Chapter 9

Mia

T he revelers drink more and more as the night goes on. Fresh casks of mead and beer are rolled in, and mugs are refilled as people holler and shout at one another. The king observes it all with disinterest, his fingers tapping the arm of his chair.

I want to know what he’s thinking—what he has planned for me when this festival of nonsense finally dies down, and why he took Cragnorr away. He’s had a fair amount of booze himself, and I think I can weasel something out of him.

“You know,” I say casually, leaning toward him in my chair, “it’s quite a town you’ve built here.”

He glances at me from the corner of his eye.

“I didn’t build it,” he says in a bored voice. “My daddy did.”

“Where’s he?” I ask.

“Dead.” He maintains his deadpan expression as he reaches for his beer and slugs down some more.

That’s not the answer I was hoping for .

“Oh?” I try to keep my tone light. “What happened to him?”

The King grins at me, revealing a full mouth of stained teeth. A few appear to be made of gold, or something that looks like it. If he weren’t a bastard, he might be handsome under a flattering light. And if he didn’t open his mouth.

“I killed him.”

I gulp. Fuck, I shouldn’t have started this conversation. I don’t want to be discussing killing or death with this unhinged man.

“So, tell me,” the King says, leaning on the arm of his chair to bring his head closer to mine. “Why is a pretty young girl wandering the woods with a trollkin?” He reeks, not just like booze but like he hasn’t washed in a few weeks.

At least we’re on the subject of Cragnorr now. Maybe I can find out what the King wants with him—and convince him that he won’t get it.

“Perhaps she’s fucking it,” Gru interrupts, sipping his beer. “It was very protective of her when we found them.”

The King looks at me with fresh surprise. “Oh? Is that so? Are you fucking the ogre?”

I splutter. “What?”

“Is his cock huge?” Gru asks. “How do you take it?”

I can’t help thinking of Cragnorr in my hands, that thick length swelling in my grip. After that, I wondered the same question. Could I welcome that huge thing inside me?

It sends heat rolling through me, from my head to my toes.

A nasty chuckle brings my attention back to the king. “She blushes ,” he crows. “You might be right, Gru. If she’s had ogre cock, what use does she have for human cock?”

The nasty, tiny man strokes his chin. “Perhaps she’s not a good toy for you, sire. You should give her to me, instead.”

A laugh bursts out of the King. “So you want her for yourself?” He grimaces. “An ugly creature like you?”

This clearly wounds Gru, who settles back into his chair with his arms crossed over his chest and falls silent, sipping on his mead like a kicked puppy.

So there’s dissent here. That could be good.

“What do you want Cragnorr for, anyway?” I ask.

The King laughs at me. “Can’t keep your mouth shut, can you? You’ll find out soon enough.”

The drinking continues, and soon, it’s affecting the King, too. He lolls forward in his chair, then realizes what he’s doing and quickly sits back up. He’s forced a mug of beer in front of me, but when he realized that my arms were still tied to the chair, he took my beer for himself.

“All right!” he suddenly calls out, rising to his feet. He sways perilously. “I am off to bed! But please, put more logs on the fire and keep on.”

Shouts ring out across the gathering, and the King is pleased with this answer. He has Gru untie me from the chair, then snatches the ropes up in his hand. He leans down so he’s speaking right in my ear. “You’re coming with me,” he whispers.

The hairs on my neck stand up, and I resist the urge to cringe. But this could also be my moment. Everyone here is drunk as skunks, and even the King’s grip on me is wavering.

So I nod agreeably, and the King smirks. “Good,” he says, righting himself. “The less you fight, the better this will be for both of us.”

Fuck. The better what will be?

He tugs on me to follow him, so I do obediently, hoping that maybe he’ll drop his guard and I can break away. Behind the tent is a path lined with torches, leading to a small building that’s just as crude as the other ones. Once we step out into the night, I glance around to see who else might be nearby, but everyone in the camp appears occupied with their party.

