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Page 16 of A Darkness So Sweet (The Kingdom Below #1)

Chapter Sixteen

MAIA

They continued through the forest, with Maia in his arms and a little quieter than before. He’d been carrying her all day without any signs of tiring. She would have been impressed if she wasn’t so worried that he was straining himself unnecessarily. She wasn’t helpless. She could walk on her own.

She’d suggested the very thing to him, but he’d scoffed.

“What I carry to make camp is heavier than you,” he’d replied. “And I carry that for days on end.”

And that was that. In the silence that followed, her mind started to make up stories about what would happen when they reached the castle. The troll king wouldn’t be happy to see her—that much she was certain of. He’d likely take a bit of her flesh for what King James had done. And she wouldn’t even blame him for wanting that revenge.

Now she understood the gravity of this bride switch. So she would take her punishment with her head held high. After all, her father had taught her that it was easy to be punished. She just had to go somewhere in her head where nothing bad ever happened, and eventually, the punishment would end.

Soon enough, the castle loomed in the distance. The base was created by roots of trees, while tall spires of stone emerged from their tangled knot. All the stones were white and gleaming in the blue light. Those spires had banners hanging from some of the windows, blowing in the breeze. As they strode toward it, she could see the roots rising out of the ground and creating what looked like stairs that led right up to the massive double doors.

It was a beautiful sight to behold. A castle not standing above all the beauty of the land around it, but part of the land. She thought of her own people’s castle, the one she’d grown up in the shadow of. It always looked like it had been built on top of that field, conquering the surrounding lands. With everything flattened into farmlands and not a hint of wilderness left, it was a testament that humans could and would destroy everything in their path if it stood in their way.

As they walked through the roots, she marveled at how large they were. This tree had long ago died. She couldn’t feel a single hint of its soul lingering in those thick, brown spirals that sank into the ground and held the castle in place. But she could feel the magic that still lived where it had once stood.

The true heart of the mountain was the ancient magic that fed into the people who lived here, and now she could feel it spreading. Everywhere. Every inch of this kingdom held a bit of that magic that the tree had sacrificed when its time had come.

Monolithic doors stood open to all who wished to enter, and that was a difference between her castle and theirs as well. King James loved to keep the doors closed, and people had to beg to get inside. Even if they were in dire need, the king wouldn’t just let them in. He preferred for them to prove themselves to him, no matter how hard that might become.

But these dark green doors were wide open. And as they walked through them, she realized they were made entirely out of some green precious stone.

“Jade,” Ragnar said as he caught her staring.

“They’re beautiful.”

She caught a glimpse of the carvings as well. There were elves etched into the door. Their beautiful, thin figures were easy to pick out, as they were infinitely more beautiful than any human could be. Their hands were raised and magic cascaded down out of their hands. That magic seemed to spark upon the ground, and then she caught the smallest glimpse of something that appeared to disturb the mud beneath their feet.

The king had carved his doors with the creation of his people. A reminder to all that they were not animals at their core, she supposed. Or perhaps a reminder that all the work they had done was leading them somewhere great.

Ragnar strode beyond the doors and then they were inside the castle. She’d been expecting more natural things inside. Perhaps proof that these people weren’t as advanced as her own. She’d expected a lot of candles, like at home. But the trolls had made deals with the wisps who were everywhere she looked. The tiny balls of light clung in clusters at the ceiling, like chandeliers, illuminating the stunning mirror shined floors of white marble. Furniture was everywhere she looked. Seating areas were filled with trolls, and the seats were all cushioned with beautifully vibrant fabric. Hand-woven rugs, stunning in their quality, were spread out meticulously along the floor to keep the chill at bay.

Maia had to blink a few times, because the trolls here didn’t look like the ones she’d already met. The war band had been clothed mostly in leathers and loincloths. But these people appeared to be wearing the finest clothes she’d ever seen. They were dyed every color she hadn’t thought possible, pressed into perfect lines. All the fabric complimented their shapes, but also made them look less like trolls and more like...

Elves, she realized. They looked like elves. Just with darker skin, different colors, and stripes of tattoos. They were the wilder version of elves.

