Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
RAGNAR
Ragnar hadn’t stopped working for nearly a week since the king had decided on their new plan. The generals were all very forceful about what their thoughts were for next steps, and that meant he had little time to even go home. But Inkeri had sworn she was taking good care of Maia, and he had to trust that there were some trolls with her best interest at heart.
Even if it hurt to think that she was on her own. His little human wasn’t all that good at being alone, and certainly didn’t like being too far from him. Though he’d seen her strength come back in waves, he wasn’t sure that it was the same as it had been before the battle.
She’d seen too much. And part of that was his fault.
But now, he finally had time to go back home to her. Even though it was the middle of the night.
He was careful not to be too loud before he reached the bed, namely because he wanted to surprise her by sliding under the covers. Lifting the blankets carefully, he tried to make sure not too much cold air got underneath. If he could just get a little closer to her, then he could pull her against his chest. She would make that sweet little sound she did in her sleep when he showed up, and then sigh in that way that made every part of him clench in happiness.
Gods, he loved her. So much. And he wasn’t sure how to tell her that, or if there was a way for him to tell her that without her thinking he was joking or lying. It shouldn’t have been possible for either of them to fall in love with each other. Not considering their start, who they were as people, or all the other things that had led them here.
But he did. He loved the little noises she made in her sleep, the soft look in her eyes when she looked at his people, and the absolute wild abandon with which she threw herself into every single thing she did. When she got something in her mind, she did it. That was who his little human was.
Ragnar slid his arms underneath her limp form and gently tugged her into him. He just wanted to feel her for a little while. Then he would wake her up and tell her everything that was going to happen. But first, he wanted to enjoy her.
Until she willingly rolled against him and draped herself across his chest in a very not tired way. “You’re too big to be that quiet, you know.”
“You should be sleeping.”
“I couldn’t sleep.” She nuzzled her head on his chest, pillowed by all the thick muscles there. “You’ve been very busy.”
“The king keeps me busy.” Even though he wanted to be anywhere but in the castle. And maybe... Maybe she wanted to hear that. “I’d rather be here with you. That’s what gets me through the day, you know. I imagine taking you back to the illuminated glen. Or perhaps we’d go on a journey across your lands, camping underneath the stars. I’d catch you rabbits, just like the first time.”
She made a face he could feel pressed against his skin. “No rabbits—thank you.”
“You liked the rabbit I gave you then.”
“Because I was starving. I’d much rather find something more palatable than an adorable little creature.” But he could feel her laughter even as she tried to hide it. “Unless you’re insistent on killing small fluffy things.”
Ragnar ruffled her hair and curved an arm around her a little tighter. “I have absolutely no need to kill fluffy things if you’re not interested in eating them.”
“Good. I thought maybe we could use a pet around here, anyway. Maybe a cat?” She sat up on his chest, using her hand against his collarbone to push up. “Do you even know what a cat is?”
“I do not.”
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll like them. But they’re fun pets and I wouldn’t be quite so alone all the time.”
He heard the words she didn’t say. She wouldn’t be so lonely if she had a pet. And that broke his heart. He knew he hadn’t been around much, but... Ragnar caught a curl that had fallen in front of her face and tucked it behind her ear. “If that would make you happy, Maia, you can get all the terrifying creatures you want and fill this home with them.”
“I think they need sunlight.”
“We’ll bring them above to keep them happy.”
“Every day?”
Solemnly, he nodded. “If that is the burden I must bear, then I will carry you and all of your strange foundlings into the sun every afternoon.”
It was as much of a declaration of love as he knew how to give. For her, he would do anything if it would make her smile.
Just like she was smiling now. That ridiculous, beaming grin that said she thought he was being silly. And he was. He knew the words he said were foolish and perhaps a little lovesick, but he couldn’t stop them from coming all the same.
He had fallen so hard for this woman, it was almost embarrassing.
She watched him with those bright green eyes, shadows playing across her face like a loving hand trailing along her features. Ragnar traced those shadows, watching his massive hand dance across her features as though he’d never seen either of them before.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“Thoughts I will tell you eventually, fire hair. But not tonight.”
Her smile softened. “Troll things?”
“Troll things.” And that was why he was here, wasn’t it? He was supposed to talk with her about this plan of the king’s, one that required her to be a large player in this game.
But he didn’t want to talk to her about that. He wanted to exist in this bubble where it was just the two of them and no one else. He wanted her to be “fine”, as she kept insisting that she was, and to smile at him like that for a little while longer.
Maybe she knew him better than he realized. Because that smile he so adored fell from her face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong.”
“I know that expression, Ragnar. Something is very much wrong, and you don’t want to tell me.”
She read him too easily. Scowling at her, he tried to play it off like it was nothing. “You’re too shrewd of a woman. Were you not afraid of me only a little while ago? You should measure that fear before you demand more of my attention.”
“Ragnar.”
“Fine,” he muttered. But he couldn’t look at her while he talked about it. So he let his head fall back on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. “The king has a plan and you’re part of it.”
“A plan for what?”
“To strengthen us against the humans. Likely to figure out what your king is up to as well. Although I have my doubts we’ll be able to successfully do that. Humans are very good at hiding what they’re doing when they want to keep such information secret.”
He let the silence between them fall, knowing that she was going to start asking questions soon. He wasn’t disappointed.
“What is his plan?” she quietly prodded.
“Because we have successfully bonded as troll and troll wife, he believes that proves such a bonding is... worthy of pursuit.”
