by Tracy Lauren
My hand clutches the bottle I have tucked between my breasts, ensuring its safety. I hid the salve there after I gave my apron back to Davio, still too embarrassed to tell Brom why I was working in the tavern in the first place. Beside it is a small leather pouch Davio gave me to put my coin in.
The day is more than half gone when we near the outer edges of town. Brom has been silent and I have been deep in my thoughts, replaying some of the friendly banter from back in the bar. The sounds of the village slowly fade into the distance, until we pass through whatever magical cloak is placed on the town. Then, all is silent, save for the birds singing in the trees.
“It’s beautiful out,” I say. “It’s hard to believe I’m walking through a cursed wood.”
But Brom doesn’t respond. I try not to think too much about it. He told me last night that he would need all his concentration to get us to our destination. Instead, I focus on the good feelings I brought with me from the troll village and wonder what Brom is like when he isn’t playing guardian to the bridge.
I try to picture him at Winter Festival, arriving at Malkyn’s with gifts for his family. “Is Malkyn your only family?” I ask. “Or do you have more? Any brothers or sisters?”
But Brom is still quiet.
“I’m an only child,” I mention. Though it still doesn’t make Brom break his concentration.
Hours pass and I give up on talking to the sulking troll. I’m feeling hungry again, but I figure Brom will stop when he’s good and ready. Twilight will soon be upon us and surely he won’t have us walking the Perished Woods at night.
As if he heard my thoughts, Brom finally slows to a stop, looking at the ground and rubbing his forehead.
“What is it?” I ask, wondering if he has a headache.
“I’m tired of the games. I thought we were done with this, Adelaide,” he tells me, his voice strained.
“Done with what?” I ask, confused.
“Don’t fucking lie to me! I’m sick of it! I keep placing my trust in you, for what? So you can make a fool of me?”
“What are you talking about?” I ask defensively.
“I won’t ask again,” he promises.
“I don’t know what you’re asking in the first place,” I tell him, hands on my hips. He advances on me then, with the speed of a warrior. Before I can blink, he has me backed up against a tree.
“Brom!” I shout, but he’s digging his hand down the front of my dress. He yanks the bottle of medicine free and my coin bag comes with it, spilling the money I earned across the ground. Roughly, he releases me. I lose my footing on a root and tumble to my knees.
“Tell me what this is!” he roars. “Is it poison? What lies did you feed Davio in order for him to give this to you?” he demands, his voice so deep and booming I can feel it shaking my core.
The wheels in my mind spin. He saw Davio slip the bottle to me. All afternoon, this entire time we’ve been walking, he’s been stewing over it. Part of me wants to laugh. Part of me wants to respond in anger. A bigger part of me is just…embarrassed.
Slowly, I pick up my coin. Shifting the decaying leaves covering the forest floor to ensure I get every last gold piece. Brom looms over me the whole time, his angry breath huffing from his nostrils. When I push myself to my feet, he grabs me by the elbow, hauling me up impatiently.
“What do you have to say for yourself, Adelaide? Give me one reason why I should adhere to our deal?”
I tried to buy myself time picking up the coin, if only to calm the emotions raging inside of me. Still, when I open my mouth, my voice cracks. I have to clear my throat before I try again, and although my voice comes out more calmly this time, my eyes betray me, welling with tears. If only I could just be angry, this wouldn’t be so hard. Embarrassment is an emotion I could live without.
“It’s medicine,” I tell him, unable to meet his gaze. He grabs my chin roughly, forcing me to look at him. I blink and a tear cascades down my cheek.
“Are you sick, Adelaide?” he asks, his tone vaguely mocking. I slap his hand away and my old friend anger makes an appearance. With all my might I shove Brom in that big, stupid, chest of his. He barely moves at all, so I do the next best thing and swing my fists down as hard as I can on him. It might not have much of an effect, but it makes me feel a little better.
