by Lily Thomas
Daerrin shook his head making his black hair swing around his face. “I thought I would let you sleep in a bit since you had such an exciting day yesterday. I didn’t want you to be too tired for the ride ahead of us.”
Roxanne frowned. How was she to respond to such kindness from a fire giant? It was unexpected and threw her off a bit.
She decided to give him a small smile. Honey did attract more flies than vinegar, and it was a technique she hadn’t yet tried with him. “Thank you. I needed the rest.”
She did feel a bit better, after some sleep. Her muscles felt more relaxed, and her mind already felt a bit sharper. Yesterday had been so hard on her and drained a lot of her energy. Now that she had some sleep she’d been able to digest everything that had happened.
“Come on.” Daerrin threw out an arm and guided her away from the tent.
Roxanne followed as he led the way through the camp. This was her opportunity to watch him out of the corner of her eye. He was handsome, with sharp facial features and muscles like stone.
So far he had yet to harm her like he promised. He was only ruining her reputation, which if she were honest, wasn’t much to spoil. She’d kept all her liaisons with men away from the rumor mills, but there were plenty of men who just had to say a few words and her reputation would be under scrutiny.
Roxanne’s face smacked up against a stone wall, and her breath slammed out of her chest.
Craning her neck upwards she corrected herself. She had just walked face first into a fire giant, and he was apparently unhappy with it. His face scrunched up in what she could only describe as disgust that she’d touched him.
Quickly, Roxanne tried to backpedal and give him back his space, but he thrust out a hand and seized her arm in a harsh grip.
Her heart lurched in her chest, as she tried in vain to yank back her arm. The fire giant growled down at her and shook her arm, which in turn shook her. Her other hand pawed at his large one, but he wasn’t lessening his harsh grip on her.
Daerrin shot out of nowhere and grabbed the other fire giant’s arm. She watched as the muscle in his arm bulged, as he squeezed the forearm of the other fire giant.
He gave a growl that sent shivers running up and down her spine, as Daerrin’s crimson eyes met the other giant’s eyes. They stared each other down.
The other fire giant didn’t seem to want to let go of her though. Daerrin’s hand landed on one of the swords strapped to his waist, and he growled some more at the other fire giant in their strange language.
Roxanne didn’t want them to start a fight over her because she didn’t want Daerrin to be the loser and her to be left alone. He was still the only fire giant she could slightly trust.
Hopefully, the fire giant would see that it had been an honest mistake on her part. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to bump into you.” She feared it was the reason for this giant’s displeasure.
Unfortunately, the fire giant warrior appeared to want to take the insult further than she or Daerrin wished.
As Daerrin slowly slid his sword out of its scabbard, the other giant warrior reconsidered his position. He glanced between Daerrin, her, and the sword a couple of times. With a frustrated sound, he shoved her arm away, sending her reeling back.
Daerrin let up, but not without a few more growls to the other warrior.
The warrior growled a reply back, before turning and stomping away from the area with one last glare cast her way.
Rubbing her arm Roxanne stared at the receding back of the giant warrior. “Why was he so angry? I didn’t bump into him on purpose, and I was sorry for the insult.”
“He is just one of the many warriors I told you about. The war has taken a lot from many of the warriors here. He lost family just like I did.”
“It was only an accident, and surely he can’t blame me for the war.”
“Be that as is it may, but you are still a human. You’re a female who would only breed more soldiers to meet us in battle.”
Roxanne frowned at him. “I’m no mare for breeding.”
Daerrin shrugged. “What else are human females to human males?”
Roxanne didn’t know what to say. Unfortunately, there was a small truth to his words. Many women were treated like nothing more than property or a way to produce heirs.
“Are you trying to say fire giants don’t have the same problem?”
“Not at all. But if a female desired to join the army all she’d have to do is prove herself worthy, just like any male. We wouldn’t deny her on the grounds of her sex.”
“I haven’t seen a single woman among your men,” Roxanne observed.
“They are out there. There just aren’t enough of them to make an impression.”
“There have to be certain problems among your people. You can’t all be saints.”
“We aren’t. There are drunks, thieves, and murders among us, but our king does his best to be fair.”
Roxanne kept her mouth firmly shut. There would be other battles to fight, and this one didn’t matter to her. It didn’t matter to her if the fire giants allowed their women to fight. It wasn’t like she was looking to join an army anytime soon.
Daerrin positioned his boot in the stirrup and flung his other leg around the back of the saddle as he mounted up. Then he bent at the waist and pulled her up in front of him on the saddle.
Soon they were back on their way, and Roxanne found herself being carried further away from her father.
In no time, Roxanne had trouble finding a comfortable position on the horse.
“Can you cease your squirming already?”
“It’s hard to find a comfortable position. I barely have any room to move around between the front of the saddle and your legs.”
“Perhaps if you weren’t trying to leave room between us you’d be more comfortable.”
With a sigh, she gave up on trying to keep her back straight and just laid back against Daerrin’s chest.
