Elva had never made friends easily, even when she didn’t have the weight of her own disappointment riding on her shoulders.
Back when she was a spoiled brat, no one had wanted to hear what she had to say. No one other than Bran, and then he’d married her sister, so what did that really say? She had thoughts in her head, but no one really wanted to hear those thoughts. They wanted to look at her, to find her pretty, but never for her to open her mouth.
Then, she’d taken back her life in a grasp that was used to heft a sword, to swing it at those who denied her rights. Unfortunately, that had brought about even less friends. No one wanted to be seen with the faerie princess who had gotten herself involved with less than acceptable hobbies.
The buggane had seen through that. She’d smiled when Elva didn’t think she knew how to smile anymore. She’d opened her arms and created a warm haven when Elva was cold, without anyone asking her to. And most importantly, the buggane believed in her.
Elva didn’t know what to do with that.
No one had ever believed in her so easily before, other than Donnacha, who was just as much a mystery as the buggane.
Who were these faeries who trusted so easily? And how did they do it?
She turned back toward the castle and wondered if the Troll Queen could see her even now. The queen hadn’t reacted at all when she’d revealed herself. Did the creature have someone watching her?
Elva wondered if it was truly because the woman had such confidence that she didn’t care if Elva was there. If she really thought that no one could defeat her.
The pack weighed heavy on Elva’s spine. It almost felt as though it were getting heavier with every step toward the castle. Furrowing her brows in confusion, she reached behind her and closed her fingers on the hilt of what was clearly a sword. What magic was this? Was this the next item she was supposed to give the troll princess?
Flowers tainted the air with the most beautiful of scents. Petals that had fallen to the ground crunched under her feet as she made her way toward a bench to wait for the troll princess.
The sun had come out in a rare moment of warmth for the troll kingdom. Elva desperately wanted to feel the heat on her face, so she supposed it wouldn’t be the end of the world if she tilted back her head and closed her eyes. The hood fell from covering her face, and she left it at her shoulders. They already knew who she was. Even the troll princess wasn’t so foolish that she would mistake the hunchback for anything other than faerie now.
The door to the castle slammed open, and the troll princess stomped toward her. “You!”
Elva kept her head tilted back. She carefully shifted the pack from her shoulders, however, and let it fall to the ground at her feet. “Yes, me.”
“Do you know how much you embarrassed me? Mother yelled at me all night!”
“I’m sure she did.”
“You made it seem like you were a hunchback! Not…” The troll princess waited until Elva opened her eyes and looked at her, then waved up and down. “This.”
“A faerie?”
“You’re more than just a faerie. You’re from the Seelie Court!”
“Yes, I am.” And for the first time in her life, she was proud to say that. She didn’t want to hide who she was or where she came from. She wanted the troll princess to know that a true thing of beauty sat before her, and she should be intimidated by that fact.
The troll princess faltered in her anger, staring into Elva’s gaze. “But why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did you lie to me? Or make it seem like you weren’t who you were? You can’t possibly be interested in a dwarf.” The troll spat the last word like it left a bitter taste in her mouth.
“You’re interested in the dwarf.”
“I only want him because he will make my children strong. You don’t want to have children. Seelie faeries never do. So why are you interested in him?”
Elva thought about misleading the troll again. She could convince her there was something else going on, that Donnacha owed her a beautiful trinket or he should have given her something in the form of a deal. But she didn’t want to lie anymore. “He makes me feel like a person again.”
The troll princess shook her head in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I really, but then again, men are difficult to understand.” If she had understood their kind a long time ago, then she might have stayed out of the mess of her life.
They stared at each other in silence for a little while. Elva couldn’t hazard a guess at what was going through the troll princess’s mind. She was a dim-witted creature, although Elva was certain there was something else underneath the fabric of this creature’s being. The troll princess wanted people to think she was foolish. In Elva’s experience, that was rarely the case with women like that.
Finally, the troll princess blew out a breath and raised her arms in the air. “Fine then. What do you want this time?”
“I want to make another deal.”
“For what?”
“A little time with the dwarf. Yet again.”
The troll princess crossed her arms, and Elva saw there was a glint of emerald still at her throat. “I’m just going to put him to sleep again. You realize this, yes?”
“Even if you do, it was worth the trade.”
“To sit and stare at a sleeping man? You’ll have to excuse me when I say I don’t believe that at all.”
So she was a little more intelligent than she let the rest of them believe. Elva pitied this creature who had more between her