Rubbing her fists over her eyes, she watched as the trolls all turned their attention to the spectacle of a troll carrying a human through their castle. The plush rugs quieted Ragnar’s movements. He must’ve looked out of place here, as much as she did. He was still bare chested, with all his skin on display for anyone to see.

The people here in the castle looked like nobility. They were prettier than she’d imagined, with those delicate long ears and the dangling piercings that filled their ears with gemstones.

It wasn’t what she had expected from the supposedly animalistic and dangerous creatures who lived underground.

He carried her straight through the main area and all the way to the back, where there was a stunning throne. She was a little caught up in the sight of it, so much so that at first, she didn’t notice the man on the throne itself. It appeared to be entirely made out of crystal. It was fractured with a hundred colors, all intertwined until the light moved through it in a strange way that made the rays warp.

Until she finally focused on the man seated on the throne and every single thought in her head burst like bubbles. The creature on the throne was not at all like the trolls she had seen. His skin was a dark slate gray. Every color all mixed together to create a grayish tone with shadows of nearly pitch black. His hair and eyebrows were completely white, as were his eyes. The long tips of his ears were even more extended than Ragnar’s, but it was the shape of him that startled her most.

This wasn’t a troll close to elven beauty. She was looking at an elf.

Maia had only heard of their beauty. Their faces were so perfect in every way that they were almost eerie to look at. They were tall and lean, just like the man on the throne, though he was laced with muscle. And the air crackled around them with magic that was born straight from the source.

She had no idea where the elves lived now. Some people claimed they had ascended to become gods and that they lived in some mythical city in the clouds. She thought the elves had just found a newer, better place to live and abandoned all those who once worshiped them. But now, she was looking right at what remained of those god-like people whose power had terrified her own.

Ragnar gently set her on her feet and then bowed low. He kept his hand on her back, pressing her into a bow as well, even though that wasn’t the right motion for a lady. Surely he’d rather she curtsey?

But she peeked out from underneath the veil of her hair and noticed that everyone else was also bowing low. The trolls had stood as they’d passed, and every single one of them bowed to the man seated on the throne.

“Ragnar,” the king said, his voice a deep bass that made the very floor shudder underneath her feet. “You have returned with your troll wife.”

“I have,” Ragnar replied, but then he hesitated.

She knew, in that moment, he was going to announce that she wasn’t who she was supposed to be. Right in front of all of these other trolls. If they rebelled against her, if they decided that she should die, then there was nothing her husband could do to stop them.

Her knees started to shake. She was having a hard time staying bent over as she was, and if she wasn’t careful, she’d topple over onto her hands and knees before this king.

She had to trust that Ragnar would take care of her. That trust was hard to build, though.

“I have bound myself to this woman. She is my troll wife, as confirmed by the Blood Witch and the Bone Reader. My destiny stands before you.” Ragnar straightened, but he kept his hand on her back. Maia took the hint to remain with her face turned toward the floor. “But she is not the princess.”

Murmurs rose through the crowd of trolls behind her. Whispers echoed, bouncing from the ceiling and returning to her ears.

“Of course she’s not the princess. Look at her!”

“There doesn’t seem to be a single drop of elven blood inside of her.”

“I could feel it the moment she walked into the room. There is no power in this woman.”

Then there was silence again, other than a strange scraping sound, like claws on stone. Peeking through her hair, she realized the king had stood from his throne. She swallowed hard and tried not to shudder and quake as the sensation of his magic trailed over her. Ragnar’s magic was a cool, icy water that dripped from wherever he touched. But this king’s magic was so much stronger.

His magic felt like ten sets of hands, all gliding over her skin and tugging at her hair. Then she could feel his magic reaching inside of her body and pulling at her power, tugging at the very heart of her, the little gift she had barely even recognized all her life.

Then there was a clawed fingertip at her chin, drawing her head back to look at him. Her neck screamed in pain, but Ragnar’s hand was still firm on her back, so she bent her neck and looked up.

