Grounded By Love

by Lily Thomas

  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.

  Right as she finished adjusting the shirt, a knock sounded on the door. Before she was able to answer, the door opened and in came a bustling giant woman.

  "Hello?" Claira prompted, as the woman dropped a large bundle of fur and cloth on the bed.

  The giant woman looked up and cast her eyes up and down Claira’s body. "Aren't you a tiny thing."

  Claira had no idea what she should say to that statement, so she placed a shy smile on her lips.

  "I've never made any clothing for a human before, but I will do my best." The woman said, as she grabbed a tape measure.

  The giant woman bustled her way over and threw the tape measure around Claira's neck. She tensed.

  Sensing Claira’s apprehension the giant woman tried to calm her. "Dear, if I harm you, Kaeldar would have my head, and I wouldn't get paid. Without you alive, there is no reason for him to pay me for some useless dresses."

  "Makes sense." Claira reasoned. Maybe Kaeldar’s position could keep her safe among his people. Time would only tell.

  The woman grunted, as she took the measurements she needed to make dresses for Claira.

  “Are you full grown?” The giant woman’s eyebrow rose, as she looked at all the measurements she was taking down.

  “Yes.”

  “Interesting. You are so small, like a child for us.”

  Claira pursed her lips. She wasn’t that much smaller. Her head came up to Kaeldar’s chest.

  Within minutes, the woman was done and said no more about her height or size.

  "I have brought several samples of some of the cloth and fur I have, hopefully, you will be able to find a few you like. When you have decided, hand them over to Kaeldar, and he will give me the samples." With that said she promptly left the room.

  Claira just stared after her. At least, the giant woman hadn't acted like she despised Claira. It was a step in the right direction. One person, other than Kaeldar, was willing to put up with her existence.

  Looking over at the samples laying on the bed she realized why the giant woman would be willing to accept her. The seamstress had given Claira quite a few expensive looking furs and fabrics. Kaeldar had to be paying a pretty coin for her dresses.

  With a sigh, she headed over to the bed and sifted through all the squares of samples. Her fingers glided over the soft furs.

  He didn't have to spend this kind of money on her, yet he was willing to. She hoped that spoke of some sort of volume about his feelings. If he thought she was worth this kind of money, then he must have feelings for her. Then again he might just feel it was his duty to keep her clothed.

  As she turned away from the fabrics, Kaeldar strode into the room. "How did your time with the seamstress go?"

  "Everything went well and much more quickly than I expected." Claira sat on the bed and drew a few of the fabric samples onto her lap. "She left some samples, and I must admit I was quite surprised by the quality of them." She gave him a broad smile.

  "Hopefully, there will be something there that will catch your fansy."

  "I've noticed giants tend to wear more furs than fabric. Why is that?” Claira asked bewildered.

  He sat before the fire. "Raids. Of course, we also make our own fabrics, but most of it comes from raids on human villages. We find fur to be more pratical, especially when winter comes, because it requires less layers to keep a body warm. Fur is also practical in the rain as well. The water beads up and rolls right off, while fabric just sucks it in.”

  "Oh." Claira couldn't think of what to say. She wondered if the owners of these fine fabrics had met a gruesome end at the hands of rock giant soldiers.

  She gave him a nod from across the room, as she swallowed hard against the lump that had formed in her throat. She didn’t wish to dwell on the idea of whose fabric these could’ve been and what might’ve happened to them. For all she knew, nothing had even occurred. There was the possibility the raids were performed on abandoned villages.

  She focused on the fabrics before her. Her eyes landed on a deep and lovely shade of emerald fabric. She could very well imagine herself in a dress made from it.

  "I think this would make a lovely dress." Claira said, as she held it up for him to see.

  "Indeed. I do believe it will make your eyes stand out even more." His voice deep voice washed over her.

  Taking the other fabrics from her lap she set them aside.

  "Do no more hold your interest?" Kaeldar arched a brow, as he looked over the large stack of samples.

  "Well, there are a few others I like, but I think I’d prefer to have a dress made out of the green fabric."

  "Claira, please pick a couple more, if there are other fabrics you like."

  Nervously, she shook her head. "No, really, the green one is fine." She didn't want to be too much of an inconvenience or cost him too much money.

  "Claira." His voice turned stern. She looked up at him, he was leaning his elbows on his knees, as he focused on her. "Pick a couple more."

  Giving a smile she took another look at the fabrics and furs laying before her. A deep purple appealed to her greatly, and the thought of having it trimmed with some white fur also tempted her. She set the fabrics aside, and then grabbed a light blue fabric.

  As she held it up to take a better look at it in the light, it unfolded and a string of blue ribbon fell out from between the folds. A grin spread across her face. Now she would have a little bit of decoration for her hair.

