Page 96 of A Darkness So Sweet

But he didn’t think that was what he heard in her voice. This would be easier if there was light in the room so he could read her expression. But the darkness encouraged a strange and brutal honesty between the two of them as well. He wanted to tell her the truth. He wanted to tell her everything that she wanted to know, all because it was easier with the darkness blanketing them.

“You will not stay there,” he rumbled. “Your place is here with me, Maia.”

“I don’t want to stay there. But I’m not sure that the humans will let me return.” Again, those tiny claws of her dug into his chest. “They gave me to you as a joke. They thought you would kill me, and likely assume that had already happened, considering the timeline. Bringing me to them, proving that I am well, don’t you think that will just make them more angry?”

“That’s not the point of you going.” And here was the mad part of this plan. “King Egil wants you to make a declaration before the court. That you are alive and well, and that we have treated you as you have always wished to be treated. You can embellish. I’m sure saying we treated you like a princess would raise people’s hopes a little too much. But he wants you to make it clear that there may be another path for them to choose, and a good one.” Ragnar swallowed hard. “He wants you to convince the women of your kingdom that there is a life here, and that we will take them willingly.”

Again, that silence. He had no idea what she was thinking, or if this plan was even possible. Maybe she didn’t believe that human women would come here at all.

“Those with elven bloodlines are rare among humans,” she whispered. “Getting them to come here when there are many options among the humans for their pairings... It’s no easy task, Ragnar.”

“The king wants you to make it clear that we are not only looking for those with strong, elven bloodlines. Ones with even a drop, like you, those are the people we wish to marry. And even those without. We will take them here in the mountain and provide them with work and a home.”

A soft gasp followed his words. “The king would take... all of them?”

“All of them.”

Maia sat up yet again, staring down at him in confusion. “Why would he do that? The mountain has always been off limit to humans. Few of the trolls here trust my kind, especially now that the humans are actively hunting them down, even on the mountain. That’s asking my people to come into a kingdom where they will most certainly be killed.”

“He is prepared to cast a decree that humans are allowed here. But they must marry us for access to this place, and they must do so willingly. That’s where you come in, fire hair.” He sank his hands into the curls on her head, allowing himself to feel the silken strands as they curved and tangled around his fingers. “You are the one who needs to convince them that we’re not monsters, and that we take care of what is ours.”

Ragnar drew her closer, his gaze on those plush pink lips. Lips he desperately wanted to kiss so that they could forget this conversation for a while. If only she would allow him to do so.

Her breath hitched, and he knew from the way her pink tongue darted out that she was thinking the same thing. “I don’t know if I can do that, Ragnar. You’re bringing me into a court full of people who are so incredibly pampered that the mere thought of leaving their comfort will seem foolish.”

“We don’t care if the nobility hear you. It’s the servants, the handmaids, the people who walk with those pampered fools that rule your kingdom. Those are the people we want to hear you say that there is another life with trolls who will worship the ground they walk upon.”

That lovely, beautiful mouth curved into a smile. “Is that what you do? Worship the ground I walk on?”

“Was that not obvious?”

“Well, you might have done a better job of it. If you wanted me to think you worshipped me, after all.”

He was done talking. They would continue this conversation after he’d made her scream in pleasure.

Ragnar rolled them until he was above her, braced on his forearms and pressing her down with his hips. “Would you like me to worship you now, wife?”

“If it pleases you.”

A hungry growl rumbled through him. “It would please me greatly.”

ChapterThirty-Nine

MAIA

Four days had seemed like more than enough to prepare herself. Maia had thought it would be easy to think of all the things she would say to the countless people who would hear her speak at this banquet. Four days would be plenty to get her outfit picked out, and to gather all the bravery she could muster around herself so that she didn’t feel like her heart was going to stop.

She’d been wrong.

Four days flew by faster than she could even think the words. Every moment of every day leading up to leaving was filled with trolls. The generals lectured her on safety. Inkeri made sure she met with the other troll wives who sewed her a dress so beautiful, all in white, just like the day she’d been taken. They cut her hair, made sure there wasn’t a speck of dirt underneath her nails, buffed her skin until she glowed.

All of it was exhausting, and every day she laid her head on the pillows and told herself she’d think about what she was going to say while she was falling asleep. Which she did, but then promptly forgot in the morning when she woke.

Then, the day before they were supposed to leave, she had to pack. Everyone became a whirlwind, all the hopes of the trolls landing on her shoulders even though Ragnar repeatedly told her that they all knew this was a longshot. None of the trolls had ever seen a human willingly choose them.

But she saw the young men who had joined their company to keep everyone else safe. She saw the way they had shaved the sides of their heads, and how their armor was well waxed or brand new. Maia knew they were trying to impress the women there, in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, a human woman would see them and think they were handsome enough to leave their homes for.

Gunnar had decided to go with them, against the wishes of all the healers who were seeing him. He swore he was fine, the whalers thought the should rest a bit more. But he was far too much like his brother. There was no waiting, in Gunnar’s opinion. He should be in the fight.

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