Page 88 of A Light So Blinding
He still stood in front of the door leading into that meeting room. His expression was a little odd, his eyes far away as he stared down the hall. She looked in the same direction, but shedidn’t see anyone who was looking back at him or anything strange.
“Bjorn?” she asked quietly, reaching out to touch his arm.
He shook himself out of whatever stupor he’d been in and looked down at her. His gaze cleared as if he hadn’t realized he was staring. “Astrid. I was just coming to find you.”
“I figured you were.” She glanced around them, trying not to appear so nervous. “I don’t suppose you know where we’re staying tonight? I would like to get clean and... Well, it seems like your city is far more civilized than I had originally thought. The people here are so elegant, and I feel underdressed.”
That seemed to shake him the rest of the way out of his discomfort. His gaze softened, and a small smile crossed his features. “You wish for a bath?”
“If possible. I know that’s a lot to ask considering the amount of work it takes.”
She used to hate asking the maids for a bath. It took nearly an hour for them to heat all the water and then lug it to the tub, but she knew very well that that was the only way to do it. How long had it been since she’d actually bathed? With all the travel, just dipping her body into a running stream of water wasn’t doing it anymore. She needed soap. She needed a sponge. And perhaps some time to soften all the dead skin on her body so she could scrub it all off again.
Bjorn shook his head at her words. “I forgot humans are so backward. We have running water here. Hot water from the springs in the mountain. It takes nothing to run a bath.”
“Oh.”
Another plus for his side, she supposed. If she didn’t have to wait to take a bath whenever she wanted, it suddenly didn’t seem quite so difficult to stay here.
He planted his hand on her back, and they started back down the hall. She was rather distracted by a beautiful troll womanwith emerald green skin dripping in what looked like diamonds. Literally dripping with them. She had diamonds hanging from her ears, her neck, her arms, pierced through her claws, there were hundreds of them dotting all over her body. It was wondrous to look at.
But then they were out the door, and Bjorn murmured, “How is your sister?”
The world felt like it came crashing down a second time. He guided her back down the steps, returning to the market and the homes that dotted the streets. It would have been so much easier to pretend that the conversation with Rose had never happened, but she knew very well that she couldn’t.
Sighing, she shook her head. “My sister is not the same as she was before. I didn’t expect her to be, of course. After everything I saw myself in the labyrinth, I couldn’t imagine that she wouldn’t have some wounds. But she seems almost unreasonable. Certainly not herself.”
“The things I know that happened to women like her were cruel, and they broke even the strongest of minds.” Someone bumped into her, and his hand flexed against her back as he guided her through the crowd. “You were lucky I could spare you that.”
Astrid was still troubled by her sister’s reaction. So troubled, in fact, that she barely saw the streets they walked through. Bjorn moved her quickly, but she was used to that too. He didn’t like it when people stared at him, and he didn’t like crowds forming around them.
Unfortunately, that was all they seemed to get now that they had returned to the troll kingdom. It had made sense in the grotto. Those people were all his friends and family, and they had been terribly worried for his life. Some of them had likely even given up hope they would ever find him again, and that was understandable. He’d been gone for ten years.
She knew a bit of what that was like. For ten years she had prayed for her sister’s return. Astrid had never given up hope, because that emotion was the only thing she could cling to.
Hope that her sister was still alive. Hope that their relationship could be mended no matter what had befallen her dear, gentle sister, who had never even harmed a spider in a garden.
Now, she wasn’t so sure.
She sidestepped a troll who was heading through the streets with a cart tied to his back. Unfortunately, she wasn’t quick enough to entirely get out of his way. Bjorn had to lift her up just to make sure she didn’t get run over. The man grunted at her, but he didn’t seem to react as much as the trolls in the grotto had. Which was odd, she thought. Considering the trolls in the grotto had been rather surprised to see a human woman walking among them.
But not here. Not in Trollveggen. It almost seemed as though these trolls were expecting to see her kind.
“Bjorn?” she asked, blinking to clear her mind of the dark thoughts. “Do any humans live here with the trolls?”
“Some,” he grunted. There was a darker stain on his cheeks as they stood still in a small crowd to cross the busy street. His eyes swept left to right, surveying everyone around them. “From what I gather, King Egil made a statement to all the humans in your kingdom. They would take brides and offer your kind a better place to live than your own kingdom.”
Astrid couldn’t stop herself from looking now. Every now and then, although it was rare, she would actually see a human woman. There weren’t many. She was certain that would take time for anyone in her own kingdom to realize that the offer wasn’t a trick. But there were plenty of women who would take anything to get out of the situation they were in.
There were enough priestesses who felt the same. She was certain of that. If she could get a letter back to the sisterhood, she figured she could get far more powerful women here than their king could. After all, there were a lot of priestesses currently laboring under fat, sweaty lords who had no clue what a gem they had been given.
Thoughts swirled in her mind. Rose didn’t want to leave here, and that was all right. Astrid didn’t really want to leave here either now that she’d seen its charm and majesty. Perhaps even better than where they had come from.
Besides, it was a good excuse to stay with Bjorn. Glancing over at the hulking creature beside her, she realized two things rather instantly.
She wanted to stay with him.
And she wanted him.
