by Lily Thomas
“There is my problem. How do we save her sister, a human female? Kidnapping her is out of the question and letting Jasmine go back is too big of a risk for us.” Dryden rubbed his neck with one of his hands, as he tried his hardest to come up with a good way to help Jasmine's sister.
“Too bad we can't just storm in, huh?” Mathar joked.
That would just end up causing problems for the ice giants because then the humans would see them. Then they would have to kill every single human in the manor, and then fear the humans would march into the mountains to seek revenge for their people.
Not to mention he couldn't see Jasmine being fine with that plan. She would only want Lord Gothar to be taken care of.
“It would have to be an easy in and out, with minimal bloodshed. The only way to truly save Jasmine's sister would be to kill this Lord Gothar, and that won’t be an easy task. If he wasn't dead, I could see him coming back to finish what he started with Jasmine’s sister.”
Mathar nodded as he listened.
Out of nowhere Mathar tossed a knife in the air, caught it, and then asked, “Who is the best assassin you know?” There was a wicked gleam in his eyes.
Then it dawned on Dryden, his friend was the best about being unseen when he wanted to be. Mathar was like a deadly ghost. Dryden had never seen anyone who was so good at blending in and killing others. If there was one true danger in these mountains, it was Mathar.
“If you’re caught we’ll have trouble.”
“I won’t get caught, besides our people live deep in the mountains. I doubt the humans could get to us even if they wanted.”
“But we aren’t sure about it.”
“Do you want to save her sister or not?” Mathar arched an eyebrow.
Dryden groaned. “I do, but I don’t want to endanger our people.”
“She told you her manor was close to the border with a forest leading up to it, correct?”
Dryden nodded.
“We can go down there at least and see if this is even a plausible idea,” Mathar suggested. “Make no promises to her, and then we can decide what we want to do.”
“Thank you.” Without even having to ask Mathar had just offered his assistance to Dryden. “Jasmine is unsure of whether or not it is already too late to save her sister.” Dryden shook his head. “I worry about her if her sister is already dead. Would she recover from a loss like that?” He was afraid to find out if Jasmine could.
Mathar patted his shoulder firmly. “Don't fret about it. We will find out in a while whether or not it’s too late until then give Jasmine no unnecessary reason to fear about her sister’s welfare.” Mathar advised Dryden before promptly walking off to tend to other things.
Dryden shook his head. Sometimes his longtime friend could surprise him, especially by showing some concern for Jasmine's feelings.
As Dryden made his way towards her, she saw the wide smile plastered on his face, and her hopes soared clear up to the cloudy sky.
Clasping her hands tightly in front of her Jasmine quickly walked towards him. Once she neared, she looked up at him. Her eyes darted over his face, searching for answers before he even spoke.
“Good news I take it?” Jasmine held her breath. Perhaps all the worrying about her sister would finally be over.
“I don't want to get your hopes up, but Mathar and I have agreed to help you with the problem of Lord Gothar.” His hands came up to cup her face gently. Then he leaned down to kiss her fully, right in the middle of the camp.
When they finally broke the kiss, a few of the ice giants around them were just staring.
She stuttered, as she tried to think of something to say to Dryden.
“It’s fine.” Dryden cut her off. “Let them think what they will. Our relationship can’t be hidden forever. I don’t want to make you any promises about saving your sister. Mathar and I have agreed we will take a look and determine whether or not we can help without involving ourselves in a war.”
It was true, at some point their relationship would come out, assuming these men didn't already know.
“I understand.” But she wasn’t going to worry about him not helping her. She was just going to focus on the positive.
“Shall we?” Dryden asked watching her as he offered her a hand.
At that moment, she realized she had been standing there staring off into space as she let her thoughts run away with her. Shaking her head, she replied, “Yes, sorry. Thank you. I’m just so excited.”
“Mathar will be the only one to accompany us back to your manor.” He explained as he led the way over to his horse.
“Only us?” It worried her they would be the only ones to go. “Now?”
“Yes now. Don’t you want us to get there before your sister is dead?”
“Of course. What plan do you have that involves only two warriors?”
Dryden held his hands up in the air. “Bear with me. If something happens, we will escape detection faster with two men versus several men. I also plan on it being a quick in and out, rather than rushing in full force. We don’t want anyone to see us.”
“I trust your decision.” Jasmine laid a hand on his armor right above his heart. She had no other choice but to trust him.
Mathar led his horse over, with another grey horse in tow.
Once Mathar handed over the reins to Dryden, he mounted up on his horse.
Dryden then turned to Jasmine and held out the reins of the grey horse to her. Cautiously, she took them from Dryden and gave him a quizzical look.
“It will be easier if you have your own horse.” He explained a little further, “If anything goes wrong, I want you to ride away and not get involved.”
Smiling Jasmine mounted the grey horse with Dryden's help.
Jasmine couldn't help the sudden flow of adrenaline. She’d risked everything asking Dryden for his help, and it had paid off. She only wished she’d asked sooner. Although if she asked sooner, he might not have loved her enough to help her.
