Page 43 of A Darkness So Sweet

“Would you like to walk to our new home?” he asked, his voice low. “Or would you prefer that I carry you again?”

“Is it safe enough to walk?”

Ragnar mused the possibilities before relenting, “I think you’ll be all right.”

“Then I’d like to walk.”

Her grin lit up the entire space around them, and for a moment, he swore that her eyes glowed a little brighter green.

Stone pathways led down into the city and soon enough, they were there. Ragnar led the way so she wouldn’t get too many stares walking behind him, but that didn’t last very long. The moment they walked underneath the first brightly colored canopy, she was already out from behind his back and rushing ahead of him. Markets were dotted throughout the kingdom, and this was one of the smaller ones.

Without a single glance at the trolls surrounding her, his little wife was quick to race toward one of the food stalls. She lurched to a stop in front of her, her wild hair billowing around her head as she stared down at the food.

“Carrots, sweet potatoes, radish, and is that ginger?” she asked, pointing at the root vegetable and looking up at him.

He wasn’t sure. Ragnar wasn’t the best cook, and he’d never taken the time to learn. He preferred meat, and trolls could live on only meat for their entire lives if they wished. Raw and still bloody had always been his favorite, but there were some trolls now who preferred to add a little more fiber to their diet. He’d never understood it.

“Sure it is,” he said, looking at the troll behind the stall. The woman bit her lips to stop herself from laughing. Then he placed his hand on Maia’s shoulder. “Come on. We have to get to the house.”

“Right,” she said quietly, but he could see her mind was working so fast that her thoughts were protected on her face. “How do they grow underground, though?”

“The wisps,” the shopkeeper said. Her eyes were bright with mirth, still. “The wisps help them grow with magic, although it takes a little more work than it does above.”

“Fascinating,” Maia murmured. Her hand stroked one of the bright green stalks. “They feel like they were happy.”

“No magic in the general area of other trolls,” he muttered, grabbing her hand and yanking her away.

She reacted like he’d struck her. Maia curled in on herself, as if terrified at what he would do for her for practicing even the slightest bit of magic. “Sorry. I’m... I’m so sorry.”

That wasn’t what he wanted her to do. He didn’t want her more afraid because of what he said, but he hadn’t expected her to touch things. Sighing, Ragnar rolled his eyes up to the blue glowing lights and prayed to all his gods for patience. “You’re allowed to do magic here, but touching a vendor’s wares who has likely used magic to grow them is a recipe for disaster. You don’t know what spells have been woven to keep them fresh, and you might undo those spells. Or worse, make them stronger.”

Maia swallowed, but she didn’t flinch away from him like he’d expected. Instead, she seemed to take a deep breath and force herself to look at him. Those wide eyes were still full of fear, but she nodded. “All right. I won’t touch anything without asking first.”

“Good.” He patted her shoulder before releasing her. “Let’s keep going.”

This time, she didn’t rush away from him. She stayed at his side, staring at all the things that were laid out for others to buy. Soon they left the market area that was filled with an overabundance of food and moved into the part of the city where jewelers filled the streets. Gemstones lined some of the stalls, not placed into any piece yet but just there for others to look at and buy. The enchantments on them fairly hummed with bright energy that he could feel vibrating throughout his entire form.

It was divine to be home. He could feel the mountain welcoming them both, and it eased some of the tension in his chest. At least, until they walked by a stall that was decorated by the most stunning earrings. They all swayed in a slight breeze, the sound of their gemstones clinking together filling his ears. The sparkles caught his attention first, but then it was the song a pair of them sang.

Stones were easy for trolls to hear. He’d listened to them his entire life, and now knew that the quiet hum of their voices was something he could ignore. But these green emeralds called out to him.

Their song was a little different from the others. Sometimes gems were quite loud in their need for people to look at them, but these were quieter. He couldn’t help but turn his attention to them.

They weren’t the hoops she currently had in her ears. Tiny studs with small, imperfect emeralds that each had the slightest fissure through them. That was why their song was different. Because when they had been harvested, they’d still been bonded to the mountain they’d lived in and they hadn’t wanted to let go of that mountain. For that, they had broken just slightly, but they were no less beautiful than the earrings surrounding them.

He couldn’t help himself. Her wearing someone else’s earrings had been tormenting him from the start. He paused by the vendor and gestured at the studs. “Those, please.”

The shopkeeper was one he knew well. His daughter was sickly, and had been for some time now. Fluid built up in her lungs, so Ragnar knew he would see her again very soon. The shopkeeper didn’t even mention payment. He just nodded at the earrings and turned to another customer, all while Maia continued walking forward without even noticing he’d stopped.

Perfect.

Ragnar wasn’t sure why he didn’t want her to know that he’d gotten them, only that he wanted her to be surprised. In such a short amount of time, he was coming to... like her. And he didn’t enjoy that feeling in the slightest.

But then he saw the sway of her hips and how she didn’t care that she was in literal rags at this point, walking through a city of trolls who were all beautifully dressed and dripping with gemstones. She didn’t even notice the differences because she was so busy staring at all the new things. It was clear that she implicitly trusted he would keep her safe.

He hated how that fueled some part of him that had always looked forward to having a troll wife. She was his to protect, his to guard. That was his purpose at the end of the day. He would bring her peace, and she would give him softness. It was a partnership that went beyond reason, because it was fate that had brought them together.

And, damn it, his fate was with a human. He could see it now. He just still wasn’t sure yet that he liked it.

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