Troll Queen (Elven Alliance, #4)

by Tara Grayce

Honor was supposed to be a clear path to follow. Something was either dishonorable or it was not. There should not be a muddy area in between.

Rharreth had come to respect this elven warrior Laesornysh. He hadn’t wanted to. He had wanted to continue to hate the elf assassin who had murdered his father and killed so many of his people.

“It is all right to cry. It is not weakness to ask for help nor is it strength to silently bear what truly should not be your burden to carry. Burdens are not meant to be carried alone.”

Your wound from the war is to your mind, but that does not make it less real. Maybe someday you will be able to wean off the medicine, as you did before. Maybe not. But, for now, this is what you need to function.”

the mind is more than just chemicals. There is also your heart and your soul, which I cannot heal.

He did not have the luxury of taking years to feel more like himself. For her sake, he had to fix this, fix himself, as much as possible so that he could truly live. If this could help, if he could finally feel like he was winning the constant war in his head instead of barely surviving, then this would be worth it.

Honor without compassion was meaningless. Duty without love was nothing.

Focusing on war, honor, and duty while despising compassion, love, and peace had warped troll society. That needed to change, or the trolls would destroy themselves.

Love was not something that strove to earn another’s affection or give only for what one could get back. Love was self-sacrificing without expectation of any reward. It was healing when all she could expect were glares and suspicion in return. It was feeling compassion for these people,

Nothing else mattered. Not his honor. His throne. His status as a strong and worthy king of the trolls. He would sacrifice all of it for her.

“Thank you for being a compass when I waver. And a stone wall when I am being stubborn.”

Because of her, he would never again stand by while an injustice was done. He would not keep his head down and go along with what was happening because

he did not have the courage to take the consequences of do...

Essie laughed and took his hands in both of hers. “I have realized that your greatest weakness in battle is not stone. It isn’t me. It’s the fact that you are so ridiculously overpowered. You’ve always walked into battle alone, trying to use as

little magic as possible for the task at hand to avoid destroying everything in sight, including your allies. Your greatest weakness is fear of your magic. Your fear and others’ fear.”

“You have never had anyone who could stand with you, watching your back. Until me.” Her smile softened, and she let go of his hand to trace her finger over the scar on his cheek. “If this is what it takes to keep you safe and let you wield your magic as you have never been able to before, then that’s exactly what I’ll do. And I’ll do it without a shred of reluctance. No, I don’t want to become some magic-wielding warrior destroying armies. That’s your job. But I can protect your back and protect your allies, just like I’m going to do today for this demonstration. That’s now my job.”

“We have all witnessed Laesornysh fight, both with and without magic. Time and again, he has single-handedly defeated the best that Kostaria has to offer. If he were a troll, he would be our most respected and revered warrior, as he is for the elves. It is strength, not weakness, to recognize the strength in others.”

Melantha gripped Rheva’s shoulders,

“Do not blame yourselves. Everything I did is solely my fault. I have shifted the blame for my bitterness, my anger, and my actions onto others too long to allow you to do it for me.”