Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
MAIA
She rolled onto her side, not entirely sure what had happened. One moment she’d been standing, and the next... She swore there had been a blast. She knew she had been standing right in front of the king, staring into his stupid, smug expression, and then...
Where was her memory of the rest?
And was she lying down?
Maia stretched her fingers out, not opening her eyes just yet. She was lying on what felt similar to a bed. But scratchy sheets met her fingertips first, and then there was the sensation of a hard mattress beneath her. Her hand dipped off the edge of the mattress and into thin air, so she was at least raised off the ground.
Had something happened? She tried to blink, but there was a grit that made it hard for her to open her eyes. Every blink felt like she was grinding glass beneath her lids. Still, she forced herself to look at the world around her. Though tears made everything appear hazy, she could see she was in a jail cell.
Shit.
Something had happened, and she had been out of it the entire time. Breathing slowly, she noticed there were a few other forms on the side of the room. More cots, maybe?
Hissing, she forced herself to sit up. At least if she was upright, then she could convince her body to give up the wrong feeling that made her heart stutter in her chest and her breathing difficult. There was something... not quite right about this.
The world tilted to the side, but she wasn’t injured. She didn’t feel any wounds. Maybe her shoulders and back were a little stiff, but only because she’d been sleeping on an uncomfortable cot. But the way everything was warping and listing to the side, all she could think was that they had given her something.
Some kind of magic or medicine had made her sleep.
Maia tried to reach inside of her magic. Just like Ragnar had told her she could do. He had claimed she could use his magic, and if she could, then that white light inside of her could maybe tell her if there was something wrong.
She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to heal like he could. There just wasn’t enough magic inside of her to do so, but she felt like she could at least diagnose what was wrong. So she tried to focus on the feeling of his magic. That icy cold water that dripped down from her head to her shoulders, and then slid down her spine as it worked its way through her.
And then she swore she could see it. The poison that worked its way through her entire body. It was in her stomach, in her veins, all of it slithering through her exhausted body as it tried to make her go back to sleep.
So they had given her something. She didn’t know what. But it felt like there was residue in her throat, which she could only assume meant they’d poured it into her mouth while she had been unconscious.
Memories filtered back. An explosion, the sound of people screaming and crying, the trolls groaning too far behind her. And then the sensation of someone grabbing the front of her dress and slamming her head into the stone stairs that had led up to the throne where the king had sat.
Was this all the king? Surely it had to be.
Still, she allowed the magic to flow white hot through her entire body. It burned through the rest of the drug that had taken up residence where it was not wanted, and suddenly the world steadied. She was far more capable of seeing what was right in front of her.
Cots with blankets that were tossed to the side, like two people had sat up rather quickly and then... left. She looked to her right, seeing a door with small bars for a window. The entrance to the cell, most likely, considering the guards would want to be able to look in and see if their prisoners were still alive. To her left, there was another door. This one had no bars, though.
Interesting.
Maia had no idea where she was. She’d never heard of a prison anywhere near the castle, which meant the king didn’t want the rest of his people to know that this was here. He had to be hiding something terrible here.
Her gut said that she was still in the castle. Maybe that was wishful thinking, but she could feel it. They hadn’t moved her far.
She sat there on her cot, waiting for something to happen until the mystery door opened. A woman fell through it on her hands and knees. Her hair was matted and tangled, full of dirt and red smudges that Maia didn’t want to focus too hard on. Her clothing appeared worn and torn, aged beyond reason as she slowly crawled toward one of the cots.
Maia couldn’t stop looking at the woman’s hands. Her nails were chipped and dirt streaked. There appeared to be blood underneath them as well, although she couldn’t guess why there was blood there. But the cracked tips looked like she’d been clawing at stone.
“Hello,” Maia said, trying to say the word quietly.
The woman’s head came up, her bright blue eyes wild with fear. This newcomer looked every inch a wild animal as she stared at Maia before suddenly flying backward. Her back hit the wall with a sharp crack that made Maia wince as the woman seemed to press herself against the stone as though she could sink into it and get away from whoever Maia was.
She had no idea what had caused this woman’s panic, but she could only assume it was terrible. Slowly, Maia drew her legs up onto the cot and wrapped her arms around them. She made herself even smaller, trying to not be intimidating.
Silence filled the room. Maia would not fill this void between them with more words, not when the woman was panting with terror and staring at her like Maia had screamed. Fear like that couldn’t be reasoned with, it could only be sat with until it eased.
Finally the woman blinked, her eyes barely visible through the tangled locks of her hair, and Maia could see the terror ease.
“Who are you?” the stranger finally rasped.
“Maia.”
“Why are you here?”
“I don’t know. I was hoping you might be able to answer that.”
“Oh.” The woman’s eyes filled with tears. They dripped down her cheeks in massive drops, sliding through dirt and grime to leave tracks there. “Oh, no.”
“Why Oh no ?” Maia wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to that question.
“You shouldn’t be here. You don’t want to be here.” In a sudden burst of motion, the woman darted to one of the cots and threw the blanket over herself. She disappeared under the fabric, although even that shuddered with the weight of her emotions.
“No, I don’t want to be here.” Maia waited a few more moments before she moved from her own cot. She made sure that her steps made noise, so the woman knew she was coming over.
And then she crouched at the head of the cot, looking at the spot where the woman’s head should be. She’d completely hidden herself underneath the fabric. Biting her lips, Maia reached forward and picked up the smallest edge of the blanket. Just enough so she could peer underneath it at the woman with haunted eyes.
“What’s your name?” she whispered.
“Rose.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Rose. Would it be easier if I came under there with you?”
She shook her head, and then hesitated. “Maybe. I don’t know if there’s room, though.”
