A Quest to the Borat ✔

Chapter 33

A/N: Ya'll have no idea how happy I'm cuz ya'll are still here and readin'.✌🏻

***********

Karen's POV

I wrap my arms tight around Darius as we ride the horse. Iris is cool though, she is holding on to Kevin but by the looks of it, I think she is having the time of her life. Caspian is alone, riding the horse and minding his own business.

"Pudding, you're stronger than me. Loosen your arms or you'll crush me." Darius says and I loosen my arms but I don't take them off. I thought horse riding would be cool but this thing is freaking me out.

We cross the forest next to the palace. Contrary to what I thought, the forest is quite enormous. But there is something tranquilizing in traveling through a silent forest filled with nothing but smooth and calming forest sounds. Just the cracking of branches, sounds of birds, and the breeze flowing through the leaves.

We haven't touched our food supplies yet although it's been close to twelve hours since we left the palace. Even after crossing the forest, our map still shows a long way to Interlacus so we decide to t for a while under the trees, before we get out of the forest.

While we rest, we also calculate how many days it will reach us to take us to reach Interlacus. Apparently, it will take us a week. A week of traveling through the bounds of nature on nothing but horses.

We settle down on the ground with our stuff and Kevin picks out a pack of biscuits to share. Iris and Kevin take three each and we do the same but considering Iris and Kevin are mere humans with hearts of gold, I want them to have more food to retain their strength but they continue to surprise me when they refuse. They don't take one extra bite more than we do.

Darius then conjures up the water from the air and we quench our thirsts and is done with so much concentration, though, and that's the reason why we couldn't do it on the way.

"I'll keep watch." Caspian declares. He has been silent the whole time, talking only very rarely and I absolutely hate this Caspian because day by day, my doubt of him being bipolar is only increasing.

We all agree without arguing since there is no point in arguing with Caspian. Now the only issue concerning my head is that I don't think I can actually sleep on forest ground after sleeping in comfortable beds all my life. on the other hand, I am exhausted and if I don't get sleep, I'll probably pass out on the way tomorrow.

Iris and Kevin settle to sleep on the backside of a tree while Caspian sits beside the tree opposite theirs. Darius also gets ready to sleep against one of the trees. The problem I face now is that it's super dark here and the only light source is the moonlight. A dark forest and sleeping alone next to a tree might not be the best combination for me and the last thing I need is a shaking nightmare.

Iris would have faced the same problem as me but she has Kevin and the guy won't hesitate to sing a song or tell a story for her until she falls asleep in his arms. It's cute though, to see how much Kevin loves Iris. He cares for her like she is a baby, which she sometimes is, and respects her like he respects his mom, and loves her like his girlfriend. The only drawback I've seen in him is that he spoils her too much. And a spoiled Iris is no good news.

I hesitantly get ready to sleep under the tree adjacent to Darius's, although I wish he calls me to sleep with him. I remember falling asleep in his arms on the first day we trained together. I was tired as shit and he carried me all the way to my room and now, I am much stronger physically but as much as I hate to admit it, I am not as strong as I thought I am mentally.

I lay down on my wide mat letting out a sigh of exhaustion. The view on top is the dark canopy of the trees and the rays of the moonlight seep through the crown. There is absolute silence around me but I can hear the faint "Shwshshwwhsshwss" of Iris and Kevin whispering to each other. 

Or are they making out? God knows.

I turn back to my side and close my eyes but my mind races to my house bach home. What would my mom be doing now? Is she still worried about me? Of course, my parents are worried about me. It was a bummer to know that Alice and Arthur, who I have called mom and dad my whole life, are not my real parents. But Is till love them. They are and will always be my parents no matter who else claims to be my parents.

Thinking about them proves to be a bad idea because now I can't sleep at all My body is tired as hell but my freaking mind won't shut down and go to sleep. 

Why god!?

I'll probably be disturbing Darius if I crawl up to him. And even if Caspian is not sleeping, the moment he sees me, he'll go like, "Katarina, go back to sleep!", and I ain't got no mind to hear that.

Iris and Kevin must have slept by now since I don't hear the 'shwhshwhwhshwhwhs' anymore. I think about how good falling asleep in Darius's arms felt like. I fell asleep almost instantly that day. 

To hell with it, I am going to Darius!

I slowly get up and crawl over to Darius while dragging my sleeping mat along with me and I am careful not to make any noise. I make my way behind the tree under which he rests but stop moving, unsure of whether to disturb him or not. 

I peek at him from behind. He looks gorgeous under the moonlight and very slowly, I crawl over to his side.

"Darius..." I lightly poke his bicep.

He groans and turns his head in the direction of my sound. "Karen? What happened? Why aren't you asleep?" he asks huskily.

"I-I can't sleep. I've been tossing and turning for a long time now and I can't sleep." I admit.

"You want to sleep here?" he asks and I nod. He shifts around and then takes my mat from my hand, spreading it next to his. "Come here..." he opens his arms and I gladly snuggle myself into them.

It was the best idea to come to him. I will definitely fall asleep now. He is so warm, and hard but soft, and he keeps caressing my back softly. But what surprises me is that, after all this traveling, he still smells good. I bury my face into his broad, hard chest while I wrap my arms around his waist.

"You can put your leg on mine, pudding." he chuckles and I swing my leg to wrap his, tightening my arms around him but he groans. 

"You're stronger...and you'll crush me, my pudding." e reminds me.

"Sorry...umm...Darius, would it be too much if I ask you to tell me a story?" I ask looking up at his face.

Oh, those eyes! Those bluer than the ocean eyes!

"What story, pudding?" he asks.

"Any story. But Darius, you started calling me pudding when I was weak. Why do you still call me that?" I ask.

"Because I like calling you pudding. Not because you are weak. But because you are sweet and soft like a pudding to me. Okay?"he says and I giggle.

"Okay....chamois!" I giggle but he huffs.

"Not you too..." he whines.

"What, it's fun?" I giggle.

"Parvulus has been calling me that since yesterday morning. She pokes me everywhere when she calls me that." he huffs and I giggle harder.

"Shh...don't make any noise, you'll wake them up," he says pointing at Iris' and Kevin's tree.

"Yeah, the lovebirds are asleep. They cuddle all the time." I say.

"Aren't we cuddling now?" he asks and I nod.

"Yeah, we are and I love it. You're so comfy..." I say and he chuckles. "Mmm..." I moan and snuggle harder into him, yawning.

"Go to sleep, my princess." He says and kisses my forehead.

Why do I feel a sudden urge to kiss his chest? Don't do that Karen! You'll be creepy.

"Okay...." I whisper and close my eyes.

***************

A/N: Aww, they're so cute aren't they?