Chapter 4 – Collateral Damage

Over the next few weeks Gwendoline revelled in having her own personal Giant slaves. She was the only princess she had ever heard of to have such creatures for their own personal amusement and she took full advantage of the fact. Ordering them around in their own home, making sure she was served first for every drink and meal which she knew got under Bram's skin immediately. She had even brought her own place settings which she demanded Catalina set for her each time she visited. Her personal maid had been ordered to take a plate, a few saucers, a cup and a wine goblet as well as a full set of silver cutlery from the kitchens, knowing full well that if they didn't come back it would only be the maid who was beaten for it. No-one would suspect the Princess of stealing from her own castle.

It became something of a ritual for Gwendoline to arrive unannounced at the Bear's home at least once a week to help herself to their hospitality, even going as far as demanding Catalina keep wine at the house for her. The Giants would never usually bother with buying wine because of the cost of having to buy in such huge bulk to make it worth while. A bottle of wine would barely be enough to fill the base of Bram's large metal goblet and that was expensive enough, but to avoid suspicion and the awkward questions that would arise of them buying such pointlessly small quantities, Bram and Catalina had been forced to buy a barrel large enough that people might believe that they were buying it for themselves. It had taken a lot of bartering with pelts, labour and what little gold they had, but they managed it.

Over the weeks Catalina was careful and cunning about probing for information from the Princess. She asked about the place settings, and was told of the poor maid who was badly beaten for losing the silverware and fine plates. Next she asked why the castle guards allowed the girl to come and go as she pleased without an escort and was rewarded with the information that she was sneaking out of the messenger gate which was never guarded. Catalina was quick to follow up with another question upon hearing this news, though knew she needed to hide her sudden interest.

"But surely Princess, someone of your importance would be missed around the castle while you are here?" Catalina asked humbly, continuing the act of submission in front of the girl which, she had to admit, was wearing even her own nerves very thin.

"I am a princess, I'm sure you wouldn't understand much about that, living in a forest and all, but I have very different duties as a lady of royalty." Gwendoline said in a snobbish manner "I am required to practice my talents that will one day suit a prince when I choose to marry, my Father says I will be very popular with the other nobles!" she said sitting up straight in a 'proper posture' to show herself off in the way she had been taught.

Bram nearly choked on his food as Gwendoline announced how popular her Father had told her she would be, having to fight between stifling an outburst of raucous laughter, swallowing and trying not to splutter his food across the table as he covered his mouth with his fist. The princess shot him a fiery look from her place at the head of the table and Catalina glared as well as he managed to swallow down his mouthful before clearing his throat with a cough.

"My apologies Princess, I must have swallowed a bone..." He said awkwardly

"Hmm I wouldn't have thought such a thing could bother someone like you..." Gwendoline replied with a stiff expression, meaning it as yet another insult based on the brutishness of the Giants.

The rest of the meal passed in an awkward quietness which Bram was personally thankful for. If the princess wasn't making threats then she wasn't that upset about anything. As was usual after finishing her meal and deciding she had had enough of abusing her giant slaves, Gwendoline decided it was time to head back to the castle. She was always conscious of how much time she spent at the Bear's house just in case someone reported her as missing and Catalina's comment about people noticing she was gone had played on her mind. If she was found to have disappeared it would spark a search by the castle guards. She was enjoying this little arrangement very much and she would hate to have to lose it before she had become bored of it.

The princess once again ordered Catalina to provide her with a step down from her seat at the table. Although she had made them go to great lengths to modify a seat for her to sit comfortably at the table she still enjoyed making the giantess bow down in order to use her palm as a step. To the princess it was a fitting way to make an example of her for being so arrogant when they had first met. She collected her cloak and, as usual, ordered Bram to escort her to her horse.

The two walked up the slight slope away from the house to where Gwendoline always tied her horse in the safety of the trees, they walked in silence, the slow pace Bram had to travel at to stay along side the little human irritated him but he kept his temper in check as he bent down to one knee and extended his large palm for Gwendoline to step up onto then climb onto her horse.

"When can we expect you again, Princess?" Bram asked as he rose to his feet.

