Page 100 of A Darkness So Sweet
“I’m sure he did.” He had to believe that. Their king was no fool, and if he wanted this to happen or expected it to happen, then he would have made plans for it. What his plan was, however, Ragnar did not know.
“Maia?” he asked, the name sticking in his throat as fear rioted through him.
Gunnar shook his head. “None of us saw her when we were taken. It’s a small reassurance, but I think someone would have noticed if she was still there. Her hair is hard to miss.”
That was a small reassurance, and he had to take what he was given. Maia had to be alive. He would feel it if she wasn’t.
He used a bit more of his magic. Just the barest hint of it, and reached out his hand toward a small weed that was growing on the floor. If Maia was alive, that plant would grow. It would spread its leaves, brighten with life that only she could give it. Because there was no sunlight here, no wisps, nothing to help the plant grow other than her.
“Come on,” he whispered, knowing that the others were watching him just as intently. “Come on, Maia.”
Just as he was about to give up hope that the plant would ever grow, it did. The stalk twitched just a little, moving like there was a breeze, and then it grew an inch in size.
“Not dead, then,” Gunnar said with a grunt. “I don’t know if that’s better or worse than what I was hoping.”
He wasn’t certain, either. Maia deserved so much more than this, and he had led her right into a trap. He had to get out. Perhaps the others had already looked, but he would as well. In case they’d missed anything. So he stood and first walked the perimeter of the room. He checked all the stones along the edge, knowing that he was essentially in a tomb with all the trolls who were in this room.
There were two doors, one leading out into a hallway with the smallest window that he could peer out into. The hallway led into darkness, but he was certain that meant there were more cells. There was still a chance that the other trolls were still alive.
The second door was behind him, and it had no window. But there was a faint metallic scent coming from underneath it that sent an ominous ache throughout his stomach. He knew, without a doubt, that whatever was on the other side of that door was evil.
Gunnar stood as well, wincing as he approached Ragnar. “We’ve looked everywhere. No way out other than through one of those doors.”
“Can we break one?”
“Tried that too, while you were out.” His brother leaned his shoulder against the wall. “They’ve got us trapped here.”
“Of course they do.” Ragnar spat on the ground. “But we’ll be ready when they try to take us out.”
“Who needs weapons?” Gunnar flashed his teeth in a grimace, but Ragnar knew better than to believe that expression. His brother preferred fighting hand to hand. He’d seen what Gunnar could do to a human without a single knife or blade on him.
Footsteps echoed down the hall. Slight clicks that were not the boots of a soldier. Ragnar turned to peer through the small window and saw a stunning woman walking through the dark with a light in her hands.
She was beyond beautiful, as close to an elf as he imagined anyone could get. Golden hair spilled down her shoulders and chest. She wore little more than a white nightgown, and for a moment, he thought perhaps she wasn’t supposed to be here. The lantern in her hands revealed the image of her form through that white nightgown. Lithe and stunning, a creature made to tempt a man.
He knew better than to trust her. Elves weren’t trustworthy, and certainly humans were infinitely worse than them.
A low growl built in his chest as she approached their cell and then paused in front of him, just out of reach.
“Are you Ragnar?” she asked, her voice a lilting melody.
“I am.”
“I’m so sorry they did this to you. I have found your bride, and I thought you would want to know what happened to her.” She set the light down on the ground, and then almost seemed to pose where she stood, waiting for his response.
He didn’t trust her. Not a bit.
Ragnar looked her over, letting his eyes linger on every part of her body. She posed even more when he did that, cocking her hip to the side and setting her hand on the swell there, as though she could make him look even longer. Then he got to her face and those pointed ears.
“Princess,” he said. “We finally meet.”
All of that prettiness disappeared the moment he realized who she was. One moment she was smiling at him, demure and kind. The next, her face twisted into the reality of disgust and contempt that she really felt. “Oh, you didn’t let me have any fun.”
“I have no interest in games. Where is my troll wife?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know? Unfortunately, you’re stuck here. And my father is going to make use of you just like all the other fighters that he has trapped here.” She grinned. “You see, my father was the first one to realize there was more we could do with you trolls. Of course, we could fight you and battle you back into the shadows, but... why would we do that when we could do so much more?”
He hated that he had to entertain her at all. “My troll wife. Where is she?”
