Chapter 32
“Have you gotten any closer to finding where Avira is?” I ask, anxiety rolling through me like harsh waves hitting the beach.
Kieran looks up from his paperwork and shakes his head. “She is hiding out somewhere. But we are trying to figure out how to kill her when we do find her.”
What?
My eyebrows bunch together. “It’s not as simple as putting a dagger in her heart?” I tilt my head to the side.
“No, it’s not. My father said there was a certain way to kill her, but he never told me what it was or how.
” Kieran sighs and looks up at the ceiling.
“We have a way to confine her to one of the cells if we do find her, but there is still the problem of how to get rid of her. She is going to be a problem for the rest of our lives if she stays alive.”
“But she doesn’t remember a lot of her spells without the book,” I point out. “She told me that she doesn’t remember most of them.”
Which is still weird to this day. How old is she and she doesn’t remember her spells?
“She wasn’t the brightest between her sister and her. She slacked off and wrote everything down while her sister memorized them,” Kieran explains. “The book has been locked away in the palace and there is no way for her to find it or even be able to get to it.”
I relax in my chair with those words.
“Do any of the Fae know how to kill her?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “None of them know. Back when my parents were ruling they didn’t want the knowledge to get out and someone kill the witches and start a war. So only a handful of people knew and they are all dead now.”
“Maybe your father wrote it down somewhere. A special object?” I try and think of anything.
“There’s something bothering me about this. Like I should know the answer to this,” I mumble to myself. “It’s almost like I know the answer but I can’t remember.”
“Sweets, you probably don’t know the answer to it and it’s okay. You’ve helped out so much already,” Kieran says.
“But I feel like someone told me,” I reply, frustrated. “I just don’t know why I can’t remember anything.”
Everything is a haze right now. Things that I think are real aren’t and I’m missing parts of my memory.
“I think the lady told me,” I say. “She said something to me but I just can’t recall what it was. It’s almost like it’s been suppressed for a reason.”
“Adeline.” Kieran cups my face. “It’s okay. You don’t have to remember. Everything is going to work out on its own eventually. We are going to figure this out.”
“But I feel like I should know.”
“Look me in the eyes,” Kieran commands.
We lock eyes.
“You don’t have to know everything right away.
You don’t have to put so much pressure on yourself to figure things out on your own.
There are a lot of us looking for the answers and we will find them soon.
I just need you to know that you aren’t alone in this any longer and we can work as a team,” Kieran says as he runs his thumb across my cheek. “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I mumble. “Could he have written it down somewhere and hidden it?” I ask, bringing it up again.
“I’ve been looking through the palace but they got rid of almost all of my father’s things when they took over,” Kieran explains. “They didn’t want any trace of anything to prove that they were wrong.”
My eyes widen. “What about the library? They have some of the oldest books there under lock and key. Maybe it’s in one of those books.”
Kieran hums and nods. “I’ll have Elias and Zayden go and look for anything.”
“Or we could go right now,” I offer.
He shakes his head. “You are still recovering from dying.”
“Kieran, it’s been a week. I think I am perfectly fine now. My throat doesn’t hurt any longer and I don’t have any pain anywhere. I’m fine,” I reassure him. “Alaric said I was good to do anything that I wanted now.”
“I don’t want to risk it. It hasn’t even been two weeks since you were stabbed.” He gives me a pointed look. “I don’t want you to walk out there and something bad happen to you. I don’t want you to die again.”
“I won’t. You are going to be right with me the whole time. We haven’t let each other out of our sights since I woke up.”
A full week of laying in bed, rarely getting up. Today is the first day he has allowed me to get up and go with him to his office. Only because he had something really important to do. Otherwise, I feel like I would have been stuck in bed all day again.
“I need to do something or else I’m going to go stir crazy,” I tell him. “If you won’t allow us to go to the library to look at the books, then can we walk around?”
Kieran looks at me with unease. “I don’t want you to get hurt if something happens out there. The people are still a little restless.”
“And I think it would be good if both of us went out there to show them that we are a unit and that you care for me. Let’s show them that we still care about them.” I gently touch his arm. “Please?”
He sighs. “Only if we bring some guards with us.”
“Do we really need to do that?” I ask.
Kieran tilts his head and his right eyebrow goes up.
“Yes, we do. I’m worried that if we go out and something happens that I won’t be able to protect you.
