by Emma Hamm
“Sometimes it’s fun.” She remembered her first ball. How terrified she’d been and how awful it was. The men wanted to dance with her and only her. Elva had been the prettiest and most eligible girl there. Of course, all the other women didn’t like that. They’d made the evening a living hell for her.
“I think you need to go to that ball,” the buggane forcefully said.
“Why?”
“Balls are always where the prince and princess meet. That’s where he’ll see you and fall in love all over again. He’ll remember why he wanted to marry you and not the troll princess.”
No, she wasn’t going to listen to that. “Donnacha doesn’t want to marry me or the troll princess.”
“Of course, he wants to marry you. Who wouldn’t?”
Her mother had said the same thing when Elva had been looking for a husband. Elva struggled out of the buggane’s arms and tried to catch her breath. Anxiety loomed over her like a great shadow. “This is a bad idea. Waltzing into that place is only going to start a fight.”
“Not if they don’t know who you are.” The buggane pulled a sack closer to her, one Elva hadn’t realized she’d carried up the hill. “After all, a disguise is also a part of every good story.”
Elva watched as the buggane pulled out a glorious swath of smoky gray fabric. Tiny diamonds twinkled like stars throughout the entire thing. It was beautiful in the way the night sky was beautiful. Dangerous, vast, and untouchable.
“Where did you get that?” she asked, reaching out to stroke the beautiful silk.
“I have friends.” The buggane’s chest puffed up with pride. “But I think you need to wear this.”
“They’ll never let me in if I’m wearing this.”
“They don’t have to. You have a cloak. Hide everything, look like a hunchbacked troll wandering in. All you have to do is get an invitation.”
“Who’s going to give me an invitation?” Elva said with a laugh, letting her hand drop from the beautiful fabric.
“Well, you bribed your way into the dungeon.” The buggane grinned. “Bribe your way into the ball.”
18
Elva tugged at the edge of her cloak, making sure it covered everything. This was the worst plan she’d ever gone along with. Why had the buggane suggested this? Wandering into the ball, celebrating the wedding of Donnacha and the troll princess, when she was the only person who planned on stopping said wedding?
They were going to find her, and then they were going to destroy her with a single well-placed sword. She’d been far too confident in her abilities and sorely underestimated the number of trolls here. However, this might be her only chance to talk with Donnacha. He might have ideas on how to escape, and that was the first step toward saving him.
She stepped into the garden where she’d first seen the troll princess. It was highly likely the creature would be here again. The buggane said she spent quite a lot of time in the gardens of the castle. Not because she liked gardening or even appreciated the beauty. Apparently, the troll princess liked to step on blooming flowers.
Strange creatures, these trolls. But the buggane had been certain that even now, when the ball was beginning, the troll princess would make her way out here. Just to make herself feel better before it all started.
Elva stuck to the shadows, watching the back door of the castle until it opened up and the troll princess stumbled out. Was she drunk already? It appeared so.
She was covered in little more than a few scraps of glittery fabric. Elva had no idea what it was made of, but it showed far too much of her body. Really, it was just two circles over her flat chest where nipples might be, and a tiny loincloth that shifted a little too much when she moved.
Was this what she thought a wedding dress looked like? The garishly colored fabric wasn’t quite bride material. Maybe this was just the unfinished beginning of the final dress. At least, Elva hoped the strange pieces of fabric were just undergarments..
The princess hiccupped, then wandered toward a rose bush. “Stupid flowers,” she muttered. “Stupid pretty things thinking they’re better than me.”
Goodness, she stepped on the flowers because they were more attractive?
Elva took a deep breath and moved forward. “Princess?”
The princess flinched, caught one foot underneath the other, and fell onto her backside. She scrambled away from the sound before her gaze landed on Elva. “Oh, it’s just you, the hunchback.”
At least Elva knew the cloak really was hiding everything it needed to hide. She tugged the edge closer, hoping it looked like she was embarrassed about the way she looked, and walked closer. “Yes, it is I.”
“What do you want?”
That was easier than she thought it would be. Elva cleared her throat. “I have heard the celebration of your wedding to the dwarf will be the grandest event the troll kingdom has ever seen. I would like an invitation.”
“Why?”
“To see you in all your splendor, of course.”
The troll princess stood, brushing leaves and sticks off her backside. “I think you’re a little too interested in my groom.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Maybe the princess wasn’t as drunk as Elva thought.
“I think you want him for yourself.” The princess stepped closer menacingly. She loomed over Elva and, for a second, Elva thought the gig was up. But then, the princess began to laugh. “Do you really think he’d choose you over me? The hunchback of the troll kingdom? Hardly.”
Elva bowed low. “You are right, Your Majesty. I could never compete with your beauty. However, I would still like to see the party. If only for the memories.”
That was a little too close to a lie. Though sarcasm did count as a truth, she wasn’t sure she wanted to actually see the party. It was a little too much for even her. How was she going to keep herself hidden with that many creatures in close quarters?