“I hate you sometimes!” I yell at him. He grabs me by the waist and hugs me tightly to his body.
“That’s funny, I thought you always hated me, Adelaide,” he says, but there’s no laugher in his voice, only spite.
“I should!” I rage, trying to free myself from his hold. But I’m no match for him. “Instead I asked Malkyn to help me find work so I could trade a few hours for…for…”
“For what, little one?”
“For you! It’s medicine for you. A healing salve to help with your back, you idiot!”
“You lie,” he says, pulling away to search my face for the truth.
“Do you really think your cousin would help me poison you?” I ask with disdain.
“Obviously you fed them lies. How else could you have won them over, Adelaide, if not through some kind of deception?”
His words are like a slap to the face.
“Gods know there’s no other way they’d ever like me,” I spit, feeling something a shade heavier than embarrassment. “Think what you want, Brom. I don’t care anymore.”
He stares at me for a long while before pulling the cork from the bottle. He gives it a tentative sniff, then dabs a small dot out onto the back of his hand. I see instant recognition on his face. Whatever the medicine is, he’s familiar with it.
“You got this? For me?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Why would you go to the trouble?” he asks, looking confused.
I shrug my shoulders and shake my head. “Who knows, Brom. I sure as hell don’t.”
He returns the cork to the bottle and attempts to hand it back to me. “Keep it,” I tell him. “Rub it on your own damn back. Or don’t, what do I care?”
“Adelaide, I thought—”
“What? That I’m a liar? That I manipulated all those people back there into being kind to me, because there’s no way they’d do so of their own volition?”
“No, I didn’t mean to say that.”
“Didn’t stop you from saying it.”
“It’s just…you were gone when I came out of the shop and every time I think I make progress with you, you do something to show me otherwise.”
I scoff at the troll. “My mother always warned against the pot calling the kettle black,” I counter and Brom rubs his brow in frustration.
“I made a mistake, Adelaide. How can I fix this?”
“Does it even matter, Brom? We’ll just keep doing this dance, taking turns wounding one another until we finally part ways. It is what it is. We aren’t friends.”
“What are we then?” he asks, sounding truly curious about what this thing between us even is.
“I’m the girl who failed at being your slave and you’re the troll who’s taking me to Pontheugh, because if you don’t, we’ll probably wind up killing each other—or worse.”
“What could be worse than that?”
“Making each other miserable,” I tell him gravely. But my words only soften him further and he lets out a soft and rumbling chuckle.
“You don’t make me miserable, little one.”
“No?” I ask skeptically, my brow raised in disbelief.
“No. You just drive me crazy.”
At that, I have to crack a smile, but my mirth doesn’t linger for long and I hang my head in my hands, frustrated. “The feeling’s mutual,” I groan finally, my voice coming out muffled from behind my hands.
Chapter 23
Brom
Looking at Adelaide, I’m heavy with regret. She was so vibrant during our travels this afternoon. All the while I was busy assuming she was plotting something—but her only crime was happiness and I robbed her of it.
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“I made a mistake, Adelaide,” I repeat, stepping closer to her.
“It’s done, Brom. Don’t worry about it,” she says, brushing away my concern.
“No.” I pull her until she stands before me. Adelaide looks up into my face, her brows furrowed with her troubles. “I was unkind to you, I said things I shouldn’t have. Please, little one, accept my apology.”
She frowns at me, considering my request. “Fine, but only because it’s late and I’m too tired to fight,” she answers flatly, trying to turn away. But I pull her back.
“Since you’re being so generous today, I thought I might ask one more favor of you,” I tell her, pulling a loose strand of her hair back and tucking it behind her ear.
Ever skeptical, she waits to hear what I might ask before responding. I take the small wooden bottle that she got from Davio and press it into her palm. “Would you be so kind?”
She laughs outright. “You’ve got some serious balls to ask me to take care of you after you were such a jerk.”
