Chapter 20
Twenty
Gunnar
He couldn't understand why he was having such a reaction to Rose being anywhere near Magnus, but it was something about the other troll's face that he didn't like.
Or maybe it was just that the prince was a very, very pretty troll and Gunnar was not that.
All his life, Gunnar had been known as one of the more attractive trolls.
He didn't scare humans as badly. He was prettier than his massive brother who was too gruff and scary for most women other than Maia.
It was part of Gunnar's charm that he was easier to be around for the humans who had joined Trollveggen.
But now, that was no longer his place. This prince could sway or woo any human woman he wanted. Hearing Rose say Magnus was just like an elf had nearly crushed him.
Elves were known to be beautiful. They were almost impossible to behold.
Their visage more god-like than a creature that should exist on this plain.
He knew that she had to find this creature beautiful, and it made him want to put a fist through the prince's face, just to make him a little more ugly.
As they traveled, it was harder and harder for him to stop himself from exploding. At least Magnus had stopped trying to goad him into a fight now that the prince knew what his magic was.
He didn't like it when people tested him either.
Gunnar had been sent by the king himself, and that should have been enough for the king's son to know that Gunnar was the right choice.
He could protect them both swiftly, keep them hidden from the world around them if he had to.
But he didn't like that Magnus had questioned if he was the right person for the job.
Now, he had to endure the two of them chattering the entire trip, and that was a needle in his side as well. Rose didn't talk. That had never been something she’d done for all the months he had known her.
And he wasn't even sure how long that time had been.
Had they already been with each other for a year now?
He was certain it was close to that, at least. He had saved her from the labyrinth, and he'd doted on her ever since.
Still, she hadn't talked to him very much.
Maybe a few words here and there before she would flee her physical form.
Enter a prince into their lives, and suddenly she knew how to talk. Sure, she mostly had quips to keep Magnus quiet, or to argue with him that what he was saying was not, in fact, something an elf would say.
Even now, they were arguing.
"I think you're wrong," Magnus said as he clambered over a tree and dropped down onto the other side. "Elves were always interested in magic. They were the ones who put the idea into troll heads that if we sought out more of their bloodline, we might be able to become more like them."
"That is not true." Rose's head barely poked over the tree Magnus had climbed, and she stood there glaring at him with her hands on her hips. "That was all trolls. Elves just made trolls because they could. It wasn't some grand scheme to become gods and create life."
"Of course it was."
"That's all fables made up by trolls to give your own lives meaning, or whatever reasoning you have behind wanting that. The elves were not benevolent and they sure as shit didn't care about you."
If there was one good thing out of this journey, it was that Rose didn't seem to even acknowledge Gunnar touching her now.
He walked up behind her, put his hands on her hips, and lifted her up onto the tree.
She was a slight little thing, still too skinny, though he made sure she was regularly fed.
Even with her pack on, he barely had to use his biceps to get her up onto the fallen trunk.
Planting his hand beside her, he leapt to the other side in one swift movement. And then he was there on the ground before her, lifting her down even as she continued to argue and ignore his existence.
"The elves weren't good," she insisted. "They were just... there. Powerful, yes, but that doesn't mean they were good or bad. Just that they had magic, and they were fiddling around with it and accidentally created all of you."
Magnus continued arguing with her, but Gunnar was more focused on the fact that she had ignored him.
Completely. Maybe that should have stung a bit, but it was the first time since he'd gathered her up in his arms in the labyrinth that she hadn't flinched away or twitched when a person touched her.
Even when Astrid grabbed onto her hand or arm, she always instinctively pulled back before she let it happen.
Rose just let him lift her up, move her around, and put her back on the ground without reacting at all. Like his touch no longer made her afraid.
He grinned, heading to the front of their group and looking for a campsite for their rest. When he found a clearing that was still covered by the treetops overhead, he announced they would stay here for the daylight hours.
Magnus was, as always, a pompous ass. He insisted he needed the tent because he was the prince. The last thing he should endure was sleeping out in the elements.
Gunnar couldn't care less. He enjoyed seeing Rose's features illuminated by the dappled sunlight. She was so invested in every experience they had out here, and it made his heart warm to see how much she loved the land around them. Almost as much as he did.
Magnus, predictably, headed into the tent instantly, and then it was just Gunnar and Rose. Staring at each other for a moment before her cheeks flamed a pretty red, and she stared into the flames of their campfire.
Sitting opposite her, he picked up a stick and poked at the burning branches for a little while. Letting her settle in. He knew it took some time for her to parse out her thoughts, and that conversations were still new.
"You've done well on this journey," he murmured.
She sucked in a breath. "You think? I feel like all I've done is slow you down."
"You've given me the opportunity to be more aware of our surroundings. We could have sprinted back to Trollveggen, but we might have run into a human patrol."
Rose looked at the fire pointedly. "If you're concerned about human patrols, you probably shouldn't have lit the fire."
He grinned. "You caught me."
"Well, regardless, I'm glad you let me be here." She'd sat down with her legs crossed, her fingers twisting in her lap. He'd noticed she had started picking at the skin around her nails when she was nervous, and she was doing that now. "I just... Well, thank you."
"You're welcome. You clearly needed to get out of Trollveggen for a while."
"I guess I did." Her words trailed off at the end, and she stared into the flames once more before heaving a sigh. "I'm just trying to get back to that other realm. I should probably tell you that. I... I told you that I was blocked, but only for a little while."
He hadn't expected a truth from her today. Looking across the fire at her, he stared at how the light traced around the pale length of her hair. "If you have to run again, I understand. But it's been nice being able to actually enjoy your company, Rose. Even if I only get a few days of it."
There was a long moment of silence after that.