The troll princess looked her up and down, then held out her hand. “What do you have for me this time?”
Of course, there was going to have to be a deal. Elva had made enough of them in her life to know this creature would want something more than just a golden apple this time.
She reached behind her into the pack that created the hump on her spine and fished around for what she might find. Though the position must look odd, the troll princess didn’t blink an eye. Maybe she thought Elva was pulling something out of her behind, for all she knew.
Her fingers caught on a chain and a clasp. Now, this was something that would convince the troll princess to allow her access easily enough.
Elva withdrew the necklace with a flourish and let the chain dangle from her fingers. “A gift for the most beautiful troll in the wedding.”
It was a dainty piece, a thin golden chain and a single bead with an emerald the size of Elva’s thumbnail. Still, it somehow managed to look quite simple and beautiful.
She hoped that was something the troll princess would enjoy. Such a thing didn’t seem to be her kind of jewelry.
Glancing up, Elva watched the troll’s eyes glaze over with want. “It’s so shiny.”
All right then, trolls were apparently interested in shiny things as well as gold. That was something she’d have to store away in her mind for another time.
Elva shifted her hand, swinging the chain to keep the troll’s attention. “And it’s yours if you let me into the ball.”
“Done.” The troll princess lunged forward for the necklace.
Elva pulled it away at the last second. “And a dance with your groom.”
“A dance? Why would he want to dance with a hunchback?” She tried to grab the necklace again, only to lean back and stomp when Elva wouldn’t give it to her. “You said it was a deal!”
“I didn’t. I want a dance with the groom. He can tell me he’s not interested himself, but I’d like to at least try without troll guards threatening to kill me.”
The troll princess pouted, her lip thrust out, bef
ore she finally caved and nodded. “Fine. But I want you to put the necklace on me now.”
“It will compliment your outfit wonderfully, Your Majesty.”
The troll princess turned around and lifted the scraggly end of her ponytail. Elva couldn’t believe the foolish girl. She gave someone she didn’t know her neck? How in the world had she not been murdered already?
Elva linked the clasp and let the necklace drop onto the troll’s thick neck. The chain was immediately swallowed in the gray rolls, but she could see the emerald just fine when the troll turned around. It was… beautiful? Maybe. It certainly did stand out amongst the gray, like a gemstone deep in a mine.
“It’s lovely,” she murmured, bowing low.
The princess fingered the stone, then said, “You know, I think I like you, hunchback. Your gifts are always so much better than everyone else’s.”
Of course, they were. Her gifts were dwarven made. Elva bowed low again. “Thank you, Your Majesty. Anything to please you.”
“Those are words I love to hear. Come on then, hunchback. You can come in the back way with me. We’ll go back to the ball together. Maybe I’ll make you stand next to me for the rest of the night. You certainly make me look far lovelier.”
Elva trailed along behind her, praying the cloak would stay in place. The hood over her face was so long, it was highly unlikely anyone would peer into the shadows it created. But if someone saw her, that would be the end of this charade.
The interior of the castle was as unimpressive as she was expecting. There wasn’t much here at all, just a blank room carved into the stone and a few tables that had been shoved to the side. No decorations, no carvings, nothing but rough stone and a throne at the far end.
The troll princess strode into the room with her head held high. With good reason, all the other trolls flinched away from her. They created a pathway for her to walk down to her mother.
Elva watched the others and their angry faces. None of them wanted to be here, wearing the strange clothes that didn’t fit them. A few of them wore giant collars and nothing else. Some were in full suits splitting at the seams because they’d pulled too hard to try to fit them. The women were in giant gowns that bulged in all the wrong places.
This wasn’t anything like a ball in the Seelie Court, and the rest of the troll kingdom knew it. They hated being here, and if she was reading their expressions correctly, they hated the royals for forcing them to be here.
Strange. Elva had heard of quite a few people hating royal families before. She’d been married to one of the worst Seelie King’s in history. But she’d never seen so many people wearing that fact on their sleeves and clearly trying their best to glare daggers into the backs of those people they hated.
The trolls didn’t make sense. If anyone in the Seelie Court had been so blatant about their feelings, they would have been beheaded immediately. An investigation would have been launched to see what their family was doing, and then their family would have been likely removed from the history books as well. They would have nothing left because they clearly had wanted to kill the royals.
Did the troll queen and princess not care? Or did they merely not think the others were a threat?
Instead of following the troll princess, Elva melted into the crowd. She listened to conversations when she could, trying to figure out where Donnacha was.
Some of the trolls said he was still getting prettied up, others said they’d already seen him. He wasn’t standing with the Troll Queen, so where had they put him?
A band started up, the reedy sound of a flute and twin violins shrieking throughout the ballroom. What in the world was that godawful sound?
Elva forced her hands to remain at her sides so she didn’t reach up to cover her ears. Was this the live music? This sound that was equal to a harpy screaming?
