Page 11 of A Light So Blinding
That man peered out at him through the window in his own door, and flashed a grin of missing teeth. His lank, greasy hair had once likely been a shade of brown. But now the oils had made it so stiff and dark it was hard to tell what the color even was. His face was getting paler every week he was in here, revealing a fish belly shade that wasn’t the same as his tanned skin when he’d first come in through the door.
“Who do you think it is?” he asked Bjorn, his voice practically vibrating with excitement.
Bjorn didn’t talk to the humans. None of them had earned that right.
He merely turned his head to look at the guards who were walking toward them. They made it difficult to see who was hidden behind them, but he knew the type of woman. She’d be terrified. Curled in on herself, her arms around her waist, trying to make herself seem smaller because all of this should frighten her. The men in here weren’t anyone they wanted to be gifted to.
The guards had watchful expressions on their faces as they parted to reveal...
Her.
The woman he’d seen when he’d been tied up. The one kind enough to give him a drink. The one who looked nearly identical to the princess, but who had a softer heart. He had been able to tell just by looking at her. She’d hated that he was in pain and all his rage had disappeared at the first cool touch of her magic.
Shock made him grip the bars of his door, staring at her as she walked by. She wasn’t afraid. This woman held her head high as countless men jeered at her, reaching through the bars to touch a lock of her hair, doing everything they could to get her to even look at them.
Her dress of pearls had a single section on the right hip that was ruined. Some might not even notice it, but he did. The pearls rose in eight strands, each of them an arc that accentuated the curve of her hip, and one of those strands had broken. He wasn’t sure why that made him so angry, but it did. She deserved to be adorned like she had been. And now, someone had ruined that.
As the guards walked her by, he noticed she turned her head just slightly to look at him. Recognition flared in her eyes. She knew him, or at least, she knew of the monster she had seen hanging by his wrists. Like a dolt, he almost lifted his arms over his head as though that would make it easier for her to know that he was the same troll she had seen.
The priestess swallowed hard, and Bjorn knew he was the only one she allowed to see how frightened she was. For a few moments, the mask dropped. She wasn’t the proud woman who feared nothing. For a few moments, she was a prisoner thrown into a dungeon with starving men.
Bjorn wanted to rage. He would rip the door from its hinges if that would get him to her faster. She didn’t deserve this. No woman did.
What the guard was shouting finally broke through his thoughts. “The king has decided you lot deserve a gift! Fight hard tomorrow, and you’ll get yourself a priestess. For keeps!”
For keeps?
What the fuck did he meanfor keeps?
A million questions burned in his mind as she was moved forward. The priestess glided across the floor, her dress only barely skimming the dirt and blood that caked the room. He watched her go, terror burning in his chest until his gaze locked with the man across from him. And then it was rage that ignited inside him.
The human grinned, his remaining teeth bared with glee. “I’m going to get that one, Bull. I’ll keep you up all night listening to her screams.”
Bjorn knew damn well that wasn’t going to happen. She was his, he decided. His to protect.
His to win.
Five
Astrid
They kept her in a cell overnight. And throughout it all, she didn’t sleep. Astrid knew better than to let her guard down around men like this. She had lived with them for years, but always with the barrier that she was a priestess who couldn’t be touched. Now, all that had been stripped away.
This was her plan, though. She had known what she was getting into when she’d offered to take this role.
That troll was the one written about in the letter. She was certain of it. Looking at his features through the bars of his door, she knew it was him. Dark green skin, like pine trees in the shade, and horns that looked devilish in that low light. She’d nearly shuddered in fear at the sight of his eyes that glowed in the darkness. Some of them had eyes that reflected the light of the guards torches’, remnants from when they’d been more animal than man. But she hadn’t expected to see it just walking to her own cell.
Now, she had to figure out how to remove him from this place. She knew the setup of the labyrinth well. The dual-door system, how the gladiators were marched past all the nobility who would watch the coming fight, these features never changed.
It took her all night to figure out what they would do, but she wasn’t surprised when the guards came to get her the next evening. Her stomach grumbled for food, and her mouth was parched from a full day without water. But she knew she looked exactly how they had left her.
With her mask covering her mouth, the only thing they would be able to see were the hollows under her eyes. But those were always there. The guards found her still in the pristine dress that had remained exactly as it was yesterday. Her hair was still perfect because she hadn’t ever lain down.
“Come on, Priestess,” the guard at the windowless door said. “Time to march you past the peepers.”
“Peepers is a good name for them.” She stood and smoothed her hand down her dress, making sure everything was in place before striding up to him. “Should I expect touching?”
“Not from anyone until you get to the labyrinth. Then who knows what the warriors will do to you.” He looked her up and down, and she swore there was a flash of pity in his gaze.
