Page 24 of Quest for her Knights (The Lost Souls of Dyconia #5)

I glance over at Ranger, immediately knowing he won’t like the idea.

What are the chances I’ll have another chance to do something like this?

I’ve watched lots of videos of people jumping off cliffs into the water below and always thought it looked fun.

And those were two to three times the height of the waterfall, so I’m sure it’s safe enough.

The water looks pretty deep in that part of the pond.

I swim to where the three of them are lounging in the water, talking, but as soon as I get within earshot, their conversation stops. I try not to bristle, but it doesn’t help my self-esteem when they treat me differently from one another.

Even if I can never have a romantic relationship with them, I’d still give anything for them to let their guard down around me and treat me like a friend. I suppose they’ll always see me as royalty and nothing more .

Well, if they aren’t going to relax around me, I’ll have to find my own fun. Their silence makes me even more determined to jump.

“Can someone help me out, please?” I ask, gesturing at the rock where they helped me in. “I need to relieve myself,” I lie.

“Of course, Princess,” Arrow says a little too formally, as he moves over to the edge with me. “Turn around,” he commands, and I spin to face him.

His large hands wrap around my waist and he easily lifts me up and sets me in a seated position on the edge of the rock. He pulls his hands back and they graze my legs, sending goosebumps across my skin.

He clears his throat, mumbling, “Sorry,” as he swims back to the other two.

I roll my eyes at his behavior and spin around, climbing to my feet. I purposely go around the opposite side of the waterfall to where I know Draven is standing guard.

When I get out of everyone’s sight, I see an easy enough path to take me up to the top.

Smiling, I quickly climb up it, and within two minutes, I’m standing at the top of the waterfall looking down at the pond, which now looks a lot higher than the twenty-five feet I thought it was when looking up from below.

I swallow the lump in my throat as I consider if this is a smart idea. Nobody has seen me yet. I can just go back down, and nobody will know I chickened out .

I start to take a step backwards when someone yells, “Elora!” My body jerks in surprise and I tilt my head to see Ranger staring up at me with anger in his eyes. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. “Back away right now!”

I had already decided not to jump, but hearing him yell at me has my bratty instincts lighting up. I have to disobey him, otherwise, he’ll think he’s completely in charge of all of my choices. And so far, he has been. But this one little jump is something I can decide for myself.

I take a small step forward as I glance back down at him. “Don’t you dare jump!” I move my other foot forward so I’m standing right at the edge now. “Elora! I’m warning you, don’t do it!”

“Princess, you better listen to him!” Arrow yells from his side.

“We don’t want you to get hurt,” Blaze adds.

I swallow heavily and glance to where Draven was standing, but he’s no longer there. I hear a sound behind me, and glance over my shoulder. Draven is only ten feet behind me, and was clearly trying to sneak up on me. I narrow my eyes at him then quickly turn back to stare down Ranger.

He opens his mouth, but before he can threaten me again, I leap forward off the edge. My arms windmill at my sides as I drop down towards the pond and plunge through the water.

Relief fills me when I sink through that water and don’t hit the ground. I push myself up and break through the surface, taking in a big lungful of air before laughing .

“That was awesome!”

I look around and see Arrow, Blaze and Ranger all swimming towards me as fast as they can. I pivot around, wondering if there is something dangerous behind me, but I quickly realize there’s nothing else here. They’re coming for me .

As they swim, I get glimpses of their faces, and they don’t look happy. I was treading water but I start to swim backwards, away from them, suddenly a little fearful of how they’re going to react.

Ranger reaches me first. Grabbing my shoulders and spinning me around, he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me against his body as he swims back to the other end of the pond.

“Hey! I can swim.” He doesn’t stop, so I try again. “Ranger, seriously, I’m not hurt, I can swim just fine.”

We get to the edge, and he lifts me up the same way Arrow had. Only he hoists himself up beside me.

Before I get more than a second to admire his dripping wet, almost-naked body, he snaps at me angrily. “You’ve lost your swimming privileges.”

“Ex-squeeze me?” I ask in surprise. “I’ll swim when I want to.”

He takes my hands and pulls me to my feet.

“Not under my watch.”

“What gives you the right—” I’m cut off as he throws me over his shoulder and marches away from the pond.

