Page 16 of A Light So Blinding
“She’s got the right idea,” Rabbit said, before he lunged in front of the crowd of trolls. “High king! Trolls do not do this in front of the eyes of so many.”
“He will do it if he wishes to live,” King James shouted back.
“I believe we can still save the honor of this warrior and woman! May I suggest you shall hear only the sounds of their pleasure rather than watching? It will keep our people... happier.” Rabbit bowed low and swung out a dramatic arm.
The sounds? What the fuck was Rabbit going on about? Bjorn wasn’t going to fuck her in front of all of these humans, and he certainly wasn’t going to put on a show for them all. This was wrong. This was what evil people did, and even though he had been a murderer for years now, he had never considered himself evil.
But the priestess, she seemed to understand the plan. She called out, “The order of priestesses forbids sexual acts! I will not have my honor destroyed by being seen doing this. You would be dishonoring not only me, but my entire sisterhood.”
Murmurs erupted throughout the crowd. It seemed there were many who agreed with her. They wanted her honor affected. They wanted her torn down. But they did not wish to see it happen before their own eyes. Typical.
So many of these people wanted the outcome of ruin, but they only wanted to see the aftermath.
The king seemed to think about this before he finally nodded and waved a hand, as though that was all that was required in this moment. With a wave of a hand, a woman’s life was ruined.
“Thank you, oh marvelous king,” Rabbit called out, before whirling upon them. “Trolls. Hide them.”
Suddenly, a wall of trolls surrounded the two of them, facing inward. They all took the order very seriously, pressing their bodies so close together that he didn’t think anyone would have seen through the wall of flesh. A hand pressed against his shoulder, shoving him down onto his knees so the trolls could bend over them as well, preventing anyone in the highest seats from seeing what happened.
His people, at risk to their own lives, created a bubble of safety with their bodies. The priestess was crouched on the opposite side, looking up into troll faces that were likely terrifying to see. Most of these men and women were covered in blood and mud. They were multicolored, with tusks that arched up from their faces. Many of them were splattered with not only blood, but organs and meat that hung from their teeth.
They had fought hard and long. They deserved rest after what they had done, and had every reason not to help him, but... they did.
For Bjorn.
For a woman they did not know.
A spark in his chest burst to life, brighter than he had ever felt. This was what his people stood for. This was why he hadloved them fiercely and never fallen into madness like he so easily could have.
Rabbit wrestled his way through the group, his yellow face appearing through the folds of skin and muscle. “Well? Make it sound believable!”
What the fuck was he going on about now? Bjorn was having a hard time keeping up with this, but maybe it was the rage that was still making his fingers shake with a need to tear the king’s head off his body.
“Oh!” Astrid said, her face turning scarlet. “I don’t know how to make it sound that loud.”
One of the female trolls next to her snorted. “Have you ever eaten whipped cream?”
“Like... milk beaten until it’s frothy?”
“With sugar mixed in.”
“Right, yes, of course I have.”
“Over strawberries?” The troll woman’s eyes went a little glassy at the thought, and Bjorn hated that she’d been kept away from something she so clearly loved.
The priestess opened her mouth, closed it, and then nodded. “Understood. That’s easy enough.”
She settled onto her knees. She looked very much like she was about to pray, with her bottom resting against her feet and her hands neatly settled onto her thighs. Even smeared in mud and blood as she was, he understood why they called her priestess. She looked like she was made of starlight, a being sent by the gods themselves for him to remember that he did not deserve to touch perfection.
Then the priestess let out the loudest, most ungodly moan he had ever heard in his life.
His mouth dropped open at the pure pleasure that seemingly ripped out of her. It was a moan unlike anything he’d ever heard. Although there were perhaps sparks of memory where he knewthat was the correct sound for a woman to make, not the screams or cries for mercy that he heard echoing down the cell halls.
He was staring. Most of the men were as she closed her eyes for concentration and did it again.
Bjorn was suddenly very, very uncomfortable.
Until Rabbit hit him over the back of the head and hissed, “Now it’s your turn! No one’s going to believe you’re just silent through the whole thing. You’re damn loud killing people, you might as well be loud here too.”
