The other woman hesitated. Her eyes narrowed, and she stared at Elva with a calculating look that didn’t go with her personality in the slightest. “Why do you ask?”
“I wonder if this is all your mother’s plan, and not yours at all. To fall in love with a dwarf is a difficult thing. I know this to be true. I don’t see you as someone who wants to be a mother yet, so I don’t think you want him for a child. Why is he here? Why are you here?”
“I want to make my mother proud.” But her eyes slanted to the side when she said it.
“That’s what everyone says you should want, I’m sure. But what do you want, Troll Princess?”
When the troll princess opened her mouth, there was something else in her words. Some hint of light and desire and truth that Elva hadn’t heard before. For a moment, Elva thought she had managed to convince the creature to tell the truth.
Then it disappeared. Like a mask had fallen over her face, the troll princess glowered and then stamped her foot. “Just give me what you have in your pack!”
Fine. If that was the game they were going to play, then Elva would make sure she played her part. She reached into the pack and drew out the gleaming golden sword.
The hilt was a wolf swallowing the blade, and she recognized this fake for what it tried so desperately to mimic. The Sword of Nuada. The legendary blade that could make an army stop in its tracks and men fall to their knees to be beheaded without complaint.
She swallowed hard then looked at the troll princess whose mouth had fallen open. “Do you know what this sword is?”
“Nuada’s blade,” the troll princess said with awe.
If Elva didn’t correct the other woman, it wasn’t technically a lie. So she didn’t.
The troll princess reached out for the sword and took it. A shiver traveled down Elva’s spine at the sight. She shouldn’t have given this creature a sword, not when she already had everyone else under her heel. But the troll princess didn’t swing it at Elva. Instead, she hefted it in her hands and let the tip touch the ground.
“It’s beautiful,” the troll princess whispered. “I never thought to see it in my lifetime.”
“Neither had I.”
“Why would you give me something so precious? Just to see a dwarf?”
Elva shrugged. “He’s more important to me than a sword.”
“I don’t understand that thought,” the troll princess replied, her hands curling more comfortably around the hilt. “I’ve never thought so highly of someone that I would give up so many precious things.”
“They’re just objects. Emotions can’t be replaced with physicals things. It’s like trying to replace the song of a bird with a bird itself. Without the music, the bird is just another bird.”
Again, the troll shook her head. “I still don’t understand.”
“The sword is gifted for a night with the dwarf and the assurance that your mother will not appear again.”
“Again?” The troll didn’t look at her, though.
“I know you told her that I was going to see the dwarf. She saw me, and that’s why your mother had any idea I was here. I want a few moments alone with the dwarf, whether he’s awake or not. With the assurance that no one will disturb us.”
The troll princess chewed on her lip. “There will be guards.”
“No guards.”
“I’m not capable of magic. Mother has requested the dwarf be watched at all times with guards. He’s crafty.”
“So am I. I give you my solemn vow. If you take the guards away, I will not break him out of that prison. We wouldn’t get far anyway. Move the guards to the front of the dungeon for all I care, but I will have some time alone with him.”
Elva watched the troll princess think. Did the creature realize all her thoughts played across her face? She could see the inner battle as she thought about how she’d do it and the rage her mother would have if she ever found out.
Just when she thought the troll princess had settled on a decision she wouldn’t like, Elva leaned forward to reach for the blade. “If you can’t do it, I’ll take the sword back.”
The troll princess flinched away from her, taking the sword with her. “No, I want the legendary blade.”
“Then you have to do what I’ve asked.”
“Fine.”
Elva arched a delicate brow. “Then it’s a deal?”
The troll princess hesitated only for a moment before she nodded. “It’s a deal. Come back tomorrow night, late in the evening when the sun has set. The dungeon will be unlocked and the guards distracted. You should be able to slip in easily enough. They won’t notice you. You’re too little.”
Little? That was something Elva had never been called before. But she nodded and pulled the hood of her cloak low over her face. “You have yourself a deal, Troll Princess.”
“I better not get in trouble for this.”
-----
Under the cover of night, Elva made her way into the dungeon. The guards were gone as the troll princess had said, but she wasn’t confident there wouldn’t be trolls lurking in the shadows ready to grab her. The trolls had proven themselves to be far more dangerous than she’d ever given them credit for.
She’d wrapped her feet in fabric from her gown to muffle her footsteps. The dress she’d worn to the ball was soft and thin, perfect to quiet the sound, although she was sad to rip it. Apparently, she was more like her mother. That woman hadn’t ever wanted to destroy beautiful things either.
Carefully, Elva slid along the wall. She kept her gaze on the moving shadows and held her breath in case it was too loud.
No one moved toward her. No one launched themselves out of
