The Toll (13 page)

Orange orbs darkening, he just raised
his brows, knowing I’d just proved his point.

A blush stole up my cheeks and I
pinched my lips shut. Gritting my teeth, I squeezed my eyes shut as
he leaned down and inhaled deeply at my neck again.

“
Say ye’re willin’, freely,
and kiss me,” he growled.

Taken aback, I peeked an eye open.
Clearly, I must not have heard him right.

“
Wuh?”

“
I said ta shut it an’ kiss
me.”

Whoa! Hold the
carriage!
How did we go from
there
to
that? Is this all just a twisted precursor to sex
for him? Troll foreplay?

More than a little shocked, I
sputtered, my eyes shooting open wide. “Are you crazy? I’m not
going to kiss you! You’re insane!”

Heavy brows pulled down, he narrowed
his eyes to beady little slits. “Kiss me an’ I’ll let ye see yer
family again.”

Blinking up at him, I
stopped protesting as he moved his face closer, still eyeing him
warily, considering.
Kiss a troll to see
my family?
Frowning in thought, I eyed
those thick, dark lips, gaze drifting over his mottled, grey skin.
I just couldn’t decide if it was worth it.

“
You... You mean it? You’d
really let me see my family if I... if I, uhm, kissed
you.”

“
Aye,” he agreed
easily,
too
easily. He looked calculating for a moment, before he hid it,
something in his eyes.

Beyond reluctant, I gave a
quick shake of my head.
It’s too good to
be true. This is a trick. I know it.

Or is it…?

No. He’s playing me. It
couldn’t be that easy.

“
For how long?” I
questioned.

“
How long what?” It was his
turn to blink in surprise. “Kiss? ‘Til I say stop.”

“
No.” I shook my head
again, and he snapped out of the staring match he was having with
my mouth as I spoke.

Grunting as he shook himself, his eyes
shot up, and I forged ahead.

“
How long can I visit them
for, and when can I go? That is, if I was to agree, uhm,
hypothetically speaking.”

Pausing, it was he who hesitated for
once, for far longer than I felt he’d need to think about it, and I
knew, right then, he was just fooling me.

“
Let me up,” I gritted out,
anger suffusing me, “I changed my mind. I don’t care. It’s not
worth it.”

“
Fine, suit yerself.” Face
hardening, he pushed up and exited the cave, stomping angrily away,
the sound of something stomping above me soon after letting me know
he was up top, watching his bridge.

Trying to gather my thoughts, and my
person, as my heart tried to thump right out of my chest, I stayed
there on the floor, sprawled out and staring at the
ceiling.

“
I hate my life,” I
muttered to myself. And I’d never heard such truer
words.

Beyond A Reasonable
Doubt

Peeking out, I stood at the opening of
the cave, watching the stars dotting the dark blue night
sky.

“
Get away from there. I
have no desire ta fish ye outta the river like a stout
trout.”

“
Ye aint sa skinny
yerself,” I mock snarled back, but I dutifully stepped back into
the much warmer confines of the dwelling.

I was going on six months of troll
service, and had thoroughly learned all the ‘do’s and ‘don’t’s by
now. Six long months, and I’d know, it could be dreadfully boring
at times, and I made sure to keep track on the wall.

“
Ye’re gettin’ downright
feisty for a carrot topped wench,” Troll tossed out, rummaging
through his trunks, yet again.

What does he scrape around
for in there, anyways? It all looks like junk to me. Besides the
ones with gold or jewels, that is.

“
And you’re awfully bold
for someone with no body hair,
Troll.”

We’d settled into
acceptable hateful banter, and it suited me just fine. Plus, it
gave me a chance to snipe at him without fear of repercussions, and
I’m beginning to think he secretly enjoys our bickering
matches.
I don’t know why, though, half
the time I feel I’ve won.

“
All it would take is a
quick shave an’ ye’d be just as hairless and ugly as me, nugget.
Get on me nerves an’ ye’ll experience it, firsthand.”

"I highly doubt it but knock yourself
out,” I mumbled quietly under my breath.

“
Wha’ was tha’, carrot top?
I dinna think I quite heard ye?”

“
What are you looking for
in there? A lost human skull? A pair of castrated testes preserved
in a jar and stuffed in a purse?”

Troll’s head shot up. “What?” he
barked, incredulous. “What would I need wit’ another males
shriveled balls in a jar for, shoved in a lady purse?”

Flicking a hand out, I shrugged. “I
don’t know, why do you keep a shrunken head?”

“
Good luck,” he grunted,
before he dove back in and resumed his search.

The look he gave me
said
, ‘Hello, nugget, don’t be
daft’.

I chose to ignore it.

“
If you say so...” I
fingered the locket around my neck, playing with it idly as I sat
down heavily on my pallet bed, stuffed to the side in the
corner.

Troll came out a few minutes later,
grinning like the cat that got the canary, fingering an old pocket
watch made of gold.

“
Perfect,” he said to
himself, spinning it out in front of him on its chain.

“
Why do you call me
nugget?” I opened and closed my locket, then opened it again,
turning it to stare at the pictures inside. One was of Mamma and
one was Papa. They’d given it to me on my eighteenth birthday. The
pictures were of them in their youths, and I treasured
it.

“
Ye’re short an’ round, an’
yer hair is orangey gold. Ye look like a little nugget.” Lifting a
thick, fat finger, he gestured to the locket I’d been fiddling with
all day. “Why does that pretty mean so much ta ye?”

This is what we’d settled into, idle
chatter for the bored and lonely. We always kept it simple and
uncomplicated—no odd kiss deals or awkward bathing
experiences.

