Page 60 of Night's Fall
“A moniker we were quite proud of, and still are.”
This was true.Thoseof theFallthought we were very clever doing that.Thenagain, we were.Betweenour dragons and that armor, it made us nearly undefeatable in future conflicts.
“Do you believe the rest of them perished in theDolphinSea?”Iasked.
“Yes,” he stated, sweeping away centuries of conspiracy theories that some realms (especially ours) held live trolls, experimented on them and bred them for future military use. “Forcenturies, anthropologists, beastiologists, marine biologists and well-funded fortune hunters have scoured the seabed for thousands of miles around theFourRealms.Andthey’ve found multitudes of troll bones and pieces of their weapons on the sea floor.Bothto the east of us, which gives credence to the theory many were lost on their journey here, and to the west, which was the direction they took when they retreated.It’sa long voyage to theSixRealms.Theydidn’t make it.”
Dipping my head to watch my thumb rub along the ripples,Ithen peered up at him.
“How many suits of armor are there?”Iasked.
He called out to the room, “Database, access number of troll skin armor.”
“Troll skin armor,” the computer’s mechanical tone droned through the cavernous space. “Seventy-eight full sets.Sixteenpartial sets.One-hundred-and-twelve individual pieces.Theseinclude twenty torso shirts.Eighteentrousers.Thirtyindividual gauntlets.Elevengauntlet sets.Sevenindividual boots.Fourboot sets.Sevencodpieces.”
I giggled at “codpieces.”
For your information,Alekseiand his brothers didn’t don that part of the armor for the ceremonies.
Though, to be historically accurate,Iwould probably have to incorporate them in my designs, because the armor and clothing from that day often included them.
The computer continued, “Twokings and one prince buried in troll armor.Inventoried, but inaccessible.Sixty-two strips and swatches unincorporated in any garment.Requestfurther information on the number of other garments with troll skin integrated in the design and their location in the vestment vault.Trollarmor inventory list complete.”
“There had been tens of thousands of them,”Iwhispered. “Andthat’s all that’s left.”
“Not quite,”Alekseitold me. “Thereare many aristocrats and nobles, not to mention citizens with a long history inNight’sFall, who have everything from full sets of troll armor to pieces of skin used for armoring purposes for garments from that era.Theycome up for auction occasionally, but not often due to its ever-increasing value.”
I should have guessed that.
“Experts disagree,” he carried on, “but there are some who contend there were upwards of two hundred thousand trolls that invaded at random points all along the eastern shore, with some drifting north, others south.Regardless, their numbers were vast, as was their size.”
“I’ve seen some of the skeletons at theMuséeHistoireBestiale.They’reover seven feet.”Ismiled at him. “Eventaller than you.”
He tipped his head to acknowledge my words, but said, “Andthey weren’t very attractive.”
We only had artists’ depictions, even so, all of them distinctly resembled each other, andAlekseiwas correct, though he underrated their grotesqueness.
With flat faces, bulging eyes, non-existent noses that were just slits in their faces, flabby lips on overwide mouths, two rows of razor-sharp teeth inside, sparse, coarse hair on their heads, this atop gigantic bodies with gangling, overlong arms and torsos, long claws curving from the tips of their four fingers and short, bowed legs, they were walking horrors.
I scrunched my nose. “Ican’t imagine what it would be like to one day be milking your cows or weaving on your loom, taking care of the day’s business, and you look out the doors of your barn or your cottage window and see a band of trolls bearing down on you.Thento find your arrows bounced off and your sword glanced away.Itwould feel like the end of the world.”
“I sense you’ve been inspired,” he murmured, his night-sky gaze intent, interested and locked on me.
I grinned. “Totally.”
“Would you like to see the armor now, or inspectMathilde’sgown before we head that way?”
I wanted both at the same time.
And then he said, “Thetrolls, both male and female, wore what we would conceive as loincloths.Thefemales did not cover their breasts.Wehave a few intact, a few pieces.Wouldyou like to see those as well?”
Seriously?
Okay,Ihad to know.
“Had you been to this room before you offered to show me the skin?”Iasked.
“No.Thearmor is brought to us.”
