Page 104 of A Darkness So Sweet

She’d said something wrong. Rose sank in on herself even more. She curled tighter into a little ball, the grimy texture of her hair leaving streaks on the cot beneath her. “No, Maia. You don’t understand. If any of us try to rebel or make anyone angry in this place, they’ll just give us tohim.”

The words were said in complete and utter panic. Rose shifted away from her, like she didn’t want to be anywhere near Maia, just in case someone had overheard them. Like no matter what happened, Rose was not going to be involved.

“Okay,” Maia murmured, trying to get the other woman to calm down. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay! They’ll give you to him!”

“Who is he?” she finally asked.

Rose said straight up, ripping the blankets off both of their heads. Her hair stuck up in every direction and her voice deepened with intensity. “The troll. They’ll give you to the troll.”

The entire world seemed to pause.

The troll? There was a troll in this place?

Suddenly, it all made sense. Of course there was a troll here. The king hated their kind, and he’d been attacking them for ages. But in the end, a troll was always going to be a better fighter than a human. They were bigger, more aggressive, more attuned to all the abilities that humans had never had. Maia had seen the trolls fight. She knew how powerful they were and how easy it was for them to fight through an entire group of human men. Any one of them could cut through a crowd of ten without weapons. She had no qualms about that.

But clearly, this was worse than she believed. If the king had captured trolls and was making them fight, giving them women as a gift as though that was a worthy endeavor, all she could think was that they wanted to be freed.

Humans weren’t going to help her. But a troll might not have lost hope. Not yet. Not while there was still a fight possible. And even if they had given up, maybe she could convince them to fight one last time.

Standing, she straightened her shoulders and went right to the door with the small window. Banging on it, she screamed at the top of her lungs. The sound would carry, she knew that. And if no one would come to see her just yet, then she would keep screaming until the guards were so annoyed they had to come and get her.

It didn’t take long. Soon enough, there was the thundering sound of boots as Rose whimpered in her corner. She’d fled from the cot the moment Maia started screaming.

The guard on the other side of the door swore at her. “Shut the fuck up, bitch!”

“What you’re doing here is wrong.” She spat through the window, pleased when her aim held true and it struck his cheek.

The man winced and then glared at her. “You’re on thin ice.”

“Good. Fuck you. Fuck this place. And fuck the king.”

His eyes widened. “If you’re not careful, we’ll give you to the worst creature you’ve ever seen. I was going to give you to one of the newer fighters first. He might even be a little gentle with you.”

“No, thank you,” she snarled. “Do your worst.”

And she could see it in his eyes. He was going to.

Good.

When he walked away, Rose stayed shaking her corner. “You don’t know what you’ve done!”

“I know exactly what I’ve done,” Maia replied, before sitting primly on her own cot. “I’ve given myself to the troll.”

ChapterForty-Two

RAGNAR

Ragnar bided his time. Every single troll tried to figure out if there was a way out of this prison, but there wasn’t. Even those who had stone magic, the ones who could sing to the very mountain, were unable to move the stones in this place. They were uniquely trapped. Perhaps there were even spells to prevent them from getting out.

He and his brother could wait for hours until it was the right time. Soon enough, he would find his bride again. Soon enough, he would destroy all who stood between him and Maia.

Time had no meaning in this place. Therefore, Ragnar had no idea how long it took for the door with no window to open. All he knew was that they had not been given any food or water. Perhaps they weren’t expected to live long enough to need such things.

The door opened and revealed bars on the other side— a barrier between them and three guards, who stood there looking rather bored. There was no way for the trolls to get them, but it was very easy for them to corral his people wherever they wanted them to go. Unless the trolls refused to move, that was.

One of the guards snickered. “If you want to eat, you’ll come out of that room. There’s food at the end of the hall. If you don’t want to eat, that’s fine. We don’t care if you starve.”

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