“Wha—” Londe stumbled, his big body knocking into mine.
I blinked several times, my stomach churning. The world had righted itself, no longer moving in bright streamers of color and music and scents and sounds like all the magic of the universe had coalesced around us and swept us off our feet and into a maelstrom. “What was that?” I finished Londe’s question. It hurt my own ears to hear it, almost as much as it hurt to say it.
My body still felt as if I’d left parts of it behind in the whirlpool.
“You are here.” The lilting voice hurt, even as quiet as it was. “Our gift to you.”
I groaned, then gripped my head when all the little voices giggled. “Some gift…”
“Open your eyes and see, Mr. Not Unicorn.”
Ugh. Still, I didn’t like being vulnerable, and I needed to get my bearings. Looking around gingerly, I gaped. I recognized that hill, that road… I blinked again.
“You traveled us?”
“Yes!” Their voices echoed, and I winced again.
“Shh, if you please. So… we’re here?” So close to where we needed to be, when I’d been worrying if we would arrive in time or not. So close to our foals. My heart began to race, to patter in my chest. I almost thanked them for their gift with blunt words.
“Your magic is quite powerful and amazing,” Londe said before I could do that. He had his eyes open too, the lashes wet. His sides trembled, but he bowed his head toward the assemblage of tiny fae. I took his lead and bowed low, a flourish with my arm as I showed the back of my neck and left myself vulnerable in this form those who had actually helped us.
“Yes, yes… Now we go. More to do, more cheer to bring!” A gust of wind, a tinkle of bells chiming furiously, and the tiny fae were gone.
“I can’t believe they transported us days along in our journey,” Londe said quietly. “You said we were here. The foals are near, yes? It’s like I can feel them.”
I could feel them too. “Yes. We don’t have to worry about the humans or the vampire either; there was no way they could catch up to us now.” Once we freed the foals, we could travel on until they were safely home, protections in place I had neglected before.
Never again.
We stopped so I could clean up; I had to appear as if I was a rich human, someone who’d have the gems needed to get near the foals so I could magic them away.
“Wouldn’t they expect you to have people? A retinue. Guards?” Londe asked.
“Not many like to deal with trolls. It takes a certain type.”
I could be that type. Anything to get the foals. Besides, trolls were easy to deal with compared to humans. And I still wanted to find out who’d stolen the foals. That Being was at the top of my hit list.
“You stay here. Not like with the Duke, not when you rode to my rescue at the vampire’s, you can’t do that. These trolls won’t trade with me if they’re chasing you. And they have a nose for treasure.” Speaking of that… It killed me, but I pulled my horn from the custom-made sheathe along my spine. “Can you k-keep this safe for me?” It was like losing it again, but I knew my mate would protect my horn.
“Yes,” Londe said softly. He dropped his head next to mine, nuzzling my cheek. “With my life.”
“Thank you,” I managed in a choked whisper. His ear flicked, but he stood stock still as I slid it into the pack on his back. “Be here when we get back.” I couldn’t take anything else going wrong.
“I will. Be safe. Bring them home.”
“I will.” The magic I had the trolls would sense but not be able to sniff out as something to barter; my swords were normal metal vessels until I held the hilts and touched the runes I’d charged them with to channel my magic. They’d like the gems far more, and I had plenty of them.
Approaching that hole in the hill sent waves of nausea shuddering through me. I’d recovered from traveling, but the smells… noxious didn’t begin to cover it. Rotten, moldering, foul air wheezed from the tunnel, and I had to enter that.
The thought of the foals in there gave me the courage. I entered with both hands away from my weapons, calling out to the trolls in their guttural, grunting language. “Trade. Trade.”
One warty, gray-skinned Being with thick legs and short arms rolled to his feet with a grunt and grumble. “We sleep. No trade.”
“Pretties to trade. Sleep later.” I jangled the bag on my belt. The unmistakable sound of stones against stones caught another troll and had him up. Or maybe her. This one was wearing a tattered skirt that didn’t cover nearly enough of that rough, bumpy skin with their greasy folds.
“Pretties?” she wheezed. “What pretties?” Her thick lips blubbered over the words.
“Red Diamonds.”
The final troll sat up, grumbling, rubbing his eyes with a ham-fist, dirty-broken nails looking like they were covered in fungus. “That all?”
“That all? Red Diamonds, my thumb.” I held up a hand, tiny compared to theirs, but still large for gems, especially these usually tiny ones that were found so rarely.
Female troll stumped to the fire, grabbing a stick and stirring it up so the light flared. I looked around the cave and nearly lost my mind. There were my foals in a pen nearly too small to let them move. Stacked along the wall, in what I could only assume was their larder, were even more Beings in cages.
Dear gods, what was I going to do? How could I save them all?
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