"Whenever I please, we will see!" Gwendoline replied trying to act like she didn't care but obviously taking pleasure in the truth of the statement.

With a small laugh of glee Gwendoline rode off into the woods at a quick pace wanting to get back to the castle as soon as she could, leaving Bram in the small clearing watching her leave. He gave an irritated sigh, wondering if all the effort of Catalina's plan was really worth it, but not knowing now what he could do to end the situation. He had hoped the girl would have become bored of her game by now, but she had been to the house at least once a week for the last month which meant this patient game of Catalina's was beginning to take a heavy toll on his families resources.

Just then a sharp snap of a branch shocked Bram out of his thoughts, his head whipped round to the place he heard the sound come from. This sudden reaction caused a small scared gasp to come from one of the bushes.

"Come out of there!" He commanded harshly, his whole body tense as his eyes searched left and right for any other movement.

A few seconds later a small figure emerged from the bushes, she was dressed in a long plain black woollen dress with a white apron tied around her waist and a linen scarf tied over her hair to keep it back out of the way. She was clearly a peasant, but her clothes seemed to be a uniform of sorts. She stood slightly crouched, her hands clutched to her chest as she visibly trembled, looking ready to bolt like a scared rabbit back into the bushes at any second. Bram relaxed a little, looking the girl over and checking the surroundings once more.

"Who are you? What are you doing this far into the forest?" He asked taking a couple of slow steps towards the girl so as not to frighten her away.

"Mu... My name? My... My name is M-muh... Mary, s-sir." She stammered, her eyes wide as she craned her neck up to look Bram the face, before deciding it was too daunting to see him at his full height and dropping her gaze to the floor.

"Okay, Mary, Why are you out here? You can't be hunting." said Bram looking down on the girl.

"Oh no! No Sir! I wasn't!" Mary said desperately looking back up for a moment a pleading look on her face. She knew there was a severe punishment for being caught hunting on the King's land "I was... I'm um.. I serve the- the Princess, Sir." she said dropping her eyes again to stare wide-eyed at the ground.

The girl saw the Giant's boots shuffle and then saw his knee thud into the ground in front of her as he knelt, she looked up to him and found him no less terrifying even though he had dropped down to a mere three times her height now instead of the previous five or six. Bram had noticed a patchwork of bruising down one side of the servant girl's face and one of her eyes was still slightly marked with a deep reddish-purple swelling.

"Why would you follow the Princess out here?" Bram asked, concern etched on his rough features.

"I, I wondered where she was going to so often, and everyone else told me to mind my own business or risk being... disciplined... again." said Mary touching a hand subconsciously to her bruised face "But I, I had to find out.."

Bram gave a deep sigh as he began to add up his options but quickly realised what he was going to have to do, he still hoped though that perhaps there was an easier way out of this needless complication.

"When did they do... That, to you?" he said, one huge finger indicating the bruising.

"Four nights ago, Sir, when I told them it was the Princess who removed some tableware from the castle." she replied

"Hmmm, well I hope you told your superiors where you were going before you came out here?" Bram asked as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, he was not as skilled at subtly weeding out information as Catalina was, but he was by no means stupid.

"Um... I uh... No, Sir. They wouldn't have never let me leave if I were to tell them I was spying on the Princess!" said Mary, as it occurred to her suddenly that nobody knew where she was right now.

Bram also saw the look of realisation on the girls face and noticed her take a step back towards the bushes. He knew she wouldn't be able to run too far, but chasing her through the trees would create far too much chaos and noise. He needed to get her back to the house as quietly as possible.

"You know my wife, Catalina, can mix some medicine for those bruises, it will have them gone in a day or two.." He offered trying to sound as kindly as he could.

"Umm, no, that's ok thank you sir, I uh... I think I need to... Get back now, its a long walk back to the cas-.. castle..." Mary shook and trembled seeing the Giant's body language change as she refused his offer, she took a couple of small steps backwards, as though desperately hoping for a head start that could get her any extra ground between her and the monstrously large figure before her.

