
Has Henry gone to talk to my mother? I ask. Has anyone else noticed that I’m gone? Have you gotten closer to figuring out if you can break the curse?
I can’t help but ask questions. Even though I’ve only been gone a day, it feels like it’s been months and I’m missing out on everything.
Henry did go and talk to your mom. He said she was worried about you but that she understood that you had to do something at the palace and didn’t know when you would be back.
We have not gotten closer to figuring out if we can break the curse yet or not.
We have been focused on you, Kieran replies.
Focused on me? Why? You need to figure out how to break the curse before it’s too late, I rush out.
Before it’s too late? It will be too late if you are dead. He trails off at the end.
Avira says that the prince is thinking about becoming king before it was originally planned.
I think he is debating killing his father, and when he does that, he has talked about killing all of the Fae right away multiple times.
You need to figure out how to break the curse before that happens. My voice is full of panic.
My chest rises and falls as I think about all the possible scenarios that are going through my head. What my life is going to be like if the prince succeeds and becomes king before his time and kills off all of the Fae. I don’t want to see any of them die, especially not Kieran.
I don’t think I would be able to live without them.
I haven’t known any of them long, but they have a place in my heart… a place in my life and they aren’t going anywhere.
Calm down, Sweets. The prince is not going to do anything like that right now. There is too much going on with the Fae in some other towns. It would be foolish for the prince to try and take over right now, Kieran tries to tell me.
You can’t stay focused on me. You have to figure out the spell.
I’m not going to forget you. You are my mate!
I am your mate but our people are counting on you to figure out how to break the curse!
And they are counting on me to bring my mate back alive. Their future High Lady!
I take a deep breath and close my eyes, trying to calm myself down. Right now is not the time to get into a disagreement.
I know you’re worried about me. I’m worried about me, but I need you to figure out how to break the curse so that you can as soon as possible. If I’m still in here by the time you figure it out then you can come and rescue me without there being any bad consequences, I try to reason with him.
Kieran stays silent and worry forms inside. Did I say something wrong, or were we disconnected somehow?
If you were in my place, you would do absolutely everything you could to get me out of the dungeon. You have done it before when we were caught in the forest earlier this year, Kieran says. And yet you expect me to do nothing when it comes to you? How does that make any sense?
I look up at the ceiling and take several seconds to think about everything he has said.
Yes, I did do everything in my power to make sure you didn’t get killed.
And you made sure even after I got separated from my people, that I was placed with them again. You did it almost every single day, he reminds me.
But I had people stop me from doing what I actually wanted to do.
I had guards watching over me at all times so I couldn’t do what I really wanted to do, which was go to you.
Find you and see if you were okay with my own eyes.
I had to rely on other people to make sure that you were okay and to relay messages about other things, I tell him.
But you are telling me to only focus on figuring out how to break the curse and not you.
I sigh.
He does have a point there. I just don’t know if he will have enough strength to focus on me and the book if something happens to me. Will he break and go after the royal family before they have the key on how to break the curse and all the Fae end up dying?
I can’t allow that to happen.
I’m worried that you are going to come and try to find me and everything will go down the drain when they catch you. I don’t want you getting caught and then no one knowing what to do because both of us are locked up or dead. I want you to think about everyone and not just me, I whisper.
Anger. Sadness. Annoyance.
All these emotions flow through me and I know that they are Kieran’s feelings.
I’m sorry. My voice breaks.
I understand what you’re saying but you’re my mate.
You’re the person I have spent my whole life looking for and right now I do want to go to you and make sure that you are safe.
Yes I do understand that I have an obligation to my people, and to focus on finding out how to break the curse, but I don’t want to. I want to focus on you.
Tears pool in my eyes and I quickly close them.
I now understand what my father talked about when he mentioned my future mate and how difficult it was going to be for me.
It’s taking everything in me not to come right now but I am strong enough.
I just need you not to block me out and answer me when I talk to you, or else I will break every rule and forget about the people so I can come and save you.
His voice is raw with every single emotion.
I will try. Avira has been talking to me so I don’t know if I will be able to respond right away if I’m trying to pay attention to what she’s saying, I reply, completely ignoring him asking me not to block him out.
He sighs. I understand.
Silence fills the bond and I finally open my eyes. The light flickers and I flinch.
Henry said he is going to try and meet up with you soon to give you some food and figure out how to get you out of there, but we have to be careful. He can’t let on that he knows who the witch is or she’s going to change her identity and we are back at square one, Kieran tells me.
“I don’t remember the last time I ate,” I mumble to myself.
That is why he’s coming to give you food. The witch no doubt is going to try and starve you so that you will do anything for food, but we aren’t going to let that happen.
What if there is a spell placed around me that alerts her if anyone comes? I don’t want Henry to get hurt because of me.
Kieran hums.
Tell him not to come. I’ll try my hardest to not break, I say, but I sound anything but confident.
We talked about the same thing you are concerned about and he said he wanted to go even if there was. He said you have risked your life so many times and he can risk his life this time, Kieran replies. I can’t stop him now. He should be there any moment with food.
Clenching my teeth, I look through the bars to the other cell in front of me. No one is in there and part of me wishes there was so I could talk to them. But at the same time I’m glad no one is there so they don’t have to witness anything Avira is going to do to me.
“Hello?” I call out.
Are there any other cells or is it only these two?
“Who’s there?” a male voice calls back.
My eyes light up and I sit straight. “I’m from a different cell. Who are you?”
Silence.
I take a deep breath. “I’m Adeline Duvall. I think I arrived late last night.”
“Adeline?” the man sounds shocked. “Do you mean Kier—”
“Don’t,” I say harshly. “I’m sorry.”
“So you are.”
“I believe we are talking about the same thing then, yes. He is someone very special to me,” I say.
I don’t know if this random man and I are even talking about the same person but it sounded too close to Kieran’s name.
“What are you doing down here? Did they find out?” the man asks.
“How did you know who I was?” I fire back.
Can I trust this man? What if I give him information and he tells Avira in the end?
“I’m a Fae. I know that there are three men that are close to him. I know that there is a guard here that has a Fae mate. They have met here before and I heard them talking about you and him,” he replies.
I don’t know why I feel like I can trust him, but I do. Something in my gut is telling me that he is okay.
“I think I know who you’re talking about,” I chuckle. “They don’t know about him.”
Does Avira have some type of spell in the dungeon so they can hear our conversation? Shit. I need to be careful.
“What did you do?” he asks. “I grabbed the whip from one of the human guards when he was whipping a female Fae while we were working.”
“I don’t know if I can talk about it,” I reply. “She’s trying to get information out of me that I can’t say. I don’t know if she can hear me right now either. But know that we are on the same side.”
I close my eyes after saying that and exhale. Those words might come and bite me in the ass, but I need him to know that I’m on his side.
“I never doubted it for a second,” he replies.
“You don’t even know me,” I chuckle.
“I’ve heard stories about you whenever those two meet. I know that you would do a lot for anyone in need. You have a good heart,” he says.
Silence fills around us.
“How long have you been here?” I finally ask after several minutes.
“Before you two met,” he replies. “I don’t know how much time has passed since I was placed in here.”
My heart aches for him. He was just trying to protect a female Fae and he ended up in the dungeon.
“We will get you out of here one day,” I promise him.
“You shouldn’t promise things when you don’t know what’s going to happen to you,” Henry says out of nowhere.