Page 38 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

“Riches of gold,” a troll interrupted. “Riches of silver. Riches of such things matter so little.”

“Riches of want,” another chimed in. “Riches of ember. Riches of those are the ones to remember.”

“You want fire?” I said. “Freyalovessummoning fire.”

Freya elbowed me.

“Really?” she whispered.

I shrugged. “At least I didn’t suggest you strip, but on second thought—"

Freya elbowed me again, and this time, I couldn’t blame her.

“Down to the bottom,” a different troll continued, “you must go. Find the ember where it grows. In return…”

“You’ll become one who knows,” the other troll finished and puffed the cigar.

“Bottom of what?” Freya asked.

“Does it matter?” I whispered.

I struggled to share Freya’s faith in the tripping trolls.

Tripping trolls,I thought.This is what my life has come to.

“Bottom of life,” the troll who’d spotted us said. “Bottom of spring. So close but so far, just out of our reach.”

The other trolls grumbled their agreement and looked longingly in the distance.

“The pond,” I realized. “Whatever they want is in the pond.”

Freya sighed. “I imagine swimmingisdifficult when your body is made of rock.”

I barely held back my laughter, then I sobered. “We have to swim to the bottom of the pond, don’t we?”

“For a chance at discovering more about whatever deadly thing we’re chasing?” Freya said. “Yeah. I think we do.”

I grunted. “I guess I don’t want to find out how they’d handle our refusal anyway.”

“We will return with what you seek,” Freya declared to the trolls, “on the condition that you help us on our quest. Help us capture the chimera.”

An awkward beat later, the trolls erupted into laughter and cheers. Their huge teeth gleamed in the firelight.

“To the depths and to the deep,” one of them agreed. “Then we shall give you what you most desperately seek.”

“Cool,” I muttered and quickly followed Freya and Arion in the direction of the pond.

“Cool?” Freya tittered. “You’re faced with ancient, powerful creatures, and your best response is ‘cool’?”

I lifted my hat and ran a hand through my curls.

“You were gonna let them see me naked,” I shot back.

Through the thick trees, the pond came into view.

She shrugged. “It seemed a small price to pay.”

“For you,” I said and snickered. “I get it now. You just wanted to join the peep show.”

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