Page 9 of Sorcery, Swords & Scones
“They didn’t.” The dwarf drew in a long breath and held Sass’s eyes. “But the fiancée you left behind did.”
A shiver ran through her. Florin Trollbane, future ruler of the Black Ridge, wasn’t someone to be trifled with, and Sass had a sinking feeling that her former intended would not be nearly as forgiving as Thrain.
Six
Sass stood quickly and paced.“Why would Florin come after me? Why would anyone want to chase down the dwarf who ran out on them? Florin still can’t want to marry me.”
But she knew very well why someone like Florin would want to find her—punishment, revenge, retribution for the humiliation Sass had inflicted when she snuck away in the dead of night.
Thrain crossed one leg over the other at the knee as he watched her stride back and forth. “Florin claims you took something when you ran off.”
Sass stopped pacing and spun to face her friend, her blood running cold. “This is about the amulet?”
“If that’s the engagement present Florin gave you and you kept, then yes.”
Sass fought the urge to glance up toward her room above the tavern. As much as she trusted Thrain, she didn’t want him to know that she'd stored the valuable jewel under her saggy mattress all this time.
Sass thought back to the opulent engagement party her parents had thrown for her and Florin. The palace beneath the mountains had been aglow with hanging lanterns, and music had echoedoff the glittering black stone that surrounded them. Tables had groaned under the weight of the feast, with spiced mead as sweet and free-flowing as a summer stream.
The Thornshields and Trollbanes had toasted and cheered their upcoming alliance, the royals thumping their axes and pounding their fists. Sass hadn’t spent more than a handful of moments with Florin. Only time enough for gifts to be exchanged—an exquisite silver amulet for her and a jewel-encrusted ring for Florin—and a brief kiss shared as the crowd cheered.
But the kiss had been enough to tell Sass that she couldn’t go through with it. If you could call the perfunctory brush of cool lips across hers a kiss. Sass grimaced even now as she thought of the hard, calculating look in Florin’s eyes and the smug, possessive smile. Even with her fiancée’s amulet encircling her neck, the silver prickling as if it was marking her as Florin’s property, Sass had decided then and there to run.
“If that’s all Florin wants, I’ll give it back.”
Like all dwarves, even one who’d run far from her ancestral land, she appreciated finely crafted jewelry. There was no question that the glittering amulet boasted exceptional design and intricate metalworking. One reason Sass hadn’t left it behind was its value. Who knew when she might need something worth trading on her journey?
But it had been exactly that same value that had kept her from pawning it, even when she’d been desperate. It had felt wrong to sell something that she knew had been artfully crafted by skilled dwarf metalworkers. No one in the Ageless Lands would have given her what it was truly worth. Now she was glad she hadn’t exchanged it to the bandy-legged sailor in Eldu who’d offered her passage to Port Frey or the trader near Greyhelm Castle who’d assured her that the eggs he wanted to trade would hatch dragons.
Sass put her hands on her hips and faced Thrain. “I’ll give you the amulet, and you can return it for me without ever revealing where you found me. Everyone wins.”
“Were it only that easy, Sass.”
“What?” Sass threw her arms wide and let her voice rise. “Why can’t it be that easy? Florin wants the amulet. I can relinquish the amulet and stay here. Everyone gets what they want.”
She suspected her family would not be getting what they wanted, which was a valuable alliance with the Trollbane clan, but she couldn’t dwell on that. It wasn’t like anyone had considered her happiness when they’d made the deal to marry her off to someone as cold as Florin.
“Do you remember when Florin visited our mountain when we were children? She lost a game of dwarf runes and tossed all our rune tiles into the deepest trench in the Ice Lands.”
Sass’s heart plummeted. She remembered losing her beloved runes all too well. It was one of the reasons she’d never played any game with Florin again. The dwarf was not a gracious loser.
“It’s not only the amulet that Florin wants back, Sass.” For the first time since he’d arrived, Thrain’s expression teetered toward sympathetic. “The Trollbanes insist that you honor the marriage pact.”
Sass spluttered her protests. “Why? Who would want to marry someone who crossed the Ice Lands to get away from them?”
But she knew the answer to that. The Trollbanes were known far and wide for their tenacity, their ability to pursue a vein of precious metal embedded in unforgiving rock for as long and far as needed. She shouldn’t be surprised that they would refuse to release her or her family from the engagement. It wasn’t about what she wanted. It was about what had been promised.
Never cross a Trollbane.
She’d grown up hearing that repeated like a mantra. And what had she done the first chance she’d gotten? She’d crossed a Trollbane.
Thrain scraped his fingers through his beard. “It also may have something to do with her mother’s failing health. Florin needs analliance to shore up her power, especially since certain Trollbanes favor her sister.”
“And what if I refuse?” Sass could hear the shake in her voice, and she despised it.
Thrain slammed a hand on the table as he stood, his cheeks reddening. “It’s not that simple, Sass!” His bellow rattled her bones and made her rear back. “The Trollbanes claim that they will take retribution our clan if you don’t return with the amulet and marry Florin.”
Retribution from the Trollbanes could never be good. Could Sass live with herself if she caused such strife for her family?
