by Olivia Hart
* * *
Jinjin and I walked out of the Dark Court gates, and I looked up at him. Dark brown skin that looked like it had been made of an aged oak tree with long bumpy ridges. Long, unruly hair and a filthy, braided beard. This troll had long teeth that extended out of his mouth, twisting and upturned.
“Are you ready to shadow walk?” I asked him.
“It is fast?” I sensed his trepidation, and I didn’t give him a chance to falter. Reaching for a massive finger, I wrapped my hand around it, and bent to touch the shadow of a tree.
I felt the warrens pull at me. Different than a bridge or a portal, but similar in many ways. I felt pulled into the shadow, slipping into the void between our world and the warren that ran closest to the Dark Court.
Pressure, darkness, and silence. Like that feeling when you submerge yourself completely in a peaceful pool of water on a dark night. For a moment, it’s as though the world doesn’t exist, like nothing exists. Like you might not even exist.
And then it was done, and I slid into the tunnel between worlds. Jinjin tumbled through the shadow behind me, screaming as he fell. As soon as he hit the ground, I heard him begin to dry heave.
Not surprising. Experiencing true nothingness was not something many are ready for. After a few moments, Jinjin stood up. “What is this place?”
“A warren,” I said. “The place between worlds. You just crossed the void to get here.”
“I do not like this. Next time, we walk to troll caves.”
I chuckled. “Doubtful that I’ll be walking for a month, Jinjin. Let’s get moving. We still have a long way to go before we get close to your people.”
I began running towards the Court of Light. We would take several forks before we got close to the troll caves. Then we’d have a short run through the forests. I’d never been there specifically, but I knew where they were.
For now, though, I just needed to run. My thoughts turned to just how I would outdrink a troll.
Smoke and mirrors, but mostly mist are what I finally came up with.
Chapter 15
Seraphina
“The entire town was killed with minimal losses,” the clerk read. “Eight hundred elves killed. The giants broke the walls easily, and only one giant was lost to arrow fire. Your fairies broke their ranks quickly enough.”
“That’s good, Joran. And what do we know from our spies?”
“The Dark Queen has freed all of the slaves and has allowed all of the races to choose their own professions. There is chaos in many places as the established workforce has left. It is not as bad as some thought it would be, but there is still significant upheaval.”
“She has also replaced most of the Dark Council with unknown individuals. Amra, the Princess of Light is among them. Only Beryl and Duma are left, and they were the least open to sharing secrets.”
“And her rule, how are the people reacting to her? Is there a chance to create a rebellion from all of these changes?”
“Lady,” Joran said hesitantly, “the people love her. Some of the wealthier and established merchants are upset about the recent decrees, but she is loved by nearly all of the people.”
“Then we will stick with our original plan. No need to get creative when brute force will work well enough. That is all for today, Joran. Thank you.”
“There is one other thing, Queen Seraphina,” he said without moving.
I took a sip of my wine and nodded. “One of the seers had a vision this morning. The Dark Queen is pregnant.”
I felt that strange pain that I’d begun having start up again. A tightening that felt like it was more than mere muscle pain. It was a pain that my magic wouldn’t heal.
I grimaced but said, “Is that all that the seer saw?” I tried to ignore it, but it continued to grow.
Stop. Sera, my love, please stop. It’s Rose. Our baby girl.
The words filled my mind, and the pain exploded inside me. I knew that voice. I had no idea where I’d heard it, but I knew it. I didn’t scream or cry out, but I closed my eyes, focused on calming the pain that threatened to bring me to my knees.
“The child will be born with white wings, Lady. She will be capable of holding the Throne of Light.”
She could take the Throne for you. You can go back to the cabin. Give up the pain and the Throne. Please, Sera. Let me help you.
I couldn’t hold back anymore. My power exploded outward as anguish like no other filled my body and mind. Lightning filled the room as I fell to the ground. Everything was pain as those words reverberated in my mind.
