Page 62 of Quest for her Knights
“That would be lovely, thank you.”
Lovely?This princess thing must be rubbing off on me, I’m not sure I’ve ever used that word before. I think I hear Arrow softly snort somewhere behind me, but I choose to ignore it as I follow Ranger into their home.
He told me he must always go first to make sure it’s safe, and I don’t have a problem with that. It’s nice to have a buffer between me and the men I’ve just met.
We’re led into a parlor, similar to the few others I’ve seen in this world. It’s like a library mixed with a sitting room.
Once Ranger has done a sweep of the room, he nods his head to me, letting me know it’s safe.
“She’ll be safe in here with us,” Edwin says in Ranger’s direction. “Ivar can show you where her rooms are and where you’ll be staying.” He motions towards an older man who’s standing in the doorway and looks like a house manager or butler or something along those lines.
Ranger nods towards the other knights. “Blaze and Draven, you can go with him. Arrow and I will stay here to guard the princess.”
“I assure you it’s not necessary. She’s very safe everywhere on our property,” Edwin says with a frown. It makes me a little nervous. I don’t know them, and don’t want to be left alone.
I look at Ranger in worry, but he makes no move to leave as he stands up straight and shakes his head. “Regardless, where the Princess goes, we go.”
Edwin rolls his eyes as he says, “Fine, fine, just stay out of our way.” I frown at him, a little taken aback by his attitude. He steps closer to me and offers his hand to lead me over to the couch as he whispers. “Sorry, princess, I didn’t mean to offend anyone; it’s just hard to get to know one another with someone standing over our shoulders.”
He guides me to sit in the middle of the couch as he takes a seat beside me. I guess I can understand where he’s coming from, especially as the knights are all strangers to him. It’s probably hard to be yourself around strangers, as much for them as itis for me. Deciding to not hold it against him I offer him a small smile.
“That’s okay, I’m sure you’ll forget they are there soon enough.” Jeremiah passes me a glass of amber liquid before coming to sit on my other side. “Thank you,” I tell him, then immediately turn and hold out the glass to Ranger, who’s already right behind me.
He takes the glass and from the look on his face, I know he’s pleased I remembered to let him inspect anything I eat or drink here for poison. When he told me about it originally, I thought he was crazy, but since there has been an attempt on my life, I don’t exactly hate the idea anymore. There’s also something enticing about knowing his mouth has touched my glass.
He sniffs it, then takes a tiny sip.
“What are you doing?” Rowan asks in slight outrage.
“It’s safe,” Ranger says, holding my eye contact and ignoring Rowan completely. He passes back the drink then returns to his post by the door.
“You think we’d try to poison you?” he asks, his hurt eyes turning to me.
“No, but it’s better safe than sorry.”
He presses his lips together as if he wishes to say more, but stays silent as he pulls a chair closer, sitting directly in front of me. Being surrounded so close by all three of them is slightly intimidating but I try to remember what Ranger said. To bemyself, and remember they are the ones that need to make a good impression.
“So… what do you three do for fun around here?” I ask, scanning their faces. That question seems to bring a smile to their lips.
“I love to go for horseback rides through the forest,” Jeremiah tells me. “Do you like to ride?”
“I do,” I say with a nod. I leave out the fact that I don’t know how to ride on my own yet, so I’d rather ride tandem… with one of my knights.
I blush, just thinking about riding with Arrow or Blaze, and Jeramiah places his hand on my knee, over the skirt of my dress, and gives it a small squeeze. It sends a strange feeling through me and I can’t decide if it’s discomfort or intrigue.
Ranger told me that touching them like this was inappropriate. But it’s not me who initiated it. Should I push his hand away? That seems really rude, and I can’t bring myself to do it. I want to make a good impression.
Deciding to do nothing, I turn my head to my left and ask, “Edwin? What about you? What do you do for fun?”
“I like to tend to our gardens. Did you know we have an orchard with over fifty different types of fruit trees? You could have a different fruit every day for over a month and never grow bored of them. We even have a rare type of apple not seen anywhere else in Dyconia.”
“Wow, that’s… fascinating,” I tell him, unable to think of a more suitable word that wouldn’t offend him. I mean… It's fruit… Whoop-de-do.
“Rowan, what do you do for fun?” I ask the last brother.
“Fun? I suppose I find joy in making others feel safe.” I nod slowly. That’s very… gallant of him, I suppose. I’m just not sure how true it is.
“What about yourself, Princess Elora? What is ityouenjoy doing?” Edwin asks.