If nothing else, he’d just proved how much she meant to him. Why else would he do this for her?
Before they headed out, Dryden gave her another fur cloak to keep her toasty warm. Then went to talk to his men while Mathar watched over her.
Within minutes, the group split up. Mathar, Dryden, and Jasmine headed in the opposite direction of all the other ice giant warriors. They headed out of the mountains, while the rest of the ice giants got ready to leave and travel back to their castle.
Chapter 15
A couple of long days passed, as they journeyed through the snowy mountains. On one of the days, Mathar turned to her.
“You were going in the wrong direction.”
Jasmine looked over at him. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t,” Dryden warned.
“You went in the wrong direction. You weren’t even heading towards human territory.”
Jasmine felt shocked. It wasn’t a complete surprise, but she’d hoped she’d been heading in the right direction.
“Does he speak the truth?” Jasmine turned to Dryden, not quite sure if Mathar was just trying to tease her a bit.
“He does.” He glared over her head at Mathar. “No need to make her feel even worse about it.” Dryden ended the topic right there.
“Was I headed deeper into ice giant territory?”
“No. You were headed directly for the fire giant border.” Mathar smirked.
She felt like she’d failed twice. First in trying to get away, and second because she now knew she’d gone in the wrong direction.
For most of the trip, Jasmine stayed silent, her hope that her sister was still alive when they got to the manor floating through her.
She was also curious what plan Mathar and Dryden had thought of to save her dear sister. They still had yet to divulge any details of their plan. Though she knew they had a plan. Dryden wasn't the type of man to waltz off unless he had an idea he thought had a chance of actually working. Right?
“We’ll
stop here for the night. This will be the last night we have to sleep before getting to the border.” Dryden informed her.
Jasmine felt like she had an immense amount of energy building inside of her. It was so hard to keep it all from bubbling up, but she knew Dryden wouldn't want her to get her hopes up.
He’d do his best to help her sister, but how could she not get her hopes up? She loved her sister, and Adorra finally had two ice giants about to save her life. Not that she even suspected her life was in danger.
Dismounting from his warhorse, Dryden came over to help her down from her horse. His strong hands gripped her around her waist, as he lifted her down from the horse. He slowly dragged her body down his armored one.
A little spark of lust spiked through her body. When her feet touched the ground, he didn't let go of her waist.
His rough fingertips dipped under her chin, lifted her face to look up at him as his head came down to kiss her fully on her lush lips. Their lips meshed together and warmth spread through her as he deepened the kiss by smoothly dipping his tongue into her mouth. She loved the sensation of his tongue tickling the roof of her mouth. Then he would take it away while coaxing her tongue to travel into his mouth.
Reluctantly, he pulled away from her.
He grinned down at her. “You must excuse my excitement, but I’m so grateful you’ve allowed me to try and help you.”
“I wasn’t sure you would want to help me.” She paused briefly, but he waited patiently for her to continue.
His black eyes seemed to search her soul as he asked, “Can you understand my position though? I can't risk the safety of my people, but I will do my utmost to save your sister's life.”
Jasmine nodded. “I understand this won't be an easy task. I have to admit I’m curious about your plan for getting rid of Lord Gothar.”
Dryden tucked the furs around her. Instead of answering her right away he ushered her to a spot where Mathar had started a small fire for their last night.
“I will let you know our plan, once we’re closer to your home.”
“You do have one?” She gave him a wink. She couldn’t see him doing this without a plan… she hoped.
After their finished their dinner of dried meat and biscuits, Dryden turned to her. “It’s time for us to get some sleep. I want to leave early tomorrow morning before even the sun rises.”
“I don’t know if I can get any sleep. We are so close to saving Adorra.”
“I understand, but you’ll want your sleep. I don’t need you falling off your horse in the morning.”
“I’ll do my best, but I can’t help my excitement.”
He smiled down at her. “Come. Let’s get some sleep.” He turned to Mathar. “See you in the morning.”
Mathar nodded and continued to relax next to the small fire.
At least they’d left the snow behind.
They walked into Dryden’s tent. It didn’t take them long to strip down and get under the furs.
Jasmine scooted a little closer to his chest, then looked up at him from where her head laid on his shoulder.
“I just wanted to thank you again for believing me and helping me save my sister.” Jasmine smiled up at Dryden. “Just you trying means more than you can imagine.”
Grinning down at her Dryden replied, “Of course. I only hope it all goes over well, and we’re able to assist her. I wish I had time to kill Lord Gothar myself… slowly… but alas there won't be time for that. Someone who wages war against women is not a man.” His hand came up to push a lock of her hair back behind her ear, which he then traced a finger around.
“Now that our fates are intertwined,” he continued, “I want to do everything in my power to alleviate any and all of your fears. This Lord Gothar will never touch you or your family ever again if I can help it.”
Her heart sputtered a little, this ice giant was the best man she’d ever met.
Jasmine leaned up on an elbow to give a light kiss to his lips, and as she drew away, he followed her. He wasn't about to let her end the kiss that easy.
