by Lily Thomas
He’d planned to squeeze the berry juice into her mouth while she slept, but the servant had just given him an easier way to administer the berry juice. Now he just had to hope she drank her evening tea.
It wouldn’t do for her to alert any guards to what he was up to with screaming and yelling. She had to be unconscious when he took her away.
Mathar made his way back to the open window. He leaped out and closed the window after him. He didn’t need her suspecting something might be wrong by not covering his tracks properly. Now all he had to do was wait for her.
Chapter 6
Adorra heaved a sigh as she finally entered her chambers. She plopped down on the cushioned seat of her vanity chair. A smile spread across her lips as the sweet scent of tea drifted up from the cup beside her. Just the scent had her racing nerves calming.
Today, she’d received another letter from an interested suitor. There were only so many hints she could give that she wasn’t ready to be courted before she lost it with one of these men. Was she interested in finding another love? Yes, but on her own. She didn’t need them thrusting themselves on her.
She tested the heat of the tea by placing her hand against the side of the cup, but it was still too hot to drink.
She rose from her chair and ambled her way over to her window. Placing both of her hands on the separate window panes, she pushed, causing them to fly open. The cool air of the night rushed into her chamber, and she breathed it in. The scent of recently crushed grass whipped past her. Someone from the manor must have passed by her window recently. That someone was most likely one of the guards that were posted around the manor.
Resting her arms over the window sill, she leaned her chin on her arms and let her mind wander away with her.
It’d been long enough for her to heal. Months had passed. Edmund had been ripped away from her cruelly, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t find love again. There was another man out there for her. She just had to build up the courage to go back to court and face the gossipers to find him.
There were no eligible men out here near the manor. She was in the middle of nowhere on the edge of Arcaern territory.
Adorra still wanted to have children, to have a house filled with laughter and a million tiny feet, and a husband who would love her. She wanted the largest family she could create, and she wasn’t going to do that by staying at the manor.
Edmund had been a good man, but he was gone, and she’d always carry him in her heart, but she doubted he’d want her to spend the rest of her life alone.
It was beginning to feel lonely here at the manor. She had plenty of people around her, like servants and guards, and even some noblewomen who dropped by to check in on her. But it wasn’t the type of love she could get from a family.
It was also expected that she find a new husband at some point. She was a woman with a little bit of wealth to her name, and she had men just waiting for her to give them some attention. She had to admit, it would be nice to be the center of attention again. Courting had always been the best part of falling in love, to have men falling at her feet because of her beauty and money, and the tiny trinkets she’d receive from suitors like sweets and cute handwritten notes.
Her sister, Jasmine, had never been into it, but Adorra enjoyed court in small doses and when she didn’t have to worry about other ladies trying to eat her alive for their own amusement. She revealed in the frills of elegant dresses and the bustle of a busy castle.
With a sigh, Adorra pushed away from the window. Her tea had probably cooled down enough by now. She ambled over to her vanity and took a seat. With deft fingers, she dug out all the hairpins in her brunette hair until it fell in loose curls around her shoulders.
Then she reached back behind her neck and undid the clasp on her necklace. The rubies slipped off her neck, and she placed them onto the wooden vanity top. She took off her earrings and laid them out on the table as well, before running her fingertips over the gemstones. These jewels had been her mother’s and were one of the last things she had of her mother’s… she even had a couple of fading memories of these same jewels adorning her mother’s lovely face.
Then Adorra slid her teacup over the table, so it was right in front of her. She lifted the delicate cup off the saucer and placed it against her lips as she took a sip of the warm liquid. The bitter taste washed over her tongue, as a hint of sweetness mixed with it. A cup of tea before bed was one pleasure she always enjoyed. It relaxed her after a long day of managing the running of the manor and the constant flow of letters from concerned friends and amorous suitors.
After she finished the cup of tea, she felt her eyelids begin to drift shut as tiredness fell over her quickly. It was time for her to get some rest before she thought more about moving herself back to court for a while.
Adorra left the window wide open. A little fresh air while she slept sounded sublime. Maybe it would allow her to have some clarity during her dreams about what she should do in her life. Although she might be expected to marry again, she had enough money to fight against it until she found a man she could love.
Walking over to her wash table, she poured some water from the jug into a bowl on the stand. Bending over the bowl, she scooped up the water with her hands and splashed her face with it. The shock of cold water did nothing to wake up. Sleep was creeping up on her. She could feel it clouding her mind.
With closed eyes, her hands skimmed over the front of the wash basin until she found the towel that was draped over a bar on the front. Lifting the towel, she patted it against her face, enjoying the feeling of the soft fabric against her face.
She opened her eyes only to find her eyelids drawing closed on their own, and she couldn’t resist the pull of her bed any longer. She didn’t even have enough energy left in her to change out of her dress and into a nightgown.
Adorra stumbled over to her bed, her legs nearly buckling under her as a yawn pulled her lips apart. Reaching out a hand, she pulled back the covers and laid down. The moment her head hit her soft down pillow, she was out, unable to resist the pull of sleep.
