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For everyone girl who has ever been told she is too much and to hide every part of her that others might see. You’re valuable. You’re worth it. And you damn well don’t have to be quiet to be loved.
“You can be surrounded by people and never feel like a single one truly knows you.”
“And so you will follow in your father’s footsteps. A man who sees true goodness in his children, regardless of what they look like. You have a good heart, Ragnar, but I fear you are short sighted.”
“You have been blinded by too many years of fighting and hatred, Ragnar. Your troll wife waits for you beyond the walls of that city. You will stride into the wedding with your heart locked away because what you see is far beyond what your heart can stand to reason with.
“It will be a hard path for both of us to walk.” “I suspect you will make it harder for her to walk than it has to be.
“When I was growing up, I was told the sound of a woman speaking was grating on the nerves of men. My opinions did not matter. My knowledge about any subject also did not matter. I was to be silent, seen but not heard.
“You think that’s it? You just say I don’t have to be like that anymore and an entire lifetime of discipline will disappear?” “Yes. I gave you permission to let those memories go.” “That’s not how it works!”
“Fear is what limits us. You can let it control your life, or you can control it. The choice is up to you.”
“She’s still yours, you know,” the blood witch said, her old voice shaking with the effort after the magic she had cast. “She’s yours, Ragnar, more than I’ve seen in a hundred years. That woman was made for you and you for her.”
“You will give her strength, Ragnar, just as she will give you a place to rest.”
You were born for me, fire hair. And so I will keep you.”
One single person cannot change the hearts and minds of countless others. There would be no war if there were not so many who hated each other. The fear that causes all the strain and stress and strife was not born out of your mind. It’s not up to you to fix it.”
“We all have to try to fix it. If there is but one person who says they don't matter, then there are a hundred, or a hundred more than that who agree. So many people saying they cannot make a difference will lead to no one even trying,” he said. “I will be the first to make the change, and others will follow suit.”
it wasn’t just that they sought out fighting, but that they were born into it. If they didn’t fight, people took from them. Why wouldn’t they stand up for themselves?
“I think we can both agree that I’m giving up more than you are,” she whispered. It was hard to say the words. She still didn’t like arguing with anyone or even try to tell them her own opinion. “You get to go home to everything that is yours and all the familiar things that you’ve gathered over the years. I have nothing but unfamiliar people who don’t trust me.”
And, damn it, his fate was with a human. He could see it now. He just still wasn’t sure yet that he liked it.
“You’re married to a troll, Maia. Swear all you fucking like.”
An honorable troll knows his wife is the most beautiful being he will ever see in his life. To adorn her with whatever he can find that might contend with that radiance is a lifelong challenge that none will ever succeed in.” He leaned down, those warm lips pressed to her ear, his breath caressing down her throat. “But it’s all worth it to see her in nothing but the jewelry he has given her, and the beauty that captivated him for years. When he earns that, troll wife, that is the greatest gift of all.”
But then he blinked and his brother had returned, only he wasn’t alone. A small human trailed along behind him, her eyes wide and her face streaked with dirt. Why was she always dirty? This human seemed to constantly get herself in situations where he had to plunk her into a river or a bath and pray that she wouldn’t be the small gremlin creature she always seemed to be.
“You honor the beast you killed by shedding tears for their loss. Tears show you know you have taken a life, and that is good. We do not kill without reason or meaning,
He mingled his blood with you, which means you are ours as much as you are his. And we take care of our own.”
“If that is the burden I must bear, then I will carry you and all of your strange foundlings into the sun every afternoon.”
“Would you like me to worship you now, wife?” “If it pleases you.” A hungry growl rumbled through him. “It would please me greatly.”
Ragnar had learned recently that while his wife was an incredible baker, absolutely anything else she made was so overly cooked that it was burnt to a crisp. After a few meals like that, he’d taken over cooking the meat and she could manage the desserts.
