Donnacha stepped forward. Smiling through the disgust, he said through clenched teeth, “I am looking forward to being seen by your side.”
Her eyes glazed over. “Tell me why.”
Because he wanted the entire kingdom to remember his face when he escaped. Because he forever wanted to be known as the man who fooled the Troll Queen and her ugly daughter.
Instead of saying all that, Donnacha reached forward and touched a lock of her greasy hair. “That’s a secret for me to keep.”
“But why?” She pouted. “I want to know what your secret is! I’m good at keeping them.”
He was certain that was a lie. She seemed like the kind of creature who would have blabbed whatever she wanted to whomever would listen. But that was all right. He wasn’t going to tell her a thing, no matter how much she begged.
Donnacha shook his head and stepped back. “Another time, my bride. Now, let’s go out into the world and let the entire kingdom see us.”
The troll princess snapped her fingers, and the guards approached. They were much taller than her, blocks of gray stone that hardly looked like they should be able to move. Their armor was made of rock as well, something he’d have to ask his dwarven family how it was possible. He thought perhaps it was magic, which made them all the more dangerous.
He only came up to their hip anyway, it didn’t make sense for him to fight. They’d pound him into the ground, as the princess had so eloquently said, before he had any idea what was happening. And he much preferred to stay alive and well.
The troll princess immediately approached him. She smelled like wet earth, mulch that had festered and was now filled with mold. His nose wrinkled, but he stayed where he was. If the guards saw him flinch, they’d likely toss him toward her. And once the princess had her fingers in him, he wasn’t sure she’d ever let go.
He winced when she leaned close and sniffed him. “Oh, you’re going to be the most lovely pet I’ve ever had,” she murmured.
“Glad to know that.”
“You should be much happier to have my attentions, you know. Most people would kill for them.”
Or to get away from them, he thought. Semantics really.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Come on then, follow me.”
He trailed after her and tried his best not to look into the other dungeon cells. He already knew what manner of creatures were there. It might have been easier if he’d seen other faeries of his own kind. If the trolls hated other people more than they hated each other.
That was not the case. Instead, the dungeon was filled with hundreds of other trolls, creatures whose rock-like skin had since cracked from misuse. Whose haunted eyes watched him with curiosity and hunger.
They would have eaten him if he wandered into one of their cells. He was certain of that. One of the creatures had even grown into the wall of his cell. Desperation sometimes led trolls to becoming part of the earth. They thought it was a way for them to get their power back. Unfortunately, it rarely worked. From what Donnacha had heard, it was a fitting death for those who tried to steal from the Otherworld itself.
Up the stairs, they went into a sun that blinded him. He held up a hand to his stinging eyes, shocked at how bright it was. Had it always been daylight here? He’d thought the Troll Kingdom was stormy.
“Donnacha!” the Troll Queen called out. “How lovely to see you’re still alive. My daughter hasn’t killed you yet, then.”
“Your hospitality has left nothing wanting,” he muttered.
“Glad to hear it. Tie him onto a horse. Would one of you useless idiots do something for once?”
A guard picked him up under the arms and plopped him on top of the nearest horse. Donnacha scrambled for the reigns, shocked they’d handled him like a child. It was exceedingly rude to just pick up a dwarf. Gods, he hated these people.
Why weren’t the others riding? When Donnacha’s eyes finally adjusted, he realized the trolls were just…standing there. Waiting for him to be ready. When he was situated, the princess stood next to him. Her head was at his height now, even though he was atop a horse. How large was this woman? He’d forgotten what she looked like while he was in a human form, and not through the fog of a mirror.
Beady eyes stared up at him with far too much interest. “You’re much more handsome up close.”
“Thank you,” he muttered.
The Troll Queen called the march to begin, and the trolls moved forward as one. There weren’t gates to the castle. Instead, there was a line of trolls as far as the eye could see standing in front of them in a line.
The princess waved to everyone as she walked, although she didn’t look as though she truly recognized any of them. In fact, no one seemed happy to be there at all. The trolls on the sidelines were glaring at the others as if they wanted to start a fight.
Donnacha tried to remember his limited knowledge of these creatures. There weren’t nobles other than the royal family. Which meant the creatures walking with him had to be chosen by the queen. Such a choice would certainly make some of them very uncomfortable. In fact, he could tell they wanted to see blood spilled.
He didn’t need to get caught in the middle of a troll fight. He wouldn’t survive.
Blowing out a nervous breath, he glanced around, watching for any kind of weapon to be drawn. So far, he was lucky that no one threw a fist. But there was a long way to go.
He desperately wished for his own weapons. A sword, an axe, anything that he could have thrown at an enemy or sank between a troll’s ribs. Swords weren’t likely to cut through troll flesh, but a man could dream.
Then he saw it. The
