Page 19 of Night’s Fall (The Four Realms #1)

It was heavier than I expected. Thicker . Rougher . It seemed, when looking at pics of it, like the scales of a fish, one overlapping the other. This wasn’t the case. It was unbroken and rippled, but the ripples weren’t random. They had a pattern.

“Considering it doesn’t even decompose, it’s impossible to wrap my mind around the stupidity of finding ways to destroy most of the supply culled from the cadavers,” I mumbled.

“Well, once the trolls were gone, the rest of us started fighting again. It was only the Starknight House that had the bright idea to stitch the skin into armor. The rest of them experimented on it, tried to use it in rituals and spells, thinking it was magic, but they only managed to weaken it, which eventually meant it was destroyed.” A wicked grin hit his lips.

“ Which of course sent my ancestors scouring the realms to grab as much of it as they could.”

“Something that bought us the name of Starthieves .”

“A moniker we were quite proud of, and still are.”

This was true. Those of the Fall thought we were very clever doing that. Then again, we were. Between our dragons and that armor, it made us nearly undefeatable in future conflicts.

“Do you believe the rest of them perished in the Dolphin Sea ?” I asked.

“Yes,” he stated, sweeping away centuries of conspiracy theories that some realms (especially ours) held live trolls, experimented on them and bred them for future military use.

“ For centuries, anthropologists, beastiologists, marine biologists and well-funded fortune hunters have scoured the seabed for thousands of miles around the Four Realms . And they’ve found multitudes of troll bones and pieces of their weapons on the sea floor.

Both to the east of us, which gives credence to the theory many were lost on their journey here, and to the west, which was the direction they took when they retreated.

It’s a long voyage to the Six Realms . They didn’t make it. ”

Dipping my head to watch my thumb rub along the ripples, I then peered up at him.

“How many suits of armor are there?” I asked.

He called out to the room, “ Database , access number of troll skin armor.”

“Troll skin armor,” the computer’s mechanical tone droned through the cavernous space.

“ Seventy -eight full sets. Sixteen partial sets. One -hundred-and-twelve individual pieces. These include twenty torso shirts. Eighteen trousers. Thirty individual gauntlets. Eleven gauntlet sets. Seven individual boots. Four boot sets. Seven codpieces.”

I giggled at “codpieces.”

For your information, Aleksei and his brothers didn’t don that part of the armor for the ceremonies.

Though, to be historically accurate, I would probably have to incorporate them in my designs, because the armor and clothing from that day often included them.

The computer continued, “ Two kings and one prince buried in troll armor. Inventoried , but inaccessible. Sixty -two strips and swatches unincorporated in any garment. Request further information on the number of other garments with troll skin integrated in the design and their location in the vestment vault. Troll armor inventory list complete.”

“There had been tens of thousands of them,” I whispered. “ And that’s all that’s left.”

“Not quite,” Aleksei told me. “ There are many aristocrats and nobles, not to mention citizens with a long history in Night’s Fall , who have everything from full sets of troll armor to pieces of skin used for armoring purposes for garments from that era.

They come up for auction occasionally, but not often due to its ever-increasing value. ”

I should have guessed that.

“Experts disagree,” he carried on, “but there are some who contend there were upwards of two hundred thousand trolls that invaded at random points all along the eastern shore, with some drifting north, others south. Regardless , their numbers were vast, as was their size.”

“I’ve seen some of the skeletons at the Musée Histoire Bestiale . They’re over seven feet.” I smiled at him. “ Even taller than you.”

He tipped his head to acknowledge my words, but said, “ And they weren’t very attractive.”

We only had artists’ depictions, even so, all of them distinctly resembled each other, and Aleksei was correct, though he underrated their grotesqueness.

With flat faces, bulging eyes, non-existent noses that were just slits in their faces, flabby lips on overwide mouths, two rows of razor-sharp teeth inside, sparse, coarse hair on their heads, this atop gigantic bodies with gangling, overlong arms and torsos, long claws curving from the tips of their four fingers and short, bowed legs, they were walking horrors.

I scrunched my nose. “ I can’t imagine what it would be like to one day be milking your cows or weaving on your loom, taking care of the day’s business, and you look out the doors of your barn or your cottage window and see a band of trolls bearing down on you.

Then to find your arrows bounced off and your sword glanced away.

It would feel like the end of the world. ”

“I sense you’ve been inspired,” he murmured, his night-sky gaze intent, interested and locked on me.

I grinned. “ Totally .”

“Would you like to see the armor now, or inspect Mathilde’s gown before we head that way?”

I wanted both at the same time.

And then he said, “ The trolls, both male and female, wore what we would conceive as loincloths. The females did not cover their breasts. We have a few intact, a few pieces. Would you like to see those as well?”

Seriously?

Okay, I had to know.

“Had you been to this room before you offered to show me the skin?” I asked.

“No. The armor is brought to us.”

Oh.

I deflated.

“However, after I offered you a visit, I accessed the databases, saw how much was in the same vault, so I came down to see what might be available to you and decided, instead of having the skin brought up to one of the conservation rooms for you to inspect, to bring you to it so you could have access to all the rest.”

So I could have access to all the rest.

So he could give me this enormous, precious, unprecedented gift.

Oh yes.

He took time out of his life to come here.

So he knew .

“Is there a moratorium on kissing until we can explore it to its fullest, or can I throw myself at you right now?”

He emitted a sharp bark of surprised laughter before he replied, “ It’s early days, darling, but I suspect there will never be a time you can’t throw yourself at me.”

With the path clear, I took it.

I’d dropped the troll skin in favor of diving my hands into his thick, silken hair.

I was pressed to him, and although I got a taste of the hot, musky depths of the inside of his mouth, in short order, Aleksei assumed control, and he took a thorough exploration of mine before he again broke our kiss way too soon.

“I have a ship to catch in five hours, bissi ,” he murmured. “ And you have a room to play in. Your gratitude is enthusiastically accepted, and I promise to bring you back however many times you like. But regrettably, this time, we don’t have much of it.”

I sighed but didn’t unpeel my body from his or untangle my fingers from his hair when I shared, “ No one has ever given me anything this huge.”

Even if what he had to give was unheard of, his eyes darkened, those pinprick stars reappearing, both reactions showing he understood part of that statement had to do with the lack I received from my parents.

“Not true,” I amended swiftly. “ Mr . Truelock owns the building my flat and studio are in, he went all out on bathroom and kitchen upgrades before I moved in, and I know he charges me bargain basement rent.” I paused as if to consider.

“ But this is better. And anyway, he’s my dad not really being my dad, so I guess that’s part of his job. At least he thinks so.”

“I always admired Mammon , now I very much like him.”

“He’s pretty mega.”

Aleksei smiled, and oh my, but I loved watching him do that.

“Now I must ask a question I never thought would pass my lips,” he said. “ Gown , skin or loincloths?”

I burst out laughing.

And then, just to tease, I answered, “ Totally loincloths.”

His amazing chuckle sounded, we replaced the troll skin to the drawer, but left them open so we could come back.

He then wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and he took me to the loincloths.