Chapter 6
Six
Bjorn
What had the king said?
Bjorn stared up at the man he knew was evil to his core, but it was still hard to believe that he’d heard him right.
They’d been waiting to see what he would do with a prize?
He knew what the others did. He was forced to listen to it, night after night, while he was in his own cell.
He knew what the warriors who were given women did to purge themselves of the darkness that hid within them.
But he had never done that. And everyone in this arena likely knew. If the rumors among the warriors were that he killed women, then it would likely get out to the rest of the kingdom, too.
So, the king wanted this priestess dead. Why? Bjorn could only imagine she had done something to anger the man, but now he wanted to know what it was.
He stood there, covered in blood, glaring up at the king who dared order him around. Some madness welled up inside him because all he could think to say was, “You are not my king. I do not take orders from you.”
Even a few of the trolls hissed out sounds of warning. It wasn’t the safest thing to say. He heard the danger in it too. But it was the right thing to say. This man did not get to order him to perform just because he was a king.
The man who loomed over them all smiled, but it was a slow, menacing look. “You believe you have the right to say no to me? You? Look around yourself, troll. If I wanted you dead, then I could have you killed this instant.”
“Then who would fight for you?” Bjorn knew better than to test King James. His next fight would be so much worse than he had ever experienced, but it was worth it for this moment.
A small hand on his back reminded him that he wasn’t standing alone. There was a gem of a woman, a golden creature who, for some reason, had ended up in this pit with him. And she was the one who murmured, “Whatever he asks us to do, we should do it.”
“I will not.”
“I need to make it out of here alive.” Those fingers flexed against his spine. “And if that requires whatever King James asks, then that is what I will do.”
Damn it, she was right. But he wasn’t going to kill her, no matter how much they wanted to watch that. Glaring at the king, he stood there and waited for King James to make his move.
The king merely spread his arms wide. “Did the priestess talk some sense into you?”
“I will not kill her.”
The priestess sucked in a harsh breath. Perhaps she hadn’t been aware of what King James was suggesting. Maybe she didn’t know the rumors about him after all, and something in him unraveled. A knot that had been tied so tightly, wondering what kind of woman would choose to side with a killer.
King James chuckled, and the sound echoed through the silent arena as though it had been amplified by magic. “That’s fine. Fuck or fight, I don’t care what you do. But all these people came here for a show, troll, and you’re going to give them one!”
Bjorn didn’t know which was worse. This woman would likely prefer death than to have his hands on her. She should. He had killed more people with these hands than she could count. He would continue to kill people for as long as he was lost in this labyrinth as well.
Dirty hands shouldn’t touch pretty things.
He turned to her, his mind spinning with how to get them out of this situation.
But he couldn’t think through the red rage that still tinged his vision.
Bjorn was built to fight. That was who his father was, and who he had become in this labyrinth.
He knew how to get out of situations with his fists and his horns, not with. .. with...
Rabbit’s voice broke through his thoughts. “Do what I tell you, and I think we’ll all get out of this alive.”
“Rabbit,” he hissed. “Stay out of this.”
“Stop talking and turn toward the woman, you fucking nitwit.”
The hissed words were clearly said through lips that weren’t moving. Some of the words were lisped, harder to say around their tusks. He was speaking in the common tongue, though, likely for the woman to understand what they were saying.
Body stiff with displeasure, Bjorn turned toward her and froze. She was blinding.
A smear of blood had splattered across her cheek at some point during the battle.
Her perfect hair was still smooth as silk, not a single strand daring to go against the rest. Her crystal blue eyes looked up at him with so much trust, and she shouldn’t trust a troll like him.
He was unpredictable. Even now, his hands were shaking as he stood in front of her, trying to pretend this wasn’t happening to either of them.
Rabbit whispered, “Touch her, for the love of all the gods. Make it seem like you’re going to do what King James told you to do.”
“I will not hurt her,” he growled.
“No one is expecting you to. Just touch her for a few seconds.” Then Rabbit seemed to hesitate before adding, “If the lady doesn’t mind.”
