Gyda Lionrock thinks her visit to Asclan Peak is for one reason and one reason alone-to procreate and finally welcome that child of her own. She could have never guessed she would also leave something behind inside the mountains, but it was her hear...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I waited for her at our usual meeting place, pacing around nervously until she arrived. I was early today. I'd been wanting to see her for half a week, the days passing by agonizingly slowly, but it was these last few minutes that were the worst.
Ever since Saturday happened, I've been consumed with all these emotions. Rage was among them. I wished I could resurrect that fucking corpse lying on the bottom of the swamp just so I could kill her slowly this time. Slowly and painfully.
This bitch had hurt the woman I cared for, and possibly our child too. And I didn't know how either of them was doing, or how they'd made it through the week.
I would never forget the sound of Gyda's scream. Those few seconds it took for me to reach Beatrice's house were the worst ones of my life. And when I'd finally made it, I found her on the ground.
My woman.
Writhing in pain, she lay there on the wooden floor, groaning and sweating, curled up, her hands on her belly.
And even though she was in pain, the first thing I felt was relief. Relief that she wasn't dead. After that relief, however, other feelings took over. And they stayed. Worry, anger, and frustration rushed through my body all day and night long.
I'd thought about going to town—to go see how Gyda was doing. Fuck the council, I thought. Fuck her family. And fuck the peace agreement, too.
I couldn't go.
I knew there would be consequences if I did, and my decisions wouldn't only affect me. But that just pissed me off even more. I'd fallen for this human and I couldn't even see her after she was beaten while pregnant, and scared to death.
To let my frustrations out, I spent entire days in the mine, slamming and hacking away, letting myself get buried in black dust as I outed my anger on Borba's mountain walls. I had to, because I didn't want to snap at my men instead. If Vildon had gotten on my nerves, I might have truly hurt him, and I didn't want that to happen.
But it wasn't the rage that still had me shaken. It was another feeling. One that wouldn't let me sleep at night, and wouldn't let me focus on anything.
Fear.
I was afraid, and fear was a feeling I wasn't well accustomed to. I wasn't often worried either.
Shit, this caring-for-someone business could be a real bitch.
It seemed like it took forever before she finally arrived, but there she was, appearing out of the woods, looking at me, her lips curled in a smile.
And it was as if a weight had been lifted off me. I knew here and now that everything was alright. She and the baby were okay.
Thank the fucking stars.
***
"When it's colder, I want to take you to a shaded place and watch the clouds together," Gyda said, turning her head to look at me. "I've been thinking about that. Maybe under a tree. But it'll probably only bore you, won't it?"