Mathar glanced in through the open window when he heard the noises inside die down. He found Adorra laying in bed under her covers, still in her gown. That would be convenient. Those thin nightgowns he’d seen her slipping on in previous nights would’ve done nothing about the ice giant cold.
The berry juice had done its work. She’d been so tired. She hadn’t even thought to blow out the flickering flames of the candles.
Placing his hands on the window sill, he heaved himself up and over the sill until he landed inside her room without a single sound. He was being careful not to attract any attention.
Not that he thought she’d wake. He’d given her enough of the berry juice to keep her conked out. Not even the guards trumpeting the human king’s arrival would wake her from this sleep, but he didn’t need a passing maid to wonder about any of the noises in their lady’s room.
Striding up to the side of the bed, Mathar glanced down at Adorra. Unlike last time he’d visited the manor, there was plenty of candlelight to see her clearly. Her brunette hair spilled over the crimson pillowcase and onto the mattress like a glistening waterfall. Her pale skin glowed against her crimson covers like a beacon that called to him. He had to admit she didn’t look half bad spread across her bed like this.
And those lips. He felt himself lean in. They looked so kissable and perfect. They were just slightly parted as if asking for him to sweep in and take them.
Shaking his head to clear his disturbing thoughts, Mathar straightened back up as he inspected the empty room with a quick glance. It wasn’t as grand as her last room, the one she’d been in the night he’d killed her husband. For one brief second, he felt something pinch his heart. He’d changed her life.
Again he shook his head. “Focus on the mission. The less time spent here the better.” He reminded himself.
Leaning over Adorra, he was about to scoop her into his arms, when some of
Jasmine’s parting words came back to whisper in his head. He needed to bring some of Adorra’s dresses with him when he took her. Jasmine had been adamant that he do this, because her sister enjoyed the finer things in life, like fabric caressing her skin. Not animal skins like the giants preferred.
He gritted his teeth as he walked around the room until he reached a wooden armoire and ripped open the wooden door. Inside there was a rainbow of colors. He wasn’t sure which ones to grab. It wasn’t like he was a woman or a man who knew anything about this kind of thing. Dresses were out of his comfort zone.
Blinking, he stared at them in overwhelmed confusion. For once in his life, he felt a sweat break over his brow. He was afraid he wouldn’t pick the correct ones, and Jasmine would have Dryden take his head for the gross misstep.
Mathar glanced over to where Adorra was spread out on her bed. He did like her when she was wrapped up in red. He glanced back at the dresses in front of him and picked out a crimson, an azure, and a forest green dress. Now, she would have a variety, and he could only hope he’d picked the right ones.
He might not like Jasmine fully, but she was his queen, and he had a task given to him by her, which meant he needed to do it correctly.
Unfortunately, he didn’t know much about women’s clothing, especially when it had to do with human women. Their clothing was the most complicated thing he’d seen in his entire life. There were so many strings and poofs in the fabric.
Grabbing them off their hooks, Mathar did his best to shove their layers of cloth around him so that he could carry the clothing and Adorra at the same time.
Walking back to the large four-poster bed, he ripped the covers off of her and scooped her up in his arms. Time to get them both back to the ice giant castle before anyone here at the manor noticed she was gone.
Heaving her up off the bed and into his arms, he battled back her fluffy dresses. Once he had everything under control, he strode over to the open window.
He brought her close to his chest as he prepared to jump out the window. He glanced down at her and shook his head. The things he did for his king and queen. He rolled his eyes as he sighed.
Mathar leaped out the window and pressed his back against the stone of the manor walls. Creeping along the wall, he got to a point where he could view the guard posted above him. As the guard turned his back, he sprinted across the field.
He was ready to get back to the ice giant castle, drop off Adorra and build himself a home out in the peaceful forests of the mountains. Somewhere to call his own and to finally let Dryden know that he would need to find himself a new shadow to do his bidding.
Sticking to the shadows of the night, he worked his way back to the forest. With a glance over his shoulder to make sure no alarms had been raised, he entered the dark forest. He kept on walking until he found the tree he’d tied his horse up to earlier.
Then he stopped dead as his eyes landed on two human men near his horse.
He suppressed the urge to growl, and instead gently place Adorra on the ground. Then he shed the dresses without a sound and unsheathed his sword with a hiss. He would give the human men a few minutes to leave, but if they didn’t, then he would need to kill them. Time was counting down. He had no idea when people in the manor would notice their lady had disappeared.
Mathar waited in the dark as he watched the humans.
The two men were studying his horse… probably trying to figure out what a giant horse, which was larger than a normal human horse, was doing here so close to human territory.
“What do you think it means?” One of them asked.
“It means we have a problem.” The other replied as he reached out a hand for the reins.
Mathar shook his head. As much as he wanted to let the humans live and avoid a fight, he was going to have to kill them. He couldn’t let them report back that they’d seen giant activity over here. It would only point to the ice giants, and with Adorra’s disappearance? The humans might not impress him, but they weren’t stupid either. They’d put two and two together.
