The Toll (8 page)

“
That be right, nugget? Yer
name is Daph-a-doo-da-nee?” his lip curled up in disgust as he
wrongly pronounced my birth name, the name of my mother’s
great-great grandmother.

“
Daphedaenya,” I whispered,
my voice low and hoarse. My hand came up and I rubbed at my neck,
already feeling a bruise forming.

“
Daphie-dude-a nay,
Daph-e-day-dee-noo,
wha’ ever,”
he muttered grumpily, “stupid, if ye ask me. A
right sorry name ta be lumped wit’.”

“
Thank you for noticing,” I
blurted, grunting as I bounced back and slid down the rough-hewn
wall, landing on my butt with a harsh plop, my voice a low croak.
“But I didn’t come all the way out here, through the mud and the
cold, to discuss my parents’ shortcomings at child
naming.”

At my wry, completely inappropriate
response, the monster before me barked out a laugh, letting it turn
into a raucous, bellowing one, before finally tapering off into a
deep chuckle.

It sounded rusty and choked, as if
from disuse, and I got the impression he didn’t do it all that
often. His small smile fell and his head whipped around when he
heard the tell-tale creak of Otvla’s prison.

She whimpered when his head swung in
her direction. The disturbed troll’s eyes narrowed and he pointed
at her warningly, before settling back on me.

“
A toll,” he ordered and
held out his hand, wiggling his fat fingers in front of me. “Ye
canna cross the bridge wit’out payin’ a toll.”

“
I don’t wish to use your
bridge.”

He sniffed and hitched his tattered
black pants up on his solid waist. “What is it ye be wantin’,
then?”

Opening my mouth to speak, nothing
came out.

Before I could gather my wits enough
about me to respond, he growled, “Well, come now, nugget. I aint
got all day.”

I pointed to Otvla and held out the
burlap bag Mamma had provided with the other.

“
A trade,” I stated boldly,
as he snatched the bag and rifled through it.

Chuffing noisily, the troll frowned at
the contents, forehead creasing, and glanced at me. “Ye think me a
fool, do ye? What sort of trickery ye be up ta, ye carrot haired
she-devil?”

“
What?” Puzzled, I frowned
and clutched my hands together nervously. “Mamma said to tell you
that you could have all they’d already offered, plus the family
heirlooms in there.” I pointed at the bag he was shaking in front
of me.

“
Paste,” he muttered, “must
think me a fool ta be offerin’ me paste.”

I blinked and snatched the bag back,
pulling out the contents. “These aren’t paste,” I insisted, holding
them out for him to get a better look, “these are priceless. They
belonged to-”

Grunting, irritated, he grabbed my
wrist, the jewels fisted in them, and yanked me up.

“
They’re paste jewelry.
Fake. They smell like it, they look like it, and...” he argued,
prying my fingers open and putting the ruby necklace into his
mouth.

I let out a garbled shriek as he
mouthed my mother’s priceless jewels like a giant ruby teether,
gaping at him openly until he spit four pieces into his hand, the
chain soon to follow.

“
Paste,” he explained,
showing me all the little broken up pieces, spitting on the floor
in disgust.

“
Paste?” I mumbled,
shocked, and he nodded. My shoulders slumped. “The ring too?” I
asked worriedly.

“
Paste,” he confirmed, and
as my hopes sank to my toes, I believed him.

Hurriedly reaching forward, I stopped
him before he put that one into his mouth to show me as
well.

He appeared shocked that I would place
my hands over his in such a familiar fashion, quickly stopping him
from mouthing and decimating the last of what Mamma had always
assumed was a small fortune.

Plucking it out of his
hand, I let out a sigh of relief that I’d at least be able to give
her the ring back intact.
Don’t know what
I’m going to tell her about the necklace.
Setting them back in the bag, I unhooked my locket and handed
it over to him.

“
What about this? Is this
real?” I already knew it was, but he seemed the sort that had to
see for himself.

