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More tears come, and I sob against Giroth, linking my arms around his strong neck. He has no trouble carrying me, a hand pressed to my back as if to protect me from the other inhabitants of Ti’lith. For as gruff as he pretends to be, there’s something gentle about him that he doesn’t want anyone to see.
But I see it, anyway.
It was there the first time we crossed paths in the settlement. And again, when he showed me all the strange and incredible things of his world, things that no other human has ever laid eyes on. He was honest with me in the kennels, when he could have told me anything. And even as I was overcome with fear, he protected and consoled me.
I don’t expect the other residents of Ti’lith would have been so patient.
These are the things that replay in my mind, until exhaustion overcomes me, and I fall fast into unconsciousness. When I wake, it is sudden and gasping, but I am in a warm bed that is far too large for me, of the likes I’ve never felt before.
He’s seated in a chair beside me, drawing forward to lay me back down. “You’re safe,” he assures me, pulling the covers up to my neck. “Just rest.”
I watch his stern face. “Where am I?”
“My home,” he answers patiently, that troubled expression never leaving him. “Are you hungry or thirsty? You’ve been asleep for some time.”
My gut churns, and I don’t know if I could keep anything down, in my miserable state. But I nod anyway. “Something to drink would be nice,” I murmur, enjoying the warmth of his hand encompassing my cheek.
A claw traces my jaw endearingly. “Then you will have it.”
He snaps his fingers, and dark elves I didn’t notice before break away from the wall and disappear through a doorway. Their existence in this place is so sudden to me, that I can’t help but be surprised and a little horrified.
Giroth is quick to notice. “Don’t worry. They are loyal to their master.”
Still, I glanced at where they had vanished. “Aren’t you worried they might–”
“No,” he assures me as if he already knows what I mean to say. “They have no memory of their lives on Protheka, and the chaos on Ti’lith prevents them from using magic. They are, as one might say, neutered.”
I relax into the mattress, my troubles a little lighter. “That’s good.”
Giroth leans in as if to kiss my crown, hesitating, then saying. “You’re safe under my roof, Cora. I promise you that.” He draws away before his lips brush my forehead to stand at his full height, staring down at me as I am a puzzle to solve. “Rest, now.”
“Wait,” I murmur, stopping him in his tracks. “Please, tell me…”
His expression is neutral. “Yes?”
“What happened to Laura?” The question is heavy. “What’s become of my sister?”
Nothing changes in his pale eyes. “I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
Giroth is an attentive guardian, spending all his spare time dedicated to my wellbeing. He still has to care for his Ur’gin monsters, and is responsible for the other women, who he has assured me are being better kept than when we first arrived. I believe him, not because I want to, but because he has given me no reason to doubt him.
On that first day, he put me in his bed, and when I finally found out, I felt awful for displacing him. I insisted that he sleeps beside me. It is the least I could do after everything he’s done for me. The first few nights, he gently rejected my offer and slept in the chair. But as we have gotten closer, he surrendered to my insistence, and now, he sleeps beside me. Every day, I wake to his handsome face, made gentle by rest. This morning is no different.
I dare to touch his hollow cheek.
I wonder what the future holds for me. He cannot keep me forever, surely. And when his work is finished, I will be given to the King with the others. It’s a frightening prospect, but neither of us have any say in the matter.
I wonder what it would be like to belong to Giroth, instead.
I feel safe in his arms, and know he’d handle me with care. It is in that rare smile he shows no one else, and the way he caresses me without the bite of his sharp claws. I dare run my fingers over his tunic to feel his heat beneath.
He stirs slightly, and his eyes slide open. “You’re awake.”
I don’t say anything, chasing that hard line of his abs, and making his stomach leap.
Giroth catches my hand in a firm grip. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I do, actually,” I whisper, certain that he feels it, too.
