Page 41 of A Spark So Bright
Perhaps she had made a name for herself because it was remarkably easy. No one even questioned what she was doingor why. Maybe there were a few murmured words that said something along the lines of "should tell Torbin," but that wasn't going to get her in trouble.
Rose got into the kitchen without anyone stopping her. It was empty this time of night. The hearth banked and the room cold. The floors were icy beneath her feet as she headed toward the root cellar, which was located all the way at the end of the room. There were so many stoves in this room, it took her a while to get past them. At least six of them, stretched along the wall with their chimneys leading out of the mountain. Massive kitchen islands were in the middle of the room, ready to feed more trolls than she could count in this place.
And there were a lot of trolls.
The cold cellar was where most of the dried meats, cheeses, and even some dried fruit were kept. There was a smoke cellar too. And another darker hole that she didn't go into often, which was for specialized wines.
She had a good amount of supplies in her hands when she turned around and almost ran into a yellow chest. "Shit," she muttered, looking up at Torbin who was apparently going to cause an issue for her.
He looked at the food in her arms, and there was a slight moment of confusion that passed across his face before she could see that he understood what was happening. "Leaving, are we?"
"Following," she replied.
Rose wanted to be strong. She wanted to stand in front of him and not quake, but damn it, she did. She hadn't been alone with a man in the dark in such a long time. The maw of the cellar opened up behind her, and she could already sense what would happen.
He'd push her back in there, and she wouldn't be able to hide. There was nowhere to go. She couldn't damn well fight. She didn't know how to do that.
Except he moved out of her way. He stood there looking her over with kind, soft eyes. Then he reached behind himself and picked up a knife from one of the blocks on the counter. Handing it wooden handle first over to her, Torbin waited until she took it from him.
"Better?" he asked.
And surprisingly... yes. She did feel better. Her fingers curved around the worn handle, and she knew that she could stab him if she wanted. It wouldn't do much damage to a troll, but she could do it. Her grip tightened so hard her fingers creaked.
Then Torbin looked at the food in her arms and said, "That's too much. Pop it on the counter there and I'll get you packed better. You have clothes, I assume?"
She blinked a few times, chasing away the anxiety that screamed for her to run because there was nowhere she could hide. "What?"
"You're going after him?" Torbin nodded toward the counter again. "Go on. Can't have you wandering without enough food. Gunnar would kill me for that."
She did what he told her to do, but did so slowly and with confusion. "Why are you helping me?"
He gave her a look. "Listen, I don't know what you went through in that labyrinth. None of us talk about it, and none of us should have to if we don't want to. But I think that you should tell Gunnar more about what happened and how you are dealing with it moving forward. I haven't seen you lucid in a while, Rose. No one has. If the thought of running from this place keeps you here with us, then I'll do whatever I can to help you."
"I'm not running away." She blurted the words out a little too forcefully. "I'm just..."
"So Gunnar doesn't know you're following him?" Torbin moved the food into a bag that he must have brought for her. She wouldn't have packed that much jerky, but she supposed it made sense why he was doing it.
"No."
"That'll be a surprise for him. You know the southern pass is where he's going?"
"How do you?—”
Torbin tapped his temple. "You live in the labyrinth for that long, and you learn how to see things others don't. I knew you were watching us."
"Oh." She leaned her hip against the counter, staring down at the floor while he finished.
It took a while. The silence between them was awkward and heavy. She felt like maybe that was her fault, and the pressure of not knowing what to do in a social situation made her uncomfortable.
Until finally she said, "I don't talk to people."
Torbin finished with her pack. He stayed on the other side of the island and slid the whole thing over, almost as though he knew coming too close was something she couldn't handle right now. "Neither do I. I think both of us should try a little harder to do that, though."
Her hair fell in front of her face, obscuring her expression from his view. She didn't want him to read how hard that was for her to hear. "Why?"
"Because it might be good for us both to learn how to be around people again." Torbin waited a little while, but she still didn't look at him. He sighed and said, "The southern pass connects with the eastern one before it hits the trees. Gunnar was going the long way, in case anyone followed him. I think,considering your reputation, you should head out on the eastern pass and head him off."
"If I don't find him in time?"
