Page 95 of A Light So Blinding
But the sisterhood had been countless women altogether in wonderful harmony. She’d loved having so many sisters to learn and grow with, people who cared about her well-being, and the feminine energy that always made every room feel beautiful.
Rose and Maia worked rather well together. They moved as though they knew where the other was going to go, politely side-stepping without a word as they went about cleaning. It was so easy for her to fit in with them until it felt almost like they were dancing.
The home hadn’t been cleaned in a very long time. Nearly ten years, if she heard correctly about Dag the Destroyer’s death. But somehow, it felt like ten years still wasn’t enough to build up the amount of grime they washed from the floors and off thecounters. It took effort for them to really get the thick dirt off of everything, especially around the front door.
That wasn’t from years of being closed up. She knew that.
Whoever Bjorn’s father had been, he hadn’t been a good one. She was muttering something to that effect, carrying yet another bucket of water to the living room and having half a mind to just empty the whole thing onto the stones and then go back for another without even attempting to mop it.
Rose stood in her way though, and it looked like her sister’s gaze was actually clear for once. Astrid froze, uncertain what to do right now. The last time she’d tried to have a real conversation with Rose, it had all gone downhill very quickly.
“Did you want to say something?” Astrid breathed, praying she didn’t sound too hopeful. She knew coming on strong would only chase her sister away yet again, but she really was... hopeful.
Rose took a deep breath, and it was very clear she was steadying herself for the conversation ahead. “I don’t want to leave this place.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“I just want to go where you are happiest, Rose. I want to have a relationship with you again. I have missed you for years and...” Astrid tried to think of the words that wouldn’t make her sound desperate, and finally ended with a simple plea. “I just hope you still want me in your life.”
“Why wouldn’t I want you in my life?” Rose sounded like she genuinely meant those words.
Deep inside of Astrid, something started to heal. Bit by bit, piece by piece. “Because I failed. I didn’t find you when you were right under my nose. The first place I should have looked was the labyrinth. Both of us knew how cruel the king was, and I knew... I knew he had paired you with a cruel lord. The meeting couldn’thave gone well. It wouldn’t have gone well for anyone. But I was so wrapped up in everything else that I didn’t even think he would send you...”
There, she wanted to say. She hadn’t thought he would ever send her sister to the labyrinth. Not when Astrid was a favored priestess, and so powerful.
The king had always been fond of Astrid. Her lord had been a kind man, and Tolly had never tried to touch her when many of the other lords would have. Astrid had been given a rather favored position, when many priestesses had not.
Rose shook her head. “I knew you were keeping yourself safe. You know I saw you once, through the bars of my cage when I was one of the prizes. You were so pretty sitting next to your lord. Glowing like a beacon of hope. I knew you’d have come for me if you'd discovered where I was, but I hid. I didn’t want you to know that I was there.”
“Why would you do that?”
Rose shrugged, lifting her arms in a defeated gesture. “I’m broken, Astrid. I broke the first few months I was there. I wasn’t strong enough to survive what they put me through, and my magic is only good for me. They knew what they were doing. They know how to break people in that place. If you had managed to find me in there, you would’ve found me even more broken than I am now.”
“I wish I had,” Astrid burst out, desperately wanting to hug her sister. But even she could see how little Rose liked to be touched. “I would have loved you, no matter what state you were in.”
“I don’t think anyone could have loved me like that,” Rose whispered. “But I’m glad you’re here now, all the same. And I’d like to stay here, if we can.”
Her heart shattered. This was what she’d always dreamt of, and yet somehow it felt like Rose was begging her to allow themto stay here. She nodded, sloshing water onto the floor and all down the front of her spider silk dress that she’d completely forgotten she was wearing. “Yes. Yes, of course. I would love to stay here too. I was going to pick you over anyone else, but I... I...”
Maia walked by, blowing a red curl out of her face. “You found yourself a troll husband. It’s hard to leave them, trust me. I know.”
“Well, I’ve seen yours.” Astrid just set the bucket down. Perhaps they could all use a break. “He’s huge.”
“Bjorn will be bigger once he puts weight back on, I bet. He was massive when I saw him in the labyrinth, but they thought starving him would be a better punishment.” Maia set her own mop down and then turned toward them. “What do you say we all head to the market?”
Astrid thought that was a lovely idea. She hadn’t been able to explore it yesterday. And while she’d take another romp beneath the sheets with Bjorn over an adventure in the market, her troll husband wasn’t here.
Husband, she thought with a giddy laugh. She hadn’t thought of him as her husband until this moment, but it appeared they were going to stay together.
She’d have to tell him that when they saw each other next. She was staying, and nothing was going to change that now.
“Is it safe?” Rose asked, her voice so small and tiny that it was almost painful to hear her speak. “I remember the market being unwelcoming to humans.”
Maia headed toward the door and grabbed what must have been Rose’s cloak. It was a sturdy thing, left outside rather than bringing it into the dust. With practiced hands, Maia wrapped it around Rose’s shoulders and firmly tightened it. Almost like a vise. And just like that, all the tension in Rose’s body seemed to leak out.
It made something in Astrid’s heart twinge to see another woman caring for her sister so well, as Maia lifted the hood of the cloak and draped it over Rose’s face. “We need to get your sister something else to wear. Right, Rose? She can’t walk around like a princess the whole time she’s here, can she?”
