Page 34 of Quest for her Knights (The Lost Souls of Dyconia #5)

Chapter twenty-four

Elora

I ’m seated in front of Blaze as we trot into the courtyard of the Shadowcross lords.

This home was impressive. It wasn’t the size of it, as all the lords so far had decent homes, but this one was only a single story, like a bungalow, and it’s been built with a mixture of elements, stone, wood and some sort of black material I haven’t seen before. It almost had a modern look to it.

I see the front doors open and five men come out to greet us. My eyes widen at the sight of them. They don’t look like anything like the lords I’ve seen before. Maybe they are just coming to take care of the horses?

Most of them have short beards or stubble on their faces, and they look like they aren’t strangers to hard work, their muscles pressing through their tight shirts .

“Princess Elora,” one of them says, coming to stop in front of us. “It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Darian, and these are my brothers, Evren, Kael, Rafe and Lucien.” He points to each as they bow towards me.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, thank you for welcoming us into your home,” I say, giving him the formal greeting I’ve been taught with a small dip of my chin.

“May I?” He steps up beside us and reaches up as if to help me down.

“Oh, umm, sure,” I say awkwardly as my hands grip his arms and he helps pull me off the horse as if I weigh nothing. His biceps are huge and firm under my grip and he smirks at me as he places me on my feet and offers me his elbow.

Okay, maybe that stag thing we saw was good luck and these lords wouldn't be that bad.

I link my hand through his elbow as he starts to guide me towards his brothers. I hear the knights dismount and pass their horses to the stable boys that have just appeared. They move in behind me as each of the lords takes my hand and kisses my fingers or the back of my hand.

I try not to blush from all their attention, but they are a good-looking group of men, and they don’t give me the creeps like a lot of the other lords have.

They lead me into their home, and I glance over my shoulder, surprised to see four frowning knights. What’s got their panties in a bunch ?

Draven’s eyes seem focused on where I’m holding Darian’s arm, as if he doesn’t like me touching him. I glance at Blaze and see his hand tightly gripping the pommel of his sword, his knuckles turning white. Ranger’s eyes are bouncing around everywhere, but I can see he looks upset.

Why, though? Have I missed something bad about these lords?

When we’re led into a parlor filled with books, I release Darian’s elbow as I tell him, “I just need a moment to speak with my knights.”

“Of course, when you’re ready we have some refreshments here, for all five of you.” He gestures to the table by the couches and my heart does a little jump in my chest in excitement, knowing they are the first lords to ever offer the knights food, as if they are on equal ground with them.

“Thank you,” I tell him honestly, giving him a sincere smile before turning to move to where the knights are standing in the entrance to the room. They all turn to me in question. “There are refreshments over there for all of us.”

A couple of them glance where I’m pointing over my shoulder, but Ranger’s eyes don’t leave mine.

“What is it?” I whisper, stepping closer. “What am I not seeing?”

He doesn’t answer, so I glance at Draven, then Blaze. He always tells me the truth.

“Blaze? What is it? What’s wrong with them? ”

He frowns at me for a moment before shaking his head. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” I repeat. “Then why are you all frowning?” I glance between them again before asking, “Is it me? Did I do something wrong? Should I not have let him help me off the horse?”

He sighs, clearly reluctant to answer. “No, you’re doing everything perfectly, as usual. And there’s nothing wrong with them, they seem like a good fit for you. You like them so far, don’t you?”

His eyes search mine, and I lick my lips.

Sure, in the two minutes I’ve known these lords, they seem decent, but that doesn’t mean I feel a spark.

Blaze’s intense stare makes it seem like he wants me to say I don’t like them, but it’s not like the knights would let me be with them instead. Gods know I’ve tried.

Darian and his brothers might be my only hope for happiness here. And if flirting with them makes my knights a little jealous, maybe it’ll wake them up and push them to act, if those feelings even exist.

I don’t answer Blaze. Instead, I clear my throat and say, “I’m going to go talk to them. Please help yourselves to refreshments.” I turn around, even though my heart screams at me to go back to the knights, I take a seat in a vacant spot between Kael and Lucien .

They tell me about themselves as I nibble at the food, after Ranger tested everything first, of course. Rafe turns out to be the clown of the family, making me laugh every time he speaks. Arrow is positioned on the wall across from me, and I can see his fists clench every time I laugh.

