Free Fantasyland 04 Broken Dove by Kristen Ashley

boy-man blinked. The other two narrowed their gazes on me in puzzlement.
    I lifted my hands and curled my fingers around a non-existent steering wheel, shifting them side-to-side like I was steering. “Automobiles. With four wheels and an engine. It goes on its own power. It doesn’t need a horse.”
    The three of them watched my hands then they lifted their eyes to stare at me.
    “You have to see it to understand it,” I muttered, dropping my hands.
    The dark-haired one turned to the burnished-haired one and announced, “We cannot be away if madam has injured ribs and doesn’t know how to ride a horse.”
    Uh-oh.
    This wasn’t good. I was thinking Apollo wouldn’t like that.
    So I cried quickly, “Oh no!” I took a step deeper into our huddle and lifted a hand. “Don’t let me delay our departure.”
    The dark-haired guy looked down at me. “You winced solely being pulled off the back of a horse,” he reminded me.
    I shook my head but said, “Yeah, I did. But I’m good. Really. It’s okay.”
    “It is not,” he returned.
    “Our progress would be slowed if she rides injured, especially if she can’t handle her own steed,” the burnished-haired guy said and I looked to him.
    “I’ll keep up,” I promised.
    His blue eyes moved to me. “And break your neck?”
    “I’ll try to keep up without doing that,” I offered.
    He stared at me a moment then looked at his comrade. “I’ll speak with Derrik. She’ll need lessons and time for her injury to heal. We’ll send word to Apollo we’ll be delayed for two weeks.”
    Oh boy.
    “Really,” I stated hurriedly. “I’m fine. I can practice horse riding while on our, um…journey.”
    This gained me the dark-haired man’s eyes. “On day one, after our ride you’ll be nothing but aches and pains. The next morning, your body will protest at your simplest movement. You cannot take that while injured.”
    “How about I give it a try,” I suggested, not wanting to delay because I really didn’t think Apollo would like it. Sure, he wouldn’t get word we’d be late for two months but then he’d have two whole weeks to stew on it and that probably wasn’t a good thing.
    I came out of these thoughts when I noticed no one was speaking. They were all staring at me again.
    Finally, the dark-haired man offered his big, calloused hand. “I’m Achilles of the House of Ulfr. Cousin to Apollo.”
    Yep. I was right. Family.
    I took his hand and murmured, “Achilles.”
    “I am Draven of the House of Sinclair,” the burnished-haired guy said and I let Achilles go to take Draven’s hand.
    “Hey,” I said and his eyes lit with humor.
    “I’m Aleksander, of the House of Lazarus,” the boy-man said, grinning at me and offering his hand. I took it and he finished, “Alek.”
    “Nice to meet you, Alek,” I said on a squeeze and let him go.
    “You’ll walk back, not ride,” Achilles decreed and my gaze went back to him. “We’ll talk tomorrow to see how you feel. And when you’re well enough, Hans will instruct you on riding. He’s our most talented horseman.”
    “Really, that’s not—” I started but he moved closer to me. Not by a lot, it wasn’t an aggressive move, it was one designed to get my attention.
    And it got my attention.
    But the serious look in his eye, a look accompanied by not a small amount of kindness was what really got my attention.
    “I have known those who life has taught to keep themselves isolated,” he stated quietly. “It is always folly and never ends well. No matter what experiences we have, we must keep ourselves open to having more. Don’t you agree?”
    I pulled in a breath and nodded, because he was right.
    “The men are anxious to meet you and it would serve you well to meet them,” he informed me. “We act as your guard as a duty and we very much understand duty. But we do that duty out of allegiance to Apollo and the House of Ulfr.” He held my eyes but dipped his face an inch closer to me and his