I run my fingers through her hair, admiring it and thinking on her words. “I do have some serious balls,” I agree. “If you want, I could show you after you rub this on my back.”
Adelaide rolls her eyes, not taking me seriously for a moment. “Very funny. You might be in a better mood, but I don’t forgive that easily.”
“Don’t I know it.”
“Is this where we’re camping tonight?” she asks, hands on her hips.
“It is.”
“Tell you what, you be nice to me and maybe, maybe, I’ll rub this on your back after dinner.”
“Then I can show you my balls?”
“Do and you’ll get a swift kick to them,” she warns, but there’s a difference to her now. Adelaide’s voice is lighter. She’s being playful and, dare I say, enjoying our banter.
I give her a wicked grin, hoping I can prolong this magic. “Perhaps I like that sort of thing,” I tease.
“You never know until you try. I could kick you now if you’re that curious,” she offers, a smart smile on her rosy lips.
“You’re being too generous, little one. Perhaps I should offer you favors instead. If you’re going to rub me down later it’s only fair that I do something for you.”
“Should I assume you have something in mind?”
“If I recall correctly, you were unusually aroused by that spanking I gave you.”
“Hah!” Adelaide laughs, swatting at me. “Your memory fails you, sir!”
“Oh that’s right…I was the one who was aroused. Okay, how about this: I give you a spanking, then I’ll rub some of this hard-earned cream on that milky white ass of yours,” I say, pretending to reach for Adelaide’s backside. She squeals, backing away from me, but her smile is undeniable.
“You’re crazy!” she laughs.
“But you’re smiling, so I’ll consider it a win.”
Adelaide’s expression sobers, but the smile remains. “Is that what you’re trying to do, cheer me up?”
“I’m trying to set things right. And perhaps trying to prove you wrong as well.”
“Prove me wrong?” she asks, surprised and chuckling over my admission.
“I think we can be friends, Adelaide.”
“It would take big balls to be friends with a girl like me,” she warns lightheartedly.
“Back to my balls again? You’re in luck. Trolls have huge balls. Huge cocks too, coincidentally. That’s another thing I could show you later, if you like?”
“Oh Gods, this again!” she laughs.
“Adelaide, I could do this all night long.”
Chapter 24
Adelaide
I was furious with Brom earlier. I had one shining moment this afternoon. One. After a year of darkness and Brom shit all over it. Accusing me of plotting to poison him and manipulating his friends back in the troll village. What hurt the most was the fact that he had such a hard time believing those people back there liked me. It made me question if they really liked me.
And the strange thing is…I wanted them to.
I know they were trolls, but it was so refreshing to be in a place where no one knew me and no one had any expectations about who I am or how I should act. I’m not the simpering young woman I was before my parents died and I’m not the woman who was trapped in her grief for so long. I am changed. I’m not as sweet as I used to be—thank the Gods for that—but the patrons of The Cocky Bull didn’t seem to mind one bit. They actually seemed to like me for who I am. At least, I thought they did.
I shake away my heavy thoughts, telling myself I’m overthinking things.
Anyway, Brom has made up for his behavior…in his own way, I guess. We’ve been bickering all evening, but not in the way we did when he tried making me his slave. There’s less at stake now that he’s offered to release me. I don’t feel the need to consider him my mortal enemy anymore. As a matter of fact, he’s the closest thing I’ve had to a friend for a long time. Though I’d never admit that to him.
But all this verbal sparring, I think it’s his way of connecting to me and for whatever reason…it works.
“Why does your people’s village have a cloaking spell around it?” I ask as we sit beside the small fire Brom built for us, eating our dinner.
“Too many travelers were making their way to The Cocky Bull. Started to give the place a bad name.”
“Really?” I ask, surprised. “Seems like a lot of trouble just to keep your tavern for locals only.”
“Well, it was mostly humans coming in and you know how they can be.”
“How’s that?”
