Grounded By Love

by Lily Thomas

  Marn looked down once more at the human female. "It’s a shame we have to get rid of her. She was really starting to make a difference with her healing.”

  The second rock giant scoffed. "Stop your mumbling and get going before someone stumbles upon us."

  Marn bent down and wrapped the fur bag around the human female. When he stood, he tossed her over his shoulder like a bag of vegetables and off they went.

  "I mean it though, Taeg. If Kaeldar finds out what we’ve done, there will be no stopping him from having our heads. I’ve seen the way he looks at this female."

  "He won't find out. She’ll have dissappeared without a trace. That is all that Kaeldar will know, so shut up and stop blubbering about it." When he saw Marn was about to start all over again with his complaining Taeg ordered, "Be quiet or you will attract attention to us, and then Kaeldar will know who has gotten rid of the human female."

  They made their way through the castle. Every once in a while, they would be forced to duck into an empty room, when someone walked past. Their mission from the king was to capture the human female and take her from the castle without being seen.

  The king wanted his son’s distraction to be gone, and Taern wasn’t about to let him down. If they succeeded, he was sure the king would reward them both handsomely.

  Unfortunately, Marn hadn't really caught on to the concept of being invisible. He kept trying to talk, and Taeg had to keep reminding him to shut his mouth.

  Eventually, they made it to the stables, saddled up their horses, and headed out of the castle without anyone noticing them. The king would be very pleased, and they would be richly rewarded, there was no doubt in his mind.

  Kaeldar woke with a stretch. When ever he had Claira by his side, he slept like a baby. He couldn't help it. There was something about her presence that just lulled him into a deep slumber. His little human was doing wonders for him.

  Rolling over he let his arm fall over her. His eyes popped open, as his arm landed on an empty bed. Her side of the bed was freezing cold.

  Bolting up in bed he looked around the room, and she wasn't any where to be seen. A frowned formed on his face, as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Perhaps she had left him to go tend to some ill rock giant during the night and he’d failed to notice.

  That must be it. His quelled his racing heart, as he thought about it. It all made sense. He would just go check up on her to put any fears in his mind to permanent rest. He could see her leaving in the middle of the night and getting distracted with all her powders and medicines. Or maybe she’d even fallen asleep in her healer’s room.

  Kaeldar chuckled to himself. He was delighted she had something to look forward to. It pleased him he was able to bring a smile to her face and that his people were interacting with her at some level. They may not love her, but they sure did enjoy her expertise with healing.

  He knew the soldier she had saved a while ago was speaking her praises left and right and that was exactly what they needed, to have someone else on their side. Someone who would spout their praises, a man who was honored for his service to the royal army.

  Kaeldar quickly got dressed, strapped a sword to his waist and made his way out of his chambers. He wound his way through the corridors of the castle, so he could surprise her.

  As he turned onto the last corridor that led to her healer's room, he noticed the absence of the rock giant guard he’d assigned to follow her.

  When he heard no sound coming from the other side of the chamber door, he felt like something wasn’t quite right. Holding his breath he laid his hand on the latch, and then swung open the door only to find the room empty.

  No Claira.

  A frenzy hit him hard, but he tried to keep his head straight. Panicking would help no one, he had to think about this logically.

  Where would she have decided to go other than her healer's room? He thought he’d been clear she shouldn't be going to any rock giant houses. They had to come here to the castle to receive her healing.

  Would she have gone against the promise he had forced out of her? It wasn't safe, even with a guard, for her to be walking around the rock giant village.

  Not even bothering to close the door behind him, he made his way through the entire castle and through the town. He did his best to find any sign or hint of where Claira might’ve gone.

  The whole day passed, and he found absolutely no trace of Claira. It was like she had disappeared into a puff of smoke.

  Eventually, he had to give up and admit something about this wasn't right. If someone had taken her to another place in the castle or town he would’ve heard word of it. It wasn’t like a human female was common place.

  Kaeldar knew who was to blame for her mysterious disappearance, a male who had the power to make people vanish without a trace.

  Kaeldar busted through the door to his father's chamber. The door smacked against the wall with force, and he heard the wood frame crack a bit, but he could care less.

  "Where is she, and what have you done with her?" Kaeldar barked, and then he asked, "And how did you get to her? I had a guard watching over her."

  His father puffed up his chest and stood up from his desk. "Not every rock giant is loyal to you, my son, and the promise of money can sway anyone's loyalty. Maybe if you weren’t so interested in this female, you could act like the rock giant you were meant to be."

  Kaeldar made a mental note to kill the guard he’d hired to protect Claira, and if something horrible happened to Claira the man's death would be slow and agonizing. Kaeldar would make sure of that fact.

  "Tell me what happened to her." He demanded of his father. Kaeldar would have his answers. He wasn’t about to back down. Not now.

  His father only smirked over at him. "If she is gone, then you have no other option than to take a rock giant female for yourself."