He sets me down on my feet, gentler than I expected, based on his anger. We’re beside the carriage, and he opens the door and tosses something on the bench inside, then turns to me, sticking his finger in my face.

“I am your head guard, Princess. That means that it’s my job to keep you safe. When you pull a reckless stunt like that, you put yourself in unnecessary danger. I won’t stand for it. What would your parents say if they saw you do that? Hmm?”

I swat his finger away as I glare right back at him. “They aren’t my parents. You know that. Besides, I just wanted to have a little fun for once. You need to lighten up sometimes.”

“Get in there and get changed. We’re not done with this conversation, but I’d prefer to have it when you don't look like that.” His eyes flick down my body before he stomps away.

I glance down and realize the shirt is clinging to my body, and my nipples are practically pushing right through the shirt.

I jump inside the carriage and close the door.

Did he hate what he saw? Is that why he ran away so quickly?

Or is it my personality he hates? He’s definitely shown no inclination of liking much about me, that’s for sure.

Way to help my self-esteem, Ranger.

I quickly strip out of the wet slip and dry myself with the blanket he provided before putting on the nightdress he also threw in. It feels a bit early to wear it, but I have no other choice .

I normally only put this on before climbing into bed, so I feel a little self-conscious walking over to where they’re seated, dry and fully dressed, around the campfire in broad daylight.

I see they’ve left a seat for me between Ranger and Draven, and I swallow nervously as I tentatively take it. I’ve never sat between these two before. I’m always beside either Arrow or Blaze, if not both. Those two have softer energy that calms me.

But sitting between Draven and Ranger has my hackles up. Neither of them is looking at me, but I can feel the tension rolling off them in waves.

I glance at Arrow and he gives me a look that says he’s either sorry or worried about what’s about to happen. I bite my lip and look down at my feet, feeling incredibly nervous.

Ranger takes a deep breath, then sighs. “Princess.” I turn to him, but he’s still looking straight ahead. “I need you to understand that I am always looking out for your best interest.”

“I know that—”

“I don’t think you do,” he cuts me off, finally turning to look at me. He no longer looks angry, just frustrated. “I’m not trying to make you miserable or stop you from having fun, but you need to do it more safely.”

I scoff, feeling my own anger start to rise as I turn away, staring at the fire in frustration.

“You won’t let me learn how to use weapons, you barely tolerate me riding the horses, and I’m not allowed to jump off a little waterfall. It sounds like you’re stopping me from having fun.”

“You’re wrong.” I frown, confused, as I look back at him. He shakes his head. “I let you practice with weapons until it became clear you were going to injure yourself. I don’t have a problem with you riding the horses; I have a problem with you sitting with Arrow and Blaze.”

My eyes flick to them quickly. I sort of already knew that, but hearing him confirm it is... reassuring.

“And the waterfall was uncharted territory. We didn’t know if it was safe. It might have been too shallow. If you had just asked me first—”

“You would have said no.”

“Maybe. But it’s my job to keep you safe, Princess. What part of that don’t you understand?” I can hear the disappointment in his voice, and a big part of me wants to do whatever I can to change that. I want him to be proud of me, not disappointed.

“If you’d landed two feet to the left, you would have hit a large boulder hidden beneath the surface,” Draven says from my other side.

I turn to him, surprised. “Really?” He nods before turning back to the fire.

Ranger grabs my hand and gives it a little tug to get my attention.

“When I tell you to do something, it’s only because I’m trying to keep you safe. I wish you could understand that. ”

I press my lips together, stopping myself from saying something I’ll regret, like how I wish he cared more about me as a person than just my safety. But it wouldn’t help. I’m just a job to him.

He studies me silently, like he’s considering something, his eyes flicking between mine.

“You said something before, about needing someone to set boundaries for you.”

My eyes widen. He’s talking about a dom.

“You said he sets the rules based on his need to care for and protect you.” I lick my lips nervously as he continues. “And you said you’d want him to discipline you if you disobeyed.”

Where exactly was he going with this? I know he doesn’t want to be my dom. That would require an actual relationship.

“Ranger…” Arrow warns, but he ignores him.

“Maybe that’s what you need now. A little discipline, so next time you think about disobeying me, you’ll remember this lesson.”

“Ranger, what are you doing?” Blaze asks, as my eyes widen again in alarm.