Page 13 of Quest for her Knights (The Lost Souls of Dyconia #5)

Chapter twelve

Arrow

I watch with a frown as Elora awkwardly climbs into the carriage. “That was weird.”

“Did she have nightmares last night?” Ranger asks.

“I don’t think so. She didn’t move at all,” I tell him.

“Hmm,” is his only reply before we start packing up camp.

Before we leave, I dip my head into the carriage to check on Elora. I frown, seeing her head dipped forward and her hair hanging down in front of her face.

“Hey, Elora, are you okay?” I ask tentatively.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I mean good. I’m good.” I frown, waiting for her to look at me, but she doesn’t move.

“You sure? Is there something I can do? Something you need? ”

“Nope. Totally good here. All great.” Why was she talking so strangely?

“If you’re sure,” I hedge, hoping she’ll tell me what’s going on.

“Yep, just ready to get going.”

“Okay. Just shout if you need anything,” I tell her before moving to the front of the carriage with Blaze.

“Everything okay?” he asks when he sees my face.

“I don’t know. She’s acting weird. Something’s wrong, but she wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“I’m sure whatever it is, she’ll either figure it out on her own or ask for help.

” I consider his words, but I’m not so sure.

She’s been getting quieter as each day passes.

Her usual outgoing personality is nowhere in sight.

Instead, she’s subdued and quiet. And this morning, she wouldn’t even look at us.

I’m not sure what’s wrong or how to help her.

As we travel through the day, I stay alert for any threats, but luckily, we come across nothing. Ranger doesn’t give us a break for lunch until the early afternoon, finding nowhere suitable before then.

I’m anxious to check on Elora, so the second we stop, I jump down and practically run to the side of the carriage, pulling the door open as I lean in.

“Arrow?” she asks groggily as her head tilts in my direction .

Her hair falls to the side, and I get the first real look at her face today. Her eyes are red and distant as she looks at me. Large, dark spots mark the skin beneath them.

“Elora! What’s happened?” I ask, climbing in and kneeling in front of her, slowly stroking her hair away from her face.

“Mmm, fine. Don’t look,” she grumbles, trying to pull her hair back in front of her face. She sounds intoxicated. I glance around, but only see her water canteen. I grab it and open the top, but it doesn’t smell of anything.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” I ask, cradling her face in my hands.

“Nothing. Is it morning yet?” I frown at her; she’s not making any sense.

“Arrow, what’s going on?” Ranger asks with a bite of authority in his voice as he watches us from the door.

“I don’t know. Something’s wrong with her. She’s not making any sense, and look at her face.” I gently tilt her head so he can see her clearly.

“I’m goon… foon… fine. Leave me alone,” she mumbles, half-heartedly trying to bat my hands away. I watch Ranger’s eyes widen with worry.

“Fuck. Get her out here, carry her if you have to,” he instructs before turning to bark orders at the others. “Blaze, Draven, get the bedding down and make a spot for Elora to lie down, quickly. ”

“What’s going on?” Blaze asks. I don’t hear anything else as my focus returns to Elora.

“Elora, can you walk?”

“Of course,” she says before sniffling.

“Sweetheart, fuck—why are you crying?” I ask, my chest constricting with pain as I see tears form in her eyes.

“I’m not crying, you’re crying,” she tells me, sounding frustrated.

I decide not to argue as I try to help her stand, but her legs shake before giving out as she plops back down on the bench seat.

“I’m going to have to carry you. Hold on to my neck.

” I sweep her up in my arms and carefully climb out of the carriage, moving into the clearing where the other three are quickly laying out blankets for her.

I gently lay her down and take a second to brush her hair back from her face so we can get a good look at her in the bright daylight as we all kneel around her.

“Shit, why does she look like that?” Draven asks, making me smack him on the shoulder.

“Ouch!”

“Draven, don’t say it like that,” I chastise him.

“Darling, what’s wrong?” Blaze asks, placing the back of his hand against her forehead. “Do you feel sick?”

“I’m fine,” she says, her eyes unfocused as they bounce around, like they’re unable to settle on anything .

“She doesn’t feel warm,” Blaze says, pulling his hand back as we all stare at her.

“Elora, tell us what’s going on,” I beg her.

“I’m fine. Leave me alone,” she grumbles, trying to roll to her side, but we all reach out to stop her.

“Princess,” Ranger says, drawing her attention. “Tell me what’s wrong.” She shakes her head, and I see more tears forming in her eyes. He narrows his gaze as he presses her. “Princess, do as you’re told and tell me.” She gulps before another quick shake of her head.

Ranger leans forward, so he’s almost right above her face as he speaks. “Come on now, baby. Be a good girl for me and tell me what’s wrong.”

My wide eyes meet Blaze’s. I’ve never heard Ranger speak like that before. He didn’t sound like a knight commanding his charge, he sounded like a man commanding his… woman.

“I’m so tired,” she says as tears slowly stream down her face. Tired?

“You want to take a nap?” I ask, furrowing my brows. That can’t be what this is all about. Ranger stays quiet as he stares down at her, and her back at him.

Finally, he asks, “When’s the last time you slept?” I see her swallow heavily, but she doesn’t answer, making Ranger growl.

“Baby, be a good girl and answer my question. When’s the last time you slept?”

“At the inn, with Draven,” she answers immediately .

“Fuck,” Blaze and I say in unison. That was days ago.

Ranger takes a deep breath and I can hear him trying to control the anger in his voice as he speaks. “Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t sleeping?”

“I didn’t want you to think I’m weak,” she says with a sniffle.

“Elora…” he groans before sitting down and pulling her into his lap.