Bram sighed and dropped his head for a second, summoning up the will to do what he knew needed to be done, then, in an instant he lunged forwards. The girl screamed but it was quickly cut short as a massive hand slammed into her body, violently whipping her up off the ground. The hand knocked the wind from Mary's little body and the grip which surrounded her was too tight to get a proper lungful of air. She whimpered and mewled like a wounded cat as her legs kicked and wriggled in the air trying to free herself but it was useless, her arms were locked tight to her body ans she felt half crushed in the rough hand that heaved her up into the air.

Bram snatched the girl up, his hand so large that it covered most of her body leaving just her shoulders and head poking out and her skinny legs kicking frantically from the base of his fist. She was making a wheezing, whimpering noise which satisfied Bram's need to keep her quiet, he didn't want to do anything too brash to her before he discussed what to do with Catalina, but he couldn't afford to let her start screaming again. He still held onto the hope that there may be a way to avoid doing anything too unpleasant as he walked briskly back to his cabin, covering the girl as best he could by clutching her near to his body and wrapping his other hand over the top of her.

Within moments he barged in through the door, the heavy section of palisade shaking violently like it might buckle from its hinges as he shouldered his way through. The sudden explosion of noise made Catalina jump as she whirled round to see what was going on.

"Bram! What is it??" She asked, shocked.

"Eric! Go and play in your room!" Bram ordered, his face tight with concerned and his hands bundled close to his chest.

The boy had been playing with a wooden farmer's cart, pushing it around the floor along with a large crudely made wooden horse, but now he obediently took his toys and wandered through into the back rooms of the cabin. He looked slightly worried, wondering if he had done something wrong, but he knew not to question his Father. Catalina approached Bram with a look of uncomfortable fear on her face, she had rarely seen her husband in such a state over anything.

"What is it, what's wrong?" She asked softly.

Bram waited for Eric to go out of sight, then listened to make sure he was in his room before he suddenly thrust the little maid out towards Catalina. Her body flailed like a rag doll as she was flung through the air, then came to an abrupt stop to find herself on eye-level with the giantess. The girl still made tiny forced gasps and quiet whimpering noises as tears streaked down her cheeks, her legs still kicked and squirmed weakly, one shoe missing now and her head bobbed gently as she sobbed. The horror stories she had heard as a child raced through her mind as she waited for them to grind her up into bread or do something equally horrid to her.

Catalina was stunned, her vision shifting quickly between the girl and her husband, the confusion and disbelief on her face clear to see.

"What do we do about this?" Bram growled angrily, jerking the girl roughly in front of his wife's face as if to emphasise his words, her small body being thrown about in his grip as she gave a few terrified squeaks "She found out about the royal brat coming around here!"

Catalina's eyes went wide and her mouth hung open for a second as she struggled to come to terms with what Bram was telling her.

"Was she alone? Does anybody else know?" She asked hurriedly, her voice betraying her fear that their plan was in danger.

"No, she said she had to sneak out, she is the one they suspect of stealing the things Goldey brought here." he said bringing the girl towards himself and with surprising delicacy, swept the hair from her face with one finger, the linen scarf she had been wearing having been pulled off during her rough kidnapping.

Catalina inspected the small girl's face for a moment and saw the bruising, understanding what Bram meant. The girl was shivering violently and the giantess calmly reached out for her, scooping one hand under the girls legs and the other hand round the back of her body as she gently took her from Bram's grip. As soon as the girl was free from the half-crushing pressure of the Giant's fist she took a deep lungful of air, panting to regain all the oxygen she had been deprived of as her whole body felt limp and weak.

Mary laid cradled in the hands of the giantess, she was sore and tired, feeling like her torso had been half crushed. She took in heavy gulps of air then sobbed as she breathed them back out, tears still spilling down her cheeks as she shook, her heart pounding like it was trying to escape from her chest. She felt the heat of the giantess' hot supple palms cradling her from below, and smelt the rose-scented perfume of the woman's body with every breath she took. Mary felt herself being carefully jostled as one hand, this time more slender, more delicate, wrapped around her waist. She whimpered and was about to beg to be let go again but instead the hand simply moved her body to lay her down along one arm, being held like a baby against the chest of the giantess as the hand then let her go and began to stroke her hair, a silky soft voice cooing from above.

