Eudora
The next morning, I wake up to find all of my guys sleeping around me. It seems that after I fell asleep they all showered and then decided it was best to take their mattresses off of their beds and sleep in the same room as me. Looking around at all of their relaxed faces I can't help but feel so blessed that they all care so deeply for me.
There is a light knock at the door and I carefully tip toe around all of the mattresses on the floor to answer it. Behind the door I find Professor Solace.
Professor Solace glances into the suite and notices all of the shifters sleeping on their haphazardly placed mattresses. She lowers her voice to a whisper as she delivers her message. "Dean Charles sent me to notify you that the carriage going to the Forest Kingdom will be leaving in one hour and he hopes you'll be able to join."
"Can we all come?" I ask her in a whisper.
"I don't see why not. More shifters intent on protecting you are always welcome."
I give her a soft smile. "Thank you."
"I better be off now. I have a lot of things to organize for… your class." She winks at me and then turns to scurry down the hallway. She moves quickly for someone who relies so much on a cane for support.
I quietly shut the door and turn to face the room. Unsurprisingly, all of the guys except for Leon are all looking back at me.
"We have one hour until the carriage leaves." I whisper to them and they nod in acknowledgement.
Aren stands up the fastest. "Let me get dressed and then I'll walk you to your room so you can change."
Kaden doesn't seem to like this idea. "I think we should all walk her together. It would be safest."
"I don't need all of you guarding me all the time. I will have to go to class and you can't all be with me for that." I roll my eyes at them.
"For now, I think we'd all feel best if we stayed together as a group." Aren says, surprising me by agreeing with Kaden instead of arguing with him. "Someone wake Leon."
After some sleepy shuffling and a lot of yawning from Leon, we all manage to get dressed and eat breakfast before heading outside to load into the Dean's carriage.
Once we arrive at the palace of the High-Alpha of the Forest Kingdom, Richard Manon, also known as my dad's house, we all shuffle into a sitting room where my parents and Aren's father, Beta Leto Orel, are waiting for us. I look around for Jay, but he's not there.
"Where's Jayden?" I ask, directing the question at my father.
"He never returned from the royal palace. They sent a message telling us that he has been imprisoned under suspicion of conspiring against the Emperor." My father says in his deep gruff voice and my mother immediately starts sobbing. "He says the only way he'll release your brother is if you take his place."
"What? The Emperor can't just imprison him for suspicions. There is no evidence and there wasn't a trial."
"The Emperor can do whatever he wants." My father looks me in the eyes and I can see the deep sadness and regret in them.
"Should we talk about how you sold me to the Emperor?"
"I deeply regret my actions. I did what I thought was best, but I know I should have trusted you. You are our Goddess after all. Who am I to make decisions for you?" I soften a little towards my father, but I know my hurt and anger towards him will take a long time to come to terms with.
"Thank you." I say sincerely to my father. I turn to talk to the group as a whole. "What should we do about Jay and the Emperor's threats to cut off supplies?"
"You cannot give yourself over to the Emperor. As for the supplies we could set up a secret trade with the other kingdoms." Aren's father, Beta Orel suggests.
"No, the Emperor would hear about that too easily and then he would do something much worse to the kingdom." My father responds.
"We have to figure out how to help without tipping the Emperor off to our plans." Dean Charles adds.
"What are our plans exactly?" I ask.
"We are going to overthrow the Emperor." Dean Charles explains.
"What?" I sputter. "Then who would lead this empire?"
"You would." Dean Charles states as if it's fact.
I burst out laughing, but no one else joins in. I look around and see the serious expressions on everyone's faces. "You can't be serious?"
"Who would be better to lead than our creator and goddess?" Dean Charles asks sincerely.
"I can't lead. I just started at the Academy and I know nothing about our government."
"She has a point there." Kaden states, supporting me.
"We will help you until you are ready to lead on your own." Ryland surprises me with his serious expression, as his words fall over me.
Terror runs down my spine. I cannot do this. I'm not the right person. There has to be someone better. "No. Nope. Naw aw. Not happening. I have zero interest in ruling."
"Don't you want to help your people? Don't you want to make a change?" Dean Charles asks.
"Yes, of course I do, but not by commanding people. There must be a better option." I pause and think. "Why don't the knights of the blood moon rule?"
"The knights aren't royal or alphas. As the moon goddess, you are the only one the people would accept over throwing the current Emperor and taking the throne. Anyone else and there would be a civil war. We are just servants to you." Dean Charles replies.
"Eww. Don't say you're my servants."
"You are a royal alpha as well as the reincarnation of the moon goddess. You were born to do this. It is in your blood as well as in your soul." Aren states and the rest of the group nods in agreement.
"What if a council of high-alphas leads?" I ask and this gives them a pause.
"That could be an idea. We'd have to refine it and work out the kinks." Beta Orel says mulling over the idea.
"Really?! What if we had multiple councils? Like one of High-Alphas and one of elected officials that the people get to choose?" I say getting more excited by the ideas.
Dean Charles rubs his chin in consideration. "That's an idea. I still think you should lead but distributing the power more could be beneficial. I'll write up some proposals."
"Back to the issue of the Emperor's threats? What should we do? Jayden is being held captive and the Emperor won't release him until he has Eudora." My father asks.
"Ora could just agree to a bonding ceremony with Ryland." Everyone stares at Aren. "What? She won't have to actually marry him, we just need to buy more time."