Nothing mattered except to rid myself of that voice and this pain. My nails clawed at my chest, and I felt my skin shred and then heal itself. Over and over again. Not even physical pain could compare to this otherworldly agony that now filled my world.
Slowly, the voice faded, and the pain went with it. When I stood up, I could still feel that tightness, but it was manageable. I took a deep breath and looked at the damage. Joran was dead in the chair, scorch marks covering his body. Everything in the room was ruined. Half the furniture was on fire.
I took another breath and left the room. I didn’t know who it was that was causing this pain, but they needed to die. The only person in the world that could affect me like this was that damned Dark Queen.
And if she could do this, then what else was she capable of? I needed to become stronger. Maybe then I wouldn’t be susceptible to these attacks.
Chapter 16
Rose
I wasn’t used to this. Sitting in my nightgown, I was reading a book of dwarven fairy tales. It kept me busy on a sad night. Sebastian was going to stay in the troll caves tonight, and I would have to sleep alone for the first time since we’d left the Court of Light.
Since we’d become bound.
I felt the longing for him, and it was stronger than I’d like to admit. Once again, I prayed to whoever was listening that he made it back safe and sound. The world was insane these days, and Seraphina was looking for ways to hurt me. Normally, Sebastian would be safe, but I wasn’t so sure now.
Our bond only made it worse. My wings moved in irritation on their own. When I’d first noticed that my wings did that, I’d instantly thought of how cats’ emotions could be read through their tails, and it had made me giggle. Nothing about tonight made me feel like giggling, though.
That was why I was reading dwarven fairy tales. Anything to keep my mind off Sebastian. If I’d been in the Mortal Realm, I’d have been binging trash TV. Tonight was the kind of night that reality shows were made for.
As I put the book down for the seventh time to sip my wine and let out an annoyed sigh, I found out why dragons are terrible pets. He was staying in Sebastian’s sitting room, and the door was closed, but that didn’t stop the dragon.
No, he barreled through the door as though it weren’t there, leaving a massive hole in the bottom. Without slowing down in the least, he leaped at me no differently than he had that very first day.
I put my hands out to catch the damn dragon, but he flapped his wings and hovered for just a moment before landing on my lap. I groaned as his claws dug into my legs and tore at my nightgown as he tried to get a solid footing.
Then he moved his head to my stomach, turning sideways as though he were trying to listen to the gurgling of a little too much wine. I didn’t move, surprised once again by the scaled beast.
After a few moments, his head moved from my stomach, and he got within inches of my face. Puff after puff of smoke rose from his nostrils, and he stared quietly at me.
“What are you doing, dragon,” I asked softly, not wanting to piss him off. He was clearly already agitated about something.
He continued to look at me for several more seconds, but then he huffed and jumped backward, his wings flapping wildly as he tried to stay aloft for more than a moment.
Without saying anything, he turned around and slowly walked back to Sebastian’s sitting room. His tail swished back and forth as if he were
a very angry cat. He turned and gave me one last look before walking through the hole he had made in the door.
“I need to figure out what to do with him,” I said softly. But no one knew anything about dragons. That was when something inside me seemed to shift like fog moving away from memories.
I had grandparents. My father’s parents. My father had cared for dragons. Maybe my grandparents would know what to do with a baby one.
Maybe they’d teach me how to take care of one.
I put the book down and finished off my wine. I needed to understand him if I was ever going to stop being afraid of him. Otherwise, I’d have to take him to the caves to let the other dragons raise him. I knew that he wasn’t supposed to hurt me due to the dragon’s vows, but that didn’t mean that being around something I couldn’t stop wasn’t terrifying. He was here for a reason, and that meant that I needed to stop putting it off.
I grinned. Sebastian would be happy. He’d been telling me that the overgrown lizard was intelligent since we’d first adopted him. The longer I’d been around him, the more I’d begun to realize it. Yes, he still enjoyed normal dumb puppy things like chasing sticks, but the way he looked at you when he wasn’t playing was so different and was just too intense.