I even laugh a little louder than usual a few times just to see how he reacts, and he definitely doesn’t like it. Which is interesting, considering he’s told me before how much he loves seeing me smile.

Hells bells. He’s jealous .

I try not to grin as I realize that’s exactly what’s happening. He doesn’t want me laughing at Rafe’s jokes, he wants me laughing at his. Well, that’s what I want too, but he’s made it clear he can’t be with me. Do I take a little pleasure in his suffering? Yeah. Yeah, I kind of do.

Lucien is kind and sweet, and when I speak with him, I watch Blaze from the corner of my eye and am pleased to see a similar reaction.

I wonder how far I can push them before they crack. There probably isn’t a limit with these knights. They’ll probably suck it up and let me walk all the way to the altar, even if they hate it.

That thought makes me angry. They’ll let me marry these men, knowing who I really want, knowing I could never truly be happy here.

That anger fuels my decision to get a little revenge, knowing they won’t stop me .

Kael finishes telling me about his love of music when I abruptly change the subject.

“So, are you guys all virgins?”

Their eyes widen in shock and no one answers, so I continue, emboldened by the wine I’ve been drinking.

“It’s okay either way. If you’re not, it means you have experience. Do any of you like bondage?”

Kael chokes on air, and Darian stammers an eloquent, “Uhhh…”

“What about spanking?” I glance over my shoulder at Ranger. His face is red with anger, his eyes narrowed. I turn back quickly to hide my smirk. Good. Let him be mad.

I look back at the lords, who still seem at a loss for words.

“How about choking?”

“Princess—” Evren begins, but I wave him off.

“It’s okay if you’re not into that, or if you don’t know yet. We could explore together.”

“I think the Princess needs a break,” Draven says, suddenly appearing in front of me. He reaches down, grabs my hand, and pulls me from the couch toward the door.

“Of course, you can use the guest suite,” one of the lords calls after us. “Follow the hall to the very end, the door on the right.”

An angry Ranger, Arrow, and Blaze follow close behind as Draven leads me away. I bite my lip nervously. As soon as we round the corner, Draven lets go of my hand and turns to face me .

“What—” I start to ask, but my words are cut off as he bends down and throws me over his shoulder. “Oomph!”

I don’t bother protesting as he storms down the hall. I crane my neck to glance back at the others. They still look furious, and none of them will look at me.

Did I take it too far? Well, I wanted a reaction. I just didn’t expect this one. I definitely didn’t think Draven would be the first to crack. He doesn’t even like me.

We enter a new room, and he sets me on my feet, steps back, crosses his arms, and frowns down at me.

“What?” I ask defensively, crossing my arms to match him.

“What the fuck was that?” He asks angrily.

“Did I do something wrong?” I ask as I feign ignorance. But it doesn’t fool him; his eyes narrow further as it all but growls at me.

“Are you kidding me right now, princess? Choking? Bondage? What on earth were you thinking?”

“I was just trying to flirt with them!” I yell, dropping my arms as my hands clench in anger.

“That was flirting?” Blaze asks as the other three join Draven in front of me. I take a step back, suddenly feeling too close to them.

“Yeah, so what?” I say in defence.

“You’ve never flirted like that before.”

“How would you know? When have you seen me flirt?” Except they see me flirt all the time, with them. But that’s different. That’s natural. When I’m actively trying to flirt, and have a few glasses of wine in me, I seem to be a little more direct.

Nobody says anything as they all stare at me, so I throw my arms up to the side in exasperation. “What? Am I in trouble or can I go back to my date?”

“That is not a date,” Arrow says.

“No?” I ask, half-seriously as I glance up at him.

He shakes his head. “No, a date is something special, not sitting in the parlor.”

“Your world is different from mine, I don’t know what constitutes a date here. Why are you all so upset, anyway? Are you jealous?” I ask, hoping to get an honest answer as I look at Ranger.

Please say yes.

“No,” Ranger says. “The point is, you can’t talk like that. The Princess of the North would never speak that way.”

“Well, I’m not her!” I yell, feeling hurt that not only does he not want me, but he’s comparing me to a murderer.

“Nor do I want to be her. I hate this place, I wish I never came!” I yell, my emotions getting the best of me as I turn and run into the bedroom, slamming the door behind me before I dive onto the bed and bury my head under the pillows and let the tears fall.