18. Chapter Eighteen Rhowyn
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.
I replied smugly, knowing I was about to ruin his idea that I had somehow made all this up for attention. Same old song and dance when it came to chauvinistic assholes. “Oh that? I threw it at him to call for help just in case he decided to come back, knowing he'd get gone as soon as he knew others were coming. Cowards who sneak into women's rooms at night don't really like others to know.”
I waited for them to process that and until I had their full attention, before giving the real reason. “Plus, hitting them with a glass object was likely to cut them, allowing me a chance to identify the asshole later while simultaneously waking everyone else up.” I smirked at Lennox, raising an eyebrow as if asking him to challenge that. “Also, I didn't want to throw my knife and lose it in the worthless piece of shit. It's my favorite.” I laughed at that, and they all looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was, at least a little bit. A small part of me had to be to come here with three unknown men, trusting what they told me, even if my gut was reliable.
Baer laughed with me in shock. “Okay, then. That's certainly a first for me.” Arryn and Baer were cleaning up the glass while Lennox stood with his arms crossed, glare back in place.
“I wish I could say the same,” I said quietly, more to myself than them, but Arryn and Baer froze, snapping their gazes to mine as if unsure how exactly to take that, but neither of them pushed me. Lennox just glared at me even harder before walking out of the room.
“Who pissed in his Cheerios?” I mumbled to his back.
Baer laughed at my statement, the only one of the guys to understand anything about Earth. Arryn stood, having finished the cleanup. “What does that mean? What are these Cheerios?”
I laughed at his genuine confusion. “It's a breakfast food. It's just a common saying to question why someone would be mad.”
“Ah, well, to somewhat answer your question, someone broke into the castle and into the Prince's Chosen's room. It's a direct challenge to us all as we are charged with your safety as your Consorts.”
Baer spoke up too, sitting on the edge of my bed with me, sending my mind to better reasons for him to be here than this, now that the immediate threat was no longer present. “I imagine he's pretty angry, as we all are, that we didn't consider the risk to you and that we were lucky tonight that you weren't seriously hurt or worse,” he said, as I forced myself to listen to him and not imagine what exactly he would taste like if I licked his washboard abs.
Seriously, each of them was way too distracting and tempting. It was totally unfair how gorgeous they looked fresh out of sleep. I was sure I looked like the disaster I felt like. As men, I was sure they didn't even appreciate the effortlessness that most women would kill for that kind of ease. Okay, I exaggerated; only some women would kill for that kind of ease. I smiled at my train of thoughts, sleep deprivation clearly getting to me. “Ugh!” I exclaimed suddenly, flopping back on the bed.
“What?” Baer asked as Arryn smiled at my dramatics.
“I'm so exhausted, but I doubt I'll be able to get any more sleep tonight, not with what's happened. Plus, I won't be able to sleep soundly in this room again.” I went to push off the bed, planning to at least get a workout in if sleep was no longer an option.
Baer and Arryn did that silent communication thing that most men were so good at before Arryn finally spoke. “About that.” He shifted on his feet, obviously somewhat hesitant to say what he wanted to. I cocked my head to the side, my curiosity peaking as I waited for him to spit it out. “Because of the safety concerns, we agree that one of us should stay in here with you from here on out,” he finally spat out and appeared to brace himself for me to refuse.
I was independent, not stupid, and that made sense. I wouldn't have asked, but since they were offering, I would certainly be a fool to pass up the chance to get more sleep. Although, I preferred Lennox to not be involved. “Okay. If it means I can get some more sleep, I'll take it.” Before they could fully be relieved, I continued, “But I refuse to allow Lennox in here with me. I don't trust him and wouldn't actually be able to sleep, so it would defeat the purpose to have him in here. Either one of you can stay, though.”
“I don't know how he's going to feel about that,” Arryn said, thinking out loud.
“Tough cookies. I don't care since he's been nothing but an unreliable asshole since meeting me.” I wasn't going to budge on this. Not a single inch.
“Well, for tonight, we'd all feel better if one of us two were here with you. Are you sure you're okay if I stay with you until the morning?” Baer asked me, ever the mediator and chose not to push or argue with me. At least not tonight when we were all exhausted.
I nodded. “Yup!” I replied, popping the P. “That sounds like a plan to me.”
“We're settled then. Goodnight, Rhowyn, I'll see you in the morning. Try to get as much rest as you can because I have a feeling we’ll have a lot to do and discuss tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Arryn. I hope you can get some rest as well,” I told him just before he turned to leave, pushing my sincerity into the words. I meant it. I had never had anyone just believe and trust me fully, much less two people, and it was leaving me with some very unfamiliar feelings as a result.
“Of course. I'm near if you need me,” he said, meeting my eyes before looking to Baer in confirmation. Once Baer gave a nod, he turned, shutting the door to my room softly behind him.
As if his exit caused a wave of anxiety to hit me, I found myself suddenly unsure of how to proceed with Baer. I had never shared a sleeping space with a man before, much less an extremely attractive, funny, and kind one on his level. One-night stands at their place with me leaving right after was more my speed and only when I was truly desperate.
“So...” I started, not sure how to proceed before trailing off.
“So,” he responded with a small laugh, his amusement sparkling in his eyes and causing butterflies to swarm me at the stunning sight of his crooked grin and gray-blue eyes. I caught myself staring at the swirl of colors, such a depth in them I had never seen before, and I could feel my cheeks and neck heating with a blush. I ducked my head and tried to busy myself with crawling under the covers again .
Not having a chair in the bedroom, Baer went to the other side of the bed. “Mind if I set up here in the bed as well? I can stay on top of the covers, or I can go pull a chair in here if you'd prefer. You tell me what would make you most comfortable.”
Baer waited for my reply before moving any further, making me trust him even more and putting some of my anxieties to rest. “Don't be silly. You can sleep in the bed too, under the covers or on top.” I laughed at him before adding, “I don't bite.”
“Damn! I was kind of hoping you might,” he teased me as he climbed into bed with me, still nowhere near me due to the sheer size of the bed itself.
“Who knows, maybe if you play your cards right and ask nicely, one day I just might.” I winked as I teased him right back before I realized exactly what I was insinuating. A spike of unease ran through me as I worried about how he would receive it.
The heat in his eyes that flared at my statement had me squeezing my legs together to ease my need for touch, suddenly too warm for the full weight of the blankets draped over me and separating us. Instead of following that heated gaze like a part of me wanted him to do, he just settled in. As I turned the lights off, I heard him reply softly, “I guess it's a good thing that I'm a gambler and a shark at cards.”
Not knowing how to respond to his openness about wanting more with me, I pretended I didn't hear him. I rolled over and away from him, my knife back under my pillow again. I closed my eyes to try to sleep and felt safer than I had in a very long time, if ever.