Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow - Jessica Day George [85]
“Would you—would you like to know my name?”
He pulled back and gazed at her in astonishment. “I thought that you didn’t have one.” Then he blushed. “Of course, you should have one.”
“I can speak with animals because I caught the white reindeer. It gave me a name, but I have never told anyone what it is.”
Asher raised both her hands and kissed them. “I would be honored,” he said, his voice little more than a whisper.
Leaning in close, she breathed her name in his ear.
“That’s the most beautiful name I have ever heard,” he told her, holding her tight to his chest. “Thank you, Bellalyse.”
Chapter 32
Of course, the lass thought the next morning, since trolls can only destroy, they should have known that the princess would ruin their plans. There was a bitter taste in her mouth, and she wanted to spit. It wouldn’t be fair to make the poor, captive servants clean up after her, so she just grimaced instead.
“Now, now,” Princess Indæll clucked at her, waving a beringed hand, “no need to look so sour. You’ll spoil the effect!” She stepped back to survey her handiwork.
The lass and Tova stood side by side in the princess’s dressing room. When she had arrived at Asher’s rooms that morning, the troll princess had not allowed the lass to leave. Instead Indæll had insisted, with an icy smile, that the lass attend her at the wedding. Now the lass was clad in a gown of green satin, and Tova in a gown of blue. Rollo had even been forced, protesting, into a tub. His gray fur had been brushed out and there was a green ribbon around his neck, tied in a huge bow behind his head.
“I have never had human bridesmaids before,” the troll princess said. “I shall be the envy of every lady of the court!”
“I’m sure that your highness is already the envy of all who see her,” Tova said, bobbing a curtsy.
The lass gave her a look.
“Habit,” Tova whispered out of the side of her mouth.
Now the princess looked at the lass, who gritted her teeth, curtsied, and murmured something she hoped sounded like a compliment. It seemed to satisfy Indæll, and she went back to admiring herself in the huge mirror that covered the far wall.
For her wedding, the troll princess was attired in a gown of white satin. The shift underneath it was cloth of gold, and the bodice of the gown was thick with rubies and pearls. Her red hair was pomaded and curled and arranged to show off the heavy ruby-encrusted crown she wore. There was rouge on her cheeks, clashing oddly with her greenish gray skin, and her purple tongue kept peeping out to lick at the pink color slathered on her lips.
“I think I might be sick,” the lass whispered to Tova.
“I heard that,” the princess snapped, whirling. “If either of you do anything to ruin my wedding, I will hang you both by your thumbs from the highest tower!”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Tova curtsied.
“Yes, Your Highness.” The lass followed suit.
“Good.”
There was a soft tap on the door. “If Your Highness is ready, the court is waiting below,” a faun footman said.
“Is my prince ready?”
“He is, my princess.”
Indæll smirked at the lass. “Oh, good.”
Tova sidled closer to the lass. Using their full skirts as concealment, she took the younger woman’s hand in her own. The lass squeezed Tova’s hand. It was all she could do to keep herself from lunging at the troll princess and strangling her with one of the ropes of pearls the vain creature wore.
Princess Indæll’s smile widened, as though she guessed the lass’s thoughts. She stood and snapped her fingers. The pixies who had dressed her flew forward, bearing a heavy cloak. It was scarlet satin, lined with isbjørn fur. The lass clenched her jaw at the sight, wondering if the cloak was made from one of the princess’s former husbands. Seeing her look, the princess stroked the fur before gesturing for the pixies to drape it across her broad shoulders.
Indæll swept out of her dressing room with the pixies trailing her to hold up the edges of the cloak. The lass and Tova followed, and after them came various female creatures in livery. In