Page 97 of A Darkness So Sweet

She stood with Ragnar now at the base of the mountain, wondering where all that time had gone. She swore she’d had a few moments where she should have been able to think of what she was going to say and yet... now all that time had run out. Now they were here, ready to head to the castle that she could already see looming on the horizon.

Maia was surprised at how much she feared returning home. Part of her had thought she’d want to go back to her father’s house. Maybe even beg to go back to her home, where she was sure someone else now lived. An empty building like that wasn’t left empty for all that long. And yet...

She didn’t want to. She didn’t care if someone was living in that building, or if her garden had been destroyed. Because now she had another home, one without the ghost of her father looming over her head. She had a garden as well, although that was shared with a grumpy troll who didn’t like listening to her or the plants. But that didn’t matter, because it was a garden full of wild grown plants rather than cultivated flowers.

Ragnar reached for her hand, squeezing it tightly before they started off. The troll king had made it very clear that Ragnar and Maia were to be at the front of the pack. He wanted their entire entourage to walk through the city streets before they made their way to the castle. A spectacle, apparently. That was what King Egil wanted them to be. Every single person in her old home would stare at them, and somehow that made her want to turn right back around and leave.

“You’re still doing okay?” he asked as they approached the city gates.

“I just don’t want people to look at me.”

“You’re a troll wife. You can be proud of that.”

“I just worry that they’re...” She paused and then glared at him when he stiffened. “I’m not ashamed of walking in with a lot of trolls—you can get that out of your head.”

“Well, that’s what it seems like.”

“I just don’t like them looking at me! I didn’t when I lived here, and I definitely don’t now. I know the mean and aggressive things they’re going to say, not just about your people, but about me.” Maia rubbed her arm with her free hand. “That soldier called me a troll whore. It’s quite the difference fromwife.”

They headed into the city and there was already a crowd of people gathered there. So many vaguely recognizable faces. The baker’s wife, and the baker himself. A painter who had once done a portrait of her father for above the mantle. A kindly old woman who had once begged Maia’s father for a few flowers to put on her husband’s grave. Countless people who’d once been part of her life, and they were all standing at the edge of the street, staring with open mouths as Ragnar stopped the entire train of trolls to turn to her.

He framed her face with one hand, carefully, gently. And then he turned her to look at only him.

Leaning close, just like he had on their wedding day, he moved like he was going to kiss her so that only Maia could hear him. And for a moment, she thought he was going to say again that she would never be his wife.

Until he rumbled low and almost impossible to hear, “If there is any troll whore, it’s me. Even now, I want you, my wife. Don’t tempt me to show them just how much.”

Her jaw nearly dropped open at the same time her entire body flared with heat. He couldn’t justsaythat in public, could he? The man was dastardly. Wicked. Awful.

But he’d made her forget that there was a crowd of people staring at them like there was something wrong with what they were doing.

Grabbing his shirt, she tugged him down for a real kiss. As though it was only the two of them standing in this crowded space, and no one else mattered. Because at the end of the day, no one else did.

They were here. They were alive. And she was going to kiss her husband when he said something like that.

The crowd gasped, and a few people even made little shrieking noises of shock as she kissed the troll who had given her the world. Maia didn’t let it be a quick kiss, either. She held him there with his shirt in her fist, making sure that she got a good taste of him before she drew back. And then, with a grin on her face that she was certain made it clear that she was pleased with herself, she started up the hill toward the castle.

Let everyone stare. Let them think whatever they wanted of her, because she had a husband who wasn’t ashamed to kiss her in front of a crowd of people and lay his claim. Just as it should be.

With her head held high, she walked with Ragnar and the other trolls to the castle. In her white gown, she must have looked quite the sight. A forgotten bride returning to the scene of a crime where both she and her husband had been the victims. And then they strode into the same throne room where the wedding had taken place.

Countless people waited for them. Maia had been so nervous during that wedding, she hadn’t looked around to see if there’d been any people she recognized. And there still weren’t.

But Ragnar grumbled beside her, and she heard a few distinct growls from the trolls surrounding her. But they weren’t growls of recognition. She wondered if the trolls didn’t see any familiar faces, either. The thought made the hairs on her arms stand on end.

Rather than an open space like the wedding had been, packed full of people who had no idea they weren’t about to see their princess get married, now the room was full of tables. Just banquet tables that were laden with food, so much so that it was piled on top of each other. At least three whole pigs, their mouths stuffed with apples. More vegetables than she could count—eggplants, peppers, asparagus, potatoes…all laid out among sausage links and platters of fish.

She’d never seen so much food all at once before, and she knew that wasn’t a coincidence. King James was making a point, and that was a point very, very well made. Even the trolls seemed a little taken aback by the amount of food that was on those tables.

Her gaze made its way between the tables, all the way up to the king who sat on his throne. He didn’t look bothered by the massive amount of trolls who were entering. Nor did he seem all that surprised that she was still alive, but she had to believe that was all a mask.

King James had given her away because he didn’t believe that she would make it. He’d thought, and perhaps even hoped, that the trolls were every bit the animals he believed they were.

Her breath caught in her lungs when she locked eyes with him. Because this was a very powerful man, and he knew they wouldn’t ask for an audience for no reason. He had to know the trolls had a plan. What would he do when he realized she was here to convince people to leave his kingdom? Would he try to kill her?

“Bravery and strength,” Ragnar said before placing his hand on the small of her back. “Come with me, troll wife. Let’s show them why it’s better to be a troll.”

She could do this. With him at her side, she could do anything.

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