  "These two will be my other choices." Claira held up her finds for his inspection.

  "Good. I’ll make sure to get those to the seamstress. I’m sure she will enjoy the challenge of trying to make a dress for a human. Humans seem to have a taste for more complicated clothing styles."

  "I’m sure she will do a lovely job. I, myself, never understood the fashions for women, and I’m one of them." She gave a little chuckle, but it was completely true. Sometimes the clothing women were expected to wear was more than just a little on the ridiculous side. "Kaeldar?"

  He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

  "You really don't need to make me more than one dress."

  He waved his hand. "It’s of no matter, Claira. You deserve to have nice clothing, and I will make sure you have what you need."

  "Thank you." She’d given him plenty of chances to back out, so now she was just going to accept his generous gift.

  “What will we be doing?” She asked, after a brief pause.

  "I could always take you around the castle. Then, if you are ever by yourself you can get around without getting lost.” Then he added, "Of course, only if you would like to see the castle. I would understand, if you would prefer to do something else."

  "No, I would love t
o see more." Although she wouldn't admit it out loud, she was frightened of leaving the room and flaunting her presence around the castle. At the same time, she had an insatiable curiousity for the new world around her. "It would be nice to see some more of the castle and maybe to get some history of what is around me."

  "Then it’s settled." Kaeldar slapped his hands against his thighs. "Once you’re ready, we will head out and go around the castle."

  Claira had a lovely time going around the castle. They barely ran into any other rock giants, to her immense relief. She got a sneaking suspicion Kaeldar had somehow planned their path and made sure his people were kept out of their way.

  Kaeldar told her so many intriguing stories about the castle. There were some thrilling old tales about lust and betrayal, but there were also some more sweet stories about mystical beings who helped build the castle centuries ago.

  She found it all fascinating. Claira experienced a splendid amount of joy wandering around with Kaeldar. It’d been like a fairy tale. They’d been living in the moment and enjoying their time together.

  Any problems had been forgotten, it had been like they were the only two people in the world.

  Claira was now sitting in Kaeldar's room by herself in front of the raging fire. Unfortunately, Kaeldar had been called away for some business, but he’d left a guard outside the chamber door, a rock giant soldier he trusted to keep her safe.

  When she expressed concern over some of the historical stories he’d told her, he’d sprinkled in some more romantic stories. The rock giants seemed so violent, when he had told her about some of their more ugly histories, but it was good to know they also were also able to love.

  Sitting in the room without Kaeldar was still a bit on the unnerving side. For she worried that a rock giant might get past the giant who was currently guarding the door. Or that the rock giant guarding the door would decide to betray Kaeldar's trust. It could very well happen.

  She understood Kaeldar wouldn't be able to stay with her all day every day, and that was yet another reason why she shouldn't want to stay here with Kaeldar. She would never be sure of her safety among these people.

  There was nothing they wanted from her, other than her disappearance. She hadn't won their affection by doing some great deed. In fact, she was doing the opposite, she was stealing the affections of their prince and future king.

  "But I do sorely wish to stay with him. I just don’t know if I can come to terms with his warrior ways." She whispered to the fire burning brightly in the hearth.

  It seemed to cackle at her with every pop and sizzle it made, as if it knew her wish would never come true in this lifetime.

  She hissed at it, folding her arms against her chest in frustration.

  A few days later, while she and Kaeldar were at dinner, she was reminded of why she felt uncertain around the rock giants. His mother and father wouldn't stop casting her glares, but then at a certain point in the night it changed from glares to smirks of unnerving satisfaction.

  She wondered what they might be up to. She hadn't been born yesterday, and she was used to people trying to get rid of her, which made her almost positive the king and queen were trying to purge her from their lives.

  Kaeldar had finally sat her next to him at the head table, and it was causing quite the stir.

  Kaeldar only gave her tense short answers, whenever she tried to engage him in conversation. Eventually, she gave up on trying to start up a conversation at all.

  Throughout the dinner, she nibbled on her food, not having anything else to do. No one around them would talk to her, even Kaeldar was busy with other things, but that was fine. She was used to this kind of treatment from others, and it didn't bother her all that much.

  Thankfully, the dinner ended fairly quickly, and she still had her head on her shoulders. She wouldn’t have been surprised if one of the rock giants leapt up from a table with a carving knife and came at her. Yet here she was unharmed.

  Kaeldar stood without warning and offered his hand down to her. She stared at it stupidly, until he shook it at her. She slipped her hand into his, before he lead her away, he said something angrily to his parents.