Watching me as I dangled the priceless
trinket in front of him, he eyed it covetously, like I’d just
offered him a sack of free gold coins, no strings
attached.

Eyes changing as they fixed on the
swinging necklace, he grumbled, “Aye, tis real silver.”

The air whooshed out of me in relief.
“So, you’ll take it, then?” Reaching out, I placed it in his hand
and waited.

Whole body shuddering, he jerked as if
I’d just shocked him, his large, scary eyes closing briefly before
he opened them reluctantly. Closing his fist over the locket tight,
he broke out in goose flesh, shoulders shaking with the effort. A
little hum started high in his throat, building up until it was
almost a heavy purr from deep within his massive chest.

Speechless, at a loss, I
stared at him unblinkingly.
What was all
that about? What just happened?

“
Ye want ta be givin’ me
this?” the odd being standing before me grumbled, incredulous.
“
This
, for her?”
He acted as if I was utterly ridiculous for even suggesting
it.

“
Well, uh,” swallowing
hard, I licked my lips nervously, “yes. Oh! And everything else,
uh, too!”

Frowning over at my sister, then me,
he raised a brow and shook his head.

“
No.” Grimacing, his large
skull gave another shake on his thick neck. “Wouldna be fair.”
Sighing regretfully, he placed the locket back in my hand, but it
looked as if it was quite hard for him to, and with great effort,
he stepped back.

“
But… but… Can’t we figure
something out?” I cried desperately, following after him when he
looked like he might take off. “You’re a troll, for god’s sakes!
You can’t have an ethical code!”

“
Useless,” he snorted. “Oi,
what’s she ta ye, anyway? She’ll work off her toll,” he
grimaced,
“someday,
an’ then she’ll be off.”

I hadn’t heard this before.

“
Pay off a toll?” I
questioned, dogging his footsteps determinedly.

“
Aye, but at the rate she
goes,” he hooked a thick thumb at her, “she’ll be me slave
forever.”

Otvla started to wail again, quieting
when he shouted at her and picked up what looked to me like a worn
bit of leather from a boot, the heel still attached, throwing it at
her cage.

“
Please don’t do that,” I
implored once again, slamming my lips shut at my
outburst.

The scathing look the grey skinned
male gave me as he growled heavily and went farther into his
dwelling, informed me I’d just said the wrong thing.

This isn’t helping me
any.

Taking a moment to gather my wits
about me and compose myself, I said a small, silent prayer and
pursued the disgruntled creature.

He’d set himself up in front of an
oversized fire now, was the first thing I noticed upon spotting
him, the large stones it was made out of mind boggling, set far
into the wall, then down into the ground some, much like a pit. Not
to mention the fact that they were an odd green color, the stones,
and the flames burning in it bright were an unnatural red, tipped
and dancing with blue.

Blue and red flames, trolls, green
fire pit stones, Otvla in a swinging cage. This was all so strange
and unreal.

Studiously ignoring me, the snarling
beast took a hunk of unidentified, roasted animal off of a spit and
took a huge bite out of it, dribbling juice and fat from his dinner
onto the dirt floor.

“
What’s she ta ye?” he
asked around a mouthful of animal flesh, taking out a large flask
to swig from and wash it down.

Knowing it was now or never, I stepped
towards him, oddly calmed at the normalcy of watching someone, or
something, do something so natural—so normal as eating a meal. He
wasn’t trying to eat me or Otvla, after all, so I went for
broke.

“
She’s my
sister.”

The oversized creature stopped, mid
chew, and stared at me, just stared. Deep orange eyes glowing, he
cocked his head to the side, wide nose twitching, and
waited.

Good. I have his whole
attention now.

“
She’s my baby sister, you
see, and my family misses her dearly,” I wheedled pleadingly.
“Can’t we work something out for her release? Can’t we come to
an... an understanding? An agreement?” Forcing my feet to move, I
shuffled closer. “Is there something more, besides, uh, erm, flesh?
A token of some sort that you need or something, perhaps?
Anything?!”

