Most Excellent Roland,
In my overbounding generosity, I have decided to invite your daughter, Arabella to dine with me tonight. Rest assured, no harm will come to her. She is to come alone. My guards will see to it that no ill befalls her.
In My Mercy,
Fierabras
* * *
Fear and anger took turns on Roland’s face as he read the letter. The threat was plain, even if unstated.
“I forbid it! We have no idea what that beast is capable of,”
“We do,” Arabella said, “Which is exactly why I should go,”
“I will not let him take you. We will fight and-“
“And WHAT? Do you want our land to end up like Olivier’s? Or Guy’s? Is my life more valuable than the realm?”
“You are the future of the realm,” Roland looked defeated.
“There will be no realm if I reject his offer,”
* * *
Fierabras’s guards came in the afternoon. There were two hundred of them, but not one spoke a word. They had an extra horse ready for her. Arabella’s servants helped her mount, and weeping, saw her off.
After her first couple of attempts to make conversation fell flat, Arabella rode in silence. She didn’t know if the soldiers didn’t speak her language, didn’t like her, or just didn’t want to get involved with someone who might not last the night. She had heard horrible things about Fierabras. Most of it had to just be rumors, but there was no way to weed out truth from fiction. He was said to be big enough to crush a man in his hand. His sword could hew horse and rider in half with one swing. His footprints were lakes after a rain.
The path to his keep was long and dangerous. The stillness of the soldiers guarding the way was unnerving. She thought they were statues until one of them saluted one of her train.
The keep was cyclopean. Individual stones were the size of cottages, and the doors had to be opened with pulleys. One of the guards gestured down the hall, but none spoke, and none followed.
Arabelle was alone again She had to stand on her tiptoes to pull the door lever for the dining room. There was a larger one above it. She dreaded the thought of the hand that needed that handle.
The table was a good ten feet tall. The dining chairs had ladders built into their legs and additional seats built onto the arm rests.
“Get comfortable,” a voice boomed, “I will join you shortly,” She didn’t know if that was a threat or a reassurance. In her time marveling at the furniture, she had missed the fact that the table was loaded down with roast bulls, goats, and various fruits and vegetables. If she wasn’t frightened out of her mind, it would be quite tempting.
His shadow preceded him, then shrank back, but not by much. His sheer enormity was difficult to put into words. You can say a man is fifteen feet tall, but unless he is looming over you, it doesn’t have the impact it should.
She expected him to be hideous. She wasn’t sure if it was better or worse that he was handsome. He had long dark hair and olive skin. His green eyes shone in delight. Apparently, he liked what he saw as well.
Fierabras sat down in a chair next to her, “I know I’m breaking convention, but if I sit across from you, I won’t be able to hear a word you say,” He narrowed his eyes at her, “You are frightened?”
“No, my lord, I’m impressed. I’ve never seen anyone of your stature,”
He smiled.
“Not just beautiful, but smart as well,” He said. He lifted an entire bull, holding it by the spit like a normal sized person would a small skewer, “Dig in. I trust you are hungry,” It didn’t take him long to clean the spit. He casually spit the bones on his plate. Arabella was well aware that she was a quarter of the size of that carcass.
She daintily cut a piece of meat and tried to find her appetite as he tore into three goats. In between animals he would talk.
“You know, you are the only one to actually show up,”
crunch chew.
“I like to pride myself in my hosting abilities, but I abhor a flake,”
rip chew.
“Of course, I paid them back in kind. I am merciful, but I am also just,”
A servant timidly entered the room, “My lord, is everything to your liking?”
Fierabras paused and glared at the disturbance.
“I said, no interruptions,” he said real low.
“I was jus −” The manservant didn’t get to finish his justification before the giant’s boot came down on him. Fierabras snarled and stomped repeatedly until he was out of breath. He scraped his boot against the stone floor, a look of distaste on his face.
When he saw the look of horror on Arabella’s face, he started pacing.
“Ruined! He ruined my night! Why can’t anybody follow simple directions?” He leaned against a chair and breathed in an attempt to calm himself, but he was too riled up and accidentally split the back of it in half with his grip.
Arabella didn’t know why she started to sing, but it felt like it made sense at the time. Fierabras stopped thrashing around and listened, transfixed.
“That’s the most beautiful thing I have ever heard,” Fierabras said.
“Your Excellency is too kind,” Arabella said, still scared he might fly off again.
“I’m so glad you came. Nobody has ever been able to get me out of my dark mood before. The servants are mostly scared to talk to me,” He met her eyes, “I can’t associate with my own kind because they are too stupid, but I still have their short temper; making kinship with humans dangerous. I am strong though. I’ve built my own realm out of sheer might. I need a consort, though,”
Arabella had come to the keep fearing a dungeon or a dinner plate, but this was far more frightening, “Consort?”
“Indeed. I have searched high and low. You will be well taken care of. You will never want for food. Your father’s realm will be protected by my mighty army. We are close neighbors. I’m practically knocking on Roland’s door. If we were to become family, no harm would ever befall him,”
Arabella understood what would happen if they didn’t become family.
“Would I be able to go home and think about it?”
Fierabras laughed, “The second you get home, your father will secret you away to some unknown land and draw my wrath,”
“He wouldn’t dare,” Arabella said
He casually ate another goat. It was almost like eating an apple, “He would do anything to get you away if you go back home, but as long as you are here, he’ll do anything to keep you safe,”
“Do you want a consort or a pet?” Arabella asked a little sharper than she intended.
A flash of anger flickered on his face before he smiled, “I’ll take what I can get,”
Arabella expected to sacrifice her life to save her people. Was this that different? She was scared to ask, but she had to know, “Are you expecting an heir from this arrangement?”
“Naturally,”
Naturally. Any heir from this union would be far from natural. Arabella had never been with a man, but the logistics of this union were anything but pleasant. She’d rather have been eaten.
“I have an apothecary here that has shown me how to overcome our anatomical differences. If you decide to join me, I will be in my room. I will show you what she taught me. Our families will be one, and you can sing for me when I get angry. If you leave, my guards will ride out ahead of you so you can see the consequences of your choice,”
Fierabras finished his dinner and left the room giving Arabella time to think.
She considered the front door. The keep was on the top of a mountain in the middle of a canyon. The only way to get to the road was to have the drawbridge lowered. They would get a good head start. There was no chance of beating them to father’s realm. Was she so selfish as to consider the death of her family to save herself from pleasuring a giant?
She could hardly imagine how this would go well for her. How would he even…?
Even if they did…what would pregnancy be like? Would she survive the birth of a titanic child?
The servants came in to take away the rest of the food and clean the red stain off the floor. They wouldn’t look her in the eye. She got the impression that they pitied her.
“I know your master is a powerful man, but is he honest?”
The servants went pale at the question.
“If he promises to keep my family safe, will he keep his word?”
A scullery maid nodded before fleeing. The various menservants and maidservants answered in kind. They appeared afraid to speak, but all of them agreed that he would be true to his word.
Arabella sighed. She climbed the small set of stairs inset in the massive ones, knocked on Fierabras’s bedroom door, and when he opened it,
She entered.