Page 20 of A Darkness So Sweet
She was weak, with tender limbs that he would have to be careful were not overused.
Ragnar planned all evening and into the early hours until she stirred. Then she blinked those eyes open, forest-hued and flecked with gold, and he didn’t know what to say. She’d caught him staring at her, appearing like he cared about her well-being. Somehow, that made him feel likehewas something wrong.
So he stood abruptly. “We leave now.”
“Now?” she asked, sitting up slowly. Her hair billowed around her head into a wild red tangle. Like flames that had been stoked ever higher by her rest. The shirt he’d given her slid off of one shoulder, revealing those dots along her face also traveled down to her shoulders.
The peaks of her arms were red, he realized. Burned by the sun and travel just from the castle to the forest. She’d been injured already, and he’d had no idea.
Frowning, he pointed to the pile of clothing he had left her. “Those should suffice for our travels. Come, troll wife. Today, you prove to me that I am wrong about humans and that you will not be a burden for the rest of our lives.”
He noted the way her jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed. His words had made her angry. Good, they should have. She had a lot to prove. Not just to him, but to his people as well.
Ragnar ducked out of the tent before he did something foolish, like help her. She could figure out how to put clothing on herself. All clothes were the same.
Gunnar waited for him on the other side. His brother had already set up breakfast over a fire, two dozen quail eggs sizzling in a pan while he heated up the dried ham they’d brought with them. Others had legs of deer on spits that they had caught this morning, and a few even had fish from the stream.
“You’re surly this morning,” his brother said with a short, coughing laugh. “I thought a newly mated man would be a little less... tense.”
“Keep your mouth shut this morning.”
“It’s hard not to tease my brother when he insists that the woman he’s mated to is not the woman he wants.” Poking at the eggs, Gunnar failed to hide the grin that stretched his mouth. “I take it you did not indulge yourself in... husbandly duties?”
“If you do not stop talking, I’ll turn your breakfast onto the ground.”
“That would be a waste, considering it’s your breakfast, too.”
“Then we’ll both go hungry for your stupidity,” Ragnar snarled. But he did not dump their breakfast into the dirt. Instead, he sank down next to the fire and stared into the flames that merrily danced along the crystals.
What was he to do? They were days away from Trollkin mountain. Days where she would have to prove she could take care of herself. She had to prove that she was worthy of being a troll wife before he would bind their blood and magic.
But even he knew that was a lie. He would take her because that was what the fates said he should do. Unfortunately, he didn’t understand their reasoning.
It took a long time for the flap of his tent to pull back and for the human to come outside. This pretty little fire hair who had no idea what she’d done by turning his life upside down. Then...
Gunnar lifted his hand to his mouth, but he wasn’t quick enough to hide the snort that came out. His brother’s shoulders then shook, and Ragnar tried to convey through a very unimpressed look that no one was supposed to laugh.
The look failed.
Gunnar burst out into bright, vivid laughter as his troll wife walked over to them.
“What?” Maia asked, her face already screwed up with concern. “What is it?”
Besides the fact that her shoes were on the wrong feet, the dress he’d gotten her was also backward and inside out. At least no one would notice the last part. Most of their clothing could be worn however it was picked up, but they certainly would notice that the deep “v” which was supposed to be in the front was in the back for her. Odd creature. At least the cloak in her hands wasn’t on. She’d probably put that on her front like a complete fool.
“You’re wearing those all wrong,” he muttered, lifting his hands. “Come here, I’ll set you to right.”
“I’m wearing them wrong?” She looked down at herself and lifted her arms as though that would give her a better view. “What do you mean? I thought this made the most sense.”
It didn’t. He sighed as she strode up to him, and then was struck by how small she was. There were so many moments like this for him, but he hadn’t realized that she could stand between his legs and be at eye level. She looked right into his gaze, without having to stoop to see him.
How strange. It made something in his chest flutter in a way that he wasn’t sure he liked. Ragnar rubbed at the feeling before grabbing the shoulders of her dress. “Arms up.”
“Please don’t make me get undressed with everyone looking,” she whispered.
It wasn’t the first time he’d wondered why she wasn’t ordering him around. Especially in this. If she felt so strongly about not getting undressed before the eyes of his people, then shouldn’t she be shouting at him? Instead, she pitched her voice low, as though she didn’t want anyone else to hear it.
Ragnar was horrified to feel himself soften. Troll wives demanded. They argued. They fought for everything they wanted with tusk and claw. This little one merely asked permission. Her fear would have been endearing if he were a weaker man.