How had I forgotten about my grandparents all this time? I’d been busy, but I should have remembered. The only explanation I could come up with was that Seraphina’s glamour had stuck on that specific topic. I was sure that she’d pushed me as hard as possible to stay away from them. She’d needed me to think that I didn’t have anyone but her.
I crawled into bed and tried to imagine Sebastian’s arms around me. I sat up and swapped our pillows. I wanted his scent near me. That scent of early morning dew. I melted into the pillow, and when I closed my eyes, it was almost as though I could feel his hands on me.
Chapter 17
Sebastian
I had never been to a troll cave, and I was beyond surprised by what I saw. Somehow, in a thousand years, I’d never found the time or the need to see them. Trolls were reclusive by nature, and the few that wound up in cities were either shunned by their fellow trolls or were looking to experience something new.
Now I understood why. This was no different than a small city. The smell of sweat-covered leather filled the air, the scent of trolls. Dozens of eight-foot-tall trolls wandered by, humming to tunes that I couldn’t keep a beat with. Each of them glanced at Jinjin and me, but they continued on about their business. Some of them were sewing clothing. Others cooked.
Unlike the fairy and elf cities, this reminded me of the village. People laughed and children played. It made me want to learn more. Above it all, multiple drums beat rhythms to songs unknown to me.
And trolls danced. Everywhere.
The seamstresses bobbed their heads in tune with the music. The children’s movements went along with the songs. Even the trolls cutting meat seemed to slice to the rhythm. Everything was in time to that beat.
“What is this song, Jinjin?” I asked.
“Homecoming song. Different song for different things. Trolls see us long way off. Know me. Say, ‘Welcome home Jinjin’. Little beat is song of warning. Say, ‘Fairy here. Leave alone. Hope leave soon.’ Songs is how we know things.”
Then he turned to me, and he asked, “Why do fairies not have music?”
“They do. Just not all the time.” A female troll approached us dressed in a set of hunting leathers. Her skin was darker than the rest, a gray that verged on black, and her tusks were far larger than any of the others I’d seen so far.
“Jinjin. Why you bring fairy to caves?” she asked with a snarl, completely ignoring me. I felt Jinjin shrink as she glared at him.
“This is Prince of Shadows. Al’a, Prince brought Jinjin to caves.” He looked at me and frowned before saying words in the troll language.
She looked at me with squinting eyes, and for a moment, I had the urge to draw my daggers. She hated fairies just as much as the villagers had. Instead, I remembered how Rose had been put into unfamiliar situation after unfamiliar situation and hadn’t backed down. I ran my finger over my wedding band, feeling the smooth obsidian and the sharp edges of the gold. If she could do this, then I could too.
“You will eat dinner. Then you will sleep. Then you will go. You are not welcome here fairy.” She looked at Jinjin and said to me, “Queen save Jinjin. I will feed her mate. Nothing else.”
I nodded, at least partly surprised at the audacity of anyone to refuse hospitality to the husband of the Queen. Especially when I’d saved him a month of travel. She turned and stomped back to where she was stirring a giant pot larger than me.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“That Al’a. She is troll Queen…no, leader. She is troll leader. Jinjin not talk as good as fairies. Words hard sometimes.”
“I understand, Jinjin.” I followed him as he approached a massive table. Another female ran to him, her bare feet kicking up dirt in her wake. Without saying anything, she embraced him, throwing herself at him.
She stayed like that for several moments as Jinjin ran his hands over her back. He whispered something to her in the troll language, and she looked up at him with a smile that I knew well enough. The same smile that Rose would give me when I got home.
This was his mate.
She had paler skin, similar to that of birch bark, and her tusks were much shorter than his. But her hair was beautifully braided. Sleek brown hair without any of the messiness of many of the other trolls.
He finally let his mate go and said, “This Prince of Shadows. Queen’s mate. He take me here in one day.”
