Chapter 36 #2
“Troll tempers run hot,” Maia said, shrugging as she guided them through the streets. “They deal with their arguments in their own way. You’ll get used to it.”
“Will I?” she murmured, shocked at the violence that she’d seen. They hadn’t even hit each other, and still her heart was pounding. How was Rose? The poor thing must’ve been shaking like a leaf.
But her sister appeared fine under her hood, wandering from stall to stall until she stopped. Both Astrid and Maia had been watching her, so they both went over when she waved her hand. Apparently, Rose had found the right clothing for her.
This stall was mostly covered by a roof, so she had to walk into it through mounds of clothing and racks of hanging clothes. But inside it wasn’t quite as bad as the thick press of bodies outside. It was cool in here as well, which Astrid hadn’t even realized she needed.
“This one,” Rose said, holding up a pretty blue gown. It was fitted at the waist, and much shorter than anything Astrid would ever have chosen for herself. But the fabric would sway around her knees very prettily with that cut.
Out of the back, a troll woman loomed. She was tall, round, and took up space unapologetically. And, by the gods, she was decorated.
Every part of her body was dotted with piercings. Her ears. Her lips. Her eyebrows. Her nose. Even her collarbone sported glistening gemstones.
The rings on her fingers clacked together as she pressed her hands onto what looked like a table and stood.
She was tall too, Astrid realized. This was a substantial woman who had more than enough jewelry to feed an entire kingdom with that amount of wealth.
What was she doing here? Selling clothing of all things?
“Ladies!” the troll woman said, her voice booming. “You’re here to buy a dress?”
Rose turned, saying absolutely nothing as she held the dress up and pointed to Astrid.
“Ah, a lovely color for a lovely human.”
Oh no. The troll woman was coming toward her now. Astrid tried very hard not to cower before the sheer amount of energy that crackled toward her as the shopkeeper thundered toward her with every step.
At least she was dressed beautifully as well, Astrid mused before the woman’s hands landed on her shoulders.
Because for all her size and space she took up, this troll was incredibly eye catching.
Astrid couldn’t stop looking at her as the woman snagged the dress from Rose’s hands and held it up to Astrid’s body.
“Your friend has a good eye,” the troll murmured. “This will look lovely on you. Take your dress off. Let’s see if we’re all right.”
Astrid blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You’re Bjorn’s new wife, aren’t you?” The woman seemed impatient. “He’ll want to see you in something other than that. Men love variety, especially when it comes to their women. Off with the dress, put this one on. Or were you going to buy it without knowing what it looks like?”
The loud chortle that came out of the woman was a whip crack through the air. Astrid realized she was very serious about changing into the dress right here, right now. Which...
She’d changed in front of many women in her lifetime. There was no privacy for priestesses, but somehow this made her a little uncomfortable.
Astrid stripped the spider silk dress off herself and told herself not to cover her body while the vendor handed her the dress. But the woman made a little sound under her breath, almost like she was surprised.
As Astrid struggled into the dress on her own, the troll woman turned to Maia. “Didn’t I hear she’s a soul whisperer?”
She watched Maia shrug as Astrid finally got her head through the neck of the dress. “That’s the rumor I heard. You could ask her.”
The troll woman turned to her again. “Are you?”
“I don’t even know what that is.”
“A person who speaks to the fylgja. Someone who can see spirit guides and then bring out the creatures inside.” The troll woman’s brow raised. “Rumors spread quickly here. You’ll find that soon enough.”
“Oh. I suppose I can. That’s what the blood witches said in the grotto.” She wasn’t going to tell them that she’d done just that with Bjorn. That magic hadn’t been entirely hers. It seemed like Bjorn needed to be there for it to happen.
Astrid tried to turn the conversation to the dress, but the troll woman plowed right over her. “Why doesn’t she wear the piercings then? If she’s one of them, she should be pierced.”
“She has the wife piercings,” Maia replied.
“That’s not what I’m talking about. She’s earned the piercings of a priestess.
She should wear them with pride.” Tsking, she plucked at Astrid’s dress, twitching it tighter around the waist and already pinning it.
Somehow the woman had needles ready to go.
“You’ve earned them, girl. Why not get them? ”
But Astrid didn’t even know what piercings the woman was talking about. She tried to look at Maia, but the other woman wasn’t looking her in the eye. What piercings were they talking about? And why did she feel like, once again, she was failing Bjorn?