Page 38 of Their Chosen

Chapter Eighteen: Rhowyn

I finally called it a night after double-checking with the guys that I wouldn't be offending anyone. Walking back to my room with my two very handsome consorts, exhaustion crept up on me. All the anxiety and travel finally caught up with me. I reached the door and told them both thanks for making sure I found my way back through this labyrinth of a castle, suppressing a yawn with my hand to my mouth. They both just smiled at me, so I opened my door.

“What the hell!?” I exclaimed and then stepped backward into the hall again and checked all the doors, counting. “I was positive I had the right room. I guess I don't?” As I was trying to study the hall and figure out how I mixed up the location of my room, I noticed Baer and Arryn trying to suppress their laughter. When we made eye contact, Baer lost the battle and guffawed loudly, Arryn chuckling beside him.

“What's so funny?” I demanded, with my hands on my hips, waiting for their mirth to subside. “I'm exhausted and am desperately needing a good night's sleep, so the sooner y'all are done, the sooner we can go find my room.” The longer they laughed, the more agitated I got, my patience worn entirely through for the night.

When they still continued laughing, Baer wiping tears from his eyes, I turned to leave them, done with it all. I instantly crashed into a hard chest, bumping my nose, bouncing off, and almost falling straight onto my ass. Arryn caught me, his large hands enclosing my waist almost fully, the firm warmth shooting straight to my core as he steadied me. While my tired brain was trying to calm my libido, the guys laughed at my clumsiness.

Lennox rasped out once they'd had their fill, “It is your room.”

“This looks nothing like the room I left earlier,” I snapped at him, hands crossed over my chest and challenging him, knowing I wasn’t crazy.

He smirked at me, and I wanted to knock the smug look from his face. “That's because the room changes based on what you want and need. Cashel Rí changes constantly because it's semi-sentient and is run by the magic of the land. Just another perk of being queen,” he said, amusement at my ignorance lacing his tone.

I stood there, not sure how to respond to this new information. Lennox continued to smirk, one eyebrow raised, and throwing down the challenge now. Ugh! This was just not my night. “So why did it feel the need to change? It was perfect the way it was.” I couldn’t keep the pout from my voice, sad that the beautiful room I’d enjoyed was no longer. Not my finest hour for sure.

“Well, that's because it's customary for your consorts to share a suite with you. It's supposed to help with bonding before and during the trials,” Baer chimed in.

“Of course it is!” I threw my hands up in the air and stomped to my room, leaving them all behind. I called over my shoulder, “Goodnight! Do whatever you want. I'm done with tonight. I'll see you in the morning if I feel slightly better than the walking dead.” I slammed the door to my room finding that at least my bed, closet, and bathroom were the same, their laughter ringing out from the other side.

I barely had the energy to change out of my gown and slipped into an oversized T-shirt before falling into bed, the events catching up to me, overwhelming and pulling me under into a deep sleep.

I woke in the dark, not sure why my sleep had been disrupted, but my gut told me something was wrong. Lying as still as I possibly could, I kept my breathing even as I strained to hear what had woken me. Years of living in the foster system had programmed me to wake at the first hint of anything that didn't belong.

After about a minute, I heard the soft rasp of fabric brushing against fabric, indicating that someone was in my room with me. I slowly slid my hand under my pillow, careful not to make the same mistake they had, keeping my breaths even and heart rate low so as not to give away that I was awake. My fingers met the cold hilt of my knife, the one I’d slept with for too many years to count, as familiar to me as the back of my hand. I grasped it, immediately feeling better, and then waited for whoever this was to make their move.

From experience, I knew it was better to let this play out, let them show their hand before revealing that they’d been caught. Otherwise, they could make denials and false claims of accidents, but if allowed to continue, they would give their true intent away.

The intruder moved slowly and patiently through my room. I heard them move toward my bag that I had yet to unpack, heard the zipper release, and listened as they searched through my things. They could look all they wanted, they wouldn’t find anything of value or information about me. The first, I didn’t own, and the second, I’d made sure to keep anything that might reveal who I was hidden. I waited as they also came to this conclusion, an exhalation of air leaving them as if in frustration.

The rustle became even quieter as they headed toward my bed, obviously trying not to wake me. Again, I waited until I thought they were just outside of striking range before deciding to make it known that I was aware of their presence. “You can leave now, not to return, or I can make this a very uncomfortable night for you.” I spoke the words into the dark, unable to even make out any shapes, and coiled to strike in case they chose the latter option.

Their movements halted at the start of my words, a curse spoken in a low voice telling me that the intruder was male. They paused as if debating the options and if it was worth testing my resolve. Deciding on the option to escape, they turned to flee, no longer caring about stealth as they headed toward the balcony doors.

I sat up and turned on the lamp beside my bed just as they reached the balcony. I grabbed the vase beside my bed and threw it at them, causing it to shatter when it hit their back. They stumbled but didn't stay down, jumping over the railing and presumably escaping into the night.

Getting out of bed on bare feet, I picked my way through the glass as I heard noises from the other side of my bedroom door. I peered over the side to make sure the culprit was gone, but I knew I wouldn’t find a trace. They were good enough to get in without me waking, which meant they were good enough to have an effective escape route that wouldn't be discovered.

My bedroom door slammed open behind me as I peered into the darkness outside the balcony, grasping my knife, ready just in case. “What the hell happened here!” Lennox demanded as he entered the room in simple linen pants, low slung on his hips to reveal a delicious set of abs and “V” that all girls drooled over, his anger evident.

Baer and Arryn followed just behind him, Arryn assessing everything in the room while Baer rushed toward me asking, “Are you okay?”

Baer reached me first and held me at arm's length, both hands on my shoulders while his eyes scanned me from head to toe. His gaze slowed as we both realized I wasn’t wearing any pants, just an oversized shirt and panties. “I'm fine,” I told them all, brushing off Baer's concern, not really sure how to handle it. Lennox's response was more along the lines of what I was used to.

I ignored Lennox's question completely as Arryn asked, “Rhowyn, why do you have a knife?” His eyes were fixed on the blade in my hand before glancing back to meet my own.

“Well, that's simple really,” I told him smirking slightly, my mental armor in place as I prepared to not be believed. “I just chased the person or fae or whatever you want to call him from my room.”

“What do you mean? Someone was in your room? Why?” Arryn asked me, puzzled at my vague statement.

Baer stayed next to me, his worry more evident now as I started to explain. “That's exactly what I mean.” My arms crossed over my chest defensively, raising the hem of my T-shirt to just below my ass and making me feel too exposed as these half-dressed, sexy men, fae, or whatever stared at me so intensely. “As for why, I can only guess. Whoever they were, they woke me up and started to search through my bag,” I gestured with one hand to my still-unzipped bag with my clothes rumpled and displaced inside, “before approaching my bed where they thought I was sleeping. When I made them aware that I was awake and armed, they took off instead of pushing their luck.” I waved my knife to demonstrate the armed part.

Arryn walked past me on the balcony, giving me a great view of his backside, the muscles rippling and flexing as he peered over the edge, leaning on the railing to get a better view below.

Baer finally noticed that I was bare-foot and standing among all the glass from the vase. “Here, let me carry you over this mess.” He didn't wait for my approval, putting a hand behind my knees and shoulders, picking me up, crunching the glass beneath his boots as he carried me back to my bed.

Lennox spoke up again, some of his anger gone, but he still seemed hesitant. “So, how exactly did the vase get broken? If this intruder was fleeing as you said, why throw it at him?” The disbelief was evident in his tone as he thought he'd stumped me or found a part of the story that didn't add up. Yup, definitely used to this response.

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