A plan formed. When Maia was little, she used to hide under the blankets, too. It was hard to face the world sometimes. Hiding under the blankets made it feel like the world didn’t exist for a little while. She twisted and grabbed the blanket behind her, throwing it over her head and the woman, so she made an extension of the safety Rose had created for herself.
“There,” Maia said. “Now we’re both under the blanket.”
Rose breathed out a long sigh. “You’re too nice for this place.”
“I don’t even know what this place is.”
“It’s where the king sends people to punish them,” she whispered, her eyes going wide again. “You must have done something to make him very, very angry.”
“I did. I came back when I was supposed to remain dead.”
“Oh. That would make him furious.” Rose tunneled further into the blankets. “You really don’t know where you are?”
“Has anyone else heard of this place?”
The other woman seemed to consider her words. Her brows furrowed while she thought, and then she shook her head. “Probably not.”
Maia needed an explanation for where they were, though. This woman had been through a lot, and talking about it would not be easy, but Maia needed to know what she had gotten into. “Rose? What is this place?”
A shadow darkened Rose’s features, the remnants of what she had been through bleeding through her form until the hollows underneath her eyes appeared bruised. “The king sends us here to run the labyrinth.”
“The labyrinth?”
“He keeps fighters here. They all battle each other in the center, and nobility watch from the stands around it. The men here fight to the death. But the winners...” She swallowed, her throat working hard. “They get their prize.”
Fuck.
Oh, fuck, that was awful. She hadn’t thought...
Maia closed her eyes, squeezing them shut as she reminded herself that she was a troll wife. She would get through this, just like she had gotten through so much in her life. “I’m sorry, Rose. That is an awful and terrible thing.”
“It is.”
“You were...”
“I am a prize,” Rose whispered. “Myself and another. She had just arrived here, like you. But she was so terrified that she wouldn’t stop screaming, so he gave her to... to...”
Silence. Just a sudden silence that was full of so much meaning. She had no idea who this mythical warrior was who killed women, but she intended to find out. Maia knew that was likely her own fate.
The king hated her. He’d made that very clear when he’d attacked his own people with that explosion just to punish Maia and all the other trolls. He would stop at nothing to get his revenge. For what reasoning, she had no idea. All she knew was that she was stuck in this place and she had to find a way out.
She had to find a way back to Ragnar. No matter the cost.
“Okay,” she said. “Okay, so there has to be somewhere to go. There has to be a way out of here.”
“There isn’t.”
“There’s always a way out. Maybe if we talk to the guards, we could find one who could cast some pity on us. Someone here doesn’t agree with what the king is doing. If we can just get them to help us, then we can get out of here. We can tell other people what the king is doing, and maybe then we’ll be able to get everyone else out. If we can get out of here, then we can send help.”
Rose was shaking her head vigorously. “The guards don’t care.”
“One of them has to care! You just said you’re being given to people as a gift , Rose. And then whatever the...” She stopped speaking the moment she saw the expression on Rose’s face.
She’d said something wrong. Rose sank in on herself even more. She curled tighter into a little ball, the grimy texture of her hair leaving streaks on the cot beneath her. “No, Maia. You don’t understand. If any of us try to rebel or make anyone angry in this place, they’ll just give us to him.”
The words were said in complete and utter panic. Rose shifted away from her, like she didn’t want to be anywhere near Maia, just in case someone had overheard them. Like no matter what happened, Rose was not going to be involved.
“Okay,” Maia murmured, trying to get the other woman to calm down. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay! They’ll give you to him!”
“Who is he?” she finally asked.
Rose said straight up, ripping the blankets off both of their heads. Her hair stuck up in every direction and her voice deepened with intensity. “The troll. They’ll give you to the troll.”
The entire world seemed to pause.
The troll? There was a troll in this place?
Suddenly, it all made sense. Of course there was a troll here. The king hated their kind, and he’d been attacking them for ages. But in the end, a troll was always going to be a better fighter than a human. They were bigger, more aggressive, more attuned to all the abilities that humans had never had. Maia had seen the trolls fight. She knew how powerful they were and how easy it was for them to fight through an entire group of human men. Any one of them could cut through a crowd of ten without weapons. She had no qualms about that.
But clearly, this was worse than she believed. If the king had captured trolls and was making them fight, giving them women as a gift as though that was a worthy endeavor, all she could think was that they wanted to be freed.
Humans weren’t going to help her. But a troll might not have lost hope. Not yet. Not while there was still a fight possible. And even if they had given up, maybe she could convince them to fight one last time.
Standing, she straightened her shoulders and went right to the door with the small window. Banging on it, she screamed at the top of her lungs. The sound would carry, she knew that. And if no one would come to see her just yet, then she would keep screaming until the guards were so annoyed they had to come and get her.
It didn’t take long. Soon enough, there was the thundering sound of boots as Rose whimpered in her corner. She’d fled from the cot the moment Maia started screaming.
The guard on the other side of the door swore at her. “Shut the fuck up, bitch!”
“What you’re doing here is wrong.” She spat through the window, pleased when her aim held true and it struck his cheek.
The man winced and then glared at her. “You’re on thin ice.”
“Good. Fuck you. Fuck this place. And fuck the king.”
His eyes widened. “If you’re not careful, we’ll give you to the worst creature you’ve ever seen. I was going to give you to one of the newer fighters first. He might even be a little gentle with you.”
“No, thank you,” she snarled. “Do your worst.”
And she could see it in his eyes. He was going to.
Good.
When he walked away, Rose stayed shaking her corner. “You don’t know what you’ve done!”
“I know exactly what I’ve done,” Maia replied, before sitting primly on her own cot. “I’ve given myself to the troll.”