Desperation, thy name is
Daphedaenya.

“
Yes!” Otvla called out
excitedly. “Can’t you come to an understanding and let me free?!
Tell him, Daphie! Tell him!”

I rubbed my forehead exasperatedly and
turned to her, motioning for her to be quiet.

The troll looked supremely
annoyed, and we were, after all, interrupting his supper, and
he
is
what Papa
likes to call
a right bastard.

So, with that in mind, I turned to her
and tried to tell her as gently as I could to shut her trap.
“Otvla, you aren’t helping me any, sweet, could you
just-”

“
Oh! I know!” she exclaimed
excitedly, as if I’d never spoken.

Eyes widening, I made swift ‘shut it’
motions with my hands, hoping the troll didn’t catch on. Otvla’s
ideas never boded well. They were always hasty and involved me
doing all the-”

“
Daphie can take my place!”
she shouted triumphantly, grinning at the very idea. “She likes to
work, don’t you, Daphie?!” With a huge, fake smile, she bobbed her
head encouragingly, trying to get me to join in.

My hands fisted at my sides and my jaw
dropped. “Otvla!”

“
What?” she cajoled
innocently, as if this sounded perfectly reasonable, pursing her
pouty lips annoyingly, sticking out her lower lips like the brat
that she was. “Well, you do. And it’s not like Trystan’s going to
magically get up the nerve and ask father to marry you anytime
soon, so you have time.”

“
Otvla!!” I gritted out,
“Shut. Up!”

The troll, I noticed as I glanced at
him, was watching our exchange interestedly, eyes bouncing back and
forth between us. He, like many others, was sucked right into the
drama.

“
The troll said you smell
of sex,” she added slyly, “your beau probably already got what he’d
wanted anyways... Whereas I...”

“
You spoiled little twit!!”
I burst out, marching towards her. “You shit! How dare you put this
all one me!! And how dare you impugn Trystan’s character! You
sniveling little toad!”

I marched over to her cage and eyed it
thoughtfully. It looked simple enough of a contraption. Surely I
could manage it.

“
Did you agree with the
troll?” she whispered, unaffected by my rant, or the fact that I’d
just exposed my relationship with my now soon to be husband, giving
name to my secret lover. Huddling down, my younger sibling’s eyes
darted between us quizzically. “Is he going to let you take my
place?”

“
No,” I grumbled, muttering
under my breath, “I’m trying to figure out if it’s more trouble to
climb this contraption to strangle you myself, or just cut the rope
and watch you fall.”

“
Daphie!” Otvla’s outraged
gasp gave me a small measure of satisfaction, but it didn’t last
long.

The troll behind me roared out with
laughter, and I jumped, not realizing he’d followed right behind
me.

“
An’ how’s that fer a fair
trade,” he guffawed, the irony not lost on me.

My cheeks burned, like hot twin flames
across my cheeks, singeing me with humiliation.

Even the troll makes fun of
me. The troll!

“
She’s not that bad,” Otvla
protested, clearing her throat in that sickly supreme way she does
that lets you know she doesn’t mean a word.

I hated it. No, I loathed
it.

The troll sobered and snorted, his
burnt orange eyes large and probing. “I wasna sayin’ she was the
rotten potato stinkin’ up the room, layabout,” he snapped,
lumbering back to his warm fire and crispy dinner. “Now think on
that, ya lazy git.”

“
I don’t smell like a
potato,” Otvla whined, sniffling noisily, then checked her
underarms for any noticeable stench. She must have smelled like
something, yelping and wrinkling her nose, lowering her arms
quickly in hopes I hadn’t noticed.

She smelled ripe, all right, but it
was her attitude that I likened to the rotted tubers.

“
What if I bring you two
silver lockets?” I bargained, making my way slowly back over to
him.

“
What? Hers? No. Besides, I
already give it to yer bearer.” He smirked. “A token from the
troll, so ta speak, seein’ as I’m so gracious an’ all.”