Sera POV

“What!?”.

The happy mood we are in is quickly broken by the focused face Atre meets us at the gate with. He isn’t playing around any longer.

“How did they find me?”, Eliyon asks after she collected her bearings again. She is still shivering ever so slightly, but she keeps up a strong front still.

I stroke the back of her arm in support while waiting for Atre to continue explaining. He is looking at me and Akif in a look that tells me he is wondering if we are with them on this. I give him a determined nod and an amicable smile.

It seems like I am not the only one hiding something. I knew she had secrets to hide when we started talking about her, but they seem just as serious as my own.

Atre looks at the two of us before nodding to himself.

“Ok… Eliyon here is the princess of Felis. As you have noticed, the humans are gearing up for war. Right now there is a small kidnapping team coming for the princess. Why? No one knows exactly. What I know is that they want the leverage a kidnapped princess generates. She wasn’t a target when she came here, but a recent message from her father asked me to bring her safely home”.

So… She is a princess? That does explain why there are people after her. What I am curious about is how they know she is here? She isn’t stupid enough to travel under the identity as a princess, right? Even I don’t use my full name here… And I am just a senator’s daughter…

“Tell me… is your real name Eliyon Regai?” I ask her while pondering.

“Yeah? Why?”

“Why? Because the entire elven nation knows the name of the princess. Just ask some random innkeeper if they have seen you, and give your name and a general description. That is all it takes for them to know who you are. Tracking you down gets pretty easy from there. I know you didn’t think anything of it, but you really should have used a different name and done something with your hair. A princess is always under threat. There are a lot of shady groups out there that could use a princess”.

“And that is what I have been telling her for the past months… I am surprised I didn’t get the message sooner… The humans have been at it for a while, and the internal movement makes the surrounding areas twitchy…”, Atre mumbles.

I guess she really didn’t think this through, did she? Ooh well...

“Ok… Let’s not think about this now. We need to get her out of here before they catch up. I presume you guys have a mount?”.

And here we have Akif for you. Doesn’t really care about what happened. Just how we are going to solve the problem.

“We have a carriage we usually travel with. Just strap your Dunedime beast in front of it, and off we go”

“Good! Sounds like a plan! How long does it take to ride to Felis?”, Akif asks after motioning for our little group to the Inn. We don’t have much to pack since we never actually took anything out of the satchels, but the room is perfect for us to discuss things in.

“Depends on the weather. Everything from a month- month and a half? That is if we ride fast”.

We enter the inn, and the guild master nods to the receptionist. A young man is standing there chatting with one of the waitresses, and doesn’t notice the four of us entering.

Me, Eliyon and Atre sit down on the fluffy bed while Akif paces around the room. He really makes me feel uneasy when he paces around like that, but he is buried in his own thoughts right now and I don’t intend to intrude.

“Eli… say goodbye to whoever you know in this village. Don’t tell anyone where you are going. I will go to the guild house, and tell Ursula that she is in charge until I get back. I don’t know how long that will be, but she is a very capable woman. Akif! You follow Eli around town and Sera will be buying the food and equipment needed for the trip. Actually… just buy dried food, and food that lasts for a long time… Buy som…”

“Don’t worry, Atre. I am an adventurer. I know what we will need for a trip this long. Do you need any alcohol?”

“A pretty young lady like you? An adventurer? Anyways! Buy some rum and other spirits. Buy some kegs of mead as well! We can travel under the disguise of transporting the mead to some lord or something”.

“Got it!”

After Atre took command over the situation everything goes a lot smoother. Akif did as asked and went off with Eliyon. I don’t even think Akif realizes she has a thing for him. I can’t blame him though…

After buying a bunch of dried food and vegetables I start loading the carriage. While I was buying everything needed, Atre strapped the dunedime beast to the carriage and left him outside the adventurer’s guild with a dude that is working there. Pretty irresponsible, but it was still there when I came there to deliver some of the food.

I also scored a pretty good deal with a local brewer, and have like 20 kegs of mead, soo… yeah…

I wonder what this feeling is… I feel… someone? Is there someone looking at me?

I promptly ignore the feeling, and chalk it up to me being paranoid. Akif and Eliyon comes leisurely walking to where the brewer is helping me load up the 20 kegs of mead.

“Uuuumm… Sera? What is that?”, Akif asks me with a baffeled look on his face.

“That, my dear Akif is mead! Lots and lots of mead!”