I have to think fast. We only have thirty, maybe forty more steps to the door of the disjointed little cabin. I only wish I knew where they took Cragnorr. I can’t leave without him.

“Whatever you’re thinking,” the King mumbles, yanking on my ropes to draw me closer to him, “you’ll fail. And then you’ll get an arrow through the heart for trying.”

His warning kills any hope I might have had of making it out—tonight, at least. It might look like the camp is disorganized and chaotic, but whoever these people are, they’re dangerous, too.

Still, I have to try. Maybe if I find out a little more about them and what they want, I can make a plan.

“Why does everyone call you the King?” I ask as we walk. “There’s only one king.”

His eyes flash with anger as we near the door. “I am the true king,” he snarls, rounding on me. “And these are my chosen people. This land doesn’t belong to that king. No, I am its ruler. I am its master. None of your pathetic laws matter here.” He shoves the door of the little house open and pushes me inside. “Now stop your endless chatter.”

At first it’s quite dark, and I stand there trying to find my footing as the King reaches for something on the wall. After a few moments, a lamp is lit and hung up. Then he slams the door closed behind us, turning the lock.

My blood runs cold at that closed door. Now I’m trapped here, with him—with this filthy bastard who most definitely wants something from me, something I don’t even want to think about.

I even my breathing and try not to panic. This man will seize on fear. Instead, I survey the room, which is far more opulent than I expected given the shoddy exterior.

But everything is almost... comically mismatched. There are pillows in all sorts of patterns arranged on the floor in a giant nest, covered in crumpled-up blankets. There’s a dining table, piled high with gold and treasure and jewels. They glitter in the lamplight, just out in the open for anyone to see .

Clearly this “King” has plenty in the way of riches.

“Do you like it?” he asks, lighting another lamp near the pillows. My ropes now hang at my sides, but that doesn’t mean anything. If I made a run for it, I’d have to stop at that door latch, and he’d easily be on top of me. “On our last raid, we came across a merchant. He was an old fuck, covered from head to toe in rubies.” The King reaches a hand into the pile of jewels and lets them spill through his fingers like water. “Most of these rings wouldn’t come off him, you know. I had to cut them off.”

An involuntary shudder rolls down my spine, and he laughs at the look on my face. But the alcohol is starting its real work on him now, and when he tries to pick up one of his many jewels, he stumbles on one of the pillows behind him and falls back into his nest. He guffaws and holds out his arms to me.

“Come here, toy,” he murmurs. Damn it, I need a way out of this. I have to convince this drunken idiot that he doesn’t want me. “Come and give old Zake your pussy.”

“Zake?” I ask, keeping my distance from him but using a soothing voice. “Is that your name?”

“Don’t wear it out.” His hands reach for me again, and horror washes over me as he pulls me down to the nest of pillows. I need a plan. I need to talk him out of doing this.

“I didn’t answer your question before,” I say as his hand slides down my side, over my hip and back up again. I try not to cringe, but all the hairs on my arms are standing on end.

“Which question?” His voice slurs.

“About whether I fucked the ogre or not.”

Zake freezes. I lean in closer to him, trying to bear the stagnant stench. “I did,” I whisper quietly. “I did fuck the ogre. I rode that big cock of his, and now I’ll never, ever be tight again.”

There. That should do it.

Fury crosses his face. Then he turns and spits on the floor.

“That’s the most disgusting shit I’ve ever heard.” He turns hard eyes on me. “A human, fucking a trollkin? An ogre, no less?” He looks like he’s tasted something bad. “Get the fuck out of my bed.”

I get up and dust myself off as Zake falls back into the nest, groaning.

“What a horrendous image,” he mutters as I find a new spot on the floor to sit down. My nightgown does little to protect me. “Now it’s burned into my mind.”

“My apologies,” I say, trying not to sound too self-satisfied.

I snag a pillow as I lie down, and already, Zake is snoring. I curl up in my nightgown, pulling my jacket close, and fall asleep remembering how wonderful it was to sleep in Cragnorr’s arms.

