Loving His Fire

by Lily Thomas

  He scoffed. “You make the dress look beautiful, not the other way around.” He raised a hand to her face and caressed her cheek.

  Elizabeth didn't know what to say to such a response. So she turned her attention to her hunger instead. “I wouldn't mind having something to eat this morning.”

  Without waiting a second, he motioned a servant forward to the table. Soon food was piled up before her.

  She licked her lips. Everything looked so delicious! Some of it was better than the food she had been served in her own castle. Clearly, food was something the fire giants took their time in creating.

  “Glad to see you have an appetite.” Stryme said as he watched her dig into her plate of food.

  She smiled at him.

  “I thought you might stay in our room longer to make use of the soothing water.” He whispered the last part to her.

  Elizabeth tried her best not to choke on her food in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to say such a thing out loud, even if it was in a whisper. With a hard swallow she replied, “My stomach drew me down from the chamber.”

  “You enjoyed it?” When she nodded he continued. “I am delighted to hear. A hot bath was all I could think of for easing any soreness.”

  Elizabeth watched him from the corner of her eye. He seemed so pleased he had been able to make her happy.

  He was a sweet fire giant, even if he was a little rough around the edges. He kept proving it over and over to her. He might be a fire giant, but he was a kind man. He kept them as captives, but made sure they were all safe and fed.

  “I am going to say good morning to Sarah.”

  Before Stryme could object, she got up and headed over to where Sarah was sitting. She could tell he wasn’t fond of Sarah, but how could anyone? Sarah wasn’t allowing anyone here to like her.

  If Elizabeth had Sarah’s attitude it would be a lot easier for her to despise Stryme. As of now she was having a hard time of it.

  “Good morning, Sarah.” Elizabeth said in a cheery voice, trying to pretend like everything was all right between them. Elizabeth feared this adventure might be the ruin of their friendship.

  Sarah just scowled. “You don't care about getting back do you?” She asked accusingly. Leave it to Sarah to get to the point, as usual. “I know we’ve had this discussion before, but I still feel as though you are playing a game here that will only end in misery.”

  “That isn't fair, Sarah! You know me, and you know I want to get to Sardarn as quickly as I can.”

  “Then why haven't we tried to escape from this castle yet?” Sarah whispered harshly.

  Elizabeth threw her hands up in the air. “How do you propose we leave here? I have yet to see a way. We can't steal horses from the stable to leave. We would get caught, before we left the castle grounds.”

  Sarah just turned and glared at her food. “It's these giants' fault we’re here. Why couldn't they have just ignored our small group?”

  “I don't know why we had such rotten luck, but it happened. Now we have to find a way to make it into a positive.”

  “I don’t want to have to make a life here.”

  “We won’t be making lives here.”

  Elizabeth just wasn't sure what they could do. She still believed there was no way out of the castle, unless they were given permission. Perhaps she could make Stryme see the light some day. Surely, he wouldn’t keep them here forever.

  If she attempted an escape, it might help Sarah to see she wasn’t making herself a life with the fire giants. It might also show Sarah escaping was harder than it seemed. They needed a different tactic to get out of this situation, but she would try.

  “Tomorrow we can try to make another escape, though we have no solid plan. I’m on your side, and I’ve always been.”

  “Thought you said you didn't believe we could make an escape successful though.” Sarah eyed her, almost suspiciously.

  Elizabeth felt like this was getting ridiculous. She was not the enemy here. It kept getting harder to preserve their friendship with such tense emotions running rampant.

  “I don't believe we can escape. To prove to you that I do want to leave, we can try and see how it goes.” Elizabeth explained to her.

  Sarah seemed fine with the idea. Finally, Elizabeth was able to satisfy Sarah, but it would probably come at the cost of Elizabeth's own happiness. Assuming there really was any happiness here with Stryme. She still had no idea of his feelings.

  Sarah and Elizabeth picked at the food in front of them, while they sat in silence.

  Elizabeth was quick to notice how Stryme kept an eye on the both of them. He was right to think they would put ideas into each other's heads.

  “Have you spoken to Stryme?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Stryme? Are you referring to your fire giant?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don't believe we have.” After a small pause, she asked. “Why?”

  “Perhaps it’s just me, but he keeps looking over here at us.”

  Sarah dismissed it, with a wave of her hand. “He is probably worried we will try to plan an escape.”

  Elizabeth grimaced. After she told him about her brothers, she was sure she was going to need an escape plan. She still didn’t want to believe her brothers could do such a cruel thing, but she knew how they hated the giants. It wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility.

  “What do you plan on doing today?” Sarah asked Elizabeth, changing the subject.

  Before Elizabeth could answer, Stryme made his way over to them.

  He put a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. “I have business to attend to today. Will you be fine by yourself?”

  Elizabeth tilted her head back to see him better. “Yes, I believe Sarah and I will find a way to entertain ourselves.”

  He nodded, but before he headed off he eyed Sarah. There was mistrust lurking in his eyes.

  Once he was gone from the great hall, Sarahvisibly relaxed. “Would you like to go for a walk?”