“Why do we need that much mead? I know we are going to travel under the disguise of transporters… but where are we going to sit?”

“Don’t worry about that. The carriage is big enough for all of us. It will be a bit hard to sleep inside of it though. I am sure we will manage somehow”.

He takes a look inside the carriage. It is a four-wheel model with ample room and a canopy. Nice and cosy.

He looks at me for a second and shakes his head while laughing at me. I must be grinning, because he is returning it.

“Well… atleast we don’t have to worry about water for the trip”, he chuckles as he jumps into the carriage.

It takes Atre a good hour before he is ready to leave, but on midday we head off. The road leading to the border is oddly crowded since trader’s travel there regularly.

I crawl up to Akif and cuddle up.

Atleast I will enjoy traveling this time around. I remember when I was forced to sit on top of a wooden carriage for a week. Worst. Escort. Mission. EVER!

Atre took command of the reigns this time, so the three of us are free to chat with each other. That plan is immediately put on hold since I fall asleep buried head first in Akif chest. He has wrapped his hands around me, and is slowly stroking my head while quietly talking with Eliyon. I feel so safe in his hands...

Yep… I will enjoy traveling this time.

I am awoken by the sudden movement of Akif. Eliyon is sleeping now, and it is dark outside. We are still riding, but I think Atre has noticed something is wrong, because the carriage is speeding up. Akif puts his finger over my mouth and motions for me to stay put. I see him jump off the carriage and disappear into the night. I can hear him and Atre talking, but I can’t hear what they are saying.

Suddenly I feel the carriage shake slightly as Akif jumps off. Or I think that is what he was doing.

I can hear the sound of bodies being pierced, but no screams are heard. Only muffled sounds of despair.

I am getting scared now. I can feel the blood rushing from my head and down to my torso. I can feel my feet and hands grow cold. I feel despair

Ooh god! Are they coming? Please tell me they aren’t coming. Please, Akif! Be ok. PLEASE! I don’t want to lose you, Akif. Please come back to me.

I crawl over to Eliyon and wrap my arms around her. I just need her support now. My heart can’t stop racing. She wakes up, but when she sees my attempt at smiling to her she goes back to sleep oblivious of what is happening around her.

Please, Akif…

The brutal sounds of battle can be heard in a distance. The carriage is rushing through the woods now. The smell of pine and moss can be smelled in the air – only broken by the smell of blood that seems to have buried itself in my nose.

Suddenly everything goes quiet. There are no more screams. There are no more sounds. Only deathly silence.

I can see a silhouette coming closer to the carriage, and I light up a small flame to see who it is. I can smell the foul stench of men’s intestines filling the carriage as the man comes closer and closer. He still has his weapons out, and I don’t know what to do. I am panicking.

The carriage has stopped.

A blood covered man carefully watches his surroundings as he moves closer and closer to the carriage. I am preparing myself to act when I hear the sweet voice of my lover.

“Are you two ok?”, Akif whispers to me. I have never been happier hearing his voice in my life.

“Ooh god I was so afraid, Akif… Thank you… Thank you for coming back to me”.

Tears won’t stop streaming down my cheeks. My shivers seem to have woken up Eliyon, because I can feel her gentle hand on my face. She looks at me as if asking “is everything ok?”

“Don’t worry, Sera. A few kidnappers aren’t going to be able to kill me”.

Akif washes off some of the blood and guts from his linen tunic, but he soon realizes his clothing is too bloody to wash off. He strips of his tunic, and heads to the satchels on the dunedime beast. I can hear the two men talking again.

Akif returns with a new set of clothing and sheathed swords. His weapons still have a tinge of bloodsmell coming from them, but I don’t care. I jump into his embrace when he finally steps back into the carriage.

Thank god you are ok…

He gently kisses my forehead before sitting down. I lay on his lap again. His soft warm lap. His muscular arms are wrapping themselves around me. I feel safe. I feel like nothing or no one can hurt me.

“What happened?”, Eliyon quietly asks.

“The kidnappers knew where we were. They had been following us ever since we left Viamyr I presume.

So that was who I was feeling.

“Are they dead?”

“Yeah… I took care of them. Just a few adventurers. They didn’t even hide their presence”.

“So the humans have a contract on me?”

“Probably. They might have a contract out on Eliyon aswell. She is the daughter of a senator in Alymor. The senator that is regulating the war preparations apparently. I don’t know much about it, but I know that he has been attacked before”.

