Chapter 33
Thirty-Three
Gunnar
Gunnar wasn't sure what to do about Magnus's problem.
He'd only been trained to find those who had already passed on, and even then, it took months, sometimes years for him to find them all.
Humans loved to chop trolls up into tiny pieces, and he could only imagine what they were doing to a woman who passed as a full blooded elf.
But none of them could stay here for long, and certainly not talking about an issue like this. Anyone could overhear them. Anyone could discover what they were doing.
"We'll talk with Ragnar," he said, reaching down to help Rose stand. "He's usually got a good idea where people are. And I believe he has a few connections to other kingdoms."
"Already tried other kingdoms." Magnus stood as well, stretching his arms over his head and cracking his back side to side.
"You can talk with your brother all you want, but she's gone.
Perhaps it is time for me to give up this charade anyway, Gunnar.
My father has many brides already picked out for me.
He's angry enough that I chose to compete with you for Rose when there were other choices. "
He would have argued in her honor if he hadn't seen Rose already wrinkle her nose. She was coming out of her shell, lately, so he took a step back and allowed her to argue on her own behalf.
"There's nothing wrong with me compared to the others. I have a higher elven bloodline than any of them." Rose tilted her head to the side. "But would the troll kingdom prefer that their prince marry a troll? Is that what your father is suggesting?"
Magnus's cheeks darkened. "I think he would just prefer a future queen who doesn't... uh..."
Gunnar was quite certain he knew what was going to come out of the prince's mouth next. The king didn't want someone to pass madness throughout his line, and the king considered Rose's affliction to be insanity, rather than fleeing from the nightmare of her life.
He ground his teeth together and reminded himself that he did like his king. That King Egil had done the best he could with all that he had been given, and they all owed their lives to him.
Gunnar jumped into the conversation before it got worse. "He doesn't want a future queen who would wander as she does. Good. I don't think Rose would enjoy being queen all that much, anyway."
"There was a time when I thought that was all I wanted," she murmured. Shadows passed over her expression, darkening the look on her face with rage and anguish. "It did not bring me happiness."
That was the understatement of the century. He didn't need to point that out, though. Instead, he held out his arm for her to take, pleased when she took it without hesitating.
Magnus went his own way. He didn't even think to follow them, apparently, because the prince disappeared into the woods without another word.
Rose held onto his arm, even more comfortable with him now. But all he could think about was their night together. Holding her all night, feeling her breathing deepen as she sank into a dreamless sleep? That had been the best gift she could have given him.
He knew she trusted him. She'd proven that time and time again. But he hadn't realized how much it would mean to have her sleep without fear while he was nearby.
"Do you really think there’s a chance for us to find this woman of his?" Gunnar asked, holding the door open for her as they reached the barracks.
She shrugged. "Maybe. If nothing else, the spirits that follow him seemed like they wanted to help. And if anyone can find someone missing, I would think it would be the dead."
He stared down at her, his mind working a thousand miles a minute. She met his gaze with a steady one of her own, waiting for him to ask the question that he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she finally asked.
"How are you so comfortable knowing that you're seeing the spirits of those who have passed beyond? This is new information to you, isn't it?"
Rose nodded. "Yes, it's new. But I suppose it's easier to think that I'm dealing with the dead rather than the living. Spirits can't hurt us. They can't even touch us. But the living can do a lot more damage than those who have already seen how people mourn them after they die."
That made a lot of sense, actually.
They headed into the barracks, ready to work together on a plan to find Magnus's lost love or whatever he wanted to call it, only to find Ragnar standing there with a grim expression on his face and Maia at his side.
Gunnar let out a long, suffering groan. "I know that face. What happened now?"
His brother looked like he'd gotten a bee stuck up his pant leg. And Maia was more kind in her stance, but there was something in her expression that said he was still very much in trouble and he had no idea what he could have done to upset them both.
At Ragnar's grunt, Maia moved forward, reaching out her arm to guide Rose away. "I was hoping you could help me in the garden today, Rose. Birgir came down with an awful cold, and I need someone to help me cut all these flowers."
"Oh, I'm rather busy today, Maia."
The redhead glanced at her husband and then back at Rose. "I wasn't asking, sweetheart."
Rose's lips curled into a circle as she mouthed another "oh" and then headed off with Maia.
She glanced over her shoulder at him, perhaps wondering if she was leaving Gunnar to the wolves.
She kind of was, but he knew this expression on his brother's face wasn't going anywhere until he stood there and let him say his piece.
Once they were alone, Ragnar let out another angry grunt and then started down the hallway. It led to a more private chamber, Gunnar knew. One that they only used to prepare their war bands, and right now the king had no interest in sending people off to get killed. He wanted them married.
Which meant there wasn't going to be anyone in that room, or near it. Apparently Ragnar wanted to yell.
Gunnar shook his head as he meandered behind his brother, disappointed that Ragnar wasn't even going to give him a hint at what this conversation was about.
At least he could prepare for it then. Maybe Ragnar had figured out they'd fallen into that hole and he was going to scold Gunnar for risking Rose's life like that.
Nah, he doubted that was the case. Bjorn would be more likely to be here if that was it. Astrid hated anything that risked her sister's life, and therefore, Bjorn hated it as well.
They entered the war room, with its massive circular table that took up almost all the space.
There was a large chandelier that hung over their head with a thousand tiny emeralds casting their light on the table as the candles merrily crackled within it.
The walls were covered with tapestries that depicted the battles that were won by troll force in brilliant colors.
Gunnar rounded the table to put some space between them as the door closed. He knew Ragnar. He'd end up locking tusks with him long before he got out what he wanted to say.
Sighing, Gunnar turned to look at him and let his arms open wide. "What? What could you possibly be this upset about?"