He doesn’t push or hit me anymore like
he initially had at first, no more rough manhandling, and I don’t
try to hide sharp objects to maim him with, or day dream of
bludgeoning him.

I don’t know when it
happened, the slow change in our arrangement, but I could almost
say we were friends, of a sort.
Odd
friends who wouldn’t hesitate to blackmail one another, one to get
out of something, the other to trick them into it.

Note I said
almost
like
friends.

Can you really call a troll
a friend? Especially one who tricked you into two years of slavery,
unfairly, and then an eternity to save your one true love’s
life?

Shifting restlessly, I cleared my
throat as normally smothered emotions threatened to take over, the
locket opened in my palm bringing things I’d best not think of
rushing back.

“
My, uh, my parents gave it
to me. It’s special. It’s the nicest thing I own.”
It makes me feel pretty when I wear it—special.
Loved. It was given with love.

Pausing, he stopped spinning the
pocket watch and cocked his head, studying me. “Ye miss them.”
There was no censure in his tone. It was merely him stating a
fact.

“
Yes,” I freely admitted.
“Don’t you miss your family sometimes?”

Do trolls even have
families?
I wondered.
Or are they spawned from a demonic patch of cabbages in
Hell?

Brows pulling down, Troll eyed the
locket and then me. Scratching his head, he brought his hand down
to his chin and rubbed at it thoughtfully.

“
I’ll make ye a deal,”
Troll threw out of nowhere.

“
Huh?” Snapping it open and
shut, then open again, absently, as I peered inside, fiddling with
the pretty piece, I stopped and closed my locket.

“
I’ll make ye a deal,” he
repeated, a hint of a growl snaking out as I glanced up at
him.

“
No thanks.” Lips pursing,
I shook my head. I had no desire to kiss or fondle, or any other
such thing I feared he might suggest, in exchange for an as of yet
undecided family visit, which would happen who knew
when.

Eyes narrowing to tiny little slits,
he scowled and shoved the watch into his snug, too small for his
thick size, black breeches. They were the ones I’d dug out of his
clothing trunk, glad when he actually wore them.

I’d never seen so much of a
male, against my will, so often in my life
. Good riddance holey pants. Good riddance hairless balls out
on display if he sits funny.

“
The locket, dafty. I want
ta trade ye for that locket.”

My face lit up. “Really?” but then I
frowned. “When, though? And for how long? And...”

“
Hold yer horses, nugget,
an’ breathe.” His snarling voice was back, but I was too happy at
the thought of going home to care.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I
ignored the black look that complemented his glowing orange eyes,
filled with irritation on my behalf—another thing I’d slowly gotten
accustomed to over time. He’s always irritated at some such thing
or another, at any given moment. I don’t think he’d know how not to
be.

Hands clenched together tight, so
tight the knuckles were probably bloodless, I tried to wait for him
to answer, striving for patience as I squirmed in my seat, but he
was taking his sweet time in answering, and I couldn’t wait a
second longer.

“
When?” I blurted, bursting
at the seams.

“
Ton...” he
started.

“
Tonight!” I finished
quickly, whooping in excitement. “You really mean it? For how
long?”

Springing to my feet, I practically
threw my locket at him, pulling my re-sewn dress from the small
sack of my belongings I kept at the foot of my sleeping pallet,
racing to the back to change into it.

“
A dinna say… Ugh. A week,”
he grumbled out curtly, “but not a day more.”

On hurried feet I came back out,
throwing on my cape and boots, hopping around as I tried to toss
them on.

Laces finally tied tight, I shot
across the room.

“
Oh, thank you! Thank you!
Thank you!” I started to run out of the cave opening, but then
thought better of it and ran back. “You won’t regret
this!”

Flying at him, I threw my arms around
his waist and gave him a quick hug, tugging him down to peck his
cheek before I ran off.

“
Who knows,” I went on,
“you might realize how quiet it is around here without me and
decide to let me go altogether!”

My smile brightened at the
thought.

“
If ye dinna come back ta
me...” he growled ominously, everything in him tensing.

“
I will!” I cut in. “You
have my word!”
Plus, he’d hunt me down if
I didn’t, but I wasn’t thinking about that right now—‘cause I’m
going home!

Home!

Practically bouncing on the balls of
my feet, I turned around and waved, but Troll just shook his
head.

“
It willna be like yer
thinkin’.”

“
I’m off! Oh, I can’t
believe I’m leaving and I don’t have to worry about you tracking me
down.”

“
Are ye listenin’ ta me at
all, dafty?”

“
Uh-huh, sure.” I checked
my dress pockets, making sure I didn’t forget anything. Not that I
had much on my person to begin with.

“
Dinna wanna listen ta yer
belly achin’ when ye come back an’ everyone’s forgotten ‘bout
ye.”

Shaking my head, I stopped and held
out my hand.

“
If they’ve forgotten about
me, I’ll let you gag me the second I start blubbering, just so you
don’t have to listen to me.”

“
Makin’ a deal now, is we?”
Grinning suddenly, his eyes gleamed. He never could turn down a
good wager.

“
Okay, fine,
don’t…”

Swiping a huge paw out, he snatched my
hand up and shook it. The heat emanating from him, so warm was his
hand, left my skin tingling. “Deal. Just remember ye was the one
makin’ it, eh?”

“
It won’t matter. Won’t be
needed.” I pulled my hand away to find a glowing stone resting in
it. Turning it over and over curiously, I fingered it. It was like
a small light, a flameless light, it glowed so bright. “What’s
this?” I glanced at him curiously as I studied it.

“
Lights the way,” was all
he said, giving me his back.

Shrugging, I nodded and took it, not
questioning it if he was willing to hand something so useful over
so willingly, no strings attached.