"That's an excellent idea." Beta Orel states clapping Aren on his back.
"I'm fine with that if it will help." Ryland says and then walks over to me taking my hand. "Will you be my fake betrothed?"
I bite my lip considering my options and then look into Ryland's warm, reassuring eyes. "Okay. Let's get fake betrothed."
"Hopefully this will placate the Emperor enough that he will treat Jayden well and not follow through with cutting off supplies." Professor Solace adds in.
"We will send a message right away." My father says.
Beta Orel turns to my father and confidently asks, "If you would Sir, I would like to ask permission to return to the Desert Kingdom to speak to the High-Alpha? He has often spoken out about his dislike for the Emperor and I believe he could be an asset to us."
"Yes, I agree that you should go."
"If dad is going, I want to join him." Aren speaks up.
"I don't know." Aren's father says hesitantly.
"It would be a good learning opportunity." Aren insists.
"Fine. If Dean Charles is okay with it, then you can join me."
"I want to go to." I speak up.
"Absolutely not." A chorus of voices rises around me.
"Why not. I want to help. I want to see more of the Empire. How am I supposed to know what's best for the people if I've barely seen it?"
"Didn't you see a lot when you were in the military?" Dean Charles asks, looking genuinely confused.
I roll my eyes. "My troop was only stationed in nice cities after basic training. We never got to see any of the outer packs."
"Fine. You can go too, but you'll have to take a guard with you." My father says. Not that he has any real say over what I can or cannot do anymore.
"Thank you!"
"I am planning on sending out Knights to each of the Kingdoms to investigate the dark group trying to kill Ora. I will send some of them with you." Dean Charles says then he turns to my parents and Aren's dad. "With that in mind, I think it would be best if you three officially joined the Knights of the Blood Moon and took an oath of fealty."
"Of course." They all agree.
Professor Solace steps forward and wraps a rope around all of their wrists, looping it around them and connecting all three of them to Solace. Professor Solace closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before she starts chanting in a language I have never heard before. The string starts to glow and power emanates from it in waves.
Professor Solace switches to the common tongue and asks them, "Do you swear to support the Moon Goddess and stand against those who are against her? Do you swear to be a loyal knight?"
"Yes, we swear." All three of them say together.
After a few seconds the waves of power begin to slow and then fade and the rope returns to its normal state.
"It's done."
Not long after that, we return to campus and I insist that I need some girl time. The guys look hesitant to leave my side, so we compromise and they wait out in my common room while Gia and I get to have some time alone.
"So, you're 22 now and you've shifted. Did any strings appear?"
A blush spreads across my cheeks at her question. "Yes."
Gia shakes her head at my blush. "With who?"
"Aren of course." My blush deepens and I can't seem to look away from a loose thread on my comforter. "As well as Ryland, Kaden, Leon and Max."
"Wow all five of them! You're brother is going to be pissed, and you stayed in their suite last night. Did you bang any of them?"
"Gia!"
She gasps playfully. "Did you bang all of them?"
I glare at her. "No!"
"Well you should!"
"I can't!"
"Why not?"
"I'm not ready to make any decisions about mating."
"Who said anything about mating? Now that you're 22 you can do it without causing any problems with your strings. I say have some fun! Didn't you practically already have sex with Aren?"
"Now that I know I have a string with each of them, it feels more serious. I'm worried if I get too close to one of them or make a wrong move, history will repeat itself and the other's will feel betrayed, just like Sir William felt betrayed by the Moon Goddess falling in love with Sir Arion."
"First of all, Sir William was a psycho just like his decendent the wacko Emperor, so don't blame any of that on the actions of the Moon Goddess. Secondly, As long as you are honest with them, everyone will understand. Besides, it's not like you even have to choose. You could just take them all as your harem."
"Having all of them to myself feels selfish and messy."
"So be selfish girl! It's okay!"
Before I can respond there is a loud knock at the door and Aren opens it.
"Hey, I just thought you would want to know that Koda and Char are awake."
"Really!" I shout and then launch myself from my bed and into the living room area. On the couch, I spot my two friends who have been under a witches sleeping curse since yesterday, but are now finally awake. I run over to them and tug them both together in a tight embrace.
"Thank heavens you two are okay."
Koda's voice comes out muffled. "I think we were in the least danger out of any of you. Kaden just filled us in on what you went through in the oasis. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help."
"Everything worked out fine in the end!"
"Ora would you mind letting us go?" Char asks politely. I release them and blush a little as I step back.
"Sorry about that! I'm just glad to see you guys awake."
Koda rubs the side of his face where I had been squeezing him to me. "So what are you all doing here? We went to our suite first expecting to find you there but it was empty except for an array of mattresses all over the floor. What's with that anyway?"
"We are guarding Ora. The Dean thinks there is a dark group trying to kill her so she shouldn't go anywhere alone just in case." Aren says.
Koda repeats his second question not letting it go. "And all of the mattresses?"
Kaden clears his throat. "We all slept in the living area with Ora last night… for safety."
"Oh I see. Well, I won't get a good night's sleep with all of you snoring guys just outside my door so would it be okay if I slept in your room Ora? Seeing as you're not using it." Koda states nonchalantly, but I see him exchange a conspiratorial look with Gia.
I'm a little confused by his reasoning, but I don't mind him sleeping in my bed. "Yeah that's fine."