"You want us to babysit the human?" Ryhan asked Jayk that night. Jayk had called all his knights and his brother to meet in his private study. He wanted to protect Haylee, and what better way to ensure her safety by assigning guards to her room.

Yes, he might seem paranoid, but he wasn’t going to allow a human to be killed in his castle, not if he could prevent it. They could atleast watch over her until they knew more about her parents' deaths.

"Yes, you will also keep her company while I’m not there," Jayk replied.

"Why?" Baelon asked.

"Because she is an innocent girl with no idea where she is, and she is also alone. And the people who killed her parents are still out there, they may know where she is. And I will not allow an innocent girl, human or no human to be killed in my castle. Is that clear?" The knights nodded.

"Well then, I will introduce you all to her tomorrow morning. Be here at eight o’clock sharp," The knights agreed and bid Jayk goodnight before they all left, all except Baelon.

When the last knight left, Jayk turned towards Baelon, "With what can I assist you?"

"Sire-"

"Baelon, I told you, you guys don’t need to call me ‘sire’ when we are not at court," Jayk corrected.

lJayk, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for this whole mess, if I had checked the traps then the girl wouldn’t be here and-"

"We all feel responsible somehow for what happened, but the problem isn’t going to be solved by pointing fingers. Now forget about it, we will help this girl recover, help her get back on her feet and then she can have a normal life, without any of these mythical creatures," Jayk said and Baelon nodded in understanding. They bided each other goodnight and Jayk was left to his thought.

A servant came by with food for the evening meal; Jayk took the food up to Haylee seeing as the doctor was called away on an urgent matter after he brought Haylee some lunch. When he arrived at the red door, he quickly knocked.

"Come in," He heard Haylee’s faint reply.

"I brought you some food," He said as he closed the door behind him.

"Thank you," Haylee said as she tried to sit upright, but gasped when she couldn’t and another sharp pain went through her side and leg.

"Let me help," Jayk said. Haylee pulled back at first, but because of her state she couldn’t pull back to far.

Jayk held up his hands in surrender to show her that he was only going to help her and that he meant no harm. Haylee relaxed a bit and allowed Jayk to help her. She gritted her teeth as he moved her and he knew by her expression that she was in a lot of pain. When she was propped upright, he placed pillows behind her back to help her stay in a comfortable position. Just like he used to do when his father broke his hip and he had to take care of him. She wasn't completely in a sitting positions, just propped a bit upright because that would be to strenuous on her hips and legs.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"You’re welcome," He said as he handed the tray with the food.

She looked at it skeptically.

"It isn’t poisoned you know," He said.

Haylee took her fork and took a small bite, once she tasted it she wolfed the rest down. Jayk chuckled inside. At least she liked her food. Jayk took a seat on the chair that was next to her bed and waited for her to finish her food. He let out a long relaxing sigh.

"You don’t have to stay," She said sharply thinking he was annoyed with waiting for her.

"Oh really, are you going sleep in that position the whole night through?"

"No-"

"Then I’m staying, now eat your food. I’m tired and I don’t have all night," He said rather gruffly and Haylee let out a huff as she continued to eat her food. 

He didn’t know why but something about this girl just irked him, he didn’t want to be so mean to her, but he couldn’t help taking his frustrations out on her.

"Where is doctor Tibult?" Haylee asked a while later when she couldn’t handle the silence anymore.

"Busy. Are you done yet?" He asked and he was glad to see she was. He quickly took the tray from her and placed it on the bed side table before he helped her lay down again. Her face contorted in pain and he wished he could take the pain away, wait what? What was wrong with him? He needed to get away from her; she was messing up his thoughts.

"Do you need anything else?" He asked rather gruffly and hoped she would say no.

"No." She said as she laid back.

"Well then, goodnight," He said hurriedly, before he rushed to the door. He was about to switch of the light, but she stopped him. He wanted to stay with her that night, but he could see she was a bit annoyed with him and decided to leave.