Up close, the king was even more terrifying. He was taller and longer than Ragnar, all that beauty of his face so impossible to look at. But then she realized he had wings . They were crumpled, useless things, wizened and bent, so they dragged upon the ground as he walked. That was the sound. The sound she’d heard were the tips of them, where there had once been talons, scraping the floor as he approached her.

“You are an abomination in this court,” the troll king said. “You should not be here. A deal was made for a powerful match. Elven blood for less spilling of human blood. Do you understand this?”

“I do,” she whispered.

“And yet, you still decided to deceive me and my people?”

“They tricked me into the marriage as well. I did not know King James’s plan.”

The king scoffed and then released her chin. She felt a bit like she could breathe again when he turned away from her. But then his words echoed throughout the hall. “You are a liar, just like all humans. I should send you to the gallows.”

Ragnar flinched beside her. “I would request that you do not.”

“There are better matches out there for one with your power. She will stagnate your bloodline. It’s too important that we foster your healing magic, Ragnar. Kill her and move on.”

A spear of anxiety flashed through her. Maia felt her heart stammering in her chest but with it came an icy cold calm. She’d known they would want to kill her. She had felt it from the beginning.

But then another voice rang out, this one far bolder than Ragnar’s. She turned to see a dark green body barreling toward them, anger on every inch of his form as he shuddered with rage. “Do not kill that woman! The Blood Witch has already declared that she is his.”

Gunnar was going to get himself killed arguing with a king. She wasn’t worth that.

Maia whipped back around to catch the king’s apathetic expression. “The Blood Witch can bring it up the next time I see her. She rarely comes to this castle, though, and I am certain one human woman will not change that fact.”

“It will weave a new future lacking the thread of a necessary color,” Gunnar insisted, standing beside her and Ragnar. “You cannot deny the Blood Witch, my king. This is why we have the seers.”

The king snapped his jaws, the sound echoing in the chamber. “I have made my decision. There will be no liars in the court.”

“We all smelled the steel at her back. The human king held a knife to her. What was she supposed to do?”

“Not allow cowardice to force her to comply with a plan that would doom us all! This was meant to stop the fighting and the battles. Now we must retaliate because this was an act of war.”

Ragnar stepped in front of her and everyone fell silent again. She couldn’t see past his broad back, but she could see the expression of surprise on Gunnar’s face. As everyone stopped talking, they all listened to the words that Ragnar declared.

“This is my troll wife. I have agreed to take her. I made a vow the moment I saw the Blood Witch, and she said this woman was my destiny. I have no desire to leave this place, but you will force my hand if you try to take her from me. My father’s line does not end with me. Gunnar is perfectly capable of creating strong children. Therefore, I relinquish my claim to my father’s birthright and I give it to my brother.”

Gasps echoed in the hall, but Maia had no idea what that meant. Why was he relinquishing his birthright?

The king’s voice rumbled with anger. “You would give up all that you have been given? Your father’s house? Your mother’s treasures? All of it would go to Gunnar and you would return to living in whatever you can afford?”

Ragnar’s back tensed. “If that’s what it takes.”

A snap of a jaw and a scoff was the king’s response. “If you are willing to risk so much for a weak magicked woman, then you can have her. What a shame it is, Ragnar. You and your bloodline have fallen so far under the guidance of emotional decisions that have always flawed your family.”

Then there was the sound of the king returning to his throne, the scraping grind of his wings on the floor and the silence that surrounded them.

Gunnar turned to them, his expression a bit stunned, before he wiped it off his face and looked more like the carefree brother she had come to expect. “Ah, don’t you worry about it. You can keep the house.”

“I’m not keeping the house,” Ragnar replied.

“Keep the house. I’m in the barracks and I enjoy being in the barracks.”

“It’s not my house any longer.”

Gunnar slapped a hand to Ragnar’s chest, and even Maia flinched from the sharp crack of flesh on flesh. “You have a troll wife, brother. I do not. Keep the house and use the treasures to your heart’s content. You have my blessing to do so.”

Ragnar nodded, but she could see the anger and disappointment on his face. It seemed she had caused more trouble without ever even attempting to do so.