Page 110 of A Darkness So Sweet

A low chuckle filled the room. “It has been a long time since I have had water, but trolls are hardier than your people. We can go many days without water or food. I will not die, but you might.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “It’s not a choice anyone should have to make.”

“No, it isn’t. But it is the one I make in honor of your husband who saved my life.”

Again, her heart hurt. Because that wasn’t at all how Ragnar remembered it, and she desperately wanted these two to have a moment where they could clear the air. And perhaps, a lot of the guilt they carried between the two of them would finally disappear.

She drained the cup and then sat back down on the cot. “All right. What’s the plan?”

“There’s a portion of wall in the labyrinth that is flimsy. A group of trolls crashed through it in the early days, and I know for a fact they didn’t rebuild it strong enough. The only problem is that a group of trolls and yourself will need someone standing in the way for you to get all the way out. Once you’re out of the castle, the trolls should be able to fight their way out.”

“How were you going to do that on your own?”

He flashed her a grin that revealed a missing canine. “I was going to run very fast.”

“You were going to get killed.”

“Maybe. But at least then I would be free.”

She swallowed hard. “All right. Tell me everything you know about this section of the wall, where it is, and how long it’s going to take us to get through.”

“You really aren’t afraid of me,” he murmured.

“I’m a troll wife.” Maia laughed a bit before trying to get herself together. “And this is rather an unusual circumstance, isn’t it? It feels like a story people would tell in Trollveggen to scare their children at night.”

He hummed low under his breath and then used a curled claw to start drawing on the floor. “Let me show you the labyrinth, Maia, wife of Ragnar. And together, we will make a plan.”

ChapterForty-Four

RAGNAR

“He’s gone, Ragnar,” Gunnar said, grabbing onto his arm and tugging him away from the body of what had once been a troll he trusted. A troll who had fought beside him countless times.

Now, there wasn’t much left of him to save. Ragnar’s magic was depleted from days and days on end of trying to save those who’d been injured in this labyrinth. There wasn’t much else he could do, not with his magic hanging by the thinnest thread. He could heal bruises, but not a nearly severed head.

He allowed Gunnar to drag him away, staring at the blood splattered walls of the labyrinth that surrounded them. The king had quickly realized that with this many trolls, he couldn’t release them all together. It had taken him what felt like a week to find new human warriors for them to battle, and then he pulsed the trolls in. There was enough time for the trolls to get overwhelmed before another troll was released into the arena. Each new troll ran to the one who had come before them, trying desperately to reach them before the worst happened.

Ragnar had just done it for Gunnar, and Gunnar had done it for the trolls before them. But in the few weeks that they had been here, the multiple times they had suffered through this exact situation, they had lost too many. Six trolls out of the twelve who had been in the cell with them. Ragnar knew there were more in other areas of the prison. Trolls who had been captured with him, and likely others as well.

He just hoped they all reached the realm of the dead with their heads held high. They had fought well. They had died in glory and valor.

And someday, he would fight until his last breath to kill this king.

Breathing in deeply, he nodded and turned to his brother. “Let’s go. Where are the others?”

“In the center. It’s easier to defend.”

He took only the briefest moment to look up at the stands. He did it often these days. Anytime he paused to catch his breath, he stared up at her. His pillar of fire. A beacon to tell him he could keep going.

They ran. The humans were given better weapons, and they didn’t want to get caught by a larger group of the men. He and his brother were tired, hungry, thirsty. He didn’t know how much longer the trolls could all keep going like this. Soon enough, they would all make a mistake that would be their last.

When they made it to the center of the labyrinth, there was another familiar face waiting for them. Bjorn stood there, his horns tarnished with age and smeared with blood. His chest rose and fell with each breath, barely leashed rage gripping him as he stood there looking at the other trolls.

They’d all had run-ins with him. Bjorn did not give anyone even a hint of mercy. He’d killed multiple trolls already, or at least, that was what they were told. Ragnar had a feeling they were mercy kills, considering the details he’d heard. Bjorn only killed those who were already weak, or so injured they wouldn’t make it back to the others.

Easy pickings, a few of the trolls had told him. But Ragnar knew it wasn’t that. Bjorn gave the trolls a quick death, where the humans wouldn’t have.

“What are you doing here?” Ragnar asked, nodding for Gunnar to return to the others and make sure that their old friend hadn’t done any damage while they’d been gone. Gunnar was quick and light on his steps, skirting by the angry beast.

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