“That’s my horse.” Mathar strode out of the dark, making himself clearly visible under the light of the moon.
The two men spun around, their eyes going wide.
“It speaks!” One of them announced.
“Yes, it speaks.” He cracked a grin. The humans saw them as nothing more than primitive beasts, but the rock giants were showing them. The war was proving just how advanced the giants were. Dryden might not want to join the fight, but Mathar couldn’t say he wasn’t happy the rock giants were giving the humans hell.
“Let’s go.” The other man whispered as his eyes scanned over Mathar.
“No, we stay and fight the giant.” The first said back, too confident for his own good. “Just imagine the glory and the wealth we’d get by bringing his head to our king.”
Mathar studied the men in front of him. Neither looked like anything he needed to fear, but his training told him not to underestimate either of them. For all, he knew they could surprise him.
The first man unsheathed his sword, his blue eyes flashing with confidence.
Mathar wanted to snort, but he had to keep his head, and not let his own confidence overwhelm him.
The second man unsheathed his sword, but Mathar caught the second man’s hand trembling. Too bad the second man didn’t have the intelligence to flee while Mathar was busy with the first. Two against one. Even if they were human, this was bound to be fun.
Marching forward, he aimed for the first. It was best to kill a snake at its head, and he knew once the first man went down, the second would lose his nerve and be an easy kill.
With a roar, Mathar swung his sword at the first man, the blade whistling through the air before it landed against the sharp metal of the other man’s sword. The force of the blow caused the man to stumble back.
The crunch of leaves behind him had him spinning around. He raised his sword and blocked the strike from the second man on instinct. With a quick flick of his sword, he sent the man reeling.
The whistle of a sword blade slashing through the air had him ducking. The first man’s blade whipped past him, close enough to shave a few hairs off his head. Popping back up, he jabbed the sword tip into the man’s exposed belly.
Mathar didn’t waste any more time on the first human. Quickly, he yanked his sword back out and spun around to find the second had dropped his sword and had run in the direction of the manor.
With a growl, Mathar leaped into action. He couldn’t let the human get back to the manor.
Sprinting after the second human, Mathar easily covered the ground between them. Taking aim, he slashed his sword at one of the man’s legs, and he made contact. The tip of his sword cut through the man’s pants, and he went down with a howl of pain.
Using a foot to roll the human over who was now clutching his calf while continuing to howl in pain, he frowned in distaste. Forcing the tip of his sword down, he heard the blade crunch through the man’s ribcage, his pained howls gone in a second as he bled out over the ground.
Mathar shook his head. So much for this being a simple in and out job. He hadn’t anticipated curious humans roaming the forest, but if their bodies were found before animals got to them, no one would know it was a giant who’d killed them. There’d be no way for them to know.
Bending over, he rummaged around in the man’s clothing until he found anything of value on the second human. Then he strode over to the first and took anything off the body that looked valuable. It wasn’t because he wanted their things, but because he hoped it would simply look like a robbery by fellow humans.
Once he stuffed the looted items into a pack on his horse, he strode back over to Adorra.
The moonlight fell across her face, highlighting her lips, and he felt himself lean towards her as he knelt beside her. All he could seem to think about was leaning in and finding out if her lips were as soft as they looked.
Reaching out a hand, he cupped the side of h
er face and skimmed the pad of his thumb over her plump bottom lip.
Then he shook his head.
“What the devil are you doing?” Mathar pulled his hand back like she’d scolded him.
He glared at the soundly sleeping woman before him. The sooner they got back to the castle the better. He gathered her up in his arms, and grabbed a hold of the ridiculously fluffy dresses, and carried them all over to his horse.
Dropping her on the ground like a sack of grain, Mathar stuffed the gowns he’d taken, into one of his saddlebags. The damn things barely fit with all their layers and ruffles. He stuffed them in until he was able to tie the pack shut with a leather string. Those things were ridiculous.
Then he turned his attention back to Adorra. He picked her back up and bundled her up. Then he threw her over the rump of his horse. Sticking a foot into a stirrup, he mounted up, reached back behind him and hauled her up in front of him on the saddle. Time to get them far away from any humans and back to the ice giant castle.
Once he had her firmly tucked into his arms, he kicked his heels into the sides of his stallion. It launched into a sudden burst of speed, and the trees whizzed by in a blur of motion.
The lack of snow down near the border was a bit disturbing for him. He needed snow in his life, maybe not all the time, but he needed to have more of it than the humans got all the way down here. He’d been raised in it, and he wanted to die among the snow flurries.
The horse continued to charge through the forest without the hindrance of snow. They’d cover a lot of ground, which was good. After his little fight with those humans, he was worried about encountering more.
He knew how long he had until Adorra woke, and he planned on getting them far away from the manor, in case she decided to be a bundle of trouble. Humans tended to be way more resourceful than they should be. Jasmine had taught him that much with how she’d twisted Dryden around her little finger.