Page 116 of Quest for her Knights
“It’s to hide their identities, so the winners are chosen honestly.” I nod, already knowing this.
I watch as they take aim at the same time, releasing their arrows when they’re ready. Half of them don’t even hit their targets, a few hit the outer edge, and two hit closer to the center. No, one hits closer to the middle, the other hits dead center.
“Who hit that one?” I ask, pointing to it, but Freya and Talon shake their heads. The lords are already moving away so it’s hard to tell from here.
“I’m not sure, the knights down there are keeping track, though, by their numbers.” Each man had a number taped to the front and back of his chest.
“Oh look, they’re making them move back to do it again,” Elora points to where the archers are being moved further away from the targets.
They all take aim and fire again. Only two hit the targets, and one is right in the center again. “Number eight!” I say, pointing to the man who shot it.
“You seem awfully excited,” Freya says with a smirk. I frown at her before looking down at my hands nervously. I did feel excited there for a minute. But I tell myself it’s only because thearcher reminds me of Arrow. I try to get a better look at him, trying to figure out if it’s one of the lords I met. It might be Rafe from Shadowcross. Didn’t he say he enjoyed archery?
I stay silent as they move the archers back one last time and Rafe, or whoever it is, is the only one to hit the target, and he hits it perfectly, once again.
I sigh, leaning my chin on my hand as I gaze around the arena, hoping to catch a glimpse of my knights somewhere. Maybe they found a way to sneak in to see me? But as hard as I look, I can’t see them anywhere.
The next event is set up quickly and when I see the lords practice swinging swords, I realize it must be some sort of fight.
King Lewis stands to address the crowd. “The next round is close combat.”
We watch as they are paired off in twos and swords start clanging around the arena. Some of them seem to have almost no skill, their swords being knocked out of their hands almost instantly and they raise their hands in defeat straight away.
The second round lasts a little longer, but the third round is down to four matches. There's no way to know which of the men fighting are brothers, if any. For all we know, brothers could be fighting each other in this final round.
As soon as it starts, my eyes are drawn to the match closest to me. I watch as number twelve lunges forward and knocks the sword out of number six's hand. He lifts his hands in surrender,and his opponent nods, sheathing his sword before turning his head up in my direction.
I almost lift my hand to wave, but instead I cling to the railing in frustration. So what if that guy won? It could be Aaric from Ravenbrook for all I know.
He offers me a small wave, and I turn away, not wanting him to think I’m interested. I watch as the other fights are won, but I’m barely paying attention.
My mind starts wandering to how I can escape this place. As upset as I’ve been about my knights leaving, I’ve also been pushing aside the fact that the kings and queen are going to force me to marry the winners of this contest.
Marry them. As if that isn’t the biggest event of my life, and they’re giving me no say at all.
I move back to sit in my chair as refreshments are served and the next event is set up. It looks pretty complex, and when King Ian announces it’s an obstacle course, I sort of wish I could run through it. It looks fun, with all the things to jump over and crawl through.
I even hear one of the lords laugh as he ducks out of the way of a swinging log. It reminds me of Arrow, and I sigh, wondering what he’s doing right now.
I watch as the lords run the course, collecting six different colored strips of fabric. The most points are awarded to the first man back, with fewer for the second, and so on.
Number eight, the lord who won the archery contest, waves up at me as he passes near where I’m sitting. I pretend to ignore him, but the way he moves through the course with ease is slightly mesmerizing.
At one point, I see him tackle number twelve to the ground, just before he’s hit with a swinging log, and I decide they must be brothers. Which house are they from? Twelve was one of the winners of the combat challenge, so these guys might be front runners. I just pray it’s not those dicks from Ravenbrook.
I’d rather stab myself in the eye than marry them.
When the contest is over, I can’t quite see the other winners from where I’m sitting, but I tell myself I don’t care anyway.
King Chase stands to address the crowd. “That’s it for today’s challenges. Tomorrow will be the final three challenges before the winners are chosen.” Cheers go up throughout the arena as Freya and her husbands, my brothers, make their way over to me.
“So…” Freya says with a smile. “Anyone catch your attention?”
I shrug. “Not really.”
“You seemed pretty interested in number eight.”
“I don’t remember him,” I lie, watching all the lords head out the back of the arena, in the opposite direction from us. At the back of the group, four men walk together, and I catch a glimpse of their numbers: eight, twelve, twenty-two, andnineteen. They’re definitely brothers. And Ravenbrook only had three lords, so at least I know it’s not them.