Ragnar was a massive troll. Sometimes Gunnar forgot that. His brother planted his hands on the table, leaning down onto it as his muscles bulged with rage. The long tail of his braid fell over his shoulder, and still Ragnar did not look at him.
He had no idea what could possibly upset Ragnar this much until he heard words that were so quiet, Gunnar swore he hadn’t heard him right.
"You bonded with her?" Ragnar asked, quietly. Calmly. Very much unlike him when he was in a rage like this.
And the words made Gunnar's skin crawl. "What?"
"You bonded with Rose? With Astrid's sister? You know Bjorn is going to skin you alive for that! She is too fragile to bond with anyone, too broken to even consider being a troll wife. And you took that from her anyway?"
Ragnar's gaze sliced up, and that was when Gunnar realized the anger was mixed with a healthy dose of betrayal.
Ragnar thought Gunnar had lost his mind, just like the trolls of old.
He thought that because Gunnar was obsessed with Rose, that he had bonded with her without permission.
Taken from her. Taken just like all those men had done to her in the labyrinth.
If there wasn't a table between them, he would have punched Ragnar. Even now, he thought about flipping it over and lunging for his brother who should have known him better.
Instead, he seethed on the other side, planting his own hands on the table as well and gouging fresh marks into the wood with his claws. "How dare you? How could you ever think that of me?"
"I thought I knew you well enough to be confident that you would never have done that to Rose. But here we are. You're bonded and she's just as bad as she always has been. Did you see the vacant look in her eyes? Do you even realize that she has no ability to tell you no?"
Gunnar slammed his fist down on the table. "She was thinking, you massive dolt. And none of that matters anyway, because she's allowed to do what she wants!"
"When? When did you do it?"
"Only a few days ago."
Ragnar cursed. "It can be reversed then. We can still fix this."
"We aren't reversing it." Although, he hadn't even mentioned to her that they could. That did sting a little bit, knowing that he could have given her an out and hadn’t considered telling her. But she hadn't asked. She hadn't even seemed surprised to know that they were bonded.
"You're reversing it or Bjorn will rip your entrails out of your body with his fist." Ragnar pushed himself upright, only to run his claws through his hair and tear strands out of his braid.
"I'll have to stop him, somehow. He's going to go into a rage and neither you nor I can measure up to that brute. "
"She did it."
Ragnar was still ranting. "This will cause a fissure throughout all of Trollveggen. We have been the three uniting this kingdom for such a long time. Bjorn will never speak to you again."
"She made the bond, Ragnar."
"How could she have possibly made the bond without understanding what it means, brother?"
"I was paralyzed!"
The words seared between them like a flaming arrow taking flight. Suddenly Ragnar was frozen. Staring at him just like Gunnar had stared at her while she had repeated words she shouldn't have known.
"What?" Ragnar asked.
"We were in the deep caverns. We fell through a crevice—please don't ask how that happened. Ended up surrounded by black sunder,” he explained.
“We camped for the night in one of their breeding grounds.
Yes I know I should have looked, I did not.
I was paralyzed by the venom and she..." He grinned, unable to contain the same happiness he had felt in that moment.
"She sees the dead, Ragnar. One of our spirits guided her through the words.
She spoke the black tongue like she had been born to it.
She made the bond in blood while I could do nothing, and then she saved our lives. "
Ragnar blinked at him like he'd gone insane. "Are you still under the influence of that venom? Rose isn't capable of that."
"You see, everyone keeps saying that, but it's simply not true. She's been coming out of her shell. She's been healing, and no one has given her that credit. Not even me."
They stared at each other for a little while longer. He could see that Ragnar was trying to peer into his soul. Clearly, his brother didn't believe him. And Gunnar didn't blame him for that. There were a lot of things going on right now that didn't make a whole lot of sense.
Rose learning how to let others touch her. Rose being able to not only save them but also to talk with the dead. There were many things here that were new to Ragnar, and to all of them.
"We have to let her grow," Gunnar said. "I know we all want to protect her and keep her safe after everything that happened.
Trust me, I know more than most. She talks to me now.
She tells me what she wants out of life and how she's feeling.
Hell, I even saw her laugh once, and that's something I never thought I'd see. "
"She laughed?"
Gunnar nodded, feeling the same glow in his chest that he felt when it had happened.
"I cannot explain it, but she is trying.
She's stepped back into the realm of the living and brought with her a legion of the dead that we can use to our own devices.
She speaks for them. The ancestors are with us, Ragnar, and they have much to say. "
His brother blew out a long breath and let his hands drop limp to his sides. "This is a lot to take in."
"You're not kidding. You should have seen my face when she made me use my magic along with hers. I can make them..." Gunnar flapped a hand in the air. "Real. Or at least sort of real. People can see them."
"You can make it so that people can see the dead? Not just her?"
The more Gunnar thought about it, the more miserable he became. He hated that he was capable of doing any of it. It was weird and unfortunately he didn't like it. But also he kind of did. If he could find the spirit of those who were lost, they would know where their own bodies were.
He could bring so many people home.
Gunnar groped for a chair, yanked it out, and sat down into it. Ragnar did the same. And soon enough, the two brothers were looking like they had been run through with a sword as they stared at nothing on the table.
"What do we do now?" Ragnar asked.
"We tell no one what happened. The king would have my head for it." Gunnar flinched forward like someone had pinched him. "Who else knows?"
All the blood drained from Ragnar's face. "The prince. He’s the one who told us."
"The prince knows?"
Ragnar nodded solemnly.
"Shit," Gunnar grumbled. That was precisely the last person he ever wanted to find out about his biggest blunder. "That fucking prince."