Grounded By Love (The Giant Wars #2)(71)

Claira stayed in his chambers the whole time Kaeldar was gone from the castle. She truly had nothing to do, but that had been her fault. Kaeldar had offered to retrieve either books or some needle work for her, but she had insisted she was fine.

So she found herself either sitting in the chair, exploring everything in his room, or looking down at the bustling castle grounds below her. She found Kaeldar’s balcony a great draw for her curiousity and a relief for her boredom.

As of right now, she found herself curled up under the covers enjoying the waking moments after a nap.

The door burst open, and she jumped up in the bed pulling the covers over her chest, even though she was fully clothed.

A loud exhale came out, as she saw it was Kaeldar who’d entered the room.

He looked frazzled, as he glanced about the room. When his eyes landed on her, he motioned her forward. "Come here, Claira."

She did, as she looked him up and down. He had obviously come straight from the stables. Something unpleasant had to be going on for him to have such a wildly unstable look in his onyx eyes.

"I need you." His breathing came out heavily, as if he just ran a few miles.

Needed her? Then why was he leading her away from the bed and towards the door of his chambers?

"Kaeldar where are you taking me?"

"I don't have time to explain right now, Claira. Just please come with me." Kaeldar dragged her behind him, as they walked through the castle.

There was something in his voice that made her heart beat increase in speed. Something was wrong, she just knew it, but she also wished he would just tell her what was wrong. Right at the moment, her mind was working a mile a minute, as she thought of what he could be pulling her towards.

After making their way through a few of the castle corridors, Kaeldar finally caught his breath. "When I arrived at a camp, they told me about a wounded soldier. He is a noble among our elite, and his wound isn't good, Claira. I’m hoping you might be able to help him survive." Kaeldar explained, as he led them through more of the castle corridors.

A knot twisted in her stomach. "Why me?"

They had to have healers here at the castle, so why was he asking her to take care of one of their wounded men? He really wasn't letting her ask much of anything, he was in such a rush.

They stopped before a door, and he faced her. Now, she was going to be getting some answers.

"I’m hoping you can save his life or else he has no hope of surviving."

As he started to turn away from her, she placed one of her hands on his arm gently. "Kaeldar? Why don't you just have one of your own healers take care of him? They would have better knowledge of healing a giant than I."

"We do have healers, but at the moment most are at the front lines with the soldiers." He took a deep breath. "And all of them have said there is nothing to help him. Even the healer here at the castle has said there is no hope."

Claira frowned. Why was he expecting her to save this man's life, when their own doctors said there was no hope? Kaeldar was the first and only rock giant she’d ever tended to. She wasn't sure she had enough knowledge to save another in what could only be a very grave situation.

Taking a deep breath she followed Kaeldar through the wooden door. The smell of blood tainted the air so thickly, she thought she might choke.

Claira had never thought she would want to flee from a wounded person, but here she was fighting the urge to flee in the opposite direction. She knew she would have to brace herself. Whatever she was about to see was going to terrify her.

Kaeldar stepped aside, and she got a look at the rock giant laying on the bed. Dread filled her heart, as she looked down at him.

Those healers were right in saying they didn't think he’d make it, and that was being kind. This man was surely past any rescue, but if she could pull him out of the jaws of death, then maybe there would be some hope the rock giants might finally accept her. At this point, she could use anything she could get.

Then again she might just be dreaming, but it was better than nothing. She could see why their healers thought it was a lost cause, because she also thought it was a lost cause.

He was as white as a sheet and the crimson blanket laying by his side showed her the amount of bloodloss he’d suffered. It looked like he had been drained of blood.

"Any thoughts yet?" Kealdar asked.

Smiling bleakly up at him she remarked, "Even just seeing him gives me absolutely no hope, but," she added on, "I will, of course, give it my best."

He heaved a sigh. "I realize he might be far too gone, but I really do think that if anyone can help him it would be you."

Claira felt proud he would think she had the skill to assist this rock giant warrior. She only hoped she didn’t let him down.

"Anything you need, you may have. I want you to have everything you need at your disposal." He looked over at the rock giant warrior who was breathing deeply. There was sorrow in those deep depths.

She felt horrible for him, for having to watch a fellow warrior suffer, because suffer this man was going to.

Exhaling, she slowly walked over to the warrior, bent down next to the bed he was laying on, and then flipped back the blanket that was covering him.

The wound was horrendous. It was almost exactly like the one Kaeldar had been delt, yet it was so much worse. Looking over her shoulder at Kaeldar she shook her head. This was worse than her imagination could’ve ever dreamed up.