Torn (Trylle Trilogy, Book 2) (28 page)

Finn had been gone almost continuously for months. He was the best tracker we had, and he’d been bringing back changelings all over the Trylle communities. I hadn’t seen him since before Christmas, and although I still missed him, it was probably better that way.

I was marrying someone else, and even though I loved Finn, I had to put that behind me and move past it.

“Where is this party happening anyway?” I asked Willa, pushing thoughts of Finn from my mind.

“Upstairs,” Willa said, leading me towards the grand staircase in the front hall.
“Matt’s up there doing the finishing touches.”

“Finishing touches?”
I raised an eyebrow.

Somebody pounded on the front door, making the door shake. They knocked so hard, the chandelier above us began to tremble. Normally people rang a doorbell, but someone was nearly beating down the door.

“Stay back, Princess,” Duncan said as he walked over to the door.

“Duncan, I can get it,” I said. If somebody hit the door hard enough to make the front hall quake, I was afraid of what it would do to him. I made a move towards the door, but Willa stopped me.

“Wendy, let him,” she said firmly. “You and Tove will be here if he needs you.”

“No.” I pulled myself from her grip and went after Duncan, to defend him if I needed to.

That sounded silly since he was supposed to be my bodyguard, but I was more powerful than him. He was really only meant to serve as a human shield if need be, but I would never let him do that.

When he opened the door, I was right behind him. Duncan meant to only partially open the door so he could see what waited for us outside, but a gust of wind came up, slamming it open, and sending snow swirling around the front hall.

A blast of cold air struck me, but it died down almost instantly. Willa could control the wind when she wanted to, so as soon as it blew inside the palace, she held up her hand to silence it.

A guy stood in the doorway, bracing himself with his hands on either side of the door. He was slumped forward, his head hanging down, and snow covered his black sweater. His clothes were ragged, worn and shredded in most places.

“Can we help you?” Duncan asked.

“I need the Princess,” he said, and as soon as I heard his voice, a shiver went through me.

“Loki?” I gasped.

“Princess?”
Loki lifted his head. He smiled crookedly, but it didn’t have his usual bravado. His caramel eyes were tired and pained, and he had a fading bruise on his cheek.

“What happened to you?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”

“I apologize for the intrusion Princess,” he said, his smile already fading. “And as much as I’d like to say that I’m here for pleasure, I…” He swallowed something back, and his hands gripped tighter onto the doorframe.

“Are you alright?” I asked, pushing past Duncan.

“I…” Loki started to say, and his knees gave out. He pitched forward, and I rushed forward to catch him. He fell into my arms, and I lowered him to the ground.

“Loki?” I brushed the hair back from his eyes, and they fluttered open.

“Princess.”
He smiled up at me, but it was weak. “If I’d known that this is what it would take to get you to hold me, I would’ve collapsed a long time ago.”

“What is going on, Loki?” I asked gently. If he hadn’t been so obviously distressed, I would’ve swatted him for that comment, but he grimaced in pain when I touched his face.

“Amnesty,” he said thickly, and his eyes closed.

Amanda Hocking is a lifelong Minnesotan obsessed with John Hughes and Jim Henson. In between making collages and drinking too much Red Bull, she writes young adult urban fantasy and paranormal romance.

This is the second book in the Trylle Trilogy, and the third book -
Ascend
- will be out by the end of 2010.
Hollowland
– an urban fantasy with zombies – is her latest novel. The first four books in her vampire series –
My Blood Approves
,
Fate
,
Flutter
, and
Wisdom
– are out now.

Connect with Me Online:

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/amanda_hocking

Blog:
http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/

Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/amandahockingfans

Goodreads
:
http://www.goodreads.com/amanda_hocking

Aura
– a field of subtle, luminous radiation surrounding a person or object. Different colored auras denote different things. (See:
http://amandahocking3a.blogspot.com/p/auras.html
for definitions of specific colors.)

Changeling
– a child secretly exchanged for another.

Förening
– the capital and largest city of Trylle society.
A compound in the bluffs along the Mississippi River in Minnesota where the palace is located.

Hobgoblin
– an ugly, misshapen troll that stands no more than three feet tall.

Host family
– the family that the changeling is left with.
They are chosen based on their ranking in human society, with their wealth being the primary consideration. The higher ranked the member of Trylle society, the nicer the host family their changeling is left with.

Mänsklig
– often shortened to “mänks.” The literal translation for the word “mänsklig” is human, but it refers to the human child that is taken when the Trylle offspring is left behind.

Markis
– a title of male royalty in Trylle and Vittra society. Similar to that of a Duke, it’s given to trolls with superior abilities. They have higher ranking than the average Trylle, but less than the King and Queen. The hierarchy of the Trylle society is as follows:

King/Queen

Prince/Princess

Markis/Marksinna

Trylle citizens

Trackers

Mänsklig

Host families

Humans (not raised in troll society)

Marksinna
– a title of female royalty in Trylle and Vittra society.

Persuasion
– a mild form of
mindcontrol
. The ability to cause another person to act a certain way based on thoughts.

Precognition
– knowledge of something in advance of its occurrence, especially by extrasensory perception

Psychokinesis
– blanket term for the production or control of motion, especially in inanimate and remote objects, purportedly by the exercise of psychic powers. This can include mind control, precognition, telekinesis, biological healing, teleportation, and transmutation.

Stork
– slang term for tracker; derogatory.
“Humans tell little kids that storks bring the babies, but trackers bring the babies here.”

Tracker
– members of Trylle society that are specifically trained to track down the changelings and bring them home. Trackers have no paranormal abilities, other than the affinity to tune in to one particular troll. They are able to sense danger to their charge and can determine distance between themselves and their charge.
The lowest form of Trylle society, other than mänsklig.

Trylle
– beautiful trolls with powers of psychokinesis
who
use the practice of changelings as the cornerstone of their society. Like all trolls, they are ill-tempered and cunning, and often selfish. Once plentiful, their abilities are fading, but they are still one of the largest tribes of trolls. They are considered peaceful.

Tryllic
– an old language that Trylle wrote in to disguise their important documents from humans. It’s uses different symbols than the Greek alphabet, and is similar to Arabic or Cyrillic in appearance.

Vittra
– a more violent faction of trolls whose powers lie in physical strength and longevity, although some mild psychokinesis is not unheard of. They also suffer from frequent infertility. While Vittra are generally beautiful in appearance, more than fifty percent of their offspring conceived are born as hobgoblins. They are one of the troll tribes to have hobgoblins in their population.