An Oath Of Lords And Ladies (ARTK, Book 1)

Chapter 61

Noveno 2nd, 3328 A.G

In their cottage, Imania and Andrew did not speak. They'd both been stuck on what they saw since they layed eyes on the giants, and nothing could draw them from their thoughts. Even as Andre stood over their fire pit, turning a freshly slaughtered chicken- an ice giant attacking a childhood friend was all he could think of.

It'd been so long that he couldn't remember the boy's name- only that he was the bastard son of a soldier. He and the boy would explore places they probably shouldn't have when Avelina was busy, even steal sugar cakes and elderberry pudding from the kitchens when they had them. They had fun, but not for long.

One day, they'd just started a game to see who could stay hidden in the woods for longest- and Andre heard a scream far off; a scream he recognized all too well because of the boy's father. Against his better judgement, he ran straight for the scream- just in time to see his friend's head get torn off.

He blamed himself for years, though their was nothing he could have done. He didn't know how to use any weapon well at the time, and he was unarmed anyways. He'd promised himself not long after that any ice giant he came across would die- yet those pets of Nara's were somewhere just outside the army house's walls like they'd always belonged there. He'd been too stunned to do anything when he passed them, and instead tightened his grip on his sword- his other arm around Imania.

Imania, who'd been cutting cabbage and potatoes- had no childhood experiences with creatures. She'd grown up in an inland whorehouse on the warm continent, so how could she? She'd only seen a sand crawler once, but an arrow was sent through it's skull not moments later. She'd glanced at the Uculian trade market archer, who was already notching another arrow to stand ready while someone else carried the body off. As cruel as it might have seemed to her husband; she thought Uculian's were far better at dealing with sand crawlers than Ebonians were with ice giants. Perhaps it was easier to kill sand crawlers.....

Which made ice giants that much more terrifying.

It didn't matter that she had no childhood stories of the things, that she hadn't been afraid of them until the first time Andre'd taken her to Narene. They were still stronger than any human ever would be, intelligent to a point, and didn't seem to need food.

With proper training, they would be unstoppable soldiers.

Imania couldn't see that as a good thing no matter how she tried.

She carried the potatoes over to a pot of water, boiling over the fire and beneath the chicken. When she dropped them in, she looked at Andrew.

"Do we have butter left or did you use it all on the chicken?" Her question came out sharper than she'd meant.

Andre held up a jar, half full of the fatty substance. They sat in silence while the potatoes were boiled, then crushed with butter and sea salt. The cabbage was easy enough; all Imania had to do was throw it in a bowl (Andre'd used the last of their fresh herbs and garlic on the chicken). After the skin was browned and the inside was white when he tore a leg off, Andre removed it from the spit.

  The smell was incredible- but neither were hungry. Imania could only force a few bites of the leg down, while Andre's wings remained untouched. Imania threw the leg in a bowl to preserve later.

"Are we not going to talk about what happened?" Imania finally said.

  Andre sighed, lingering on his wife's face for so long that she raised an eyebrow. She was his favorite distraction- one that'd helped him forget everything else since the day they'd met. He still thought of the giants, but he would have been happy looking at her for the rest of the night.

  "In all my years of whoring and.... Our years of traveling, I have never seen anything like that. The way they stood...like they would have killed anyone who dared to touch her.... doesn't make sense." Imania continued.

"A lot of things in this world don't make sense." Andre shook his head. "But those creatures... they're monsters. It is one of the three things I know are true."

He pictured the shore attack then.

How some heads were crushed, some torso's were torn into, how every single trader and stable hand there was slaughtered......

There were weapons laying around when he found them- and plenty of them. There had to have been a few dozen at the very least for them to avoid getting stabbed or shot in the eyes, but Andre could not figure out what'd set them off to begin with. The giants were almost never seen that close to shore; and more than three or four was almost unheard of. He would have given anything for there to have been at least one survivor to explain what happened.

Some of those traders were former crew members of his. He'd grown to know each stablehand, each of the four cooks and whores( though he'd stopped laying with them when he met Imania) that used to serve traders, which gave him even more reason to hate the creatures. He didn't know most of the common people who were there to stock up, but he and his crew had given them proper burials all the same.

"The other two?" Imania raised an eyebrow.

"I love you, and despite everything she's done to me I love my sister-" Andre started to reply, but before he could finish- Imania'd stepped around the flames and planted herself on top of him. He gulped. "Gods you have got to stop doing that-"

Her lips were on his, interrupting him again- but deep down he didn't mind. He forgot all about the giants until she pulled away.

"Like 'the queen' said, The Temple Of Fenthos could be the only place in the world with answers. I can see in your eyes that you want to go." Imania shrugged, her arms resting on Andre's chest, hands on the sides of his face.

  "We've only just gotten settled. You wanted a simple life, and I want you. I will not leave you here-"

  That time, Imania put a hand over his mouth to shut him up. "Where you go, I go."