Page 21 of Quest for her Knights (The Lost Souls of Dyconia #5)

Chapter eighteen

Elora

O nce again, I wake with nobody in my bed, but the memory of what Blaze said as I was falling asleep puts a smile on my lips.

He likes me .

Now I just had to convince him to act on that impulse, and confirm the others were interested.

I’d seen heated looks from them all. Even Draven wasn’t fooling me completely.

Surely if all five of us wanted to be together, the queen and kings wouldn’t deny us?

Especially since the other candidates hadn’t turned out to have any potential so far.

Breakfast is brought to our room, and we eat quickly, clearly all eager to get on the road.

“You ready, darling?” Blaze asks as I exit the bathroom. The others aren’t in earshot, but I love that he’s using the nickname instead of princess. I hope he keeps using it, so I give him a big smile.

“Yep! Are we leaving now?”

“Yes, Draven is in the hall, and Ranger and Arrow are getting the horses and carriage ready.”

Before he can lead me ahead of him, I tuck my hand in his elbow and let him escort me outside.

Luckily, we don’t see the lords as we make our hasty departure.

We’re on the road for a couple of hours before I get bored.

I think about my new plan to get closer to my knights and decide that Arrow is most likely to crack next and admit he wants to be with me.

So, with that plan in mind, I stick my head out the window and wave at Arrow, who’s riding behind me on his horse. He instantly notices and pulls up beside me.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, can we stop for a few minutes, please?”

“Of course, hold on a second,” he says before pulling ahead.

I sit back and wait as the carriage slows down.

It’s always so difficult to wait for one of them to open my door, so I fist my skirts to keep me from leaping out as I wait.

Soon enough, Ranger opens the door and offers me a hand to exit, which I gratefully take.

“Is everything okay, Princess?” he asks as I stretch my back.

“Yes, I was just wondering If I could ride with Arrow for a little while? ”

Ranger frowns as his eyes dart to Arrow over my head. “Arrow… I don't think…”

“Come on!” I whine. “I’ve been stuck in there for hours, I want some company. Do you not trust him or something?” I ask, hoping that will push him to concede.

“Of course I trust him,” he says, his eyes glued to Arrow before dipping to me. “Okay, go on then. It’s only a couple more hours until lunch, anyway.”

“Thank you!” I say excitedly, clapping my hands as I turn and run over to Arrow, who smiles at me indulgently as he slips off his horse.

“So, you want to ride with me, huh, Princess?”

Hmm, I was going to have to get him to drop that nickname. It felt like they were placing a boundary between us when they used it, and I don’t like it. No time like the present to get started on my A+ flirting skills.

“I always want to ride you, I mean ride with you, Arrow.” I bat my eyelashes at him as I reach up the side of his horse.

He tips his head back and groans before grabbing my waist and hoisting me up.

I’m wearing one of my shortened dresses, which makes riding far easier.

He climbs up behind me, and I waste no time pushing my body back flush against him, leaving no space between us.

“Princess, what are you doing?” he growls in my ear.

“Whatever do you mean?” I ask with my best innocent voice .

He grunts as Ranger starts riding ahead, and we pull up behind him, the carriage behind us.

Ranger has us move at a slightly faster pace, since he doesn’t have to worry about me bouncing around in the carriage, and I have to admit the view is spectacular.

The trees are nice too, but watching Ranger’s back and ass while he rides… is quite the sight to behold.

Realizing both of Arrow’s hands are on the reins, and not on me, I pretend to bounce around from side to side until he wraps an arm around me, holding me to him. I put my hands over his, to hold him there.

Much better .

“You’re trouble, you know that?” Arrow whispers in my ear.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I say innocently, making him chuckle.

“Sure you don’t.”

I let myself relax against him. I don’t want to push him too much, or too fast, so I just let him hold me as we travel in silence.

This world is beautiful, but after weeks on the road, everything starts to look the same.

“Arrow?” I ask after a couple hours of silence.

“How long did you say it is until our next destination?”

“Elderwood is a two-week journey.”

“Two weeks!?” On one hand, that seems like a long time to be on the road.

But on the other, after my past two encounters with so-called approved suitors, I’m in no rush to meet the next ones.

Two weeks alone with my knights gives me time to get to know them better and maybe break through some of their walls.

“Yes, it’s a bit of a journey. We’re mostly avoiding towns. The less people who know you are traveling, the better.”

“Why?”

“It’s safer,” he says gently. That reminds me of the one and only night we’ve spent at an inn.