  Claira frowned. What had they done now to make him irritated? Every night it seemed to be a constant circle, and she was able to tell she wasn't the only factor. She was just the biggest one. Kaeldar had told her there had already been animosity between them, before she showed up on the scene.

  As he led her away, she cast a last look behind her shoulder at where his parents were sitting. His mother sent her a smile, a wicked gleam danced in her dark eyes. They were definitely up to something. She just hoped it didn't have anything to do with killing her.

  When his chamber door came into sight, she let out a heavy breath. She was almost to the one place where she felt any sense of security.

  Kaeldar opened the large wooden door and ushered her forward, but she stopped short. Her eyes locked on the sight of his bed. She was able to feel his presence, as he stepped up behind her to see what had paused her in the doorway.

  There in his bed, before them were two tall and beautiful rock giant women. One of them was skinny and the other was full of curves. Both of them hadn't even noticed they were being watched or maybe they did know they had an audience and didn’t care.

  Claira couldn't believe it.

  Each of them was playing with the other. Claira felt rude for staring, but was still too shocked to move or even blink.

  Kaeldar recovered first. Pulling her aside he stepped into the room and barked. "Out! Now!"

  The whip of rage in his voice jolted the women into attention. After a quick look to see how serious he might be, they jumped up from the bed and grabbed their clothing.

  "If you decide she isn't enough, you know where to find us, Kaeldar." One of the women whispered, as she brushed by him, her naked breast grazing his arm.

  Claira felt herself bristle.

  As the women passed by her, the skinny one hissed down at her. "You will not hold his attention for long human. You don't have what he wants.”

  Her accent was thick, but Claira heard every word loud and clear, and it didn’t thrill her.

  "Get out!" Kaeldar barked, when he noticed the giant woman talking to her.

  The women scurried out, closing the door behind them. Claira stared at the wooden door, wishing that hadn't just happened.

  "Why?" She asked, as she turned around to face him. She was so bewildered as to why those women had been in his room.

  A hand roughly scrubbed down his face, as he grunted and shrugged. "It must’ve been my father. He was telling me to give you your own room, while we were in the great hall tonight. He must have wanted me to agree so that I would’ve come up here by myself to find those females in my bed."

  "Why?"

  "To tempt me into accepting their favors. He must think they would be able to sway my mind away from thoughts of you."

  "And would it have?" Claira’s voice trembled a bit.

  "Of course not!" He stated sharply. He was clearly offended she could possibly think he would’ve done something like that to her.

  Claira felt so foolish. Here she was hoping for a life with Kaeldar, while his parents were trying to come up with ideas on how to get rid of her. It explained the looks she’d been receiving from them at dinner.

  They were confident they could sway him into getting rid of her.

  How far would they go? She felt they would try to get her gone by any means necessary, even death, if they thought that was the only way to rid themselves of her persistant presence.

  Pools of tears built up in her jade eyes. This was becoming a little too much for her. She escaped the villagers only to wind up in danger again.

  Kaeldar came up beside her and wrapped his warm arms around her tiny waist. "Don't let what the females said bother you."

  She shrugged, uncertain of how exactly she should feel. There was a lot for her to think about. Clearly, she was unwelcome and t
here was no possible way she was about to win any of them over.

  Kaeldar didn’t enjoy the hurt in her sea green eyes, but all he could do was try to prevent her from getting wounded again. He felt such an intense feeling of helplessness and uncertainty.

  She’d saved his life, and now he was returning the favor by putting her life in danger. Every second here was another second her life was under attack, but he couldn’t very well leave the castle unexpectedly. There would be questions, when he came back, and he couldn’t send her off by herself. They were a few days into rock giant territory.

  But he also felt a sense of selfishness, because he didn't want to let go of her, period. He wanted her to be by his side for a lot longer, yet it looked like he was in a position where he would eventually have to set her free.

  He squeezed her a little harder, wishing it was possible to be sure of her safety and her future. His father had gone too far tonight, and Kaeldar was sure it would only escalate.

  When Claira stopped in the doorway, and he’d seen her eyes widen, he’d known something wasn't right. After stepping up behind her he also froze in place, when he saw the two rock giant females laying on his bed.

  He couldn't contain his pure rage at the females and at his parents for setting this whole situation up. Had he really expected his parents to openly accept a human female? No, but he hoped he might be able to convince them about her healing abilities.

  If his father, the king, accepted her, then the rest of the rock giants would accept her. Most of them took their lead by what the king and queen did.

  If Kaeldar became king, then they would abide by his ruling, especially if he made Claira his queen, but maybe he was getting ahead of himself. He’d only known her for awhile and talking about her being his queen was a little sudden.

  For now, he had to worry about how to get the kingship. He would either have to wait until his father died or challenge his father for the position, which would involve a battle to the death or banishment.