VALMIRA
Being almost naked wasn't particularly her plan, she'd never felt so exposed in her life. The shirt he'd given her revealed far more skin than she'd ever shown to anyone. Not even her father had seen her bare legs since she'd been a child. And this beast had put her
in a shirt that was hanging off her shoulders and then paraded her through an entire camp of terrifying trolls.
Valmira supposed she should have known they wouldn't reach the troll kingdom in a single day. But, she didn't actually know where the trolls lived. No one did. But there were rumors that they dug underneath the ground to live, which was entirely possible. It made sense that they wouldn't be living so close to the human homes.
Still, it hadn't been her greatest worry with all the other things happening. With a throbbing wrist and an aching stomach, there were so
many other things for her to think about. Walking into the campsite full of trolls, she was starkly reminded of that.
The trolls looked different in the dim light. Most of them were seated in front of their black tents, their long legs crossed as they rested on animal skins.
Fires were built before each tent, all of them surrounded by what looked like crystals. The fire glinted in each of the pillars, reflecting
light in prisms all around the ground. The tents glistened in the dying light as well. She could just barely make out the golden stitches before her new husband thrust her in front of a pair of tents that were rather close together.
"This one is ours," he grunted, shaking out his hand as though touching her had made him dirty. "Go inside."
She hated how he ordered her around. Valmira was her own person; she
could make her own choices. What if she wanted to stay outside by the fire he was surely going to build? What if she wanted to look at the other trolls, ask questions, and try to get her bearings? They were married now, after all.
If he didn't kill her, then she would have to make this her home as well. He wasn't even giving her a chance to do that. Another troll came out of the other tent. Though it was hard for her to see him very clearly, she thought he was the one who had stood beside her husband at the Valmira hadn't been able to get a good look at him.
All she knew was that his skin was a deep green.
He nodded at her, then gestured toward her husband. "You found her, I see."
"Didn't even attempt to run."
It sounded so offensive. Her husband said it as though he was disappointed she hadn't run, when she had been told to stay in the stream and wash!
Rubbing her hand up and down her arm, she decided to introduce herself before ducking into the tent. "I'm Valmira."
The green troll looked her up and down before his gaze flicked to her husband behind her.
This was her moment. All she had to say was, "I'm not the princess. You have the wrong person" and then she could leave.
But then her gaze caught on the weapons resting by the fire. The sharp edge of the axe leaning just beside the trolls glinted in the firelight. She looked farther, seeing the rest of the trolls all staring at them. Some of them
were stroking the knives at their waists, some of them were even sharpening swords.
Not here, she told herself. Once she was alone with the man she'd somehow married, then she would tell them. So instead, she said nothing.
This troll's tusks were larger than her husband's by far. Even those seemed like weapons as her heart raced.
"Tiberius," the green troll said. "You can call me Tiberius."
"It's nice to meet you, Tiberius"
"Lovely wedding you had."
"Thank you," she whispered, trying so hard to be polite while also feeling as though she might topple over at any moment. "I didn't have anything to do with it."
But that wasn't true, now was it? She'd been the one to bring the flowers. All the flowers that had hung over their heads, draped along the columns and bannisters that the trolls had walked by. She was the only one who had turned that entire room into a whole new place.
Her husband snorted behind her. "Lovely? The only thing lovely about that room were the plants. And you can't convince me any of the royals had a single thing to do with that."
He'd liked her flowers?
Cheeks burning, she rushed into the tent. It was dark inside, so all she could see was the shadowy outline of the interior. Strangely spacious for a tent, she could easily stand and walk twenty paces from one end to the
other. Her feet were immediately cushioned by plush rugs, as well. Valmira curled her toes in them before groping for what looked like a few trunks.
She could sit there and wait for him.
She sat her bottom down and held her aching wrist. A heartbeat now resided underneath the skin, likely prevented by the icy cold stream.
Valmira was only distracted from the pain for a few moments by the sheer size of the trunks, which left her feet dangling above the ground when she sat down. She would tell him everything, and she would make him listen.
