Holding up the exquisite piece, she let the light of the moon reflect on it. “A gift for the person who tells me why the dwarf is here and lets me have a few moments alone with him.”
The troll princess watched the golden apple with greedy eyes. “I want it.”
“You can have it, if you give me what I want.”
“Mummy says no one else can know the dwarf is here.” The troll princess chewed on her lip and held out her hand. “But no one else has that.”
“That’s because this apple is one of a kind. No one else in the Otherworld or the human realms has ever seen anything like it. It’s made of magic and so much power you can feel it when you’re holding it.” Elva turned it in her fingers. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“It is.”
“Then do you want it?”
The troll princess jumped once, making the ground shake. “I do!”
“Why is the dwarf here?”
“To marry me. Mummy said I could have any mate I wanted for my children, and I picked him. The dwarf said marriage was better than just a mate, so we’re going to have a wedding. I don’t like waiting, but he said it was better. Can I have it now?”
Crafty. Donnacha had made himself enough time for her to get here. That was far more useful than experiencing whatever the mating process would be with this creature.
Elva shook her head. “Not yet. I want to see the dwarf for myself. Can you do that?”
“Mummy said no!”
“Do you always do what your mother tells you to do? You’re the princess, aren’t you?”
The troll princess took a few steps forward, hands reaching out and fingers curling in the air. “I want it.”
“Then give me a few minutes with the dwarf. I’m not going to do anything. I just want to see this husband of yours for myself.”
“Fine,” the troll princess snarled. “I’ll take you to him.”
Elva tossed the golden apple to the troll and took another bite out of her own. “Lead the way.”
17
He should never have drank anything the Troll princess gave him, but Donnacha hadn’t really had that much of a choice, now had he? She’d practically run into the dungeons with her beady eyes wider than he thought they could go. She’d thrust water at him, insisting he drink it, and then poured it down his throat when he hadn’t wanted to.
Donnacha only had a moment to taste the strange bitters before he felt his eyes roll back in his head. Damned trolls. They were always meddling, but he hadn’t thought they were capable of poison.
The troll princess had caught him on the way down, stroked his hair, and then whispered in his ear, “I wish we had more time like this. I like you better when your mouth isn’t open.”
Now, he was laid out haphazardly on his cot, wondering what the hell had just happened. He couldn’t even move his head or open his eyes, then the princess leaves? What was she planning?
The cell door opened, and he wanted to tense up. He hated being this weak. Anyone could walk in here and do whatever they wanted, and there was nothing he could do to prevent it. He was stuck, frozen in this moment and panicking. Who was it?
Light footsteps approached him. Light? That wasn’t the right sound for a troll. And there weren’t any other people here but trolls. They didn’t let anyone else in their castle. Which could only mean…
“Donnacha,” a familiar, soft voice whispered.
She’d found him. His warrior woman had really done it! She’d infiltrated the troll kingdom, made her way all the way east of the sun, west of the moon and somehow tricked the troll princess in allowing them a few moments together.
Was there anything this woman couldn’t do?
He desperately strained to move his head, to open his eyes so he could really see her, the most beautiful woman in the world as far as he was concerned. And not because of her looks, although he’d like to see something more than just trolls for the first time in weeks. But because of her beautiful strength, her attitude toward life, and her resolve to never let anything stop her. She was a remarkable woman, and he wanted to tell her that.
“Donnacha?” she asked again, her voice growing worried. “Please tell me you’re not dead.”
Don’t cry, he wanted to say. Please don’t cry when he wasn’t dead at all. She had to realize he was just asleep, that the troll princess was trying to trick her. They might be dumb creatures, but they could lie unlike the other faerie species who couldn’t.
He felt a hand on his throat, fingers pressed against his rapid heartbeat. Panic had the organ inside his chest trying to beat its way out to her.
“Ah,” Elva whispered. “All right then. Not dead, just drugged. I didn’t think the troll princess would stoop so low.”
He knew the troll would. The woman was capable of much more than anyone gave her credit for. A princess was still a dangerous woman when she wanted to be.
Elva leaned down and pressed her lips close to his ear. He felt the sweep of fabric against his cheekbone. Was she wearing a cloak? Something to conceal her form?
“I’m going to get you out. I don’t know how yet, but it’s going to happen. I need you to be ready for that moment.”
Oh, he was readier than she would ever know. He wanted out of this damned place.
She touched her hand to the side of his face and breathed out a sigh. “I wish I could know if you were hearing me at all. If you can hear me, Donnacha, I’m not giving up just yet. Even a dungeon can’t keep me away from you. I’m going to get you out of here.”
Couldn’t keep her away from him? What did that mean? It wasn’t possible
