Chapter 27 #2
He swallowed hard. There was still a part of him that was still twisted from what he had experienced, he realized.
His instincts should tell him to destroy the entire human kingdom and all the people within it.
And he wanted to. He wanted King James dead, and he wanted the human king’s blood to run out onto the very grounds that he had killed so many others upon.
Yet Bjorn’s instinct, the fear that ran through his veins, told him to prevent that from happening at all costs.
Bjorn shook his head. “Maybe you’re right. We should probably take you to King Egil as soon as we can. You should tell him all you know so that the trolls can...”
He didn’t know what they would do. Attack the human kingdom?
Perhaps. He had seen it happen in his lifetime, although it had been a very long time since they had done so.
The trolls rarely had the resources they needed to do such a thing.
But he knew without a doubt that his people wanted to.
They would kill hers off in a heartbeat.
She reached up and touched a hand to his jaw. “Why are you suddenly so worried?”
“I don’t know how the trolls in Trollveggen will react to you.
They are not kind to your people.” He could see it now.
They would do whatever it took to protect their own families and the people in that mountain.
She represented a group of people who had hunted his kind and killed his people in horrible ways for centuries.
She’d been there in the labyrinth, after all. For years before she ever tried to help him. And even then, it had been for her own gain.
Astrid merely smiled up at him, and patted his neck before turning to continue up the mountain. “I know they aren’t going to trust me. They have no reason to. But I’m not there for them, Bjorn. I’m there for my sister.”
And that was that. She didn’t seem to care that she was going into a very dangerous situation with people who could kill her. She’d walk through fire if it meant she got her sister back.
He’d never been more attracted or confused about being attracted to a woman in his life.
After that, it was a little hard to talk.
The steep incline wasn’t all that difficult for him, but it very much was for her.
Bjorn found himself stopping more often, waiting for her ragged breathing to even out before he continued.
The sound of her breath sawing in and out of her lungs was more than a little concerning.
He’d never heard a human wheeze like that before.
But she didn’t complain, nor did she say to stop, so they kept going. Up and up until the sun started to set, and finally he determined it was a good time for them to pause. The last thing he needed was to run her into the ground.
“Here,” he said, pointing to a rock for her to sit on. “Rest for a moment while I set up camp.”
She nodded furiously but said nothing in return. That was his first warning of concern. Bjorn took the skein of water off his side and handed it over to her.
“And drink,” he added. “All of it.”
“That’s the last of our water,” she said, still breathless and almost impossible to understand.
“I will find more.”
He kept an eye on her while he set the tent up.
She weaved a little back and forth, but seemed to be settling in a bit better.
Her breath didn’t sound so ragged anymore, and she was steadier as she sat there sipping at the water.
Enough so that he didn’t fear so much that she was going to keel over.
At least he knew she could survive a trip like that if necessary.
Bjorn laid out their blankets and then stared down at them, realizing that there was only one tent and a small space between their bedrolls. He’d have to do something about that. He wasn’t all that convinced he could survive the night if he had to be so close to her for that long.
Ducking out of the tent, he headed away from the tent and started setting up a fire. “Are you hungry?”
“I could eat.”
So that was what he did. He settled her, gave her water, fed her, and made sure that everything was a little better on this difficult journey.
That was what a good husband would do. He knew the right motions, but somehow it still felt like it wasn’t enough.
This partnership was still a little cold, when he wanted everything to be warmer for her.
He wanted to convince her that this wasn’t just the right thing, but that she wanted her life to be like this.
Bjorn was perhaps a little stuck in his own head about all of this, because he blinked and suddenly she was standing. There wasn’t any food left in her hands, and she stretched her arms over her head with a deep groan.
“All right, I’m heading to bed.” She gave him a meaningful look. “You’re welcome to join if you’re done acting weird.”
“Acting weird?” he repeated.
“Yes. Like you’re trying too hard.”
Then she disappeared into the tent.
“Trying too hard,” he muttered as he kicked dirt over the fire to put it out. “I’m not trying too hard.”
But maybe he was. And maybe, just maybe, she wanted him to be himself without attempting to be the best troll husband he could be. But even as the thought occurred to him, he shook his head.
It couldn’t be that. No one wanted that from him.