Jasmine wrapped her long arms around his neck, pulling him close to her body, and then played with his hair.
He groaned against her lips. “That feels amazing.”
She gave a small giggle. “I was hoping you’d like it because I love playing with your hair. It’s such an unusual color for a young man.”
Moving her hands from his hair to his neck, and then down and around his chest, she scraped her nails against his hard-packed chest and abs.
Chuckling Dryden rolled away from her and removed her hands from his chest. Then he wrapped his arms around her drawing her close.
“Better watch yourself before you get me too worked up,” Dryden growled down at her with a smile on his face.
Feeling confident Jasmine wriggled her butt against his long hard erection. “I think you might already be too worked up to resist me.”
“If I keep you up, you might be sorry tomorrow morning. We are going to wake early.” Dryden stated. “Not saying I wouldn't mind a little fun, but I think you won’t want to be tired when we get to your manor.”
“Thank you,” Jasmine whispered as she snuggled closer to Dryden, smiling as she fell asleep in his arms.
She would never be able to stop thanking him if his plan worked.
Jasmine awoke to Dryden above her giving her a slight shake. Once her eyes cracked open, Dryden stopped.
Smiling down at her he said, “Sorry to wake you so early but it’s time to get on the way. Time to save your sister.”
Groggily she smiled back up at him. “No need to apologize. I’m more than happy to wake up to save my sister.”
With a quick rub of her eyes, she popped up and out of the covers, only to dive right back under.
“It’s freezing! I thought we were far enough away from the mountains for it to be warmer!”
Dryden laughed and brought her dress and fur cloaks to where she was laying. “These should keep you warm. The cold follows us ice giants.”
Gratefully, Jasmine took the clothing from him and threw them on as quickly as she possibly could.
Dryden rubbed his hands over her arms. “Warmer?”
“Much. Thank you.”
“Mathar and I are hoping we can reach the outskirts of your manor lands today.” Dryden then asked, “Is there anything else you can tell us about the manor, maybe something to help us hide out while Mathar goes in?”
“Yes, of course.” She took a moment to think back, while she adjusted her clothing. “There is a slightly forested area that is on one side of the manor. I think it would be close enough for Mathar to get to the manor without being seen.”
“Any guards or anything we might have to worry about?”
“There aren’t any guards to worry about, but there are windows on every side of the manor house. It probably would depend on when he sneaks in, but I don’t think anyone would be too focused on the forest during the evening meal.”
Dryden watched her as she kept thinking. “Anything else? I want to be prepared.”
“There are some soldiers posted in the manor to keep what remains of our family safe, but just a few. My sister’s bedroom is on the second floor, but it does have a balcony he can climb up to.”
Jasmine could tell Dryden was storing all the information away for later or until he could relay it back to Mathar.
Dryden ushered Jasmine out of the tent, which he then took down. Jasmine felt jitters enter her as she waited impatiently. They were about to see if her sister was alive, and then save her if she was!
Dryden tucked the rolled-up tent under his arm and strode over to where she waited by the horse. After tying up the tent to the back of his saddle, he helped Jasmine mount up on her grey horse. Looking around she saw Mathar already mounted on his horse and waiting for them to get a move on.
Before she knew it, they were on their way to the manor. Excitement built in Jasmine, as every step of the horses' hooves took them
closer to saving Adorra. Jasmine couldn't keep the smile from her lips.
Perhaps she would be able to see her sister again. But there was no question in Jasmine's mind she would continue her life with Dryden. Assuming he wanted her to return with him. She was ready to face whatever problems lay ahead of them.
Jasmine just wanted to see her sister well and alive, but after that was taken care of she wanted to see if she and Dryden had a future together.
As the threesome made their way closer to the manor, the landscape changed. It leveled out until the forest they were riding through had no more hills left within it.
Jasmine felt almost giddy with the excitement flowing through her veins. Her horse sensed the excitement and burst into a small trot, and then pranced a little as Jasmine tried her best to get her mount back under control.
These giant horses were so much more of a handful.
Dryden's hand came out of nowhere, and grabbed the reins, reining back the horse. “Be careful. We haven't saved your sister yet, and I don't want to have to save you if you get your horse all riled up.”
Jasmine schooled her features and took a few deep breaths, as she calmed her excitement.
“It’s hard not to get a little excited.” It was her one mission and the one thing standing between her and Dryden. This could solve a few of their issues.
Dryden nodded, but reminded her, “We aren't yet there. Save your excitement for now.”
He reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
She nodded as she took back her reins from him and took her horse under control, as well as her emotions. She knew Dryden didn’t want her getting her hopes up.
Arriving at the edge of the forest Dryden called for a stop. Jasmine pulled her horse up beside Dryden's and looked out of the forest to see her manor and home not too far away.
Tears welled in her hazel eyes. “I never thought I would see my home again, yet here I am.” But then as her eyes skimmed over the manor her heart stopped. “The ceremony for my sister's wedding hasn’t happened yet. Look.”