Just a quiet moment between the two of them while he continued to poke at the flames.
Maybe he should start picking at his fingers too.
He wasn't used to conversations having such long lulls in them.
Gunnar could usually talk with the best of them, but he didn't want to push her.
She didn't deserve that. She needed time to think through what she wanted to say, and that was exactly what she was doing.
Because then she whispered, "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you care? Why are you even trying after all this time?
I've never given you any reason to continue keeping me safe.
" She held up her hand when he started to respond, silencing him.
"I remember your vow, Gunnar. It's hard to forget.
But that was just for stopping me on the cliff like you did before.
You've also done more than that. You've always. .."
She trailed off, but he knew what she meant. He'd always felt some kind of connection to her. And he couldn't explain why.
"I don't know," he replied. "I've seen your soul leave your body, fleeing this realm because you were scared or upset or sometimes even just lonely. I find things, Rose. I always find what people have lost."
"And you think I've lost myself?" she asked.
"Sometimes. Sometimes I think you remember who you used to be and then look at you now.
You can't go back to that place in your head, but you're so vibrant.
You're quick with the insults, and you know how to use a knife.
" He rolled his eyes when she snorted. "You know how to hold a knife, at the very least. All of these things I would never have guessed you could do only a few days ago. "
"I'm only doing this as a means to an end. So I can leave my body again."
"I know," he murmured. "And I will still thank the gods for every second I got with you here."
"Even for me stabbing you?"
"Even for that, fair lady." He smiled at her. She smiled at him.
Something broke open inside him. It was as if some ice had cracked around his heart and that fissure leaked throughout his entire body.
Because this woman was so brave. She had endured so much at the hands of so many, and here she was, across the fire from him in the middle of the forest, lying down on the moss like she had done this countless times in her life.
He wouldn't blame her in the slightest if what she had suffered broke her.
Any other person would have shattered into a million pieces, and putting themselves back together might have very well been an impossible task.
But her? She was finding all those pieces.
One by one. Holding them together as much as she could.
He could only hope that his presence provided some kind of glue.
She drifted to sleep, and he stayed wide awake, watching her and their surroundings carefully. Nothing was going to happen to her on his watch. Not a single thing.
And when night came around again, Magnus exited his tent with his arms stretching overhead and that annoying yawn about to break through the silence that had allowed Rose to sleep. Gunnar reached for the knife at his waist and let it fly.
It stuck in the trunk of the tree right past Magnus's head, and the troll prince froze.
When their gazes met, Gunnar pressed a finger to his lips and pointed to the still sleeping woman who was resting near the fire he'd kept going all day.
Soon enough, the cold night would chill her when he doused it before they left.
"Ah," Magnus murmured, his voice actually quiet for once in his life. "Right. She's still asleep. And why are we not waking her?"
"She has bags under her eyes."
"As we all do from traveling through this forest at a blistering speed," Magnus muttered, before taking a seat on one of the nearby logs. "You care for her quite a bit."
"She has suffered."
"I could tell." The prince let his stupid charade drop.
Instead of looking arrogant and completely out of place, Magnus looked just as exhausted.
He hunched forward a bit, his pretty back curving as he stared down at his claws.
"I have seen a lot in my life, Gunnar. And I've seen women who flinch like her. "
"She is delicate."
"She's a lot stronger than you're giving her credit for.
I know you want to coddle her, to pamper that part of her that is broken, but you have to know when to push her.
When to pull back. When to recognize that you maybe pushed a little too hard and now you have to fix what you might have crumbled.
It's a hard dance." Magnus swallowed. "I tried it when I was younger. It didn't end well."
"Like you said, you have to learn to fix what you broke.
" Gunnar took a deep breath, his thoughts flickering over all the times he had touched her and had to see that wounded expression on her face for days afterward.
"We do the best we can with what we have.
And then we keep moving forward. That's what we're good at. "
"I suppose so. But some things cannot be mended." Magnus nodded at her. "Wake her. We have to go."
Gunnar did just that. They were close enough to the mountain that he knew they'd be there within a few hours.
So even though she had tossed and turned all day, she had always woken to find him right where he was, keeping her safe.
And maybe that had given her a few more hours of sleep than she might have had otherwise.
They moved swiftly to the base of the mountain, heading through a fairly well known pass that was often used at this point. Lanterns bobbed ahead of them, trolls making their way home and bringing back massive stags that were meant to feed the people for a feast.
Apparently, the king already knew they were coming.
Gunnar twisted through those who were ahead of them, ignoring the shocked gasps and whispered words. But he noticed that a few of those trolls raced ahead of them. Disappearing into the darkness beyond, likely to warn others that they had arrived.
Cursing under his breath, he diverted their path toward one that would take them to the great tree in the center of Trollveggen faster.
He wasn't quick enough. A mob of trolls approached them, all begging for the attention of their prince. They hadn't seen him since he’d been a boy. It made sense that they were pleased and wanted their time with him.
But Rose was here too, and he could see her eyes go wide. Normally, she would just disappear. He'd watch her soul float away and then he could get her somewhere quieter. He couldn't do that right now.
So he had to watch her slip her hood over her head and then breathe faster and faster. She reeked of fear, flinching away from everyone who was near her and trying to get closer to him without touching him. Because even the brush of his shoulder against hers made her whimper in fear.
Magnus glanced down at her, and then at him. "Go," he ordered. "I know the way to the castle on my own."
"The king—”
"I will deal with my father," Magnus replied, his tone harsh as more trolls approached. His features seemed to sharpen, slipping into the position of prince so easily. "Go on, Gunnar. Get her somewhere safe."
Gunnar grabbed a fistful of Rose’s cloak, making sure not to touch her, and tugged her into the trees beyond.