Page 41 of Ruined Kingdom

I didn’t have trouble moving, but it was beginning to fester. I didn’t even want to think about how dirty that pincher had been that’d scratched me.

A violent shiver ran down my spine as I stopped right behind Kaine.

I looked up just in time to see him shiver as well.

He looked over his shoulder at me and tilted his head. “What was that?”

“Nothing.” I waved my hand nonchalantly.

That’s strange. He felt it, too?

His dark eyes held mine with the power of the raging sea during a storm.

My thoughts fell away, leaving only one thing I could focus on.

He was alive and well. That was most important.

“Are you feeling better?” I asked.

A small smile pulled in the corner of his mouth as he gave me a solemn nod. “I heal fast, remember?”

“Right… It’s just when you transformed, it was—” Before I could finish my sentence, he turned away from me and began speaking to someone else. I pouted at him, but he made sure not to notice.

So that’s what we are doing now?

We were simply ignoring our problems and pretending like the Fae King didn’t have a leg up on us.

I suppose I’ll just have to confront this issue on my own…

Tieni stood next to me with her cloak draped over her. “I’m coming with you. You’ll need as much help as you can get from here on out.”

We followed behind Kaine as the front doors opened for us.

Sitting outside were several carriages.

My first thought was, why does there need to be so many carriages?

I seemed to quickly forget that Kaine was their king.

He was royalty.

One of the footmen opened the carriage door for Kaine, and I followed behind. At least, that was what I intended, but he quickly turned around to stop me. “It’s best we travel separately.”

I stood there in shock, waiting for him to tell me that he was joking, but the seriousness of his face never faded into humor. “Oh… Why?”

“It’s safer this way.” His eyes were cold, but only to hide what he was truly feeling. Deep down, he already felt defeated.

I didn't even bother to acknowledge him. Instead, I turned and walked to the next carriage, where Tieni was waiting for me.

She could tell just by the look on my face that I was devastated, but she knew better than to pry. Instead, she sat quietly on one side while I sat on the other, trying to collect and puzzle my thoughts together.

The carriage pulled forward, jerking me to the side and bringing me out of my mind just enough to lock eyes with Tieni, who’d been preparing her statement the entire time we’d been sitting here.

“Don’t take it to heart, dear. You have to understand the pain he is feeling after destroying the Binding Ceremony that he worked so hard to give you. Everything is falling apart around him, and he’s trying to keep the proverbial roof up so that you can find some comfort.” Tieni reached over, placing her hand on my lap.

“I never asked him to protect me from his problems. I want him to share his burdens so that I can help him, but he always keeps me in the dark.” I looked out of the window at the passing trees and sprinkles of sunlight.

“That’s true. He treats you like you’re a frail mortal, but you’re not… Too bad he doesn’t know that yet.” Tieni brought up an annoyingly good point.

---