Moonveil Academy: Trapped With The Five Kings

Elara:

Morning arrived far too softly for the mess inside my head.

Warm sunlight slipped through the curtains and spread across the unfamiliar bed, brushing against my face until I slowly opened my eyes. And for first several seconds, I simply stared at the ceiling, my mind empty and strangely peaceful. Then the memories came rushing back.

The mansion. Lorien. Our argument. His lips against mine. The way he had pulled away afterward as though kissing me had been some terrible mistake. The rain. Me chasing after him. And finally that familiar warmth building inside me before everything had gone black.

I groaned and closed my eyes again. ”I should have thrown myself into the fountain instead.”

Maybe that would have been less humiliating.

I slowly pushed myself upright and looked around. I was in a big bedroom. The furniture matched what I remembered seeing in the mansion last night. I frowned as another question entered my mind.

Who brought me here?

I remembered falling outside in the rain. I remembered the warmth still burning beneath my skin, growing stronger until I couldn’t remain conscious. After that, nothing.

A stupid little part of me wondered whether Lorien had returned.

Maybe he’d realized he had overreacted. Maybe he had come back and found me unconscious. Maybe-

I immediately shut that thought down.

No. Absolutely not. I wasn’t going to embarrass myself twice in the same twenty-four hours.

The door opened before I could think any further and my gaze immediately shifted toward it just as a man stepped inside carrying a tray. And for a second, I forgot what I had been thinking about.

He was handsome.

Of course he was.

At this point, I’d stopped being surprised by the ridiculous genetics of Starfall. The man was tall, with dark black hair and deep green eyes, broad shoulders and a muscular build that looked earned through years of combat training rather than hours spent lifting weights. He was clearly older than me, though I couldn’t have guessed his exact age.

His gaze landed on mine, and a warm smile appeared on his face. ”You are finally awake.”

He placed the tray on the bedside table before I could respond. Then, to my complete surprise, he reached out and pressed his palm against my forehead.

I froze.

”What are you-”

”Checking your temperature.” His palm remained there for another second before he finally pulled it away. ”Fortunately, you didn’t catch a fever.”

I stared at him.

He seemed completely unconcerned by the fact that he’d just touched a woman he had apparently never met without asking permission.

Then he picked up the bowl from the tray. ”Drink this while it’s warm. It’s ginger soup. Your throat will need it after being soaked in the rain.”

I did feel a slight soreness in my throat, but that was hardly the most important thing currently occupying my mind. I stared at the bowl. Then at him.

”Who are you?”

He blinked once before pointed at the bowl. ”Drink first.”

My eyebrows rose. ”Excuse me?”

”The soup first.” He said, ”And you can ask your questions after you are done drinking.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

Was this some kind of universal Starfall tradition? Did every handsome man I met think he could simply order me around?

”I’m not drinking anything until you tell me-”

”I’m Jasper Frost.”

I paused.

He held the bowl out again as he added, ”Your blood knight.”

My mouth opened.

My what?

”You-”

He gave me a look. Not an angry look. Just one that somehow made it perfectly clear he expected me to follow his instruction.

I stared at him for another moment before finally surrendering.

Fine.

I took the bowl from his hands and brought it to my lips. Fortunately, it actually tasted good. The ginger wasn’t overpowering, and the honey softened its sharpness enough that I could drink it without complaint. Jasper watched me with an expression of quiet satisfaction that somehow made me feel like I’d just passed an exam.

A few minutes later, I placed the empty bowl back onto the tray.

”There.”

He nodded approvingly. Then he crossed the room, dragged a chair beside my bed and settled into it.

”Now,” he said, folding his hands loosely in his lap, ”you can ask whatever you want.”

I stared at him.

There were approximately a dozen questions fighting for space inside my head.

Who was he? Why was he calling himself my knight? Or blood knight to be specific? Where was I? Was this still the Argentis mansion? Where was Lorien? What happened to me last night? Why did I fall unconscious again?

But there was one question that came before everything else.

I looked directly into his green eyes. ”Who exactly are you, Jasper? Though you just told me you are my kni-blood knight, I’m asking what that actually means.”

The word ”blood knight” sounded absolutely absurd in my head, even when I had spent the last few weeks trying to understand elemental magic, noble families, Regents, Reapers, wolves, seals, and an entire supernatural civilization I hadn’t even known existed a month ago.

I almost said Lorien’s name out loud but caught myself just in time.

”Headmaster Moonveil told me the person coming here would teach me about the royal family, its customs, and Starfall’s politics. He never mentioned anything about a knight.”

Just thinking about that man sent another unpleasant surge of anger through me, so strong that I had to clench my fingers against the bedsheet. I still couldn’t understand how one moment I had been furious with him and the next I had been kissing him like I’d forgotten every reason I had promised myself not to trust him. Then he had the audacity to look horrified and called it a mistake.

The memory still stung more than I wanted to admit.

Jasper nodded slowly, seemingly accepting the explanation without questioning why I suddenly looked like I wanted to strangle someone.

”You are right. That headaster of yours might not have mentioned me because I wasn’t the person he was sending to teach you.” He paused before continuing, ”I’m the one who drove Master Brown here yesterday. We arrived shortly after you were brought to the mansion, and I found you unconscious outside in the rain.”