  "Like that would ever sway my mind." Kaeldar waved off his father's comment. "I will never be interested in another female. Claira is the one for me, even if she is a human."

  His father's face turned beet red, as he blustered. "There is no future with that thing. She is frail and will never be able to stand by your side. You need a rock giant female to rule with you or you won’t be able to rule."

  "What have you done with her?" Kaeldar asked again. He was starting to get sick of this back and forth. He just wanted an answer so he could go save her, and then he would come back and deal with his father.

  His father puffed up again, knowing he had information Kaeldar was desperate to get his hands on. "I had her taken care of."

  "Taken care of?" Kaeldar repeated dumbly, as he tried to calm his mind from running wild. "What exactly do you mean by taken care of?"

  "You won't be seeing her around anymore."

  Kaeldar growled and took a threatening step forward. "I'm losing my patience here."

  “Don’t you talk to me like that boy. I created you, I can bring you down if I so choose.”

  “I won’t leave, until you tell me where she is.”

  His father’s eyes squinted at his son as he tried to read Kaeldar, but Kaeldar had shuttered his emotions. "I paid off your guard and had some loyal men take her far away from our lands."

  Kaeldar's heart froze. "Did you take her to a human village?" He prayed it was so, else his father was having her body taken away from here, meaning she was dead.

  "No, I had her dropped off in the forest. I don’t care if she survives, then at least she won’t be coming back here to distract you all over again."

  Kaeldar fisted his hands and restrained himself from jumping over the table to pummel his father. He and his father had never been close, and it was one battle after the next.

  But pummeling his father to a pulp wasn’t the right way to handle this situation. He had to take his father down in a challenge on a field of battle. He couldn't just leap over the table and kill his father without tradition and expect his people to crown him king.

  The humans might think they we
re barbarians, but they had rituals to solve problems. Rituals that if followed would make it possible for Kaeldar to get rid of his hate filled father once and for all.

  The last straw had been thrown on his back. He left the room, before he did something stupid. He had to get to Claira, before something else did, like an animal or the environment.

  Walking out of the chamber Kaeldar pointed to the first male he saw, “Get my horse ready, I’ll be leaving as soon as possible.”

  The giant nearly tripped over his own feet, as he rushed to do Kaeldar’s bidding.

  There was a dark cloud following Kaeldar that everyone was able to see, but Kaeldar didn't have enough time to feel sorry for how he was acting. He had only a few precious hours to get to her.

  His father must have known she took calls at all times of the day and night and that there wasn't a single night where there wasn't some sort of call.

  Thankfully, when he arrived at the stables, after stopping off at the kitchen, the horse was saddled and ready to go. He’d grabbed some dried meat and fruit for Claira, because he would find her. Kaeldar refused to believe otherwise.

  Dread made his heart beat skip a couple of times. He wasn't sure whether or not he was going to find her alive or not.

  Chapter 20

  Claira woke to find herself blanketed in darkness and draped over the back of a horse. The horse’s backside was digging into her ribcage, and the pain was almost unbearable.

  How long had she been laying on top of the back of the horse, and where was she headed?

  She knew someone had jumped her in the hall. They had better pray Kaeldar didn’t find out who they were or she was sure they would wind up dead.

  She couldn't believe she was wrapped in a bag. Her heart rate was out of control, and she was having trouble thinking clearly, but, ever so slowly, the panic faded away, and she was able to once again process what was going on.

  That is until a throb in her head began. With the way she was draped over the horse, all the blood was rushing into her head. Attempting to raise a hand to her brow Claira discovered her wrists were tied together.

  What was happening here? Who had the people in the corridor been and were they the same people who had her at the moment?

  The bag was so thick she wasn't able to see anything. She couldn’t make a guess whether it was day or night.

  The pressure on her stomach worsened, as the horse kept plodding along. It was a great thing she hadn’t eaten anything before they kidnapped her or she would be sharing the bag with her barf. That idea made her cringe.

  At some point, Kaeldar would swoop in and save her. Unless it took him awhile to realize she was missing. Who knew what kind of head start these people had.

  Kaeldar couldn't believe his father had decided to get rid of Claira. Had he thought Kaeldar would just decide it wasn't worth it to get Claira back, when he had originally brought her to the castle?

  The guard would be dealt with later, for now, he had to find Claira.

  He had to stop blaming himself for what his father did. In no way could he have predicted his father’s actions. Then again maybe he should’ve known, but right now he needed to keep his mind on the journey ahead, not on his faults.

  He’d been able to dig up some more information, before leaving the stables. Some of the stable hands had heard some information, like where his father’s men would abandon Claira and how they had taken her.

  He knew he must look wild eyed and feral. He wasn’t one to be messed with. Digging his heels into the horse's side he forced it into a full out gallop. He needed to get there, find her, and bring her back.

  Or maybe he wouldn’t bring her back with him. The castle was proving to be too dangerous for her, and he feared what his father might do. Things might just escalate.

