Page 89 of Grounded By Love
Chapter 20
Claira woke to find herself blanketed in darkness and draped over the back of a horse. The horse’s backside was digging into her ribcage, and the pain was almost unbearable.
How long had she been laying on top of the back of the horse, and where was she headed?
She knew someone had jumped her in the hall. They had better pray Kaeldar didn’t find out who they were or she was sure they would wind up dead.
She couldn't believe she was wrapped in a bag. Her heart rate was out of control, and she was having trouble thinking clearly, but, ever so slowly, the panic faded away, and she was able to once again process what was going on.
That is until a throb in her head began. With the way she was draped over the horse, all the blood was rushing into her head. Attempting to raise a hand to her brow Claira discovered her wrists were tied together.
What was happening here? Who had the people in the corridor been and were they the same people who had her at the moment?
The bag was so thick she wasn't able to see anything. She couldn’t make a guess whether it was day or night.
The pressure on her stomach worsened, as the horse kept plodding along. It was a great thing she hadn’t eaten anything before they kidnapped her or she would be sharing the bag with her barf. That idea made her cringe.
At some point, Kaeldar would swoop in and save her. Unless it took him awhile to realize she was missing. Who knew what kind of head start these people had.
Kaeldar couldn't believe his father had decided to get rid of Claira. Had he thought Kaeldar would just decide it wasn't worth it to get Claira back, when he had originally brought her to the castle?
The guard would be dealt with later, for now, he had to find Claira.
He had to stop blaming himself for what his father did. In no way could he have predicted his father’s actions. Then again maybe he should’ve known, but right now he needed to keep his mind on the journey ahead, not on his faults.
He’d been able to dig up some more information, before leaving the stables. Some of the stable hands had heard some information, like where his father’s men would abandon Claira and how they had taken her.
He knew he must look wild eyed and feral. He wasn’t one to be messed with. Digging his heels into the horse's side he forced it into a full out gallop. He needed to get there, find her, and bring her back.
Or maybe he wouldn’t bring her back with him. The castle was proving to be too dangerous for her, and he feared what his father might do. Things might just escalate.
They would need to talk about what they were going to do now.
Hands came out of nowhere and wrapped around her waist, before she was promptly dumped on the ground with an oomph.
Claira cringed, as the breath was knocked out of her, and she rolled herself over in the bag. She wished they would just take it off already.
She wondered what they might have in store for her. They’d obviously reached the spot they’d intended to get to. Were they going to kill her out in the middle of nowhere, assuming there were out in the middle of nowhere?
Any sound she heard made her imagination go wild, every footstep made her eyes dart around for she feared it might be the last she would ever hear, but eventually the noises died down.
Claira was able to pick up the familiar sounds of rattling horse reins and horse hooves fading away from her.
Frowning she thought she must be going crazy. They were going to just leave her here with her hands and ankles bound? Struggling ferociously at her bindings she tried to wiggle her way loose.
Sadly, they had tied the knots hard and well. Claira was unable to get any sort of leeway with the bindings.
She was being left to die. If an animal came across her laying here unable to defend herself, she would make any easy meal.
The only thing she was going to be able to do was hope and pray she would some how survive. Perhaps someone would stumble upon her, but without knowing where she was she wasn't able to tell whether that might be a far fetched idea. There might not be anyone around for days.
After finding where the mysterious troop of rock giants his father hired had gone, Kaeldar easily found some promising tracks leading into the nearby forest. As he ventured forth, he found more evidence to follow. There were broken branches and the tracks of a couple giant horses.
He was glad his father hadn’t found more intelligent people to take Claira. They hadn’t even tried to hide their trail.
Kaeldar hoped they might still be there, when he found Claira. It would make it much easier for him to slaughter those who had dared to take Claira from him.
She was his female.
