Page 23 of A Darkness So Sweet
Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she tried to clear her throat, but it came out as more of a garbled, throaty sound. “Hello. I’m sorry he didn’t introduce me, but my name is Maia. It’s lovely to meet all of you.”
The troll women all looked at each other, then back at her. It gave Maia a few moments to drink in their differences. Their clothing was what Maia supposed she was meant to be wearing. Leathers that were dyed a particular color and beaded around the edges. Gemstones and jewelry dripped from their forms. Rings, multiple necklaces, and bracelets that danced up their arms and created a light metallic song as they moved.
One of them was significantly younger, and slate gray. Perhaps part of why Maia could tell her age was that she had fewer tattoos. There were only a few dark marks on her body. The swirls even looked newer than the others’. Less faded. She also only had two piercings on each elongated ear.
The next troll woman was a little older, a darker blue, although still young looking. Her ears were full of piercings, and her entire body appeared to be tattooed from head to toe. Large black patches covered a significant amount of her skin, as though someone had intended to create bars of black rather than intricate designs like Maia had seen so far.
The last woman, however, was elderly and wrinkles bisected her green coloring. Her hair was nearly white as snow and pooled down her shoulders like foam. Her eyes were worn, with wings around the edges that crinkled when she caught Maia’s attention. Though she was also heavily tattooed, she had more piercings than either of the two trolls who sat beside her. Her markings were worn, just as her skin was a little faded as well.
“Maia,” the old woman said, standing with a hand pressed against her back. “It is good to meet you. We were chosen to guide you into your role as troll wife. Although, from what I’ve heard, you have very little guidance needed.”
Maia frowned. “I need all the help I can get. I don’t know what’s going on, to be honest.”
The three women looked at each other. And that was when she realized she’d said something wrong.
Apparently, the princess was supposed to be studying what it meant to be a troll wife. Perhaps they had sent instructions to the king that the princess should have read. There were preparations that the princess had been meant to do, and here Maia was completely ignorant of those.
Maybe now was when she told them? It seemed as good a point as any. These women weren’t as scary as the troll who had just left.
“All of this is a great misunderstanding,” she tried again. “You see, I’m not supposed to be here.”
The trolls looked at each other, and then a soft smile spread across the old woman’s face. “Indeed. But no troll wife feels certain when it is her time. You were promised to Ragnar by the Bone Reader. Therefore, you are right where you’re supposed to be, princess.”
“But I’m not a princess,” she said, desperately trying to find the right words to punch through the wall of her anxiety.
The older woman reached out a hand for her to take and drew her with the other two. “We’ll refresh your memory, dear one. You’ll learn with us the best we can teach you. For now, let us introduce ourselves. I am Hulda, a troll crone.”
A what? Maia opened her mouth to ask more questions, but then the one who appeared around her age spoke. “I am Inkeri, a troll wife. Just like yourself.”
The youngest then waved her hand. “I am Rota, a troll maiden. The three of us represent the three stages of a troll’s life. We are the maiden, wife, and crone.”
She’d heard of something similar, but only whispered in secrets. Witches, her people called them. They twisted the magic of the elves that was in their bloodline and used it for dark magic. At least, that was what the rumors were. She knew plenty of people who were very quick to go to said witches for magic, however.
“It’s nice to meet you all,” she said again, only to pause as they all stared at her. Clearly, she was meant to say something else. Maia licked her lips and finally said, “I am Maia, a troll wife?”
Hulda clapped her wrinkled hands. “Yes! She learns quickly, this one.”
They drew her through the camps then, and the other trolls murmured blessings and hellos as they passed by them. If Hulda didn’t know them, then Inkeri or Rota did. It appeared almost all the trolls here knew each other. Which went against everything she’d heard about them. Trolls were solitary until they banded together for war, and that was only because they enjoyed raiding human settlements.
But this seemed as though they all knew each other deeply. And soon enough, she found herself enjoying the jabs they gave each other as they walked by. Inkeri certainly thought she was prettier with those new earrings. Hulda looked remarkably straight backed for such a hunched old lady. Rota still looked so young with those soft cheeks! The teasing endeared them all to her, as though she knew them, too.
The deep sense of community lulled her into a sense of peace until she realized the women had drawn her into the forest with them. Soon enough, they came upon a stream and that was where they stopped her.
Hulda drew her to a large stone and sat her down on it. “I was once a troll wife, and it is my honor to be the one to bring you into the fold. Troll wives stick together. We are a family even more than the husbands are.”
“I don’t know what any of this means,” she replied with a slight laugh. “I’m sorry. I feel like you expect me to know what’s happening.”
A flash of dark tattoos caught her attention as the youngest sat down beside her. Rota grabbed her hand, and Maia stared down at the massive slate gray hand that held hers. Rota curled those claws around her, holding tightly. “Don’t worry. It won’t hurt that much.”
Maia’s skin went cold with a flare of panic. What did she mean it wouldn’t hurt?
“Why would anything hurt?” she asked, before her gaze flicked over to Inkeri. She’d drawn out a long needle from her pocket. It was nearly the length of Maia’s finger, and thicker than any she’d seen before. The sunlight of the glade caught along the edge and made it seem sharp as a sword the more she stared at it.
“What are you doing with that?” Maia asked, and then she realized she couldn’t get away. Rota had placed a hand on her back as well, holding her in place on the rock.
“It is the duty of the troll wives to give you your first,” Hulda replied. “I am pleased to see no one has broken skin on you before.”
Were they going to shove that into her eyes? What was the point of this? Perhaps now she would find out why the trolls were considered so cruel.
