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“I have something.” I stepped up to Hodag. The troll woman was a head shorter than me, but in a battle of strength she looked like she could snap my bones. “Release us, Hodag, and you will receive a basket filled with stolen memories.”
The troll’s ears twitched, as if she were listening closely.
“This intrigues you?” I asked.
Hodag nodded.
“I steal memories with my glamour.”
“Stop looking at her, sea fae,” Ari’s growl drew my attention.
The sea fae had his red eyes locked on me, all at once intrigued.
Let him try to take my mesmer. I was frustrated, exhausted, and without my husband long enough to feel particularly murderous against anyone who might try to keep me parted from Kase even longer.
“I’ve stored these memories in vials,” I went on. “They are in our haven not far from here. Who among your troll folk can say they have magically acquired memories?”
Hodag considered my stipulations for a few breaths, then nodded. “Can ye bring me the queen jewel and the vials?”
“The queen jewel?”
Sofia cleared her throat. “Perhaps this might be of use for you to know. Troll folk can sniff out magical objects. It’s how she found me. Hodag speaks often about a queen’s jewel. I take it to mean a broach, a necklace, perhaps an earring. She says it is filled with magic and covets the thing.”
I snapped my gaze to the troll. “This jewel, Hodag, is it a ring?”
The troll watched me wiggle one finger and nodded.
All gods. My hands fell to the troll’s broad shoulders. “Where is it?”
She jabbed a thumb at Sofia and the sea fae. “The forest haven. Say they won’t give it up ‘till young princess vows with the dark healer.”
“The young princess is Signe,” Sofia said.
“Niall is a Mediski, a healer with a rotten heart,” I explained. “Hodag, who is in the forest haven?”
“Dark healer’s mother and his bony father.”
I pressed my palms against the burn of agitation in my cheeks; thoughts rampaged through my mind as I paced. It was true: Ivar and Britta were in Jagged Grove. No doubt, the reason for the stronghold was to guard the Lord and Lady Magnate, but also the ring.The queen’s ring. But why did they keep it from Niall? Why were they tossed into the grove in the first place?
“The ring cannot be gifted to you. It belongs to this land,” I told Hodag. “But if you help us find it, we will give you a greater reward.”
“From the Northern Kingdom as well,” Elise said. She’d slipped into the role of a queen. She spoke with gentle condescension, and it was perfect. “A dozen satchels filled with our healing flower, moonvane, and Northern gold coin.”
The troll’s eyes brightened with a bit of anticipation. She beamed at me, then Elise. “Tis good.”
“You’ll need to seal your agreements with blood,” Sofia said.
Hodag already had a small shiv made of pine in her hand. She grunted and gestured at my palm. I winced as she slashed a long cut over the meat of my thumb. Next, Hodag split her skin and shook my hand. The instant our skin touched, a hum of warmth spread up my arm until the troll beamed and pulled away.
After she did the same to Elise, she waved her hands at us, gesturing for us to stay put.
“Too many faces. I dig the new door.”
“The entrances are created with glamour to only release those she put inside,” Sofia said. “Since you fell in, she will need to accommodate the extra bodies.”
Hodag scratched her ear. “More days, then we go topside.”
“Days?” Ari groaned.