She blushed but said, “Nice meet you, Prince. I am Maluka. I am Jinjin’s mate. Thank you bring Jinjin home. He only supposed be gone six months.” She snarled before saying, “He gone twenty years.”
“I want buy necklace for mate. Cannot make necklace from gold. Cannot make gem. Have to buy. Have to work to buy. Then, I make mistake.” He shrugged, and the female blushed again.
“He is best mate. Hardest working troll. Pretty too.” She gave me a toothy grin, and I felt very lost. I wished that Rose could be here. Maybe she would understand what was going on. The best I could do was smile and nod.
“Prince needs to meet people, but maybe wait for food. Trolls always listen better when there is food. And beer. Trolls like beer.”
“I agree, Jinjin. But, maybe the person I need to talk to is Al’a. If she’s in charge, then I can plead my case to her.”
Maluka giggled, a surprising sound from such a deep-voiced being. “That not your Al’a. That Jinjin Al’a. Her name Sujin.”
I frowned. “Jinjin, are you a troll Prince?”
Maluka nodded, but Jinjin said, “No. No Princes. Only Al’a. When she die, new troll leader found. That leader is female. Not Jinjin.”
The drumbeat shifted dramatically, the rhythm slowing significantly. “Time to eat, Prince. Stew tonight.”
Maluka and Jinjin walked to the long table and picked up bowls large enough to be serving bowls for fairies. Jinjin handed me one, and I felt more out of my element than ever before. Not even learning to fight had been as uncomfortable as this.
How did Rose do this constantly? She’d managed to fit in wherever she went, and I was finally in a new situation, and I was floundering. I steeled my jaw. I could do this. All I had to do was eat, talk, and maybe do some drinking.
I followed the line of trolls, most of whom gave me strange looks. Some of them were fearful and others almost smirked. As I approached the pot of stew, Sujin took a ladle of the stew and poured it into my bowl. I blinked in awe at the serving size. This was enough to feed a family of six at least.
I nodded to her and followed Jinjin and Maluka to the table. Once again, I had to deal with the oversized world I was in. The table was made for eight-foot-tall trolls, and I could barely see over the bowl when I sat down.
What would Rose have done? I chuckled as I imagined her assessing the situation. I could sit
on the table or kneel on the bench. Or…
I got off the bench and put my hands to the ground. Slowly, a block of stone rose. The trolls around me watched as I picked up the stone with a heave and sat it on the bench in my place.
I climbed onto my raised seat and was at the perfect height to eat. Massive wooden serving spoons were already at every spot, and I did as the rest of the trolls did, slurping at the broth and eating the chunks of meat and vegetables.
Everyone was watching as I ate. I could feel them wondering how a little fairy would manage to eat like a troll. I could already feel myself getting full, but I felt Jinjin cheering me on as he glanced at my bowl.
Many of the trolls finished their food, and when they were done, they flipped the bowl upside down. I was only halfway through my stew. I was already full, but I knew that I needed to finish it. Up until now, I hadn’t made any mistakes, and if I were going to be the ambassador of the Dark Court, I would need to show them that, as Rose put it, I was not a normal fairy.
I settled in to finish the bowl. More and more of the trolls finished their food and flipped their bowls, but the table was silent as they all turned to watch me. Bite after bite, I forced the food down.
When I could see the bottom, I felt like I couldn’t hold another bite. Jinjin and Maluka were smiling widely, but many of the other trolls were scowling. They had expected to ridicule me. That only pushed me to finish. I slowly scooped the last bit of stew into my mouth, and with a sigh, I flipped my bowl over.
Jinjin slapped my back, nearly knocking me off my seat, and began to laugh. “Little fairy can eat like trolls. Strong stomach.”
“The stew was delicious,” I said, looking directly at Sujin. “Better than any we get in the Dark Court.”
“That is because your stew is not made by Al’a,” Jinjin said. “Al’a is best cook of all trolls. This why she is leader.”