"Could you leave it on?" She asked softly, he was about to tease her about being scared of the dark, but when he turned around and saw the look in her eyes, he couldn’t. She looked so vulnerable and he was grateful he didn’t tell her that her parents were dead. He didn’t want to add more stress on her. He had no idea how she would react to the news and he didn’t want to find out.

He nodded in reply before he left the room and closed the door behind him. That night he dreamt about a human girl with green eyes and brown hair.

The knights arrived at his room the next morning bright and early just like he asked. They were all a bit skeptical about meeting this human. They didn’t hate humans, but they weren't sure how to treat one. Their interactions with humans were limited.

When all the knights and his brother were inside Jayk’s chambers, he led them to the tower. The room in the tower wasn’t that small and Jayk was sure all the knights would be able to fit in it. Once in front of the red door he knocked softly and they heard the doctor calling them inside. He was glad to see that she was just busy finishing her breakfast while the doctor finished his checkup.

"Sorry to disturb," He told the doctor and Haylee.

"No problem sire, I was just done anyway," the doctor said as he gathered his things. Jayk nodded.

"Are you done?" He asked Haylee who nodded in reply. She was staring wide eyed at the group of men, before she relaxed again. She gave her tray back to the doctor who took it and left the room. When the door closed behind the doctor all eyes were on her again and she squirmed under their gazes.

Ryhan saw her dilemma and quickly started to introduce himself to lighten the mood; he walked to her bed where he gave a small bow, "Prince Ryhan of Ashrock, at your service malady."

He gave her an easy grin before taking her hand and kissing it, just like in the stories. Haylee immediately relaxed when she saw Ryhan’s laid back manner and she knew right then and there that they would become great friends. His grin was contagious and she gave him a grin back. He was nothing like his gruff brother, King Jayk. She also found Ryhan’s eyes interesting, one was blue and one was brown, not matching his redish, orange hair. 

"Nice to meet you to, your," she said. She didn’t really know how to talk to princes and kings.

"Please call me Ryhan, my dear," he said with a wink. This caused Haylee to snort with a smile. She knew they would get along just fine.

"That’s enough Ryhan, give us a chance to introduce ourselves too," Hagan said.

"I’m Hagan, malady. At your service," He said, also winking at her.

"And I’m Cason," Another younger man said giving her a small wave, with a shy smile. He was skinnier than the rest.

Evan introduced himself next followed by, Alexandro, Logan, Amell, Lunan and Baelon introduced himself last.

"Well it is a pleasure meeting you all, I’m Haylee, a human. But I guess you guys already knew that," She said, feeling silly for mentioning the fact that she was different from them.

"So are you all here to see a human?" she asked lightheartedly.

"No, they’re not; they are here to introduce themselves. Haylee I would like you to meet my loyal knights. They will be looking after you during the day and night," Jayk explained. 

"So they are my babysitters? I don’t know if you noticed, but I can’t exactly run away you know," Haylee stated as she pointed to her injury.

"I did realize that, but they are here to protect you from creatures who don’t like humans. Not to insure you don’t run away. Ryhan will you take the first watch?" Jayk asked.

"With pleasure, brother," He said but winked at Haylee who just gave him a grin. She was glad that Ryhan was going to stay with her today, she quite liked him already.

"Good. Now the rest of us have things to attend to," Jayk nodded at the rest and they left one for one. Some knights like Baelon, Evan, Amell, Logan, Lunan and Alexandro nodded goodbye before leaving while Hagan gave her a wink and a sly grin which she laughed at softly, not wanting to cause herself pain. Cason was the last to leave.

"Have a nice day, malady. And don’t let Ryhan bother you too much," He said with a small shy smile.

"Thank you, Cason," She replied with a soft smile.

When the door closed behind Cason, Ryhan looked at her with an excited grin, "What should we do first?"

Hey guys!

What did you think about Haylee's babysitters? And what about these knights?

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the double update!

Amorie