“All the fighting, explosions, and raucous spankings started to become a real problem—”
“You’re teasing me, aren’t you? Very funny. You could just not answer if you don’t want me to know,” I chide, but my heart isn’t in it the way it used to be, and even though I roll my eyes I’m still smiling.
“I am teasing you,” he confirms casually, moving closer to me to offer his water skin.
“Thanks,” I say, my fingertips grazing his as I accept the drink.
“It is the Perished Woods; dangerous things come and go from here like the tide. We cloak the village to keep it safe from beasts or raiders.”
“Raiders? Who in their right mind would raid a troll village?”
“No one in their right mind,” he says pointedly, and I tuck my legs closer to myself, fearing the mad and unknown beings that might be lurking in the dark.
“You’re safe with me, little one,” he reminds me, tugging at a lock of my hair. In my mind I can still picture the way Brom lifted that orc away from me, tossing him like a ragdoll into a tree.
“I know,” I say quietly. Silence falls between us and I stare into the fire.
“Then what troubles you?” Brom asks, pulling me from my thoughts.
“If the Perished Woods are so dangerous, why bother living in them? Why not just move your village to a place beyond the trees?”
“That would not be a simple undertaking,” he says, releasing a long breath of air.
“Still, it would be safer, wouldn’t it?”
Brom sits there, looking into the fire. His expression tells me he has something to say, but perhaps thinks better of it.
“What?” I ask, wanting to hear more.
“If my people went to Willowbend or on to Pontheugh, do you really think we would be welcomed there?” he asks finally.
I don’t have to think about it. I know the answer as well as he does. He’s a troll and trolls are monsters. They have no place in a man’s village.
“If people got to know you…” I start, but then I trail off. I’m not that naïve. “Brom, why was everyone so nice to me in your village? You’d think they’d want to turn the tables on me—treat me like the monster.”
“No doubt some would. You had Malkyn with you today, that made a difference. And Davio’s place runs a certain way. No one would mess with you there.”
“And you.�
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“Hmm?”
“And I had you, people saw you parading me around. I noticed the way everyone seemed to know you, Brom. You are the town’s golden boy.”
He scoffs at my description. “I have a coveted job. That is why people know me.”
“And how did you get that job?”
He turns away from the fire to look me deep in my eyes. “It took a huge cock and an even bigger set of balls,” he says, his eyes lighting with mischief.
“Gods, you’re the worst. You know that, right? You were probably exiled to live under that awful bridge,” I tease.
“It’s a beautiful bridge!” he defends. “The history, the craftsmanship…you’d have to be blind not to admire it,” he says, playing with the tips of my hair. It’s something he does often and while I hate to admit it, I find the intimate gesture comforting.
“I suppose I might be biased; my first encounter with it wasn’t the most pleasant,” I concede.
“I could always take you back for a second look if you’ve changed your mind about a life of slavery,” he offers.
“Hmm, tempting, but I’ll have to pass.”
“That’s a shame, in some ways I think I might miss you, little one.”
“Have you considered being my slave instead?” I propose.
“As if I’m not on the verge of being your slave as it is,” Brom huffs quietly.
“Yes, it’s hard to miss what a subservient troll you are,” I tell him sarcastically. Brom’s demeanor changes at that. I can’t help but feel like I said the wrong thing. And sure enough, he closes what little distance is still between us. Slowly, gently, he wraps my hair around his fist, inching my face closer to his. My heart races in my chest…yet…I’m not scared in the least.
“If I wanted to, I could own you, Adelaide, I could keep you in my lair and never let you go. I could do anything I wished to you.” He leans in, smelling my neck and I gasp in surprise, but he pulls away again to stare at me. “I could make you do things to me too,” he says, his gaze locked onto mine and his ferocious face only inches away. His yellow eyes bore into me and I can’t help but tremble at the sight of him. When we talk, I forget I’m dealing with a beast, but face to face like this, there’s no denying Brom’s a monster. Some sick and warped part of me finds the notion thrilling.