Page 75 of Quest for her Knights
The sound of hooves has us looking up hopefully. Relief washes over me as Draven and Elora come into view, alarmed but unharmed. Elora’s eyes dart over us, then to the wrecked carriage and the bodies scattered around. Her face pales.
Damn it. I shouldn’t have let her see this much violence. I’m supposed to protect her from this.
Draven stops the horse in front of us, and I instinctively move to meet them. Elora immediately reaches for my shoulders, swinging her leg over the horse’s neck and dropping into my arms. The fact that she trusts me so easily makes my chest hum with something deep and primal.
“Good girl,” I murmur.
My body responds to her touch like it’s starving. That’s one of the reasons I’ve kept my distance. If I get used to this... I’ll never be able to let her go.
I take a deep breath, and realize my nose is buried in her hair as I hold her tightly, her arms wrapped around my waist. I don’t remember deciding to hug her, but now that I am, I let myself enjoy it. Her body trembles. She needs this. She needs to feel safe.
“You’re okay. You’re okay,” I whisper, running a hand down her back.
“Are you?” she asks, pulling back to look at me.
“What?”
“Are you hurt? Did any of you get injured?”
She’s worried, genuinely worried. She can see we’re all standing, not seriously hurt, but she still needs to hear it.
I cup her cheek, my thumb brushing across her skin. “We’re all unharmed.”
A throat clears behind us. I glance up to find Draven beside us, narrowing his eyes.
“Right.” I release her, holding her at arm’s length, my hands resting on her shoulders. “You’re okay? You’re not hurt?”
She nods. “I’m fine. Draven protected me.”
“Good.” I drop my hands, already missing her touch, and turn to the pile of supplies. “We have to keep going without the carriage. We can’t take everything, so we need to figure out what’s essential.”
“I’ll go through my belongings,” Elora offers, and the rest of us begin sorting through our own gear and supplies.
When Elora’s finished, I’m completely shocked that she’s just filled two saddlebags with her belongings. She can’t have more than two dresses in there. But when I see how many bags we need for the blankets and camping supplies, I don’t suggest we bring any more. We will barely fit what we have. We can always purchase another carriage and more clothing in the next village, the queen gave us provisions for this trip for things like this, after all.
We spread the saddlebags throughout the four horses, and just as I finish with my last one, the sound of Elora’s giggle catches my attention. I find her and Arrow standing much too close as he attaches the last bag to his horse, grinning down at her.
“Elora!” I call over, and the two of them look in my direction in question. “You’re riding with me.”
Her eyes widen in surprise. Fuck, why did I say that? I just wanted to separate the two of them, having her ride with me is going to be torture. But I can’t take it back.
Arrow gives me a look that says he’s trying to figure out what I’m thinking, but I ignore him for the beautiful woman walking nervously towards me.
“Are you ready to go? You need to relieve yourself before we start riding?” Her wide eyes glance around at all the dead bodies and she shakes her head.
Right. I need to get her away from all this death and violence. I grip her around the waist and easily lift her up onto my horse, Red, and she helps by swinging her leg over and gaining her balance quickly.
“You’re getting good at that,” I tell her as I climb up behind her. “Soon you’ll be able to ride on your own.”
“Really?” she asks as the others climb onto their horses and we get in formation, Draven in front, Arrow to our left and Blaze bringing up the rear.
“Yeah, we could teach you to ride if you like?”
“Does that mean you’ll get me my own horse for the rest of the journey?” she asks, and I contemplate that for a minute.
Do I really want her riding on her own, without any of us riding with her, to protect her?
“No.”
