She glanced up at him, those pale eyes going even wider. He thought she would disregard his question. Someone who truly hated his people might have.
The woman shook her head in denial.
"Not because I am a troll." He crouched down in front of her, his hand still outstretched for her to take. "Then is it because so many have touched you without permission?"
It was a shot in the dark. He knew that it might not land, but then her features somehow went even paler. Her lips compressed into a narrow line, and he could almost see the teeth behind them.
Another nod.
An admission of what her life had been like before him, and he couldn't even guess how long it had been.
Gunnar scooted closer to her, enough that he could see her trying to fold in on herself, but her broken leg wouldn't let her curl up the way she wanted. "Can I tell you a secret?"
She kept staring with those wide, distrusting eyes. In this moment, she wasn't a free-thinking woman. She was a cornered animal, prey, who knew that if she took her eyes off the predator in front of her, she would get hurt. Again.
"I have no interest in harming you. I know there are some trolls who might want to do that, but even they are that way because they themselves have been hurt. I don't know your story, where you came from, how you came to be. But I think I would like to hear that story someday. While you were asleep, I promised that I would keep you safe. That includes even from myself."
"You cannot make a vow like that," she replied, her voice raspy and low. "It's one that will be broken."
"I am made of stronger stuff than mortal men." Gunnar drew out a knife from his belt. It was one he had stolen on the way out that had been on a grindstone, left there by a careless hand.
He noticed the sudden stillness of her body and the wandering direction of her gaze. She was going to slip away from him again. That easily.
The sound that erupted from his throat was a little like that of a hawk. He'd been working on the call for a while, but it was so high pitched and so strange to her that her gaze snapped right back to him. The oddity kept her grounded, good. At least he knew he could be unexpected and she would react.
Gunnar pointedly looked down at the knife in his hand and drew it across his wrist. Her sharp inhalation was followed by a little snort of disbelief when no blood welled.
"Stronger stuff," he said, pressing the point against his skin so she could see how hard he was pushing and how it hadn't yet cut him. "I am no mortal man who cannot protect you. I am made of leather and mud, talon and fang. When I vow to keep you safe, I will do so."
Her eyes flickered. He watched the pupils shift and move as her soul seemed to zip between this realm and another. She was here, and not. Gone and back in an instant.
He wondered what had happened, but had no idea how to ask her if she had walked out of her body and returned in a mere breath.
"I find it hard to trust anyone," she whispered. "But I will trust you."
Gunnar slapped a fist to his chest, the sound meaty and loud in the clearing. Even a few trolls looked over at him at the sound. "It is an honor to serve you. For now. Until you no longer have need of me."
Then he held out his hand again.
She still looked uncomfortable at the idea of touching him. Likely at the idea of touching anyone at all.
"It is not a human hand," he murmured. Again, it was another guess. One that he hoped she would recognize for what it was. "You can see how different it is. The claws on my fingers can scratch your skin, so be careful when you take it. But you can see how much larger my hand is. You can feel the magic in it."
"Magic?"
He hadn't used his magic in a very long time. He hadn't needed to. The shadows had always clung to him, and Gunnar was particularly good at hiding himself. For her, though, he would cast one illusion even if it made him very tired to do so.
A flower bloomed from his palm. The stalk unfurled, maybe half a foot tall until a giant rosebud appeared and then grew into a red flower that dripped in golden sparkles.
"Illusions are my magic," he said. "Parlor tricks, some might say. Useless because I only make small things happen."
The gold sparkles raining off his magical flower reflected in her eyes. "How did you know?"
"Know what?"
"My name is Rose."
He let the spell die, so surprised he forgot to hold it. He had merely thought of a flower she might like, and couldn't have guessed that it would have special meaning to her.