A peculiar expression traveled across her face. It was a bit like surprise, but he couldn’t guess at what she was surprised about. Maybe it was that they’d asked. Maybe she assumed they would be as animalistic as her own people.
She nodded demurely and said, “Whatever we must do. You have my permission to touch me, Bull.”
He hated her calling him that. Hated it deep to the marrow of his bones. He couldn’t stop a word from blurting out of his mouth.
“Bjorn,” he said as he haltingly stepped toward her.
“Your name?” she asked, again in that almost pristine voice that shook ever so slightly. “I’m Astrid.”
He nodded and then reached for her. Damn it, his hand was too big to touch her. He could have palmed her entire head in his hand if he wished, and there wasn’t a safe place for him to lay his hand without ruining her dress. Bjorn had forgotten that he was coated in the blood of her kind.
So instead of grabbing her like Rabbit likely wanted him to do, he ran a trembling claw down the line of missing beads over her hip. He stepped ever closer, until a breath would have pressed their chests together, and something in him yearned.
He wanted to touch those beads. He desperately needed to graze his finger along that line of exposed flesh that he knew would be soft and velvety. For once in so many years, he wanted to know what something delicate felt like.
His talon scraped along the sheer fabric underneath, but Bjorn had long ago forgotten how to be gentle.
He was horrified to see his claw had left a red mark in its wake, and there was nothing he could say that would excuse such a touch.
She deserved better. She shouldn’t have to subject herself to the vile touch of a man like him.
Except... she grabbed onto his hand and pulled him a little closer to her.
“I think I have an idea of what your friend Rabbit is suggesting,” she murmured as she stepped so close he could smell the mint on her breath. “But I do believe we’ll have to be much closer for it to work.”
“She’s got the right idea,” Rabbit said, before he lunged in front of the crowd of trolls. “High king! Trolls do not do this in front of the eyes of so many.”
“He will do it if he wishes to live,” King James shouted back.
“I believe we can still save the honor of this warrior and woman! May I suggest you shall hear only the sounds of their pleasure rather than watching? It will keep our people... happier.” Rabbit bowed low and swung out a dramatic arm.
The sounds? What the fuck was Rabbit going on about?
Bjorn wasn’t going to fuck her in front of all of these humans, and he certainly wasn’t going to put on a show for them all.
This was wrong. This was what evil people did, and even though he had been a murderer for years now, he had never considered himself evil.
But the priestess, she seemed to understand the plan. She called out, “The order of priestesses forbids sexual acts! I will not have my honor destroyed by being seen doing this. You would be dishonoring not only me, but my entire sisterhood.”
Murmurs erupted throughout the crowd. It seemed there were many who agreed with her. They wanted her honor affected. They wanted her torn down. But they did not wish to see it happen before their own eyes. Typical.
So many of these people wanted the outcome of ruin, but they only wanted to see the aftermath.
The king seemed to think about this before he finally nodded and waved a hand, as though that was all that was required in this moment. With a wave of a hand, a woman’s life was ruined.
“Thank you, oh marvelous king,” Rabbit called out, before whirling upon them. “Trolls. Hide them.”
Suddenly, a wall of trolls surrounded the two of them, facing inward.
They all took the order very seriously, pressing their bodies so close together that he didn’t think anyone would have seen through the wall of flesh.
A hand pressed against his shoulder, shoving him down onto his knees so the trolls could bend over them as well, preventing anyone in the highest seats from seeing what happened.
His people, at risk to their own lives, created a bubble of safety with their bodies.
The priestess was crouched on the opposite side, looking up into troll faces that were likely terrifying to see.
Most of these men and women were covered in blood and mud.
They were multicolored, with tusks that arched up from their faces.
Many of them were splattered with not only blood, but organs and meat that hung from their teeth.
They had fought hard and long. They deserved rest after what they had done, and had every reason not to help him, but... they did.
For Bjorn.
For a woman they did not know.
A spark in his chest burst to life, brighter than he had ever felt. This was what his people stood for. This was why he had loved them fiercely and never fallen into madness like he so easily could have.
Rabbit wrestled his way through the group, his yellow face appearing through the folds of skin and muscle. “Well? Make it sound believable!”