Page 86 of A Spark So Bright
Nah, he doubted that was the case. Bjorn would be more likely to be here if that was it. Astrid hated anything that risked her sister's life, and therefore, Bjorn hated it as well.
They entered the war room, with its massive circular table that took up almost all the space. There was a large chandelier that hung over their head with a thousand tiny emeralds casting their light on the table as the candles merrily crackled within it. The walls were covered with tapestries that depicted the battles that were won by troll force in brilliant colors.
Gunnar rounded the table to put some space between them as the door closed. He knew Ragnar. He'd end up locking tusks with him long before he got out what he wanted to say.
Sighing, Gunnar turned to look at him and let his arms open wide. "What? What could you possibly be this upset about?"
Ragnar was a massive troll. Sometimes Gunnar forgot that. His brother planted his hands on the table, leaning down onto it as his muscles bulged with rage. The long tail of his braid fell over his shoulder, and still Ragnar did not look at him.
He had no idea what could possibly upset Ragnar this much until he heard words that were so quiet, Gunnar swore he hadn’t heard him right.
"You bonded with her?" Ragnar asked, quietly. Calmly. Very much unlike him when he was in a rage like this.
And the words made Gunnar's skin crawl. "What?"
"You bonded with Rose? With Astrid's sister? You know Bjorn is going to skin you alive for that! She is too fragile to bond with anyone, too broken to even consider being a troll wife. And you took that from her anyway?"
Ragnar's gaze sliced up, and that was when Gunnar realized the anger was mixed with a healthy dose of betrayal. Ragnar thought Gunnar had lost his mind, just like the trolls of old.He thought that because Gunnar was obsessed with Rose, that he had bonded with her without permission. Taken from her. Taken just like all those men had done to her in the labyrinth.
If there wasn't a table between them, he would have punched Ragnar. Even now, he thought about flipping it over and lunging for his brother who should have known him better.
Instead, he seethed on the other side, planting his own hands on the table as well and gouging fresh marks into the wood with his claws. "How dare you? How could you ever think that of me?"
"I thought I knew you well enough to be confident that you would never have done that to Rose. But here we are. You're bonded and she's just as bad as she always has been. Did you see the vacant look in her eyes? Do you even realize that she has no ability to tell you no?"
Gunnar slammed his fist down on the table. "She was thinking, you massive dolt. And none of that matters anyway, because she's allowed to do what she wants!"
"When? When did you do it?"
"Only a few days ago."
Ragnar cursed. "It can be reversed then. We can still fix this."
"We aren't reversing it." Although, he hadn't even mentioned to her that they could. That did sting a little bit, knowing that he could have given her an out and hadn’t considered telling her. But she hadn't asked. She hadn't even seemed surprised to know that they were bonded.
"You're reversing it or Bjorn will rip your entrails out of your body with his fist." Ragnar pushed himself upright, only to run his claws through his hair and tear strands out of his braid. "I'll have to stop him, somehow. He's going to go into a rage and neither you nor I can measure up to that brute."
"She did it."
Ragnar was still ranting. "This will cause a fissure throughout all of Trollveggen. We have been the three unitingthis kingdom for such a long time. Bjorn will never speak to you again."
"She made the bond, Ragnar."
"How could she have possibly made the bond without understanding what it means, brother?"
"I was paralyzed!"
The words seared between them like a flaming arrow taking flight. Suddenly Ragnar was frozen. Staring at him just like Gunnar had stared at her while she had repeated words she shouldn't have known.
"What?" Ragnar asked.
"We were in the deep caverns. We fell through a crevice—please don't ask how that happened. Ended up surrounded by black sunder,” he explained. “We camped for the night in one of their breeding grounds. Yes I know I should have looked, I did not. I was paralyzed by the venom and she..." He grinned, unable to contain the same happiness he had felt in that moment. "She sees the dead, Ragnar. One of our spirits guided her through the words. She spoke the black tongue like she had been born to it. She made the bond in blood while I could do nothing, and then she saved our lives."
Ragnar blinked at him like he'd gone insane. "Are you still under the influence of that venom? Rose isn't capable of that."
"You see, everyone keeps saying that, but it's simply not true. She's been coming out of her shell. She's been healing, and no one has given her that credit. Not even me."
They stared at each other for a little while longer. He could see that Ragnar was trying to peer into his soul. Clearly, his brother didn't believe him. And Gunnar didn't blame him for that. There were a lot of things going on right now that didn't make a whole lot of sense.