I don’t want to do something that I’m going to regret toward the people because I’m trying to keep you safe, but if it comes down to that I will.
I’m trying to make peace right now and I don’t want to play around with your safety. ”
“Okay,” I finally say. “I agree.”
“They are waiting by the front door for us. Do you want to change into something or are you okay with that?” Kieran asks.
I look down at one of my many worn and old dresses. It’s the exact same one that I wore when I met Kieran for the first time.
“Yes?” I hesitantly say as I run my hands down it. “Should I want to change? I don’t have anything better than this right now.”
“You look beautiful.” He takes a step toward me.
“Do you want me to change into something better?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “No, you can wear what you want. I’m not going to dictate what you can and can’t wear when we go out. If you are comfortable in those clothes, then you can wear them. But eventually we will get rid of them and get you new clothes.”
“I don’t want to wear new clothes when everyone else is wearing clothes they’ve had for years,” I quickly say as I raise my hand in the air, stopping him from walking toward me. “I don’t want to live a better life than them when they are still struggling with daily things.”
Kieran cups my face with his hands and kisses my forehead. “You are going to make an amazing High Lady.”
“Kieran,” I whisper, emotions clogging my throat.
“I’m telling the truth. My parents would have loved you if they had the chance to meet you.
Everyone is going to love you for who you are and I hope you stay this way the whole time.
And I promise that you don’t have to wear anything new until you are comfortable with it.
I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I never want to make you feel like you can’t show your face to people. ”
“Thank you,” I mumble, feeling my eyes fill with tears.
Hearing that his parents would have loved me pulls at my heart strings. If only they were still alive and I could meet them.
“Come on, let’s go out.” Kieran lets go of my face and grabs my hand.
We walk hand in hand through the palace as we make our way to the front doors.
“How is Henry doing?” I ask as we get closer to the guards.
They are all Fae, the same height as Kieran. I’ve never been so close to so many Fae before.
“High Lady,” they all say and bow.
“Oh, please don’t,” I say before I can stop myself.
“Sweets,” Kieran says.
“I know they are doing it because I’m the High Lady but I’m not used to it. I’m just a normal person. You don’t have to bow to me, and please, call me by my name,” I quickly say as I grip onto Kieran’s arm.
Kieran chuckles and shakes his head.
“High Lady, we cannot do that,” a male says.
“And why not?” I ask. “I just want you to treat me like a normal person. Elias, Everett, and Zayden do it. Or they did it before. I haven’t seen them much.”
“Because you are the High Lady and deserve respect. You are the High Lord’s mate and mean a lot to us,” a different guard says.
“Kieran,” I mumble his name as I look up at him. “Please.”
“You may call her by her name,” Kieran says. “That is until she gets used to everything.”
“Yes, High Lord,” they all say.
“Come on.” Kieran tugs me toward him as he starts to walk.
“Is everyone going to act like that around me?” I ask. “I don’t know if I can survive this.”
“They will, but I’ve let everyone know to tone it down so you don’t get too overwhelmed. We don’t want you running away and hiding from everyone.” Kieran chuckles.
“I wouldn’t do that,” I mumble.
“But you might be tempted to if it gets to be too much. No one wants you overwhelmed right now,” Kieran says. “Where do you want to go first?”
“Can we just walk around the town and see other people’s stalls?” I ask. “Has the lady made any of the lemon candy?”
“Is she talking about Nila?” a guard asks.
“That is the only person who used to make the lemon candies,” another one replies.
“She hasn’t yet, but we can get her ingredients so she can make them for you. Do you still have some more left over or have you eaten them all?” Kieran asks.
I look away and rub the back of my neck. Kieran chuckles.
“That answers my question.” He gives my hand a little squeeze. “We can pick up the ingredients and you can officially meet her when we drop them off.”
“Thank you.” I smile before turning my head to the side. “Have you had her candies?”
The guards all nod.
“Did she only make the lemon candies or did she make other ones?” I ask. “Were there any that were your favorites?”
“I personally liked the strawberry flavored ones she made,” a guard chimes in.
“We liked the lemon ones the best.” A guard points to him and the person next to him.
“Adeline?” Someone calls my name.
The guards swarm around us as I grip onto Kieran’s arm tighter.
“Adeline, is that you?” the person calls again. “It’s me, Flynn. Your father’s best friend.”