Too much time had already passed. The moment they had exited the castle, she should have been begging him to let her go. All of this was a mistake. She was a foolish girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong
time. All he had to do was look at her to believe her. She didn't have a high blood content of elven magic. The last person in her family who had even a drop of elven blood had been centuries ago. It was why her only talent was with plants.
She'd just come right out with it. She'd tell him everything that she'd seen in the castle, and all the details he might need, then she'd beg to go home. Yes, she wasn't entirely able to do that, considering they were married in the eyes of her kingdom. But maybe this would be a good thing. She planned out her argument while she waited for the troll to enter the tent. If they remained married, then she could just ask him to sign over everything to her. Her father's business would remain safe. Why would a troll have any reason to take that from her? And even if he wanted her to pay him a small sum every year, she could do that. After all, everyone would know that she was the one who worked on the royal wedding.
Clearly, they had intended the princess to marry this troll. She'd been in a wedding dress, after all. Or had all of that been a ruse? Perhaps they were intelligent enough to seek out one of the few people in the kingdom with no family, no friends, and who wouldn't be missed. Then they'd lured her to the castle, popped her in a wedding dress, threatened to kill her, and voila.The princess was free.
Her plan wouldn't work if the entire kingdom knew what happened. If this was the plan the whole time, then she was certain the king would insist that everyone knew.
People would know she was married to a troll, and they wouldn't want to work with her. So she'd have to fake his death. Or perhaps try to swing it that they'd gotten a divorce. Which also wouldn't work, because if they had gotten a divorce, then he would have the rights to her business. Not her. Damn it. Was there no way out of this?
The flap covering the tent's opening swung open, revealing a small glimpse of the outside world. As she'd suspected, a fire now burned in front of the entrance. The golden light burnished the muscles of his thighs,
outlining his massive form as he bent low to enter. He was a god straight out of a fairytale.
Gulping, Valmira shrank a bit on her perch. She'd never felt smaller than she did in this instance. His shirt was too big. The trunk made her feel like a child sitting here with her feet swinging, and now he was staring at her with those strange eyes. He looked back at the entrance for one moment, and she
swore she saw his eyes glow like a cat's did in the dark.
But then the flap swung closed, and she was stuck in this tiny tent with him.
"Troll wife," he said, his voice a command that could not be denied.
"Why are you sitting in the dark?"
"There are no candles," she replied. Even if there were candles, she had no flint or match to light them. He reached above her head toward a metal contraption hanging from the
ceiling. With a slight twist of his fingers, fire bloomed within it.
Her jaw dropped open as she stared at the small metal cage now illuminating the space. There was a heavier metal bottom, filled with some kind of fuel she could only imagine, and now a tiny flame merrily dancing and filling the room with golden light.
"I've never..." She cleared her throat. "I've never seen such a thing."
He grunted before walking to the back of the tent. "I'm not surprised."
Valmira narrowed her eyes at the man who was now her husband, watching as he slapped at the furs in the back. She thought she could hear him grumbling about how Tiberius never set the bed up correctly, but surely that wasn't the bed he expected her to sleep in?
"You don't think very highly of my kind, do you?" she mused, not realizing the words were out until they hung before the two of them.
"It's hard to think well of a species who are so beneath me," he replied, before gesturing toward the bed. "You can go to sleep now."
"I'd like to talk, if that's a possibility."
"It is not." He crossed his arms over that massive chest and glared down his nose at her. He really was an imposing figure, but he hadn't hurt her yet.
So Valmira took a deep breath. "I think there's been some misunderstanding between the two of us. And I would like to rectify that
before we go any farther."
He just watched her beneath those hooded lids in a way that made her feel so small and so insignificant. But he wasn't arguing with her, so there was that much, at least.
"It's just..." How was she going to say this without him killing her? "I think it's a situation of wrong place, wrong time. I'm not supposed to be here."
