Page 33 of The Cursed Kingdom

Where to go now? I need to find the forest, but I fear asking for directions will look suspicious. I meander down street after street instead, hoping something will catch my eye. This goes on for the better part of an hour.

The forest will be on the outskirts of the city, but I fear I’m traveling in circles.

“I’ve been stationed at the wall,” a man on my right says. He’s large, dressed in all black with his white-blond hair tied at the nape of his thick neck. He’s speaking to a woman in a long, brown dress, and I hope I look nonchalant as I shift and place myself behind them. This is a conversation I want to hear. “I’m hoping to be home by third meal, but I’ll let you know if plans change.”

The woman sighs. “I don’t like that they have you there. It’s dangerous, and I’ve heard there have been multiple shifter sightings in the past few weeks.” She smooths her hands downthe front of her dress. “There are rumors they’re looking for the princes.”

“I don’t like it, either,” the man says. “But this needs to be done. The shifters are taking advantage of us, and it’s about time someone did something about it.”

The woman beside him scoffs. “You’ve heard what they say about Prince Mason, though. I bet he’s working with his father to have Prince Kieran murdered inside that forest.”

They had me for a little bit there, but they’ve lost me again. I know who Prince Kieran is. Samuel said he wishes to speak to the god Zaha before his crowning, but he never mentioned a Mason. That must be the second prince, the one also traveling into the forest with Prince Kieran.

I assumed the two were brothers, but maybe not if they have different fathers. I’m so confused.

The man hisses. “Don’t say that!”

He sounds tense, and he quickly glances around. I’m directly behind them, and I lower my gaze to the floor just before he looks in my direction. I don’t want to be caught eavesdropping.

“We can finish this discussion in private,” the man continues. “I need to get going.”

He and the woman step aside to say their goodbyes, and I continue past. I’m planning on following this man, though. He said he’s stationed at the wall, and that’s precisely where I need to go.

My heart is pounding, and I instinctively move to wipe my palms on my pants before remembering I’m wearing my gloves. They wick moisture away with unnerving efficiency, and they’re so comfortable, I often forget I’m even wearing them.

I made another visit to the public park bathroom late last night, and I didn’t realize I was wearing my gloves until well halfway into washing my hands. Even with them on, I still felt the bite of the metal from the faucet handle and the shock of coolwater as if my hands were bare. The fact that they blend in so seamlessly with my skin is helpful, too.

The only downfall is they take fucking eons to dry, so once they’re wet, I’m stuck walking around with bare hands for a good hour or two. I made that mistake last night, but now I’m extra careful.

I round the nearest corner and lean against the building, hoping the man will pass by shortly. He and the woman were headed in this direction, so I assume he will.

A minute passes before I spot his prominent figure walking past the corner I’m hidden behind, and I wait until he’s several steps ahead of me before pushing off the wall and following. I know I stand out, my clothing and the fact that I’m a human drawing attention, which makes following this man harder than it ought to be.

It doesn’t help that I’m not exceptionally skilled at following people, either. I have little experience with it. Still, it’s the best option I’ve got. It’s myonlyoption. Besides, I’m not technically doing anything wrong. I’m sure it’s not illegal to conveniently walk in the same direction as a man.

The man appears significantly less on edge now that the woman isn’t beside him, and he doesn’t look around once as he weaves through the narrow alleyways. I still keep my distance, following just closely enough that he’s in my line of sight but far enough away not to draw attention.

It helps that there are several faeries out and about. They’re pouring out of the buildings, probably on their way to work. It seems they have similar day schedules to humans. Wake, eat, work, run errands, go home, eat, sleep.

The man is walking away from the growing bustle, though, heading toward the outskirts of town. I hope it’s the elusive wall he’s leading me to, and, sure enough, after a few minutes, I notice a tall structure off in the distance.

It’s made of dark brick, and it stretches well above the buildings surrounding me.

It’s aliteralwall.

Now that it’s in my sights, I break away from the man. The foot traffic is lightening up and the tall, crowded buildings are growing scarce. It’s only increasing my already high chance of getting caught, a fact I’ve been painfully aware of for several minutes now.

My entire body relaxes once the man is officially out of my sight.

The wall grows larger the nearer I get, stretching high above the buildings and going on for as far as I can see. I’m not sure why I was expecting anything other than a physical wall, but I see no break in it. Is it a metaphorical break? No way.

I ignore the caffeine-withdrawal pulsing in my temples as I close the distance between me and the wall. My confidence dwindles with every step. Do I really want to do this? The shifters don’t sound like the friendliest people, and I don’t even know where, exactly, this delysum is.

I don’t even know what the plant looks like, for fuck’s sake. I’ve only ever seen it dried and crushed up into tea. Besides, even if I do get my hands on it, it’s apparently being cultivated into a fucking weapon. I’ll have to find a way back to the human realm with aweaponhidden in my bag.

If I get caught, if anybody sees what I’m smuggling… I’m not sure I want to know what would happen. What does a faerie prison look like? Will I ever be let out? Will Lill die, never knowing what happened to me? WillIdie?

The rational side of me wants to give up, wants to run around begging faeries to take me home. I’ll eventually run into one who possesses enough magic to open a portal. The rational side of me also knows that that means Lill will die.

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