Grounded By Love (The Giant Wars #2)(77)

They made their way through the castle. Every once in a while, they would be forced to duck into an empty room, when someone walked past. Their mission from the king was to capture the human female and take her from the castle without being seen.

The king wanted his son’s distraction to be gone, and Taern wasn’t about to let him down. If they succeeded, he was sure the king would reward them both handsomely.

Unfortunately, Marn hadn't really caught on to the concept of being invisible. He kept trying to talk, and Taeg had to keep reminding him to shut his mouth.

Eventually, they made it to the stables, saddled up their horses, and headed out of the castle without anyone noticing them. The king would be very pleased, and they would be richly rewarded, there was no doubt in his mind.




Kaeldar woke with a stretch. When ever he had Claira by his side, he slept like a baby. He couldn't help it. There was something about her presence that just lulled him into a deep slumber. His little human was doing wonders for him.

Rolling over he let his arm fall over her. His eyes popped open, as his arm landed on an empty bed. Her side of the bed was freezing cold.

Bolting up in bed he looked around the room, and she wasn't any where to be seen. A frowned formed on his face, as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Perhaps she had left him to go tend to some ill rock giant during the night and he’d failed to notice.

That must be it. His quelled his racing heart, as he thought about it. It all made sense. He would just go check up on her to put any fears in his mind to permanent rest. He could see her leaving in the middle of the night and getting distracted with all her powders and medicines. Or maybe she’d even fallen asleep in her healer’s room.

Kaeldar chuckled to himself. He was delighted she had something to look forward to. It pleased him he was able to bring a smile to her face and that his people were interacting with her at some level. They may not love her, but they sure did enjoy her expertise with healing.

He knew the soldier she had saved a while ago was speaking her praises left and right and that was exactly what they needed, to have someone else on their side. Someone who would spout their praises, a man who was honored for his service to the royal army.

Kaeldar quickly got dressed, strapped a sword to his waist and made his way out of his chambers. He wound his way through the corridors of the castle, so he could surprise her.

As he turned onto the last corridor that led to her healer's room, he noticed the absence of the rock giant guard he’d assigned to follow her.

When he heard no sound coming from the other side of the chamber door, he felt like something wasn’t quite right. Holding his breath he laid his hand on the latch, and then swung open the door only to find the room empty.

No Claira.

A frenzy hit him hard, but he tried to keep his head straight. Panicking would help no one, he had to think about this logically.

Where would she have decided to go other than her healer's room? He thought he’d been clear she shouldn't be going to any rock giant houses. They had to come here to the castle to receive her healing.

Would she have gone against the promise he had forced out of her? It wasn't safe, even with a guard, for her to be walking around the rock giant village.

Not even bothering to close the door behind him, he made his way through the entire castle and through the town. He did his best to find any sign or hint of where Claira might’ve gone.

The whole day passed, and he found absolutely no trace of Claira. It was like she had disappeared into a puff of smoke.

Eventually, he had to give up and admit something about this wasn't right. If someone had taken her to another place in the castle or town he would’ve heard word of it. It wasn’t like a human female was common place.

Kaeldar knew who was to blame for her mysterious disappearance, a male who had the power to make people vanish without a trace.




Kaeldar busted through the door to his father's chamber. The door smacked against the wall with force, and he heard the wood frame crack a bit, but he could care less.

"Where is she, and what have you done with her?" Kaeldar barked, and then he asked, "And how did you get to her? I had a guard watching over her."

His father puffed up his chest and stood up from his desk. "Not every rock giant is loyal to you, my son, and the promise of money can sway anyone's loyalty. Maybe if you weren’t so interested in this female, you could act like the rock giant you were meant to be."

Kaeldar made a mental note to kill the guard he’d hired to protect Claira, and if something horrible happened to Claira the man's death would be slow and agonizing. Kaeldar would make sure of that fact.

"Tell me what happened to her." He demanded of his father. Kaeldar would have his answers. He wasn’t about to back down. Not now.

His father only smirked over at him. "If she is gone, then you have no other option than to take a rock giant female for yourself."

"Like that would ever sway my mind." Kaeldar waved off his father's comment. "I will never be interested in another female. Claira is the one for me, even if she is a human."

His father's face turned beet red, as he blustered. "There is no future with that thing. She is frail and will never be able to stand by your side. You need a rock giant female to rule with you or you won’t be able to rule."