“Much better.” His arm wrapped around her waist. She tensed, wanting to refuse, but at the same time, she didn’t want to get into another verbal sparring match with him. Believe it or not, she’d finally found her match in Daerrin. He was just as stubborn as she.
At least, this time she wasn’t gagged and bound as they traveled. It was the small things. Now she could appreciate the mountain scenery passing by. The thick-trunked trees, the little pastel flowers dancing in the light breeze, and the cute animals that bounced or fluttered away with the approaching troop of giants.
Not only that, but she was better able to appreciate Daerrin. For a fire giant, he had a certain amount of appeal that she could appreciate. He was built like no other man she’d seen, and he had a kind streak, which she hoped to take advantage of as soon as she was able.
He did confuse her though. She would’ve expected him to harm her or perhaps it was to come later. He kept claiming that her father had destroyed his family, and if that was so, she had to give him credit for restraining himself and not killing her.
Daerrin had told her many times he had no intention of harming her, but she figured only time would tell if that were true.
To be truthful, he acted like the perfect gentleman. He hadn’t tried anything with her the other night, and she was grateful. He had even saved her from one of his men. Correction, two of his men. She probably owed him her life twice over.
Roxanne had met plenty of men who were brutal and dishonest, yet Daerrin appeared to be none of those things. Weren’t fire giants supposed to be barbarians who only cared about their primal needs? Or was Daerrin just the exception to the rule?
If she made it back alive, she knew no one would want to hear her stories about how gentle a fire giant commander could be. They would think her traumatized and unable to think clearly.
Roxanne didn’t want to think about peoples’ reactions when she returned. Her social circles would probably close off to her, and she would be some weird high-class outcast. She’d never been an outcast and would
n’t know how to deal with it. She’d be a pariah.
A distant crack of thunder drew Roxanne’s eyes up to the now cloudy sky.
“Are we going to set up camp soon?” The idea of being rained on wasn’t thrilling to her.
“There is still some way for us to travel before we will set up camp,” Daerrin informed her.
A couple spatters of water hit her on the face, and she flinched. If it poured down on them, would Daerrin just let her get soaked to the bone?
A few more raindrops hit her exposed skin.
Roxanne felt Daerrin stir behind her, as he withdrew his arm from around her waist. A fur was then dropped around her shoulders, as a slight drizzle began to cascade from the cloudy sky.
“Is this you being kind to me?”
Daerrin let out a snort. “Me? Kind? Never. If you catch a cold and die, then my revenge will be over before it began.”
“Uh huh.” She said it more to irritate him, but he was showing her his kind side. A fire giant that was concerned about her health and comfort was a bewildering idea. He was confusing her thoughts about fire giants. He wasn’t behaving at all like she would’ve thought.
Thoughts about her father floated through her mind, as the weather turned worse and icy rain showered down on them.
Her father would have found her clothing by now. Roxanne was sure he would scour the woods for any sign of her, assuming he wasn’t still recovering from the head wound he’d been delivered. If that were true, her father would’ve sent men out to find her.
Daerrin didn’t need to keep her alive anymore. Once her father found her clothing, he would believe that the fire giants had his naked daughter in their horrible clutches. As long as her father didn’t find her dead body, he would continue to search and think she was a captive.
Maybe it just hadn’t crossed Daerrin’s mind, and she hoped it never would. She wasn’t keen on the idea of being killed and having her body thrown into some unknown valley for the crows to pick at.
It frustrated her that she was being used to hurt her father, but it wasn’t like she could do much against a group of fire giants. She would just have to wait until there was an escape opportunity.
For now, she felt reasonably safe. Daerrin had been willing to fight off other fire giants to protect her.
It made her aware of where she was. Daerrin might treat her right, but that didn’t mean the rest of the fire giants would tolerate her presence.
Roxanne was glad Daerrin had seen the other fire giant warrior grab her. Daerrin wouldn’t always be there though, so she would have to learn to be out of sight and out of mind.
“I wanted to thank you for helping me out when the warrior grabbed me. I saw my life flash before my eyes. I was sure I would be a goner.”
“I’m just glad you weren’t harmed.” Daerrin sounded sincere. “He understands why I have you, but he still thinks it’d be better if every human were simply killed on sight.”
Roxanne nodded. “You could’ve just let him do what he wanted. In some ways, I don’t understand why you stopped him. It’s not like my life would mean much to you.”
She felt Daerrin shrug his shoulders, and she knew he wasn’t going to give her any verbal answer. So she shrugged it off and focused back on the area around them. If she ever attempted an escape, she would have to remember landmarks.
Roxanne’s question caught Daerrin off guard, and he couldn’t think of how to answer her. So he gave her a shrug instead.
It wasn’t like he needed her alive anymore. He’d caught the general’s daughter in front of his face and then left her clothing at the border. Either way, General Johnston would continue to worry about his daughter. As long as Daerrin didn’t provide any evidence of her death her father would assume she was alive.
It was a bit disturbing that he’d almost started a fight with one of his warriors over Roxanne. He had seen the confused look on the other man’s face. No one would have expected him to care about a human female, especially one that was related to the general that destroyed his entire family.
