I told Keial I was staying, but... I haven't seen him since that night.

Now that I was mated to Keial, I knew he was no longer inside the palace, anywhere near the Forgotten Valley or the surrounding forest.

He had disappeared, and nobody could tell me where he was.

This was frustrating, the least he could have done was to tell me where he was going.

After everything I said, it still felt like I knew nothing about him, what he did, where he went, and what he thought.

I was supposed to be his mate, but I still felt like an outsider.

"Felix?" A soft voice made me snap out of my thoughts, and turn around.

"It was you." Her gentle smile lit up her face, as I watched her come over to me.

Zeri.

I stood up and looked behind her, then around, to see if she was alone, and from the look on her face, I knew that she was.

If Gregor were with her, he'd be glaring at me.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked, looking up at me curiously. "And alone?"

I scratch the back of my neck and then shrug, not really wanting to get into the brutal details of my still complicated relationship with her brother, the King... who is now my mate.

"Just taking a break." I smiled back at her.

"What are you doing here alone, where's commander Gregor?" I asked her, and immediately watched as her face turned sour and then back to normal.

"Hmmm." She hummed, trying to hide her obvious emotions.

"Well... the last time I saw him he was by the fountain, so who knows where he is by now?" She cheekily said, with her hands behind her back and her big innocent eyes staring back at me.

Ah, so she ran away from him again... go figure, if I was her, I would too.

He must be going crazy, trying to find her.

"He must be quite exhausting to be around." I laughed and she nodded her head and then patted her poofy dress.

"Only when my brot- the King isn't here." She mumbled.

"I... he's just protective, I don't have many friends here... or none at all." She smiled weakly, as her eyes met mine.

"You're kind of my only friend, and perhaps the only one who wants to be my friend within these walls."

The way Zeri spoke made my heart clench, and it wasn't from the way her voice sounded broken, but the way the light went from her eyes like she really believed that.

I didn't believe that nobody wanted to be friends with Zeri, she was beautiful, and kind, not to mention she was probably the most selfless woman I'd ever met.

"Well, it's the same for me too." I hinted for her to follow me as I started walking back.

"What do you mean? Is my brot-" She stops herself, and blushes. "The King is also protective of you?"

I couldn't help but snort as I shook my head.

Keial, protective? Maybe in his sick way but I don't think Keial is anything like Gregor, at least not that I have noticed.

"I don't know him well enough to think so... we... we rarely talk." I force out, as my jaw clenches.

"I don't even know where he is right now, isn't that hilarious? I'm his mate but I don't know anything." I laughed bitterly, hating that I hated myself for caring.

There was a silence between us as we walked beside each other.

I wished I never opened my mouth once I looked back at Zeri, who seemed deep in thought as her big eyes stared in front of her.

Then the silence broke, as Zeri grabbed onto my arm, making me turn to look at her to see her smiling widely at me.

"I have an idea!"

"Huh?" I look at her puzzled, as her eyes sparkle.

Her face then twists from innocence to one of a mischievous princess as she smiles sweetly at me, her hand still wrapped gently around my arm.

"How badly do you want to get out of this place right now?" She asked, as I looked into her eyes, at how serious she was.

Get out of here?

If only she knew... Still, what was she thinking?

"What do you have in mind?"

Zeri only smiled, and then pulled me along with her through the palace gardens maze, in a direction I hadn't been before, but still followed behind her, with her hand now tightly intertwined in mine.

*****

What the hell was I doing right now?

I had followed Zeri out of the palace and to a secret tunneling system at the edge of the palace walls that led to the forest outside the wall.

Now we were outside of the wall, and I was still following Zeri blindly, a voice in my head telling me to go back now to save the earful I would no doubt get from Gregor for allowing this to happen.

"Zeri, where are we going?" I asked her, as she kept dragging me along through the thick misted forest.

I only had a dagger with me, and if anything were to come out and attack us, Zeri was in a dress that would make it impossible for her to run.

We'd been beyond the wall for over an hour now, and walking in a straight line.

If something, anything were to happen, I would have to fight... and as much as I missed hunting since coming back to the palace... It was dangerous with Zeri with me.

If anything happened to her... it wouldn't matter if I was the King's mate, Gregor would still kill me.

She looked back at me, her hand still wrapped in mine, with a carefree smile on her face, her hair flowing in the wind and fire in her eyes.

"You said you wanted to know more about my brother... the King, correct?" She asked, as I slowly nodded my head.

She then grinned as she made a stop and then turned to point in the direction of the forest that was covered in thick black mist, making the forest seem darker than usual.

I couldn't see anything, or hear anything, and if something were to attack us, it would be too late for me to react as the thick dense fog only got worse the further we went into the forest.

"But to come this far, Zeri we should head back, it's too dangerous without a proper weapon." I told her seriously, making her tilt her head.

"You can shift now you're mated, right? We'll be fine." She waved me off and laughed as I simply stared at her.

Why was she so relaxed right now? In this place of all places, filled with monsters that would just love prey like Zeri, someone who was far too relaxed.

Seriously... I regretted letting her drag me this far, I should've stopped once we reached the tunnel.

I wasn't getting a good feeling from this, and I can practically sense Gregor's killing intent all the way from out here.

It made me feel sick with stress.

"Zeri-"

"We can't go back now." She pouted at me. "Don't you want to know more about him, aren't you tired of not knowing the truth?"

What did she mean by that?

Was there also something more I didn't know about Keial?

"She's just beyond that fog, we're almost there." Zeri pointed ahead as I followed her eyes.

She?

Who was she talking about?

"Felix..." She looked back at me, her eyes serious and her emotions stoic.

"There is something you must know, the King... my brother, Keial..." She bit her lip, lowered her gaze, and stared at the ground by her feet, as she let go of my hand.

"My brother... the King is not a good person, he's not someone who trusts easily... even now if we go back and he finds out I brought you here... he might even hurt you."

She was shaking, so what she said she must believe it, which only made me grow more nervous as she spoke.

I knew all this about Keial, but would he hurt me just because she brought me here? I doubt it but... who is to say?

Keial was dangerous, even if I was his mate, there were other ways to hurt your mate without laying a hand on them.

"Why am I here, Zeri?" I asked once again.

"Who are you bringing me to?"

Zeri looked back at me, with eyes empty of all emotion as the light completely disappeared from them.

"Our... mother."

"I'm taking you to see the only one alive who can tell you everything about Keial, and the only one who can persuade you to leave before it is too late for you."