The crowd shifted, creating a circle in the center of the room. And there was Donnacha, clutched against the troll princess’s chest, feet off the ground. Oh, the poor man, Elva thought. He was going to hate every second of the dance.
She could see it on his face. Every inch of his body was tense, and his face was wrinkled into a frown. She couldn’t imagine what the troll princess smelled like that close, but she was certain it was worse than the buggane.
They danced four songs. Four long songs where the troll princess whirled him around as his feet dangled limply. Donnacha’s arms were squeezed down at his side and his neck must have hurt by this point as he desperately had tilted it away from her.
Elva made her way through the crowd when the troll princess finally set him down to pick up a bucket of water. She was apparently trying to quench her thirst, but most of the water poured down her body. An attempt to seduce Donnacha? Or maybe just… Elva didn’t want to think about it.
She shifted closer to Donnacha and exaggerated her hunch even more. He stared down at a table where goblets had been set. There were things floating in almost all of them, likely the reason why he wore such an expression of disgust. “May I have this dance, good sir?” She kept her voice quiet and rough so none of the trolls would overhear and question who she was.
“I’m only allowed to dance with the troll princess,” he snarled.
“I traded her a rather precious necklace for the opportunity to share your company.”
“Then you can dance with her.”
Elva stepped closer. “I don’t want to dance with her, Donnacha. I want to dance with you.”
He froze. She watched the tension in his shoulders disappear. He turned around so she could see him fully, and Elva smiled.
“You’re clean,” she said. His face was finally free of grime, his hair brushed. Someone had braided his long, dark locks and tangled small metal clasps throughout. The navy blue doublet he wore was an old style, but it was little better than what the rest of the trolls wore. Clearly, the troll princess wanted him to be impressive.
Still, he looked good. She hadn’t seen him like this before. He’d always been covered in layers of grime while in the Troll Kingdom or hidden in the shadows at the castle. But this… He really looked like the dwarven noble he was.
Elva smiled and pulled back her hood only enough for him to see her face but no one else to sneak a peek of her. “Hello, Donnacha.”
“You’re here,” he said, his expression stunned. “How are you here?”
“I made a deal.”
“It better have not been too much of a deal. These trolls are dangerous beings to be making deals with.”
Elva shook her head and tugged the hood back in place. “I gave her something in return for a dance with you.”
“I’m not a very good dancer.”
“Well, you’ll be happy to know that I am a very good dancer.” She held out her hand for him to take. “Come on, Donnacha.”
“It’s dangerous. They’ll figure out who you are.”
“All good things are a little bit dangerous.”
He reached out for her hand and slid his fingers into hers. The bulge on her back where the rest of her dress was gathered along with the pack, made it difficult for her to straighten. Still, she did her best to help him as he waltzed with her through the crowd to the clamorous music.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he whispered.
“Neither should you. And yet, we’ve both found ourselves in this horrible place. Now, work with me to get us both out of here.”
Donnacha leaned up and muttered into her ear, “They know you’re here.”
A chill danced down her spine. “Who?”
“The Troll Queen. She told me right after you left my cell. She saw you while you were visiting me but was going to let you stay just to see what you would do. You have to leave, Elva.”
“I’m not leaving you here.”
His hand tightened at her waist, tugging her closer. “You have to.”
She didn’t want to leave him in this depraved place full of creatures who wanted to hurt them both. He didn’t deserve that kind of trea
tment, and he certainly didn’t deserve her abandonment.
But she couldn’t think of anything else to do. If he didn’t want to help her, if the Troll Queen knew she was here, this mission just got impossibly more difficult.
She shook her head. “No. There has to be a way. There’s always a way.”
He spun her past the troll princess who pointed at them dancing and shouted, “Look at him dance with the ugly hunchback! Isn’t she terrible?”
The laughing faces of trolls whirled by her, and it was almost too much to bear. They had taken everything from her, and she hadn’t realized it until this instance. Donnacha was a good man. He deserved a life of happiness and respect. Not the future that was building for him here.
“I can’t leave you here,” she whispered again. “Not this place.”
“It won’t be so bad. I think they’ll probably let me go once they’re done with me.”
“Not with this plan you built. She thinks you’re going to be her husband, and that’s a rather lasting position in the troll kingdom.”
Donnacha’s eyes grew sad, though he tried to smile through the anguish. “I’m sorry, Elva. I wish there was more I could ask of you. I just don’t see a way out of this. Not when it would be a fool’s errand. We’ll both die if we try to escape this. And one of us should live.”
All seemed lost in that moment as he stared into her eyes. She couldn’t imagine leaving him here. She’d failed so many people in her life, the mere thought of failing him as well made her heart shatter.
What was she going to do? What would the princess in a fairytale do?
Elva smiled then looked into Donnacha’s eyes. “Then if they already know I’m here, why am I hiding?”
“What?”
“They’re expecting me to be here, Donnacha. I’m not afraid of the Troll Queen or what she can do. We might as well give them the show they’ve been waiting for.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
