She pushed him away. “Who said we were dating?”
“Then why are you crying?”
She brushed her tears away. “You should have told me. You should have trusted me.”
He glanced over at the trolls. “I’ll explain later, but for now, we have a bigger problem.”
She noticed that the trolls were watching her curiously and exchanging guilty looks. Perhaps they thought they were the cause of her tears.
While Silas talked to them, she dried her face and squared her shoulders. She’d deal with him and Puff later.
There is no Puff. A sense of grief hit her hard, then she berated herself. Puff wasn’t gone. He was Silas.
But it would never be the same. The Puff she knew was gone.
“They want us to come with them,” Silas said as he leaned over to grab the canvas sack.
He took her by the elbow, but she pulled away and walked silently beside him.
The trolls led them down a path through the forest. She counted six in front. Behind them, there were a dozen more. On either side, a few trolls were weaving through the trees. Her heart thudded. There was no way to escape.
“Don’t worry,” Silas murmured. “They said they only want to show us something.”
“A boiling pot over a fire?” she muttered.
Silas winced, then leaned close to whisper, “They’re not cannibals. Watch what you say. They understand more Norveshki than they let on.”
She clenched and released her hands, trying to remain calm. But her mind kept racing with all the horror stories she remembered from Torushki’s Bedtime Tales of a Mountain Troll.
“They’re not a violent people,” Silas whispered.
“They have spears.”
“For hunting. They’re excellent hunters.”
“Are we excellent prey?”
He snorted. “They know who I am. They won’t dare harm me for fear of retaliation.”
“Are they holding you for ransom? Or maybe they saw the crown and they want it?”
Silas shook his head. “They have a longtime hatred of gold and jewels. They live off the land and are very much in tune with it.” He glanced at her. “They referred to you as the Healer. I think it’s you they’re interested in.”
She swallowed hard. If there was an injured troll, she couldn’t do much without any medicinal herbs. Would that make them angry? “Who are they? Where do they come from?”
“I’ll explain later.”
She scoffed. “I’ll add it to the ever-growing list.”
He sighed. “I understand you’re a little angry.”
“A little?”
“Gwen.” He stopped and told hold of her shoulders. “What do you think happens to people who figure out the state’s most guarded secret?”
She tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip.
His eyes flared a molten gold. “They are never allowed to leave the country.”
Her mouth dropped open.
He closed his eyes briefly with a pained expression. When he looked at her again, his eyes were green once more. “I know how much you want to go home to your sisters. I know how eager you are to leave me behind.”
The trolls behind them yelled something, and Silas replied as he released her.
“They want us to keep moving.” He motioned for her to walk.
Her mind swirled as she fell into step beside him. So he had kept the secret in order to protect her. He’d wanted her to have the freedom to leave if she wished. And she would lose that freedom if anyone learned that she knew the big secret. “You won’t tell anyone that I know?”
He shook his head. “I know you want to leave.”
“I would never tell anyone your secret.”
“I know.”
He did trust her. Her heart swelled. He had been the one to save her from falling to her death. He had saved her from going over the waterfall. He’d always been there for her.
Puff’s voice that she loved so much had always been his voice. His sense of honor was the same as Puff’s. His sense of humor the same. His courage and gentleness.
“I accept your apology.” She touched his hand.
He enveloped her hand in his. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you. You’ve rescued me twice.”
“Three times if you include the dungeon.” His mouth twitched as he laced his fingers with hers. “But who’s counting?”
She smiled. As they walked, she became increasingly aware of their linked hands. Goddesses help her, she was dating a dragon. But she could never tell anyone what Silas truly was. Rule number four played through her mind. Never tell a dragon’s secrets.
The trolls in front looked back and told Silas something.
“What is it?” she asked. “What do they want?”
“We’re about to find out.” Silas pointed at the clearing ahead of them. “That’s their village.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Thank you.” Gwennore smiled at the young female troll who was handing her a wooden bowl filled with a golden liquid. “What is this?” she whispered to Silas.
“It’s a mead they make from honey,” Silas whispered back. “They only drink it for special occasions.”
“Aren’t we lucky?” She took a sniff, and her eyes watered from the alcoholic fumes.
“If you don’t drink it, you’ll hurt their feelings.”
He smiled as he accepted a bowl from the young woman, then said a few words. Thanking her, Gwennore assumed.
After arriving in the troll village, she and Silas had been invited to sit on two pillows of embroidered felt in front of the chieftain’s tent. The other villagers were sitting on plain linen pillows, so she and Silas had been given the best the trolls had to offer.
The village consisted of tents of brightly colored felt, erected in a large circle. For now, all the villagers were sitting in a smaller circle, watching her curiously.
Once everyone had a bowl of mead, they lifted their bowls in the air and shouted a cheer. Silas did the same, motioning with his free hand for Gwennore to follow suit.
The trolls gulped down their mead, then slammed their empty bowls onto the ground.
“Bottoms up,” Silas murmured, then downed his bowl.
Gwennore took a sip and nearly choked as the mead went down like liquid fire. Holy goddesses, this was the strongest alcohol she’d ever tasted.
Silas slammed his empty bowl down, and the trolls cheered. Then they
