Page 88 of Grounded By Love
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."
"What have you done with her?" Kaeldar asked again. He was starting to get sick of this back and forth. He just wanted an answer so he could go save her, and then he would come back and deal with his father.
His father puffed up again, knowing he had information Kaeldar was desperate to get his hands on. "I had her taken care of."
"Taken care of?" Kaeldar repeated dumbly, as he tried to calm his mind from running wild. "What exactly do you mean by taken care of?"
"You won't be seeing her around anymore."
Kaeldar growled and took a threatening step forward. "I'm losing my patience here."
“Don’t you talk to me like that boy. I created you, I can bring you down if I so choose.”
“I won’t leave, until you tell me where she is.”
His father’s eyes squinted at his son as he tried to read Kaeldar, but Kaeldar had shuttered his emotions. "I paid off your guard and had some loyal men take her far away from our lands."
Kaeldar's heart froze. "Did you take her to a human village?" He prayed it was so, else his father was having her body taken away from here, meaning she was dead.
"No, I had her dropped off in the forest. I don’t care if she survives, then at least she won’t be coming back here to distract you all over again."
Kaeldar fisted his hands and restrained himself from jumping over the table to pummel his father. He and his father had never been close, and it was one battle after the next.
But pummeling his father to a pulp wasn’t the right way to handle this situation. He had to take his father down in a challenge on a field of battle. He couldn't just leap over the table and kill his father without tradition and expect his people to crown him king.
The humans might think they were barbarians, but they had rituals to solve problems. Rituals that if followed would make it possible for Kaeldar to get rid of his hate filled father once and for all.
The last straw had been thrown on his back. He left the room, before he did something stupid. He had to get to Claira, before something else did, like an animal or the environment.
Walking out of the chamber Kaeldar pointed to the first male he saw, “Get my horse ready, I’ll be leaving as soon as possible.”
The giant nearly tripped over his own feet, as he rushed to do Kaeldar’s bidding.
There was a dark cloud following Kaeldar that everyone was able to see, but Kaeldar didn't have enough time to feel sorry for how he was acting. He had only a few precious hours to get to her.
His father must have known she took calls at all times of the day and night and that there wasn't a single night where there wasn't some sort of call.
Thankfully, when he arrived at the stables, after stopping off at the kitchen, the horse was saddled and ready to go. He’d grabbed some dried meat and fruit for Claira, because he would find her. Kaeldar refused to believe otherwise.
Dread made his heart beat skip a couple of times. He wasn't sure whether or not he was going to find her alive or not.