"Its ok little thing, you're ok, you're safe, shhh, shhh." Catalina's husky voice almost whispered down to the scared girl as she cradled her against her chest and stroked her soothingly.

Catalina allowed the girl to rest for a moment while she simply petted her gently, until Bram broke the silence.

"So?" He hissed impatiently, somewhat confused as to what his wife was planning to do with the girl. "What do we do with her?"

Mary suddenly came to her senses hearing the deep gravely voice of the Giant above her, she had completely let herself be lost in the sanctuary of the arms of the Giantess. The woman's voice was mesmerising and having her hair stroked reminded her of her own mother's touch when she used to comfort her as a child. Now though when she moved to get free of the arms around her she found herself suddenly being held tighter. The arm along her back held her firmly as though she were a struggling puppy while the hand that had been stroking her now snaked down and wrapped its slender fingers around her neck and head, smothering her face in the hot, deep flesh of the woman's palm as Mary tried to wriggle and scream.

The hand cut off all light and what little air Mary could breath was stifling inside the hot grip around her skull. Her hands beat and punched at the large mound in front of her, feeling her little fists sink into the giantess' breast as she fought uselessly to escape, her feet kicked and thrashed but it did nothing to help her. Suddenly the hand began to turn her head, the arm clutching her body tightened to pin her completely now against the Giantess. The soft mound of the breast enveloped her, stopping her from being able to turn with her neck and squeezing her arms flat to snuff out her struggles. Her head was turned further and further, her neck beginning to strain as the tendons and muscles stretched to their maximum capacity but still the hand kept twisting.

Mary quickly became desperate, screaming, begging, crying, shouting but her voice barely even left her throat before it was smothered in the soft fleshy palm.

"Oh god! Please stop, PLEASE STOP!!" she prayed desperately, knowing she could do nothing else to save herself now. "Oh-God! Oh-God! OH-GOD! OH GO-..."

Finally all Mary could do was produce a strangled gargling noise, her mind unable to focus, swamped in the terror and pain of what was happening as her head felt like it was almost completely backwards on her body. Her neck screamed with a fiery agony, but still the hand kept twisting mercilessly. With one last soul piercing shriek from the girl there was a loud, wet -CRACK- and her head suddenly spun freely to face directly behind her. She vaguely felt her body begin to spasm uncontrollably and her ears were filled with a loud high-pitched whistling. Blood pounded in her brain as her body slowly went limp and lost all feeling and then, with one final jerk of the hand, everything went black.

Mary was gone.

Catalina gave one last twist of the poor peasant girl's head, hearing the final cracks of her spine being wrenched free of her skull, then released the little thing from her grip. She used her free hand to hold the body around its slender waist and lifted it letting the girl hang backwards over her palm, the limbs dangling uselessly as they hung limp in the air. The girl's head remained twisted awkwardly around backwards on herself, a look of utter horror frozen on her pale features as a small trickle of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. Catalina inspected her victim, turning her over and watching as she simply flopped forwards, then turned her back again before giving the girls body a firm squeeze. Seeing no signs of a response the giantess was satisfied the girl was dead and she returned her attention to her husband.

Bram looked grim. His face was a mask of tension and disgust until he raised his gaze from the peasant girl's body to look his wife in the eyes.

"Was that really necessary?" He growled.

"Yes Bram, It was." She said solemnly, laying one hand gently on his chest. "Think of it as collateral damage, it needed to be done or she would have told everyone of this whole arrangement, and then who knows what the King would have done?"

Bram studied her face for a moment, then gave a grunt of acceptance. He looked back down at the girl still hanging limp like a dead rodent in Catalina's hand.

"Fine, but this ends soon!" He ordered fiercely "And the sooner the better!"

With that said, he gripped the dead girl's legs in his fist and took her from the Giantess, letting the little body hang upside down at his side like a piece of meat as he left the cabin to dispose the evidence.

End of Chapter 4