That was a stupid way to say it.
Maia laid her head back down onto his chest, her cheek pillowed by her hands. “A bonding like ours? What does that mean?”
“Haven’t you noticed your magic is stronger with me? It’s not the place, it’s us.” He laid his hand on her back, drawing slow, measured circles there. “Apparently, with significant more practice, we can use each other’s magic without touching.”
“Really?” She popped back up again, her hair falling in front of her face with the movement. “Are you saying I could heal people?”
“You could try.”
“I could do what you do?”
“With practice,” he replied with a chuckle. Ragnar palmed the back of her neck and brought her back down to his chest. “Because of this, he wants to encourage more bonds like that. Previous human and troll pairings were rarely, if ever... willing.”
She stilled against him, and he knew this was a sensitive subject to bring up. Considering what she had just endured, there were likely better ways for him to have said it. He just hadn’t thought the words through until they were out of his mouth.
His brave little wife was quick to reply, “So other pairings couldn’t do that because one of them really didn’t want the other to use their magic?”
“Or neither of them did. My people have done horrible things to crawl out of the mud from which the elves made us.” He resumed rubbing her back, hoping she didn’t mind that he was doing so. “None of us are proud of that. But I cannot say that I regret what I was born from. I wouldn’t be here today, capable of such a conversation if not for all the work my people did in the past.”
Her fingers curved against his chest. “I don’t know what to think about all of that. I feel sorry for the poor women who were trapped here.”
“So do I. I know my lineage is full of human women who were terrified of their husbands, likely even hated them.” He flexed his stomach, drawing up to press a kiss against her hair. “But I honor their fear by treating you in the way they should have been treated all those years ago.”
She nodded against his chest. “I don’t have an ounce of that fear. At least, not anymore.”
“Good. Now the king sent a message to yours, stating that he would like an audience to prove that the... gift he gave us is still alive and well.” At her silence, he added, “That’s you.”
“Oh, yes, I realize that’s me. Your king wants to send me home?”
He tried to hear if there was hope in that tone. A part of him feared she would want to return home, that she would take any opportunity she could get to run.
But he didn’t think that was what he heard in her voice. This would be easier if there was light in the room so he could read her expression. But the darkness encouraged a strange and brutal honesty between the two of them as well. He wanted to tell her the truth. He wanted to tell her everything that she wanted to know, all because it was easier with the darkness blanketing them.
“You will not stay there,” he rumbled. “Your place is here with me, Maia.”
“I don’t want to stay there. But I’m not sure that the humans will let me return.” Again, those tiny claws of her dug into his chest. “They gave me to you as a joke. They thought you would kill me, and likely assume that had already happened, considering the timeline. Bringing me to them, proving that I am well, don’t you think that will just make them more angry?”
“That’s not the point of you going.” And here was the mad part of this plan. “King Egil wants you to make a declaration before the court. That you are alive and well, and that we have treated you as you have always wished to be treated. You can embellish. I’m sure saying we treated you like a princess would raise people’s hopes a little too much. But he wants you to make it clear that there may be another path for them to choose, and a good one.” Ragnar swallowed hard. “He wants you to convince the women of your kingdom that there is a life here, and that we will take them willingly.”
Again, that silence. He had no idea what she was thinking, or if this plan was even possible. Maybe she didn’t believe that human women would come here at all.
“Those with elven bloodlines are rare among humans,” she whispered. “Getting them to come here when there are many options among the humans for their pairings... It’s no easy task, Ragnar.”
“The king wants you to make it clear that we are not only looking for those with strong, elven bloodlines. Ones with even a drop, like you, those are the people we wish to marry. And even those without. We will take them here in the mountain and provide them with work and a home.”
A soft gasp followed his words. “The king would take... all of them?”
“All of them.”
Maia sat up yet again, staring down at him in confusion. “Why would he do that? The mountain has always been off limit to humans. Few of the trolls here trust my kind, especially now that the humans are actively hunting them down, even on the mountain. That’s asking my people to come into a kingdom where they will most certainly be killed.”
“He is prepared to cast a decree that humans are allowed here. But they must marry us for access to this place, and they must do so willingly. That’s where you come in, fire hair.” He sank his hands into the curls on her head, allowing himself to feel the silken strands as they curved and tangled around his fingers. “You are the one who needs to convince them that we’re not monsters, and that we take care of what is ours.”
Ragnar drew her closer, his gaze on those plush pink lips. Lips he desperately wanted to kiss so that they could forget this conversation for a while. If only she would allow him to do so.
Her breath hitched, and he knew from the way her pink tongue darted out that she was thinking the same thing. “I don’t know if I can do that, Ragnar. You’re bringing me into a court full of people who are so incredibly pampered that the mere thought of leaving their comfort will seem foolish.”
“We don’t care if the nobility hear you. It’s the servants, the handmaids, the people who walk with those pampered fools that rule your kingdom. Those are the people we want to hear you say that there is another life with trolls who will worship the ground they walk upon.”
That lovely, beautiful mouth curved into a smile. “Is that what you do? Worship the ground I walk on?”
“Was that not obvious?”
“Well, you might have done a better job of it. If you wanted me to think you worshipped me, after all.”
He was done talking. They would continue this conversation after he’d made her scream in pleasure.
Ragnar rolled them until he was above her, braced on his forearms and pressing her down with his hips. “Would you like me to worship you now, wife?”
“If it pleases you.”
A hungry growl rumbled through him. “It would please me greatly.”