Matthew and Arista exited the forest and got back onto the road when a group of adventurers approached from the direction they were going to.
The group consisted of an elven ranger who was leading the group towards them, a male and a female knight, a large male barbarian, a mage and a female priest, which looked like a typical adventurer group.
As they approached, the elven ranger looked at them and suddenly stopped and knelt to the ground with his head bowed.
"Your Majesty" he said in deference.
His companions arrived within a few seconds and slowed down before reaching them, surprised by their ranger's behavior.
"Well met strangers!" the male knight who looked like the leader of the group said and looked baffled at his ranger companion.
"Rise" Arista said as the elf stood up and stood still, looking straight ahead, not daring to look directly at Arista.
"What... what is going on?" the knight asked.
"This... this is Princess Arista of Elvendree. My name is Rair of Birchwood" the elven Ranger said
"Oh. My name is Galahad, and these are my companions Heimdallyn, Goro, Saratoth, Isla and you've met Rair. Our mercenary group is called the White Swans" the knight bowed and introduced his companions.
"I am Ash, and this is my companion Princess Arista" Matthew said
"How... why is the princess travelling with you?" the elf Rair asked, ignoring him.
He had noticed that Matthew and Arista were physically close as this made him uncomfortable.
"My carriage and guards were all ambushed and killed by an orc attack. Ash rescued me. As we are both heading for the Royal Academy, we decided to travel together" Arista said.
The ranger looked at Matthew skeptically as he didn't look like he had any mana to be a mage, nor aura to be a knight. In fact, he felt it was sacrilegious for Princess Arista to even be in the presence of a human.
But as Arista was the one who gave the explanation, he dared not contradict her.
"What are you doing here?" Matthew asked
"We are on a mission to destroy a goblin nest. What about you?" Galahad asked
"We were preparing to set up camp over there by the river about a mile inwards when we were attacked by goblins. The nest is probably nearby" Matthew said.
"Oh? How many were there?" Rair asked.
"I don't know... maybe 30 or so" Matthew replied.
"Impossible. Even if Princess Arista is an elite warrior, she wouldn't be able to handle so many and survive unscathed, Forgive me your majesty, I only speak the truth" Rair said
"Who said the fought alone?" Matthew asked, starting to get irritated by this rude elf.
"Anyway, it's dangerous to travel by yourselves as its getting dark and its not a good idea to hunt goblins in the dark. Why don't we set up camp together and go our separate ways tomorrow? There's safety in numbers" Galahad said.
Matthew thought for a while and agreed. It was getting dark and they originally intended to set up camp next to the river anyway. With their horse killed, they couldn't travel far enough to camp somewhere else anyway.
They set up a fire and had dinner together as they shared their food.
As they got ready for bed, Princess Arista got her blankets to lie next to Matthew when Rair appeared.
"Your Highness. Uh... we have a large tent specially for the female members of our group. Please join them in the tent, its more befitting for your high self" he said
Arista looked at Matthew and hesitated
"If you don't join them in the tent, they would not be comfortable if they slept in a tent and Your Majesty sleeps outside" Rair continued.
"Go ahead. I'll be fine out here" Matthew said, putting his hand on her shoulder.
Rair clenched his fists and gritted his teeth seeing this.
"Alright. But we leave first thing tomorrow morning" Arista said unhappily. She conceded because she knew there would be no lovemaking tonight anyway. Her thoughts of sneaking away in the middle of the night to fuck was probably not realistic too.
As she left, Rair sat nearby and stared at Matthew
"What? Why are you staring?" Matthew asked, irritated.
"Whatever your intentions is with Princess Arista, I will tell you now, its impossible. She is an Elven Princess, far above your stature. If you do anything untoward with her, the elven nations of Elvendree, Birchwood and Lorendie will hunt you down and kill you. She is the light of the Elven race on the continent, and the brightest hope of the future." Rair said
After hearing all that, Matthew decided not to argue with Rair and just grunted in response.
Arista entered the tent and saw that she would be staying the night with Heimdallyn the knight and Isla the priestess.
The men took turns as Rair the Ranger took the first watch, Matthew will take the second watch, Galahad the third and Goro the barbarian the last watch.
Saratoth the mage did not stand watch as mages are typically well respected and did not do meager chores like the warriors.
--
Matthew finished the second watch and woke up Galahad to take the third watch as he snuggled up inside his blanket and closed his eyes.
This was the first time in many days that he was not sleeping nude, sharing body heat, bodily fluids and more with the gorgeous elven princess.
But being by himself allowed him time to gather his thoughts about his new life here. What his plans and immediate goals were, and also dream and try to remember as many things as possible of his old life.
He was James Bourne aka the Phantom, and his agency and his wife Jennifer betrayed him and killed him. But now he was in a new life, taking over the body of the 14 year old teenager Matthew Asher, son of Duke Branden Asher of Rolendra.
Is his goal to try to get back to his old life in another time or dimension? Or if he stayed here, what was his goal in this dimension, besides just enrolling in the Royal Academy?
Was he out for revenge for Matthew and his family? Will he make right the wrongs of the succession to Rolendra and clear his family name and restore the Asher household? Who was Matthew's mother? Will he marry Arista and life happily ever after?
Before long, as he pondered all these he fell asleep.