  They would need to talk about what they were going to do now.

  Hands came out of nowhere and wrapped around her waist, before she was promptly dumped on the ground with an oomph.

  Claira cringed, as the breath was knocked out of her, and she rolled herself over in the bag. She wished they would just take it off already.

  She wondered what they might have in store for her. They’d obviously reached the spot they’d intended to get to. Were they going to kill her out in the middle of nowhere, assuming there were out in the middle of nowhere?

  Any sound she heard made her imagination go wild, every footstep made her eyes dart around for she feared it might be the last she would ever hear, but eventually the noises died down.

  Claira was able to pick up the familiar sounds of rattling horse reins and horse hooves fading away from her.

  Frowning she thought she must be going crazy. They were going to just leave her here with her hands and ankles bound? Struggling ferociously at her bindings she tried to wiggle her way loose.

  Sadly, they had tied the knots hard and well. Claira was unable to get any sort of leeway with the bindings.

  She was being left to die. If an animal came across her laying here unable to defend herself, she would make any easy meal.

  The only thing she was going to be able to do was hope and pray she would some how survive. Perhaps someone would stumble upon her, but without knowing where she was she wasn't able to tell whether that might be a far fetched idea. There might not be anyone around for days.

  After finding where the mysterious troop of rock giants his father hired had gone, Kaeldar easily found some promising tracks leading into the nearby forest. As he ventured forth, he found more evidence to follow. There were broken branches and the tracks of a couple giant horses.

  He was glad his father hadn’t found more intelligent people to take Claira. They hadn’t even tried to hide their trail.

  Kaeldar hoped they might still be there, when he found Claira. It would make it much easier for him to slaughter those who had dared to take Claira from him.

  She was his female.

  He just wished she was safer with him. Clearly, he wasn't going to be able to protect her at the castle, while his father was tainting peoples’ minds. They were easily swayed by power and money, when it came to judging a human female.

  He needed to be their leader to guide them correctly. Humans deserved the war the rock giants had brought to them, but if he was the rock giant king he could do more to spare innocent civilians like Claira.

  It seemed as though hours passed, as she laid in the bag. Since she wasn't able to tell the passing of the sun, she had no idea how much time had gone by. All she knew was she was growing weary of being in no position to defend herself.

  After bumping into all the trees around her, she decided to stop rolling around. There was no need for her to be bruising herself.

  Then a few hours or what she thought was a few hours later, the sound of hooves could be heard beating a rythym against the ground. Was it someone new? Or was it the same giants coming back to finish her off? They could’ve changed their minds and decided it was better to kill her.

  She was both alarmed and excited about the prospect of a rider. Although it could be the giants coming back to finish her off, it could be someone coming to rescue her.

  The hooves drew near, and then grew distant. She tried to let out a sound, but the gag in her mouth allowed her no such opportunity, feeling desperate she flopped around in her bag. She needed to make any sound she possibly could.

  Thankfully, she heard the hooves coming back towards her, maybe the rider had caught sight of her in the bag or had heard her.

  She tried to smile around the gag in her mouth. Even if the rider wasn't friendly, she might have a better opportunity surviving with the rider than staying tied in a bag. There was no way she was going to get the ropes off her wrists and ankles.

  The sound of the hooves beating against the ground suddenly stopped, and she felt her sense of hope slowly leave her, but then she heard leaves crackling under someone's footsteps.

  Rolling herself across the ground she tried to make some noise, until she hit so
mething. This time though the hit was less hard and there were... feet below her side.

  Her muscles tensed, as hands came down to run up and over her body. It felt like the person was checking her over, and then they left to untied the bottom of the bag she was in.

  Finally, she was going to be able to see, was going to see where she was and who her rescuer was.

  The light was blinding, as the bag came up and over her head, and she was forced to shut her eyes tight.

  "Claira." Arms came down to cuddle her head against a familiar chest.

  A chest she knew very well and that deep voice that soothed her very soul. Blinking her eyes, they grew accustomed to the bright light of the sun, until Kaeldar's worried face greeted her, and she beamed around the gag.

  His eyes darkened, as they landed on the gag still in her mouth. One of his hands came up, untied it, and slid it from her mouth.

  Working her jaw Claira heard it pop into place. “Thank you, that feels a world better.”

  “I’m sure it was an unpleasant journey.” His voice was deep and gravelly with barely contained fury. Kaeldar cut her wrists and ankles lose from their tight bindings.

  Once free of the bindings her arms came up to wrap around his neck. Her arms were like rigid bands of steel. She never wanted to let go of him ever again, and she never wanted to be in this kind of situation again.

  If she remained with Kaeldar she would be forced into situations like this all over again. In the end, she might just have to leave him to stay safe, if he would let her go.

  Hot thick tears poured out of her eyes, as she took comfort in his arms being around her. All she wanted to do right at that moment was to cuddle up and let him defend her from everything around them, from any danger.