Cragnorr

Today will likely be my first fight, or so I’ve gathered from chatter among the other gladiators. That’s what we are—warm bodies to be tossed into this arena , and made to battle to the death. That is why only half the cages are full: there’s a constant cycle of residents coming and going as we’re paired off.

Most of the time, only one combatant returns alive.

“It’s nothing personal,” the older man with the scars, Fex, tells me. “It’s either kill or be killed, you know? We could be friends right now—” he lowers his eyebrows, “—not saying we are, but we could be. It wouldn’t matter out there.”

It didn’t take long for them to realize I could understand what they’re saying, even if I don’t speak. I raised my head to pay attention to their conversations too many times, and now they include me, even as I try to sit and think instead.

“We’re not friends,” barks the big, hulking man farthest away from me, whose name I’ve gathered is Bino. “None of us are. And I won’t hesitate to kill any one of you if it means I get out of here. ”

I sit forward in the cage at this, wincing when the collar bites into my neck. There’s a way out of here if I win?

Bino laughs at me. “That sort of thing isn’t for you, ogre,” he says. “Humans like me, maybe we can leave once we’ve served our time. But not trollkin. You’re as good as dead. That ‘King’ fellow will cycle you in and out until you finally lose.”

Still, I cling to that shred of hope. Perhaps I can convince the bandit king that I am not one of them, that I can speak the human language and know their customs, and I deserve my freedom, too.

“Fresh blood always goes first,” Fex says. “He wants to test ya. Find out what makes you tick. Which only matters if you can survive your first fight, of course.”

We don’t know who will fight until the stout woman with the baton comes for us, I gather. When she finally does arrive, I’m not surprised to see her walk towards my cage. The guards unhook my chain and then open the door, six of them crowded around in case I try to make a run for it. Instead, I’m perfectly obedient as they lead me out of the metal bars, to the other side of the room.

I realize it’s not a wall, but a huge wooden door. Behind me, the other guards open Bino’s cage.

“Are you fuckin’ serious?” he demands as they chain him up by the wrists. “You’re gonna make me fight the ogre?”

The woman with the baton scoffs. “Shouldn’t be a problem for you, should it, big shot?”

Bino raises a fist, but one of the guards jerks him roughly by the chains. Though his head only reaches to my shoulder, I’m not so arrogant as to think he’ll be easy to take down. No, this man is a brute, and he will stop at nothing to kill me and save his own hide. I remember how he talked about slashing my ankles, and I’ll make sure in our fight not to expose any vulnerable areas to him.

As cheers swell outside the door, the guards present each of us with a weapon. Bino receives a massive axe, and I’m given a sword. For a human it would be a short sword, but for me, it’s a dagger. And I know what I’m intended to use it for.

The roar of some distant crowd grows louder until suddenly, the guards kick down the door. It lands on the dirt with a boom , splashing us in bright sunlight, and a cacophony of cheering envelopes me. I have to cover my ears just to keep my head from falling off my shoulders.

Now I know what this arena is. We are in a massive, circular pit carved out of the earth. The walls rise high around us, so high there’s no possible way I could climb out. People are gathered up above us, hundreds of them, all shouting and screaming.

I scan the assembled people, wondering if Mia is among them. She doesn’t know most of the things I’ve done in my life. She doesn’t know that I’ve fought wolves with my bare hands. She doesn’t know about the bear who once caught me off-guard at the lake, and I had to break his neck before he would let me go.

Now she’ll see what a brute I truly am.

Finally, my eyes land on her. Above the crowd is a raised wooden platform, where I find that man, the ‘King’—with my Mia sitting next to him, bound to a chair by rope.

My heart sinks like a stone. What has he done to her in the night we’ve been apart? Mia looks surprised when she sees me walk out into the arena, and she tries to get up, but her bindings keep her down.

“Cragnorr!” she calls. “Cragnorr!”

Her face is etched with worry, and I wish I could tell her there’s no reason to worry. I would never let someone take me from her.