Page 121 of Quest for her Knights
He gently places me on my feet but steadies me with his hands on my waist.
I brush down my dress and take a much-needed breath as I look around at the people pretending to be my parents.
“Is this over now? Are these four the winners?”
They glance at one another before looking over at the man who helped run the gift challenge. “Yes, between the four of them they were always first place, if not second, third and fourth, too. They are the winners of the tournament.”
I try not to let my excitement show as I look back at the queen. “So I must marry them?”
She looks confused as she glances around, her eyes continually moving to my neck.
“I… I’m sorry, Elora. I fear we may have gone about this all wrong. But at least we know these men can protect you.”
I already knew that, but I just nod, needing her to say the words.
“I just want to be perfectly clear here,” I say carefully. “You’re telling me I must marry them?”
She waits a moment, then nods. “Yes, I am.”
“Whew, thank God!” I say, slumping back into Draven.
They all frown at me in confusion, so I turn around and grab Draven’s helmet. He helps by ducking down and letting me remove it for him. Tossing it to the side, I beam up at him, grab his cheeks, and kiss him right on the lips.
“I missed you,” I whisper.
“I missed you so fucking much,” he tells me, making my heart beat happily in my chest.
I turn back to the queen and kings and see their wide eyes staring at Draven in shock.
My other three knights remove their helmets, and I notice Freya behind the kings, practically jumping up and down with excitement, giving me a thumbs-up.
“What is the meaning of this? You aren’t lords, you should be disqualified!” King Chase argues.
“Father,” Arlo says, stepping forward, “I think you need to take a long, hard pause and think about this situation.” He gets their attention as they turn to him in question. “First of all, look at the crowd. They’re happy to see this, so don’t use the people as an excuse to refuse their union. You know very well that Queen Carmichael married commoners.”
My eyebrows raise in surprise, I didn't know that.
“Second of all, Elora would be dead right now if they hadn’t been out there. Not only that, but they are clearly the most worthy, winning every challenge laid before them.”
Talon steps to his brother’s side and adds, “Yeah, would you even want any of those lords to be your sons-in-law?”
They frown as they look out into the arena, clearly giving it real thought.
Freya grabs Arlo’s hand as she speaks up. “I heard some of them keep books on training their wives using corporal punishment.”
The queen’s eyes widen in horror as she looks at me. “Truly?”
All five of us nod. “Ravenbrook,” Blaze tells her. “We burned it before we left.”
She frowns, taking a moment to look at each of us. Her eyes linger on where Draven is holding me and the way I cling to him.
“I’ll never say the vows to marry anyone else,” I tell her firmly.
Finally, her shoulders relax as she reaches out for my hand. “Alright, fine. I concede. But we’re not doing it like this.”
“Doing what?”
“Just come with me. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