“So that is why you two were in Viamyr?”

“Yeah… he asked me to be her body guard. Since I am the champion and all. I offered my services to my best friend and the girl I love, and he accepted the offer”.

I just lay here in his arms fondling with his tunic. I don’t care that he is telling them this. They have to know eventually anyways.

“Well… It is a good thing I met you two then. I think you guys should be safe in Felis. Atleast I hope so? maybe...”.

She starts sounding more and more insecure about her own safety as she speaks. Akif waves her closer to him. She listens, and he takes one of his arms away from my embrace and wraps it around her.

The last thing I hear before I fall asleep is;

“I will protect you two. I will protect you, and then I will find a way to keep you safe. Safe forever. That is a promise”.

I wake up drooling again. Akif is already awake, and is looking out through the opening of the carriage. Eliyon is sleeping like a baby in his arms. Somehow the peaceful feeling I get from all of this feels surreal.

Yesterday we almost died, and today I wake up feeling secure. Judging by Eliyons face, she must be feeling the same.

I lean up, and plant a big wet kiss on my man’s lips. He seems surprised by me, but when he realized I woke up he gives me a loving smile.

“Good morning, sunshine”, he tells me as he starts fumbling with a lock of my hair.

“Good morning, handsome”. I just can’t seem to take my eyes of Akif. The determined look on his face is captivating. He is the man I was dreaming of spending my time with when I was younger. Granted, I thought he would be a prince and have white long hair, but still… He is the man I always wanted.

The carriage has stopped, and I can hear the soft snores of Atre sleeping outside with the dunedime beast.

This is what traveling is all about. Spending time with the ones you care about, and enjoy the view. Granted… yesterdays ambush I could have been without, but except for that – this feels pretty good.

Eliyon awake with a cute grunt and a soft yawn. I can see Akif trying to hold back his laughter, but he fails at it. Eliyon notices that the two of us are staring at her after he lets out a cute chuckle.

“Good morning, you two… Did you have a nice nap?”

“Well… I didn’t sleep much. After Atre went to sleep I decided to stay awake in case the pursuers weren’t alone. We seem to be safe, however”.

“Go to sleep now!”, me and Eliyon commands. I can see him resigning to his fate.

Yep! You are ours now, bitch!

I let out a quiet laugh as he falls asleep. I decide to follow suit, and follow my lover back to dreamland.

And that is mostly how the next month went. We slept in each other’s embrace with me on his chest and Eliyon cuddling up on his chest.

We laughed. We smiled and we argued.

We were just like any other group of friends. Me and Akif didn’t get many intimate moments, however. There is quite limited room where we could be alone in a carriage with two other people. That didn’t stop me from kissing the man I love though. He readily accepted every kiss with vigor, and from time to time surprised me with a few on his own.

Of course there were some additional encounters with the pursuers, but no one got close enough to hurt us. Akif was always there to keep them at bay – either chasing them off or killing them outright.

He stopped throwing away clothes after the second pair of clothing was ruined.

He trained with us at every opportunity he had, and Atre joined us. We watched the two men spar every day, and their fights can be called something out of this world. Akif got better and better with his telekinesis, while Atre got more and more limber. Atre was always good with telekinesis, so he gave Akif a few pointers with tactics.

From time to time we went out hunting for meet. We skinned the skin of the beasts we hunted, and we have quite a pack of hide to sell.

The two men are acting more like brothers than friends now. The first time I saw them I thought of Atre as the elven version of Akif, and the more time I spend with them, the more I get that feeling.

One thing that surprises me is that Eliyon seems unusually interested in Akif. I know what that interest is, but somehow I don’t mind. She is a woman after my own heart, and I suspected this day would come eventually. She is a maiden in love. Now I just need to wait for her to realize it.

Men in high positions and power usually have a few women. It is a natural thing. Powerful men can ensure the future wellbeing of a child. A man will give his live to save his women. He will give his live to save his children. The genes of his bloodline will flow through his children, and live forth.

Women are naturally attracted to strength. Strength can come in several shapes and forms, but it is strength non the less.

Akif is a powerful man. He has an insane battle capability. He is strict when he needs to be, but gentle and loving when everything is fine. He is the prince I was dreaming about.

Before we enter the city, Eliyon taps my shoulder. I turn around and look at her with questioning eyes.

“Sera… I think I might have fallen for Akif”.