“I’m not leaving you here.”
His hand tightened at her waist, tugging her closer. “You have to.”
She didn’t want to leave him in this depraved place full of creatures who wanted to hurt them both. He didn’t deserve that kind of treatment, and he certainly didn’t deserve her abandonment.
But she couldn’t think of anything else to do. If he didn’t want to help her, if the Troll Queen knew she was here, this mission just got impossibly more difficult.
She shook her head. “No. There has to be a way. There’s always a way.”
He spun her past the troll princess who pointed at them dancing and shouted, “Look at him dance with the ugly hunchback! Isn’t she terrible?”
The laughing faces of trolls whirled by her, and it was almost too much to bear. They had taken everything from her, and she hadn’t realized it until this instance. Donnacha was a good man. He deserved a life of happiness and respect. Not the future that was building for him here.
“I can’t leave you here,” she whispered again. “Not this place.”
“It won’t be so bad. I think they’ll probably let me go once they’re done with me.”
“Not with this plan you built. She thinks you’re going to be her husband, and that’s a rather lasting position in the troll kingdom.”
Donnacha’s eyes grew sad, though he tried to smile through the anguish. “I’m sorry, Elva. I wish there was more I could ask of you. I just don’t see a way out of this. Not when it would be a fool’s errand. We’ll both die if we try to escape this. And one of us should live.”
All seemed lost in that moment as he stared into her eyes. She couldn’t imagine leaving him here. She’d failed so many people in her life, the mere thought of failing him as well made her heart shatter.
What was she going to do? What would the princess in a fairytale do?
Elva smiled then looked into Donnacha’s eyes. “Then if they already know I’m here, why am I hiding?”
“What?”
“They’re expecting me to be here, Donnacha. I’m not afraid of the Troll Queen or what she can do. We might as well give them the show they’ve been waiting for.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“I am.” She took his hand at her waist and coiled his fingers in the fabric of the cloak. “Dance with me, Donnacha, and let’s show them how a real Seelie Court hosts a ball.”
“What are you doing?” His eyes widened in shock the moment she spun away from him.
Elva channeled every bit of herself that she used to be, the woman who had walked into a ball and had every eye on her. The first spin took away the cloak. The second and others that followed revealed the beautiful storm cloud of a dress. Gossamer fabric danced down her arms like mist, turning into diamond-studded lightning around her legs.
Elva shook her hair down around her shoulders in curls as golden as wheat. She raised her arms above her head in a pirouette and then slowed her turns until she ended in a graceful curtsey.
The trolls gasped and took steps away from her, as if she were frightening in her beauty. And she was. For the first time in many centuries, Elva felt all the things that Donnacha had seen in her. She could be feminine and fierce at the same time. Soft and strong.
She raised her hand, stepped forward, and then waited until he placed his hand at her waist once more. He looked up into her eyes with all his heart in his gaze.
“You are beautiful,” he said. “My warrior woman who smells like wildflowers.”
Elva hadn’t realized she wanted to hear those words so desperately until he said them. Gods, he was the most perfect man she’d ever met, and she wanted to devour him.
The smile on her face hurt it was so wide. “I’m so tired of listening to this music, my dear.”
She lifted her hands and snapped her fingers. The musicians looked around in confusion before looking down at their instruments once more. This time when they picked them up, they played the most stunning symphony the trolls would ever hear in their lifetimes.
“How did you do that?” Donnacha asked.
“Have you ever seen a Tuatha de Danann use magic?”
“Never.”
“Good.” She leaned down and tugged him closer. “I’m glad I’m your first.”
If it hadn’t been quite so loud in the ballroom, Elva was certain she would have heard him audibly gulp. The poor man hadn’t stood a chance at keeping his heart when they’d had nothing but darkness and shadows between them. Now that he could see her and she was back to her former glory… Well, Elva pitied the man.
An angered shout rocked through the room. “Mummy! She’s too pretty to be near my groom. She’s supposed to be an ugly hunchback!”
The Troll Queen whirled in her armored gown and lifted a hand. “Guards! Apprehend that woman!”
Big words for a creature who refused to dirty her hands with battle.
Elva arched a brow. “Do you trust me, Donnacha?”
“With my life.”
“Then dance with me dwarf. Let’s see how good I am at magic these days.”
Donnacha didn’t wait. He tugged her into a waltz, and Elva unleashed all the power she’d held at bay since she became the wife of the Seelie King. She hadn’t wanted Fionn to see how powerful she could be because he hadn’t wanted her to be stronger than him. Back then, she’d thought men didn’t like women who were infinitely more than them.
Donnacha had given that back to her. This dwarf who had realized she was worthy no matter what was inside her or what she was capable of. This dwarf who appreciated her abilities just because they were hers and no one else’s.
It took only a breath