She wasn’t supposed to mean anything to him, yet he seemed to go out of his way to see to her comfort. He’d even protected her from the rain. What he should have done was let her get soaked to the bone, and then let her shiver. But then he would have had to worry about her catching a chill and slowing him and his men down even more.
He better not let himself become wrapped around her finger like a puppet for her to play with. She was just supposed to be a means to his revenge. Nothing else.
Then why did he keep protecting her every chance he got, and why did he have the urge to beat his warrior to a pulp for even touching her? No female had affected him in such a way.
“Now this must be the darkest cloud I have ever seen.”
Daerrin eyed the warrior who’d ridden up beside him. “What cloud are you speaking of, Ler?”
“The cloud lurking above your head of course. I noticed it a few miles back, but it still appears to be clinging to you.”
Looking over at the other warrior, Daerrin caught him staring right above Daerrin’s head like there indeed was a black cloud hovering.
“Stop staring above my head.” Daerrin snapped. “It’s annoying.”
“Whatever you wish.”
Daerrin was happy with the silence that followed until Ler started to stare at Roxanne who was wrapped up snuggly in her fur covering.
“Stop it already.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop staring at her. You might make her worry about your intentions. She hasn’t been treated very well by the rest of the men, and she might think your interest is negative.”
“I don’t think she can see me looking at her. But since we are talking about intentions, what are yours?”
Daerrin arched an eyebrow in the light drizzle. “She is only my revenge against her father.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Daerrin growled at him in warning. He wasn’t sure he was ready or willing to talk about Roxanne at the moment.
Either Ler had lost his sense of danger, or he just wasn’t willing to let the subject go until he beat it to death. “Our king, Stryme, married a human female, and he appears to be quite happy with her. Not only have they one child, but they’re expecting another.”
Daerrin’s eyes widened with surprise. “I knew they’d had a child, but I hadn’t heard Elizabeth was pregnant again.” Maybe it hadn’t been luck with the first child. No one had been sure if giants and humans could live together and have children, but it appeared as though Elizabeth and Stryme were proving it possible.
“Our queen is different than any other human we’ve ever encountered. She is unique, and I’m glad she’s brought Stryme happiness, but I wouldn’t be caught dead marrying a human female.” He continued.
“Elizabeth can’t be the only human to see that there aren’t too many differences between us. Maybe you can convince this human female to see the light.”
“Stryme and Elizabeth had a different relationship than I do with Roxanne. Besides, who said anything about marriage or children? She is my revenge, not my love interest.” He pinned Ler with his gaze. “Don’t confuse the two.”
That wasn’t to say that he wouldn’t enjoy her sweet body at some point, but he definitely wouldn’t marry his enemy’s daughter.
But that would make for sweet revenge if he could convince Roxanne to fall in love with him and marry him. Her father would surely lose his mind.
An image of General Johnston hearing the news and ripping out his own hair had a smile dancing on Daerrin’s lips. That would definitely be satisfying.
Daerrin glanced down at the bundle in front of him. He doubted she would be an easy heart to win over. That kind of revenge would be out of his reach, and he had no wish to be tied to her.
His commander snorted and winked. “It seems to be a disease among our men. Human females have some sort of magic around them that attracts a giant male despite their best intentio
ns.”
Daerrin shrugged and dug his heels into the side of his stallion. He was done with the conversation and left the other warrior in the dust. Roxanne was nothing to him, no matter what Ler might want to believe.
He was a general for Stryme. He had no time for a wife. Right now, he needed to fight a war and get his revenge. There was no room on his plate for anything else.
But there was something there in the back of his mind about Roxanne, but he wasn’t about to let it surface. He didn’t need any emotions clogging up his mind.
Chapter 8
Roxanne jerked awake. Rubbing her eyes, she was amazed to find that she’d fallen asleep. Daerrin’s arm around her waist was probably the only reason she hadn’t tumbled from the horse while they rode.
Rubbing her eyes some more she tried to clear her vision, and at first, she thought she might be going blind until she realized it wasn’t her vision that was the problem.
The whole area had been filled with a clinging fog that turned the woods into an eerie scene. She could barely see a few feet in front of them, and it disturbed her a bit. She enjoyed being able to look around her, and the fog caused her to feel blocked in and surrounded.
Even the trees looked like a threat. Their branches looked like dark fingers, just waiting to pluck them from their seats on the horses.
“You’re awake?” Daerrin’s voice carried down to her. It warmed her with its rich timbre.
“Yes.”
“We will be making camp here.”
“In the fog?” Roxanne tried to hide any tremble in her voice. There was no reason for her to be scared of the fog, but she wouldn’t mind getting out of it. It would easily hide predators or more fire giants.
But she wasn’t about to tell Daerrin that the fog freaked her out. There was no need to let him use that to his advantage. She could imagine him sneaking up on her in the fog and scaring her witless.
“It will be dark soon and traveling through the fog could become dangerous. I don’t want any of the horses’ legs to get caught in a hole.”
