Grounded By Love (The Giant Wars #2)(55)

He just thought it might be in both of their best interests, if no one else saw that. If he showed her too much attention, she might attract some unwanted scrutiny.

As the prince of the rock giants, he was the apple of most available females’ eyes in the giant castle. He didn't need her being hounded by any of the giant females. He knew he’d been fairly distant from her, but he had to be, for her sake.

Kaeldar had been foolish to encourage her like this. He wasn't even sure he was going to be able to protect her, as he hoped. His father was bound to try to get rid of her. She should’ve remained his healer and nothing more.

“I want you to know my people won't embrace you, but I will do my best to make sure you are safe. I just wanted you to know so you didn't expect any welcoming arms from them.”

Claira nodded. "I fully realize they won’t embrace me. I just hope they will tolerate me."

Kaeldar cupped her face again. This female was going to be his downfall, yet he was bound to love every second of it. "I will leave you now. Join us, when you are ready to continue."

"I won't be long." Claira promised him.

He gave her a small smile, right before he left her.

He felt bad for Claira. He was taking her from humans who didn't like her to giants who wouldn’t enjoy her presence. She had more of a chance of winning over her own people, because his were going to be more than a problem at trying to win over, unless he could think of something.




As the sun slipped from the sky, they finally made their way out of the forest. It was like a breath of fresh air, until she glanced over and caught sight of the rock giant castle.

It stole the breath from her lungs. She wasn't even able to blink. She would’ve thought a castle would be large, but it was enormous. She could barely believe the size of the town surrounding the castle. She could imagine the town was extensive enough to host most of the rock giants.

"Impressive, is it not?"

"Most impressive." Claira was finally able to say, as she let out the breath she’d been holding. "I never expected, well, this." She waved her hand to encompass everything before her.

"It is quite shocking to see for the first time. I remember when I went for my first ride with my father, and I got a view of the castle from a hill. As a child, it was intimidating, and even as a full grown warrior, I still find it to be overwhelming."

She was more than able to see why.

"Amazingly enough this isn't even all of the rock giants. There are still some other villages and farms spread out around our territory.”

"Hard to imagine rock giants as farmers or anything other than a warrior."

"We can't all be warriors or there wouldn’t be enough food. Nothing on our land would get done with just warriors milling about, except maybe fighting."

She heard the smile in his voice, because he thought her silly? "I suppose that’s true. I just never thought about it, before now. The only time I’ve seen a rock giant was in a battlefield hacking down their enemies."

She truly was foolish. Why hadn't she ever thought about rock giants being something other than a warrior? Because she herself still held some prejudices?

Her eyes were finally opening. There were so many things in common between humans and giants, and neither side realized it. Now that she did, she wished everyone else could. Then this horrible war might finally be over and done with.

Her attention went back to the castle. Fortress better described the structure. A little thrill of excitement shot through her. This was her first time seeing any sort of castle, and she was going inside. Claira knew her imagination was running off with her, but she was having a hard time containing it.

So many emotions flowed through her, and she was doing her best to hang onto the positive ones.

She knew they would have to go through the village, and a crowd was bound to form. Not only because they had returning warriors, but because they were sure to think she was a prisoner of war. They would want to know what Kaeldar was planning to do with her.

She shuddered.

As they neared the village, she straightened her back and scooted away from Kaeldar. She wanted to appear strong in front of all the rock giants. She didn't want to be that cowering human woman who they all thought was a captive. There was no way she was going to tremble or shake in front of the rock giants.

She wasn't the cowering kind of woman or so she told herself. It was easy to talk, when she wasn’t standing in front of a rock giant crowd.

When they entered the village, she could tell someone had spotted their group coming from a distance. There seemed to be a substantial crowd gathering through out the streets. They were calling out to the men they knew in the group and were basically chanting Kaeldar's name.

As they travelled deeper into town, it seemed as though the news about her had spread as well. They started to swarm around the horses, and one of the rock giants tried to get close enough to grab at one of her legs.

Kaeldar let out a growl and slapped the reaching hand away.

Claira shrunk down against his chest, trying to make herself small. She didn't want to be seen by any of the rock giants. This was no time to be courageous. Erase all her feelings of confidence.

Had she expected a warm welcome from these people?

No, she guessed she hadn't expected that, but still, trying to drag her from Kaeldar's horse? It seemed a little ridiculous to her.