Chapter 3
Three
Astrid
Her heart had never thundered like that before. Astrid could deal with intimidating men. She’d done that her entire life. But that troll had been massive.
She’d stared up at him, shocked and awed by the sheer power that had been forced into submission before her.
It had made something inside of her ache.
She’d never questioned what her people were doing before, especially the king.
He was charged with keeping their people safe, and he had promised that he would always do that, but something about this felt wrong.
The trolls were talked about as if they were another species.
Her people believed they were creatures who had refused to serve the elves and therefore must’ve been evil.
Elves were the only reason why so many of the humans had magic, and why so much of their lives had become easier.
Magic made living simple. The elves were the saviors of the humans, and yet. ..
That troll had spoken to her. Not in the black tongue, but in her own language. He had seemed reasonable, warned her against talking about the trolls who wanted him safe, and there was something odd about that.
He shouldn’t care about her at all, or even have the ability to do so. And he certainly wasn’t supposed to protect someone he had every reason to hate. It was confusing. Very, very confusing.
She followed Lord Tolly into the back room, her mind whirling with the possibilities of what her conversation had meant. She shouldn’t even be thinking about this. Trolls were beyond her worries. She needed to focus on the here and now.
A rival had the lord she served in a back room in the labyrinth, and all she could think about was the troll tied up in the room beyond.
Saving him wasn’t her job. Her job was to keep her own people safe.
The priestesses and acolytes who lived with Lord Tolly at her request were real people, ones she had vowed to serve as well.
The town that relied on its lord to keep them safe was her task to keep running.
And yet... That letter had mentioned getting a troll out of this labyrinth who looked an awful lot like the troll who had been angry at Harwick.
“Did you see his horns?” Harwick said as they entered the sitting area. “I have never seen the likes of them on another. The creature is clearly more animal than man. No wonder they call him the Bull. I’ve never been so close to him, but I always know to bet on that fighter before any others.”
Lord Tolly chuckled. “I have bet against him myself, and I know how foolish that was now. He is an impressive creature, absolutely.”
The room was filled with food and drink. She didn’t know why they thought this would be a private place to talk. Anyone could walk in here during their conversation. Surely one of them was concerned about that?
“Lord Tolly,” she murmured, stepping closer to him. “I believe there are observation rooms that are more private than this.”
He hummed low under his breath, then loudly declared, “What observation room are we going to, Harwick?”
“Oh, we’re having our conversation in here, old friend. It shouldn’t take very long.”
She prided herself on always knowing what was going to happen in meetings like this.
Astrid had spent the past week preparing for every possible outcome.
Harwick would not trap her with any of his foolish plans, because he simply was not as smart as she was.
Nor did he have her connections. She’d spent far too long ensuring every detail was perfect. She knew what he was going to say.
And it wasn’t, “Your debts have not been paid in a very long time, Tolly. Unfortunately, it is time to pay up.”
Four more men came through the door they had just entered. These were the king’s men though, each of them wearing armor and decorated with weapons. None of them even looked at her as they walked through the door, standing at attention and waiting on...
Harwick’s order.
What had gone wrong? How had she missed this? She could feel Lord Tolly’s gaze on her, but she had no knowledge of this plan. Harwick’s own people had always shared what they could with her, and they had never lied before.
Desperately, she looked over at Lord Tolly, hoping that he would see just how much she had tried, but he... he didn’t look surprised. If anything, he looked resigned.
“Debts?” she breathed, her voice perhaps too loud in this room where so many could hear her. “What debts do they speak of?”
His expression didn’t change as he looked at her. “I may have been attending some of the fights...”
“Oh, come now. Don’t lie to her, Tolly, not when she’s already seen it all. Priestess, your nobleman has been attending many fights and betting all that he does not have.”
Her mind raced with all the details Tolly had explained away. “The food storage you said was going to a neighboring lord?”
“I could not afford more.”
“The missing paintings?”
“Sold so I could pay off some of the debt, although clearly not all of it.”