Who is this guy, and what has he done to my brother?

“If something’s wrong, you have to tell us. It’s our job to take care of you. You don’t need to suffer.”

“I don’t want to be a job.”

Her words pierce my heart, making me flinch. She isn’t just a job to me, and I know the others feel the same, whether they’ll admit it or not. She’s been unable to sleep, hurting, for days, because she doesn’t want to be a burden to us. How could we not care about her?

“That’s not what I meant. Now tell me why you can’t sleep. Is it because of what happened at the inn? Are you worried? You know there’s always at least one of us awake, keeping watch?” he asks, gently rocking her and stroking her back.

“You won’t tell me what happened to him. I’m worried he’ll come back.”

“I told you we should have told her,” Draven mumbles, causing Ranger to shoot him a glare.

“Tell me what?” she whispers, lifting her chin to look at Draven .

“He’s dead, kitten,” Draven says bluntly.

Kitten? What the fuck is happening right now?

Although I suppose I’m not any better, calling her sweetheart. It’s hard not to use a sweet nickname.

While the original Elora, the Ice Princess of the North, was hard and malicious, this woman is her polar opposite. She’s soft, kind, and full of life.

“Good,” she says in response to Draven’s words, then lets her head rest against Ranger’s chest.

We all watch her quietly for a few minutes before Ranger speaks.

“Let’s stop here for the night. Princess, you can sleep, we’ll all stay up and keep watch so you feel safe, alright?”

She nods silently, and he lays her down while we all move to stand.

Blaze gets to work on the fire while Ranger and Draven pull down some of our bags and set up the area for us. With my bow in hand, I go off to hunt some food. I get lucky finding two rabbits relatively quickly and make short work of skinning and gutting them, far from camp.

As soon as I’m back, I hand the food off to Draven and Blaze to cook and decide to check on Elora. She’s lying on her side, facing away from the camp, so I move around and kneel in front of her. Immediately, I see her wide, glazed-over eyes as she stares off into the forest .

“Sweetheart?” I ask gently, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

Her eyes shift up to meet mine, and she gives me a small frown. “Arrow? Is it morning already?”

“Have you even slept? I’ve been gone for over an hour, you should be asleep.”

“I can’t,” she whispers as tears fill her eyes.

“Why not? Tell me what’s wrong, I want to help you.”

“I don’t know. I just keep thinking about what’s out there, who else wants to kill me. I can’t even close my eyes. I swear I never used to be like this... so afraid. I don’t know what’s wrong with m–me,” she stammers, her voice breaking as tears spill down her cheeks.

Fuck. Seeing her like this kills me. Ranger warned me to keep my distance, but I can’t let her suffer. She slept just fine when Draven was holding her, so maybe that’s what she needs to fall asleep, being held by someone sworn to protect her.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll help you sleep.”

I set my quiver and bow on the ground, then pull my chainmail over my head and drop it to the side. As I start to take off my pants, Ranger calls out, “Arrow, what are you doing?”

“She’s still awake. I’m going to hold her so she can fall asleep. You got a problem with that?” I ask as I strip down to my boxers. I watch him grind his jaw before giving a brief shake of his head, turning his attention back to the fire .

With that settled, I lean down and lift the blanket she’s under.

“Scoot over, Princess. I’m coming in.” She shifts closer to the fire, giving me space between her and the forest she’d been staring into.

I crawl in beside her, pulling her into my chest as I wrap my arms around her.

Something in my chest settles. She feels right.

I rub her back slowly and whisper, “Sleep, sweetheart. I’ve got you now.”

“Don’t leave me,” she murmurs so softly I almost don’t catch it.

“Never,” I whisper back, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Within minutes, her breathing slows and I know she’s finally asleep.

My eyes meet Ranger’s across the fire. He lifts an eyebrow in silent question and I give a small nod in response. Yes, she’s asleep. And she stays that way for hours, until I desperately need to move to relieve myself.

I catch Blaze’s attention, and he moves to her other side. Together, we gently roll her into his arms. I take care of business, then grab some rabbit meat and stand close to the fire for warmth.

“You did good, kid,” Ranger says, coming to stand beside me. I raise an eyebrow in surprise. I expected him to chew me out.

“What? Not going to scold me for getting too close to our beloved princess? ”

He rolls his eyes. “I don’t think it’s wise to make it a habit, but I hate seeing her in pain as much as you do. If you hadn’t gotten in there with her, I probably would’ve done it myself.”

“Really? And would you call her a good girl while you do it?” I tease, grinning.

“Shut it,” he grumbles, shoving me lightly as I laugh. Then he grows serious. “Seriously though, Arrow. We need to pay more attention to her. We can’t let her get that bad again. If the kings and queen saw her like that, they’d have our heads.”

“No offense, but fuck what they think,” I say with a scoff.

“Excuse me?” he asks, turning fully toward me.

“I mean, we shouldn’t be protecting her just because of their orders. We do it because we want her to be happy and safe. It just happens to align with our job. You have to be careful talking like that around her, Ranger. It hurts her feelings when you make her feel like a job.”

“She is a job.”

“Sure. Just keep telling yourself that,” I say, shaking my head as I walk back to where she’s curled against Blaze. I slide in behind her and wrap my arms around her, holding her tightly between us.

“I’ve got her if you want to get up,” I whisper to Blaze.

He’s silent for nearly a full minute before replying, “I’m good here. ”

I think about that for a moment. I don’t need to stay, Blaze will keep her feeling safe through the night. But no part of me wants to leave. So I just snuggle in tighter as I reply, “Me too.”