“You cheated!” Haylee exclaimed as Ryhan won the fifth game of chess.

“Don’t hate the player, hate the game,” Ryhan said as he started to place the chess pieces in their right places.

Haylee and Ryhan spent the most of the day together, he only left to get her food, when the doctor came to check her injuries and when two nurses came to wash her(which was a horrible experience for Haylee who had to let strangers help her wash up, luckily she convinced them she could wash her private parts). She soon realized that Ryhan had a great sense of humor and he liked to have fun. He was really easy going for a dragon prince. Thinking about it made her wonder how this dragon business works. She was curious, but she refused to ask Jayk, he would just be mean about it. Jayk was an enigma on his own, she remembered the way he just angered her the first night of her stay. She knew she was way to accepting of the fact of them being dragons and all, but she somehow trusted Jayk. Something inside her told her he could be trusted.

“Ryhan?”

“Yes, Haylee Baylee,” he answered, he only knew her a few hours and he already gave her a nickname.

“Jayk said you are dragons, do you transform into dragons?” she asked.

“We used to many years ago, but an angry duke burned all our history books and our kind has sort of forgotten how to change. But we still have these,” Ryhan said as he pulled out an amulet that hang around his neck on a golden chain that looked like the one in Jayk’s crown.

“Dragon Fire,” She said as she recalled Jayk telling her about it.

“Yes, it gives us all our extra abilities. Like reading minds,” He said with a grin. Haylee realized what he meant and started to hit him on the shoulder, but he quickly stood up and moved out of her reach.

“You can be so glad I can’t move about Ryhan dragon prince!” She said as she glared at him. He chuckled before he flicked her head with his forefinger and quickly moved out of her reach.

“Argh!” She huffed in frustration.

Just at that moment the doctor came by to check on her for the night.

“Prince Ryhan don’t aggravate my patient.” He scolded the young prince.

“Sorry Doctor,” Ryhan said and Haylee stuck her tongue out at him.

“How are you feeling, Miss?” Doctor Tibult asked.

“In pain, but that is how I feel every day.” She said with a shrug. It was hard just to lay in bed the whole day, but the doctor said he wanted to start helping her to stand and walk again soon. The sooner she can start her rehabilitation, the sooner she can go home to see her parents.

Right behind the doctor was Baelon. Haylee felt slightly intimidated by the large man. His piercing brown eyes were very intimidating.

“I hope he behaved himself, miss Haylee,” Baelon stated.

“If you can call cheating behaving himself,” She said as she eyed Ryhan up and down.

“You what?” Baelon asked.

“I just played chess,” Ryhan said with an innocent shrug.

“And read my mind to find out what my next moves will be,” Haylee said as she glared at Ryhan who just threw his hands in the air.

“Well I would not expect anything less of him,” Baelon said apologetically to Haylee.

Ryhan wanted to object, but Baelon quickly quieted him down and told him to head to his room for the night.

“Well malady, it was nice spending some time with you,” Ryhan said as he bowed deeply before looking up and giving Haylee a boyish grin.

Haylee bid him goodnight and after he and the doctor left, Baelon sat down on the chair next to her bed.

“Are you going to stay there the whole night?” Haylee asked.

“Yes miss. It is our jobs to protect you after all.”

“But I don’t think anything can happen to me here? Why don’t you go to your room?” Haylee asked.

“Because the king wants you to be watched the whole time.”

“Why?”

“Don’t worry, just know you are protected. Now get some rest.” Baelon helped her in to a comfortable position before sitting back down and closing his eyes.

As the soft snores of the big knight filled the air, she couldn’t help wondering why she was here.

Why didn’t the dragons just take her home to see her parents?

Why did she need to stay here?

Jayk said that the creatures of this realm weren’t too fond of humans.

Jayk.

He was something else.  

Why did a dragon king try so hard to protect a human girl?

All these questions tired her out and before she knew it she nodded off to sleep.

The rest of the week Haylee was ‘babysitted’ by all eight knights, she learned a lot of each and every one of them. Cason was young and very vulnerable. People always misused his kindness.  He watched her the next day and she was glad for his boyish company. He told her about this girl he thought to be his mate in his town. Her name was Lydia. Haylee was unsure what a mate was, but her years of reading fantasy books helped her make the conclusion that it was something close to a soul mate. After spending a day with Cason she also believed this Lydia girl to be his mate because his eyes just lit up when he spoke of her.  

Amell was kind and friendly. She didn’t speak much to him because he was in charge of watching her through the night after Cason left. Amell was a rather large man, but after he gave her a friendly smile she knew there was no reason for her to feel intimidated by the man’s size.

She was still half asleep when an equally large man, burst through the door to the tower and wished her a loud and enthusiastic good morning. When she took a good look she recognized him as one of the knight and if she remembered correctly she believed his name was Hagan. Amell sprang out of his chair in fright and Hagan burst out in laughter. Amell was not impressed with his friend’s antics and gave him a hard stare. If looks could kill they would’ve buried Hagan in the next ten seconds. Hagan was a very interesting man, he always tried to flirt with her which only caused her to laugh, laugh without hurting herself. But it was hard to control her laughter when she was cooped up in a room with a man who told her loads of jokes. He had an easy smile on his face and she soon realized that he always had a smile on his face.  

When the next knight, Alexandro, arrived for the evening babysitting shift (it was the name Haylee gave the time periods the knights stood guard), Hagan grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it, after promising to see her soon with a wink of course. Alexandro closed the door behind Hagan before he took a seat next to Haylee.

Alexandro was a great warrior and he had a great sense of honor. His hazel eyes spoke volumes and his blonde hair was standing in all directions. He looked handsome. But not as handsome as Jayk she thought and immediately shook the thought from her mind. Alexandro was of big built and she had no doubt that if danger should arise he would be able to protect her.  

Evan was the quite one, he hardly spoke and she could always read a book in peace when it was his turn. She respected him for it. She spent the next day with him and the day was rather quiet except for the occasional comment here and there. He also enjoyed sharing interesting facts with her as he read through the day. He was an intelligent man, a man who rarely spoke.

Evan’s babysitting shift was followed by a tall, lean man with the name Logan. Logan might not have been as well built as the others, but she still felt protected with him there. Strangely none of the men ever tried to intimidate her or make her feel less of herself because she was a human. For a realm that comprised of creatures that hated humans, these dragon knights were treating her fairly well.

The next morning Haylee was awoken by not only one knight, but two. Lunan and Alexandro. Lunan had a dry sense of humor, his red beard gave him a jovial look and he and Alexandro seemed close. Alexandro spent most of the day there with them and she realized that these two men were rarely separated. She wondered why Lunan didn’t drop by during Alexandro’s shift and he quickly explained he needed to train new knights. She was curious about knights and asked them how it felt to be a knight. As these two knights spent the day telling her about their many adventures Haylee was overwhelmed with a feeling she hadn’t felt since she arrived here, home. She strangely felt at home with these knights watching over her.

Her mind would continuously drift to her parents during the days, but she would ease her mind by reminding herself that once she was healed she would return home. But would she be able to visit this place again? A question that only time could answer.  

Hey guys
What do you think about the knights? And who is your favorite knight so far?

Please comment and vote.

Thank you for reading and voting.

Amorie