  “A walk? To where?” Elizabeth asked looking around. She was surprised Sarah would want to do anything except sulk about their situation.

  “We could explore like when we were younger.” Sarah winked at Elizabeth. “Perhaps we will find something to aid us in escaping.”

  Elizabethreturned the smile. Here was the friend she had known. Even if it might not last, she was glad to have her friend back for a little while. “Then let us go.”

  With that they both got up and made their way from the great hall.

  Lele watched, as Elizabeth and Sarah made their way from the great hall. She was still bitter towards the human female who was sleeping in Stryme's chamber.

  What did he see in the human female? What did he like in the human that wasn't in her? She was perfect for him.

  She got up from where she was sitting, excusing herself from the company of her friends.

  The human female had to go and had to go quickly, if she was going to make Stryme hers. Maybe she could show the human she had no place in Stryme's heart by earning it herself or at least by looking as if she had.

  Lele smiled wickedly to herself. She would make Stryme hers. It was only a matter of time before he would see the light. A human female had no place among them. A human wouldn’t be strong enough to survive in their world.

  Breathing in the fresh outdoor air, Elizabeth let out a deep sigh. It felt good to be out of the castle.

  Glancing over at Sarah she saw her still glaring at everything going on in the castle courtyard.

  “Can you not relax, Sarah?” Elizabeth asked. Sarah was going to die young, if she didn't calm down.

  “Can you not take this seriously? Think about our families. We have no idea what is going on over there.” Sarah looked agitated as she gripped her dress skirts tightly in her hands.

  “I’m sure our families are fine. We haven’t been gone for too long, and the war couldn’t have reached too far into the kingdom. We’ll try to get out of here tomorrow.”

  S
arah grasped Elizabeth's hands. “To be truthful, as much as I would like to get back home I think you should go alone tomorrow.” Before Elizabeth could say anything, Sarah continued on. “You could travel much faster without me.”

  “If we both went, we could take different paths. Then we might have a higher chance of one of us getting to Sardarn.” Elizabeth reasoned with her.

  “What would I do, if I got there? I’m not the one who is supposed to wed the prince, you are! You are the one that needs to get to Sardarn, Lizbet.”

  Elizabeth pursed her lips and noticed some movement out of the corner of her eye. It had been quick, but she had caught the person who had been spying on them. Lele.

  What was the giant woman up to now? Was Lele going to try to attack her again? Elizabeth’s shoulders tensed, as she readied herself.

  “We better continue on our walk and talk about the weather.” She had no idea what Lele might do with any snippets she caught of their conversation.

  “Why?”

  “We are being spied on.” Elizabeth filled in helpfully.

  Sarah started to turn to look behind them, but Elizabeth stopped her. “Don’t act as though we might have something to hide.” Elizabeth scolded Sarah. “You never were any good at being secretive, were you?”

  Sarah smiled sheepishly.

  They stayed silent, until curiosity got the better of Sarah. “So who exactly is following us?” She whispered.

  “Lele.”

  Shaking her head Sarah asked, “Who is that?”

  “A giant woman who doesn't like the fact that Stryme and I are sharing the same chamber at night.” Elizabeth explained to her.

  “Well, you shouldn't be sharing the same room!” Sarah watched Elizabeth carefully, as she asked the next question. “Has he pressed himself on you yet?”

  A blush crept up Elizabeth's neck and face, before she could stop it. It wasn’t something she was comfortable talking about, especially with Sarah.

  “No. You didn't!” Sarah's mouth dropped open, and she stopped walking.

  Elizabeth stopped to look back at Sarah. “It was bound to happen at some point.” Elizabeth said defensively.

  He knew what he had been doing last night, and he had made her crazy with lust. She had absolutely no hope of being able to control what happened. And she hadn’t wanted to control the situation. It was her body to give, even if it had been the wrong decision.

  It could cost her big time, but she couldn’t change the past. The decision had been made and now she had to live with it.

  Sarah seemed speechless. She actually looked like a fish that had been taken out of water and left to gasp for air, since her mouth kept opening and closing. Elizabeth had to fight the temptation to reach over and snap it closed.

  “I think he has made his intentions clear, since he first jumped our group.” Elizabeth had seen the day where she might be forced to sleep with him. She had never thought she would sleep with him willingly. Now that she had done it, she could see herself doing it again.

  Sarah finally found her voice. “Did you at least put up a fight?”

  “If you are asking if he touched me without my agreement, then I have to say no.”

  Elizabeth decided just being truthful would be the best course. Now that the cat was out of the bag, she didn’t need to hide anything. No need for Sarah to believe she had been forced, when she hadn't, it would do no one any good.

  “I can't believe this.” Sarah stared up at the sky. “What is the prince of Sardarn going to think? You won't be able to keep this hidden from him. He will know when you join him in the marriage bed, Elizabeth. He won’t want to have the sloppy seconds of a fire giant.”

  Elizabeth shrugged, trying to make light of a very serious issue. She kept walking, forcing Sarah to keep up with her or be left behind.

  Sarah couldn’t seem to grasp how concrete the past was. It was set in stone. No one could restore her virginity.