Yeah… I didn’t want a repeat of that. If camping out in the woods was safer, then I was all for it. There was something enjoyable about sitting around a campfire, with only the flames to light our faces, not to mention how much I loved sleeping sandwiched between Blaze and Arrow.

But how safe could we really be in the wild? Didn’t Ari tell me never to go in the woods alone? So far, I haven't seen anything dangerous yet.

“Are the woods safe?” I ask, as I try to see past the trees to see if anything moves beyond them. When he doesn’t answer, I prod him. “Arrow?”

I hear him sigh before he answers. “No, they’re not safe. But they are safer.”

“What are the dangers out here?” I ask with a frown, suddenly feeling a little worried.

“It’s probably best if you don’t know.”

“Arrow…” I growl in warning, needing to know.

“This is a forest, there are lots of creatures out here that could cause harm. But we will protect you from them all. ”

“Lots?” I ask, my brain choosing to focus on that one word.

“Many. A few.”

“Like what?”

“You really want to know?”

“I do.”

He sighs again. “The worst ones are probably trolls, ogres, bears and, on occasion, wolves.”

My fingers tighten on his hands. Did he just say trolls and ogres?

Wait—Where have I heard that before? Ari. She mentioned them, but with everything else going on, I completely forgot.

“Are they anything like the tales of them from my world?” I ask in worry.

“I’m not sure, I don’t know anything about your world.”

“Oh.” For some reason, I figured Freya would have told them all about it.

His arm slightly tightens on my waist. “But I’d like to. I’d love to hear about where you come from.”

“Really?”

“Alright, we’re stopping here for the night,” Ranger announces, pulling us into a large clearing.

I help set up our campsite, and as darkness falls and we finish our evening meal, I can’t help but glance at the trees, worried about what might be prowling just beyond our sight.

“Elora?” Arrow calls, and I turn to him.

“Will you tell us about your old world now? ”

My eyebrows rise in surprise. As I glance around, I see everyone watching me with interest, even the normally stoic Draven.

“Alright. What do you want to know? I’m not sure where to begin.”

“You said that trolls and ogres are mythological creatures there. What else is?”

Starting with what doesn’t exist in the Earth realm feels like a strange place to begin, but it’s easy enough when you’ve read plenty of fantasy books.

“Well, we have stories of fairies, pixies, unicorns, dragons… umm, shifters, like wolf or bear shifters. Brownies, dwarves…” I think about some of my favorite books and continue, “There are witches and wizards, phoenixes, griffins, minotaurs, hydras, banshees, krakens, fae, dryads, pegasis, selkies, wendigos, jinn… I’m sure there’s more, but that’s all I can think of right now. ”

“Wow, that’s quite the list. And none of them exist in your world?”

I shake my head. “Not that I know of. Do any of them exist here?”

“It’s said that a few unicorns still exist, although I’ve never seen one,” Blaze replies, making my eyebrows raise in surprise. “I don’t think I know what most of the others are. What’s a bear shifter?”

“Oh, it’s a man who can shift into a bear. But they’re mostly just in romance books.”

“How is that romantic?” Draven asks, confused .

“Oh, it’s one of the best romance tropes!

You know… the heroine is running from a bad guy and ends up in the forest, scared and alone.

The bad guy catches up to her, and suddenly a bear appears out of nowhere, kills him, then prowls toward her.

She backs away, afraid, but then he shifts into a large naked man and tells her she’s his fated mate and growls, ‘Mine.’ She swoons, and they make love on the forest floor, sealing their bond forever. ”

I sigh wistfully, staring into the fire. It’s such a romantic cliché, but one of my favorites. A man wanting a woman so badly that nothing can keep him from her. Is it wrong to want that kind of love?

When I realize nobody’s said anything, I glance up. They’re all staring at me.

“What?” I ask.

“Is that an example of the dom you mentioned before?”

Oh hell—are we really going there again? I’m not sure I can handle the embarrassment of explaining my strange taste in men to these four.

Not wanting to lie, I slowly nod. “Yeah, he could be more of a bad boy. Either way, he’s definitely an alpha.”

“An alpha? What’s that?” Arrow asks.

“You know, the kind of guy who’s always in charge, who takes control of everything, especially his woman.” I shoot Ranger a side glance before looking back at the fire .

“Sounds like someone I know.” I glance up to find Arrow smirking at his brother.

It’s true, Ranger definitely gives off alpha energy. So does Draven. And I have a feeling Blaze and Arrow are no different. It’s just that Ranger is the one currently in charge.