She licked her lips and drew her sword. The troll princess left the stairs and strode toward her. All the other trolls shifted, creating a large opening in the middle of the great hall where they would fight.
Was this going to end up another situation where Elva underestimated the trolls? Were they lying that the troll princes didn’t know how to fight?
Though that might not be the true sword of Nuada, it was still a sharp dwarven-made blade. She’d never say it out loud, but dwarven blades were dangerous. They knew how to fight even if the wielder wasn’t the best warrior. Now if the troll princess was lying and did know how to fight, this could turn on Elva easily.
She wasn’t going to underestimate her opponent any longer. She was going to fight this troll princess as though she were sent from Scáthach herself. Then and only then was Elva sure to win.
The troll princess lifted the blade up imperiously and said, “Kneel faerie.”
“No.”
The princess frowned. “I said kneel.”
“I have no intention of doing that.” Elva hefted her sword higher. “Lift your blade. I’m not going to kill you if you aren’t even attacking me.”
True fear lit in the princess’s eyes. She shook the sword as if by doing so she might make it work. “Why aren’t you doing whatever I want? Is it broken?”
Elva shook her head and moved to slowly circle the princess. “Did you really think I would give you the real sword of Nuada?”
“But faeries can’t lie. You said this was the sword of Nuada!”
“No. You were the one who said that. I just didn’t correct you.”
The troll princess stamped her foot. “But that’s not fair! I would never have agreed to fight you if I had known this wasn’t the legendary sword. I’m going back up there and I’m going to marry that dwarf. You cheated!”
When she moved toward the stairs, Elva stepped in front of her. The torchlight reflected on her sword, dancing down the surface until it looked like her blade was on fire. “No, you aren’t.”
“You cheated,” the troll princess hissed.
“I did no such thing. I simply didn’t correct you. You already made the deal—no one steps foot into the fight to help you, and you can’t get out. Lift your sword, princess.”
“I don’t want to,” the troll princess whined the words so they sounded like nails scratching down stone.
Elva’s lips twisted into a dark smile. “I didn’t want to lose the dwarf, but you took him anyway. Now, I’m going to fight you whether you want to fight or not.”
The troll princess’s eyes bulged and, for a moment, Elva thought she might run. Her eyes flicked to the crowd in a desperate attempt to find a way out. But the crowd began to close in around them.
Almost as if they wanted to see their princess die.
Elva looked around at the angry expressions of the trolls and realized they truly hated the royals. Every single person here was staring at the princess with complete and utter rage. They wanted to see her die. They wanted to watch her fight even though they knew she was going to fail because she hadn’t been trained.
What kind of creatures were these beings? How had they no compassion?
She shook her head. Once she left this kingdom for good, she was never coming back here. These creatures were toxic.
“Come on, princess,” she said again, “lift your sword.”
The troll princess looked down at the golden blade in her hand. For a moment, Elva had a flicker of doubt. Perhaps this creature knew how to fight. Maybe this was all one great game to force Elva into a death match that wasn’t going to end well.
The thought didn’t last long.
With a weak cry, the troll princess lifted the sword over her head and charged forward. She was clearly a novice. She left her entire torso open for attack when Elva was so much smaller than her.
A simple shift would have gutted the princess immediately, but Elva didn’t want to win like that. She wanted the troll princess to have at least a modicum of respect when she was finally bested.
Twisting, Elva let the troll princess race past her. The troll fell into the steps, sword clattering as it hit the ground. To her credit, she pushed herself back to standing and whirled rather quickly. For such a large creature, she could move.
Elva kept her sword at her side this time. “Come on,” she said. “You can do better than that. Don’t hold your sword over your head.”
The troll princess didn’t listen. She charged like a bull, although the sword was held straight in front of her. Again, a horrible way to attack anyone. Elva could have sliced through her throat without question if she had wanted to do that.
Shaking her head, she sidestepped again. The troll princess hit the crowd this time. They caught her in their arms and tossed her back toward Elva so forcefully that she might have been toppled if she hadn’t expected the others’ movement.
Elva had set herself in the world of the warrior. She didn’t feel emotions, only calculating steps to predict what the troll princess would do next. But if she would have allowed herself to feel something in that moment, it would have been sadness.
The troll princess was already breathing hard. Her lungs worked to drag in any air that might assist her. Sweat slicked her brow and palms, making it difficult for her to hold onto the hilt of the sword. This wasn’t a creature who was meant to fight for her life.
She truly was just a child.
It was time to end this. She had no interest in baiting this child any longer, but she was also angry the trolls didn’t care this woman was about to die. They didn’t care she was their princess. They didn’t care her
