Grounded By Love (The Giant Wars #2)(66)

"I know where to find some, don’t you worry. I will have them in his chamber, naked and ready for him." He’d taught his wife not to pester him about his nightly escapades into town. He was a man with needs, after all.

"I don't think it will work." The queen fretted. "I think our son might be under some sort of spell, when it comes to the human female. I saw the way he looks at her, and it makes me concerned."

"There won't be a problem. Stop fretting, female!" He barked suddenly, when she wouldn't stop worrying about their son and the human female. "If he doesn’t see the light and the females don't keep his attention away from the human, then I will get rid of her myself. I won’t let this little human female ruin our only heir."




Claira stretched her arms above her head, feeling relaxed and happy. Last night had been splendid, if a bit revealing, but now wasn’t the time to think about any of that.

Smiling she rolled over to find Kaeldar... gone.

She bolted upright in the bed, clutching the covers to her naked breast. Taking a quick glance around the room she found he wasn't even in the room with her.

Looking back down at the spot where he’d slept she found a letter on his pillow with her name scrolled across it. Taking it into her hand she ripped it opened, wanting to know what he had written for her.

Her eyes skimmed over the note, as she unfolded the paper.

“I will be back by noon. I will have food awaiting you in the room. Hopefully, you will wake before the seamstress comes to measure you and before the bath I left gets cold.”

Claira glanced around wondering how he could’ve arranged all of these things without her waking. Shaking her head she let out a sigh, he had to be one of the sweetest men she’d ever known.

She had no idea when the seamstress would come calling, and she still needed to take a bath and get clean before she changed into any new clothing. She didn't want her unclean skin to touch a single fiber of clean clothing. She’d only had one bath since arriving, and she wanted another.

Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed Claira set her feet down onto the ice cold stone floor. Skipping her way over to the tub she jumped straight into the water. It was still warm, and she could feel her toes absorb the heat from the water, as she sank deep into the tub.

She wouldn't mind becoming more in Kaeldar's life, like being the woman he switched vows with. She knew he would be a man to do everything in his power to make his wife a very happy woman.

Claira was more than able to imagine herself waking beside him every morning and getting ravished with every morning that came, as well as every evening. Her eyes closed, as she imagined all those pleasant thoughts and dreams. The only thing standing between her and those dreams were all the other rock giants around them.

Her thoughts were at best silly and, at worst, ridiculous.

She was a human woman, after all. Kaeldar was a prince of the rock giants. One day, he would be the king of these people, and she knew she wouldn’t be by his side at that time. No one would allow her that privilege. A human woman as queen would not be tolerated. How could it be?

She was a peasant woman who specialized in healing rather than marriage and bearing children. Perhaps that had been the true reason the villagers detested her. She wasn’t what they considered normal for a woman. The villagers would’ve prefered she be a man who specialized in healing.

As her thoughts turned sour, her eyes popped open, and she frowned at her feet which could be seen underneath the water in the tub.

Time to get on with scrubbing herself clean before the seamstress came up to find her still soaking in the tub like a slothful woman. She had an image to maintain in front of these people, and she knew she would be judged at every turn.

Rising from the water she stepped out of the tub gingerly. The cold stone below her feet made her want to jump right back into the water, but she somehow managed to resist the intense urge.

One last thought drifted through her mind; as a prince who would become a king, Kaeldar would need to produce heirs of his own. The thought caused the biggest frown yet to mar her face.

There was no proof a human and a giant would be able to produce any such mixed children. There weren't too many differences between them though, so there might still be a possibility.

Claira wiped herself dry with a towel and thought about humans and giants producing children. There really wasn't all that much different between them, other than the fact giants were larger and stronger. If children couldn’t be produced she would be surprised.

Even though she knew a future with him would be near impossible, she couldn’t help but dream about one. If they could make it work, she would be thrilled, yet the problems between them kept growing.

She bent over and flipped her hair over her head so she was able to dry it with the towel. After wringing out her hair a bit, she walked over to the fire and sat down before it.

Claira used her fingers to comb through her long golden hair, the fire throwing light onto the shimmering curls. When her fingers were finally able to sift through her hair without encountering a single tangle, she stood up from where she sat and made her way over to the clean clothing Kaeldar left for her.

He left her pants and a shirt. She smiled, it must’ve been the only clothing he could find on such short notice, but she was glad for it. Clean clothing was clean clothing.

As the clothing ran over her dry skin, she shivered with absolute delight. Clean clothing was something she’d been wishing for for quite some time now, and she was glad to finally have some.