Harwick snorted. “Not even a small fraction, if we’re being honest. You owe enough that I could take your title and town, Tolly.”
That couldn’t happen. The Tolly line had been in that manor and managing that town for the better part of five hundred years. She’d vowed that she would protect it at all costs, not that she would... would...
Let it fall because of a man she couldn’t keep under her thumb.
She was supposed to be one of the best. A priestess who had been trained to perfection with power that could assist her lord beyond any other.
She knew how to draw emotions out of people, how to make them feel good or scared or tired.
Anything that would aid her in her cause.
Turning her gaze to Harwick, she intended to do just that. But the moment she stepped toward him, one of those guards grabbed her shoulders.
She reached into his soul, feeling around for the emotion that she wanted. It wasn’t that she was just a calming presence, like these men thought she was. If she wanted to fight them, if she wanted to make them hurt, then she could.
Her elven bloodline had been cruel. The older priestesses told her stories about her suspected grandmother, a half-elven woman who had been as cold as steel.
She’d known how to manage her family. That much was certain.
She would have killed anyone who didn’t keep the magic strong within all of them. And she had done it before.
Although Astrid had never wanted to be like that rumor, she knew damn well she could be.
The guard holding on to her didn’t want to be here.
His emotions were all over the place, swinging wildly from excitement to guilt to anger.
She used that to her advantage. Weaving around his mind, she tied his guilt like a noose around his neck.
He didn’t want to hurt her. He didn’t want to hold a defenseless woman down, especially not a priestess who should be revered.
He knew better. He knew that she deserved his respect.
The man released her almost instantly.
It should have made every man in the room tremble, but it didn’t. Instead, Harwick just rolled his eyes. “Really, priestess? Using your magic feels a little out of hand, doesn’t it?”
“Not for the likes of you,” she snarled.
She wasn’t supposed to talk to anyone other than her lord, but damn it, this felt like the right time to do it. Tolly did not need to be punished just yet. She could still fix this.
Scrambling, her mind started working in overdrive.
“There is plenty for us to give you in exchange for his debt. Tolly hasn’t sold nearly enough of the household objects.
Half of my dresses alone should cover what he owes.
Why he has not spoken with me about this situation, I do not know.
But I am willing to work with you, Harwick. We’ll get this paid off.”
Lord Tolly stepped up to her and grabbed her arm. “That’s enough, Priestess.”
By all the gods, she was so tired of men talking to her like that.
Like she was nothing more than her title, rather than a woman who had thoughts and expectations of her own life.
She had served him for years, and he’d trusted her for that long.
Didn’t he see that her reasoning might be better than his own?
She ignored her own lord and instead kept her attention on Harwick. “I’m telling you, I can make this work.”
“But can you keep him out of the gambling dens?” Harwick shook his head. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to kill him for this.”
Kill him?
No, no, no, she couldn’t allow that. If he were killed, then she would be sent far away from here.
She’d pushed so hard for this job with Tolly because he was close to the city where her sister had been.
And then when her sister had gone missing, she’d pushed to stay here because of Rose’s disappearance.
This was where her only surviving family was.
If she weren’t here, then Rose would be gone forever.
She had to stay here and keep searching.
Harwick leaned forward, a wicked grin on his face. “I already know who you’re going to be working with next. As a priestess of your ranking, you should serve a lord with considerable power and recognition among our peers. Don’t you think?”
Did he mean... himself?
Absolutely not. She would not be his personal priestess. She’d rather die. She’d rather take whatever punishment was coming to Tolly than service Harwick for the rest of her days.
“That’s quite enough, Astrid!” Her name snapped through the room, and she turned to Lord Tolly in shock.
He knew better than anyone else that he wasn’t allowed to say her given name in the presence of others.
She was to remain as anonymous as possible.
A figurehead of his wealth, nothing more, nothing less.
Priestesses trained their entire lives to serve men like him, but never, never, had he broken a rule so blatantly.