  “You don't seem at all concerned about this, Elizabeth!” Sarah accused. “You ought to be. This could cost us a valuable alliance.”

  Elizabeth knew the situation was serious, but she was sure it would work out in the end. She didn’t want to be the one to sacrifice her freedom. It wasn’t like she had signed up to be born a princess.

  Yet, she wasn’t sure she had any hope of freedom here either. Stryme might not want her for long. She could be cast aside at any second and that scared her. Why would he want her for his queen? The best she could hope for would be a mistress, and she knew that wouldn’t suite her. He would want to have a giant woman as his queen.

  As a human woman, there was no way she was going to have the strength to stand up to any fire giant. She might have the courage to be queen, but she would fear retaliation.

  Lele had thrown her on her butt, already. Stryme had to come to her defense or she would have been beat to a pulp. The fire giant world seemed as though it was ruled by might.

  She had best start thinking like all the other young women and look for a way home. At least there she would know how to survive. A loveless marriage to a prince could always be managed, once a son was born.

  “You are acting as though he loves you. He will never want to marry you, Elizabeth. He won’t make an honest woman out of you. You might be a bit of fun on the side, but at some point he will need a wife. I doubt very much it will be a human woman.”

  Sarah had a way of saying exactly what Elizabeth was worrying about. She was falling in love with him, but who knew how deeply his emotions went for her. And she didn’t want to ask him, because she feared his answer.

  “Remember our follower? Maybe we should speak of this when we get back to somewhere with more privacy. I don't want Lele to overhear anything.” Elizabeth said ending the discussion.

  She realized she should have never brought it up with Sarah in the first place. What had she been thinking? Sarah had firm beliefs that would never be swayed. She was rigid like the rest of the human populace.

  Lele couldn't believe what she was hearing. This Sarah wanted Elizabeth to leave as well. They were going to attempt an escape tomorrow?

  She blew her cover, when one of them spotted her. To her frustration, the human females spoke in lower voices to avoid being overheard.

  Why? She wasn't going to tell Stryme they were going to try to escape. Lele was even thinking about how she could help them. The sooner this human female was gone the sooner Stryme would be all hers.

  Maybe she could distract Stryme with something tomorrow. But what could she do?

  It would have to be something that would take up most of the day. Elizabeth would need enough time to get far enough from the castle, before Stryme caught on. The human female would need a horse, because she wouldn't get far on foot either.

  The problem for Lele was figuring out how to distract Stryme. Perhaps she could tell him she had gone for a ride and had seen human males riding within their territory? No. Human soldiers wouldn't travel this far into the mountains.

  It had to be something closer to home, like mountain cats.

  Lele smiled to herself. Sometimes, she even surprised herself. It was the perfect problem to invent. Recently, some of the farmers in the area had been having problems with mountain cats raiding their livestock. It was much more believable than her human idea.

  That would be her plan then. Smiling she slipped away into the shadows to prepare.

  The day went by quickly enough. Elizabeth didn't see Stryme until that night when they had dinner in the great hall together.

  She knew she was being uncommonly quiet, while they enjoyed dinner, but the plan she and Sarah had come up with was a little unlikely to succeed. The only thought floating around in her mind was how Stryme was going to react when he found her missing.

  Well, one thing was for sure, he was not going to be in good spirits, when he found out. She could already see him storming through the castle in an attempt to find her. If there was anything between them, she was about to shred it.


  When she had seen Lele earlier she had seemed too pleased. Had she heard what they were planning? Was she going to warn Stryme about it?

  If she had heard maybe she couldn't wait for Elizabeth to be gone. It would make sense, after all. With her gone Lele could finally be able to pursue Stryme full force with nothing in the way.

  The thought didn’t sit well with Elizabeth. Did not set well at all. Elizabeth cast a glance over at Stryme, while he was talking to a giant next to him. She imagined Lele and him together, and it made her stomach churn in disgust.

  She shouldn't care though. She had no way of knowing Stryme’s feelings for her. Even if she asked, he might lie to her. She knew her heart would heal after some time. The heart had a way of recovering with time.

  Half of her wanted to see her family safe and the other half wanted to see if Stryme felt more for her. She wished she wasn't a princess, and then she might be able to do something to benefit herself for once.

  She had known an arranged marriage would be decided, at some point. She had only hoped she would have been able to get to know her future husband, before she said vows with him. Not after the fact.

  A brush of a finger along her jawline broke Elizabeth out of her troubling thoughts.

  “What has you so engrossed?” Stryme asked, as he drew his hand back.

  She felt like he could see straight into her soul with those reddish orange eyes of his. Even the thought that he couldn't didn't make Elizabeth feel better. She just felt so rotten with guilt.

  Here he was feeding her, when she was about to try an escape tomorrow.

  “Nothing really. I was only thinking about my family and how they might be faring.” She watched his reaction. He did look slightly troubled that she was so distressed.

  Elizabeth noticed him look towards his mother, then look back at her before replying. “What if I got word to you about how they are doing? Perhaps, I could send a scout out to see if the rock giants have gained any more land or if your army is holding them off. Would that help ease any of your fears?”