That uninterested expression disappeared from his features. Instead, she could easily read something similar to hatred on his face now. "I know very well what your kind is like. I know the lies to expect from you, and the way
you will try to twist the truth. I have seen what your people are capable of, fire hair."
"That's not what I'm saying—"
Suddenly, he was right in front of her. Looming in the dark and so big, her tongue tied in her mouth. It was hard to think when there was a massive creature bent down and bracing his arms on either side of her. "Silence, troll wife."
But she couldn't stop her tongue now that it had started. "Why do you call me that?"
"It's what you are."
"It feels like you're trying to erase who I am. You haven't even asked for my name."
He seemed to freeze. Those dark eyes reflected a strange glow as the light from the metal contraption reflected in his gaze. "You already told Tiberius your name."
"But you have never asked me for it."
He blinked. "I do not need to. I know your name is Valmira."
Right, of course he did. But that didn't mean... She took a deep breath and told herself to be brave. "Then may I ask what your name is?"
The troll sucked in a deep breath, and she thought for a moment that she'd asked something wrong. Perhaps she wasn't ever supposed to ask for her husband's name. Maybe that was against their traditions. "You know my name. It was told to you by my king and all others when your father and him made this deal."
But she hadn't been there. "That's what I've been trying to tell you—"
"It's Lucian," he snarled. And there was anger in those words. "You forget the name of your mate and yet insist I remain a gentleman? You have followed none of the rules that were set out for you. You are a weak mate, a
delicate creature who will be broken in these woods long before you learn to walk in them."
Suddenly those big hands were around her waist, lifting her from the trunk and carrying her toward the bed. Her legs dangled in the air, and though she grabbed at his wrists for stability, she was once again too small.
Too weak. Everything that he said she was.
Lucian placed her down on the furs, surprisingly gentle for the rage that seemed to blister through him. Valmira lost her breath as he planted his knee between her legs, pinning her in place by the shirt he'd given her. And now she was surrounded by him, his scent, his clothing. The furs smelled of him. A strangely citrus scent that was both clean and surprisingly... nice. She hadn't thought a troll would smell nice, and yet, here it was. Here he was. Crouched above her, one thick thigh parting hers and anger on his features. But he was still gentle as he reached for her hair. He caught a curl between his fingers, then wrapped it around his massive pointer finger.
"I prayed for a troll wife," he murmured, his voice deep and low. "A beautiful woman with pale blue skin. A wife who would let me
tattoo my clan markings onto her skin, and who would wear my piercings with pride. But your pale skin would crack and bleed."
That blunt finger trailed along her bottom lip, and she drew in a deep breath at the sudden sizzle of awareness that flooded through her body. At his touch, all she could think was that he felt... heavy. A weight she welcomed because it calmed and stilled her anxious mind. He prodded her lips, willing her to open them so that he could trail the pad of his finger along her teeth.
"No tusks," he said. "Not even fangs. You cannot understand the qualities I am missing from the wife I was promised."
Pity made her heart ache. She knew she wasn't what he'd expected, but from the sounds of it, neither was the princess. "I thought you wanted someone with elven blood?"
His gaze hardened. "What use have I for a bride with porcelain skin and fragile glass limbs? I wanted a sturdy wife, a hard wife, one who would survive the harsh winters and the beckoning skies. What shall I do with an elven bride?"
But then his eyes flicked to her ears again, and something deeply troubled crossed his expression. Because he had to know now, in some way, that she wasn't who he'd been promised.
She opened her mouth to tell him just that, only to freeze as his knee came up and pressed against her core. They both froze at his movement, staring at each other as heat flooded through her body. She didn't know why she was reacting like this, only that she was surrounded by him. His scent. His need. It all swelled around her and she was overwhelmed by it.
Lucian leaned closer, his lips nearly pressed against hers. She could feel the heat of him spreading through her entire body. Her own breath came in tiny pants, puffing against the stone wall of his body.
"We wouldn't even fit," he murmured, before he was gone. Cold air rushed in where he had been and she took in a deep, shuddering breath. The light went out, leaving her alone,cold and breathless.