Disclaimer: This story is completely original. All characters, settings, and events are spawned from my own mixed up little mind and may not be used, copied, or adapted without my express written permission. Do not steal my story!!!

(( Pronunciation Guide --
Ganja – gahn-juh
Kjaja – keeyah-juh

Ta'ano – tah ahno ))

18.

Toby awoke to the rough feel of a blanket underneath her cheek. Trying to think around the throbbing ache deep in her skull, she cracked her eyes open carefully. The room she was in was windowless and dimly lit, with rough hewn stone walls and what looked like a woven straw matting on the ground. A single lamp glowed on top of the table, which was a slab of stone balanced on four intricately carven wooden posts. The bed she was on was little more than a mattress of some indiscernible type covered with a deep brown blanket.

Then her eyes fell on the troll standing next to the open doorway. It was the deep blue female troll who'd captured her. Toby sat up sharply, then wished she hadn't as the world bucked and rolled wildly around her. Gripping her head in her hands, she groaned softly.

"Careful, Princess. Head wound big hurt." The troll's voice was gravelly and rough, and suddenly coming from Toby's side. She inched her eyes open again to find the troll crouching by her, holding out what looked like a wet cloth. Toby eyed it, then reached out for it, to her surprise finding it rather cold to the touch. She took it from the troll and gingerly pressed it to the large lump on the back of her head.

"Where am I?" she finally managed, still watching the troll out of the corner of her eyes. She didn't trust this show of kindness, not for a second.

The troll grunted, resting her large hands on her thighs. She was solidly built, her hair braided into countless braids with beads and other small trinkets woven in, then pulled back in random clumps. Her tusks were long and curved, with designs burned into them, and her face was painted with white and black accents. Toby glanced over the thick leather straps she wore as armor, noticing that the mace that'd done her damage was no longer in the troll's belt loop. In fact, she was unarmed. No surprise there; the troll was easily seven feet tall. Toby doubted she'd get the upper hand on the warrior again.

"Everdark," the troll said, then pressed her three-fingered hand to her chest. "Ganja." Toby just stared at her, not understanding. The troll wrinkled her nose, then hit her chest with her hand. "Ganja, me!"

"Your name is Ganja?"

"Yes, Princess. Guard Princess. Bring Princess to Jade Lady, Beserkerqueen."

Toby didn't like the sound of that. She pulled her knees to her chest, glaring at Ganja. "If you're going to make me disappear or kill me or whatever, you might as well get it over with now. I'm not going to give you any information or do any favors for you or cooperate in any sort of way."

Ganja looked surprised. "No kill Princess. Bring Princess to Jade Lady, Beserkerqueen."

"Yeah, you said that." Toby looked around the room again, once again noting that there was no door to close the room. Only what looked like long, flattened strips of roots hung down to offer some degree of privacy. Her head was feeling much better, and she wondered if there was something more in the compress than just water. "Fine, let's get this over then." The pit of her stomach was a solid block of ice, but strangely, faced with the beings that were probably trying to kill her and with no visible hope of rescue and no aid from the magic that was supposed to protect her, she found herself surprisingly calm.

Her composure faltered, however, when she tried to get to her feet and the world decided to go topsy turvy on her. She swayed and would have hit the ground again if not for the large, calloused hands that gripped her shoulders.

"Princess move slow. Ganja sorry, forget humans flimsy."

"Great," Toby muttered under her breath. Since when did murderers and the scourge of the land of Believe show remorse? Maybe Ganja was just a bleeding heart. Or, more likely, this was all just a ploy to win her over, get her to lower her defenses. That was definitely it.

"Ganja carry Princess?" the troll offered, her long ears perking up like a dog's would. Toby had to resist the urge to throw something and yell 'fetch!' Maybe as a diversion later.

"No thank you. I'll walk." With a supreme effort of will, she shrugged the troll's hands off and managed to stay on her feet. She folded her arms over her chest, looking annoyed. It was a bluff; she was barely able to focus on the doorway in front of her, much less spare much attention to being angry. "Well? Lead the way."

Ganja eyed her, glittering black eyes scouring the princess as if judging whether or not she was being serious. Finally, with what, to Toby, almost seemed like a measure of respect, she nodded and moved past Toby towards the doorway. Toby followed. Those cupped ears were tilted back towards Toby, and the brunette knew that if she was even to make a step out of line the troll would know instantly. Toby would have to wait until some other opportunity presented itself to make a run for it. She certainly wasn't going to be vanished or whatever they'd done to the other Princesses without a fight.

The hallway was surprisingly large, the floor worn smooth with thousands of feet's passage. Every few feet there was a deep bowl cut into the side of the wall. A dark blue liquid dripped from holes above the bowl, maintaining a thin layer of the fluid which burned with a soft, pale blue light. Toby wondered what the liquid was and opened her mouth to ask before shutting it. They'd probably lie to her about it anyway.

It was hard to see around the large troll's lumbering form, so Toby just focused on the bands of leather crossing her muscled back, following her quietly. She could feel herself growing stronger with every minute. She just had to pay attention and seize her opportunity when it presented itself.

"Beserkerqueen reigns for many, many years. Great number like rocks in ground. Kill many foes in battle, bring great honor to Everdark." Ganja spoke, her deep rumbling voice echoing through the halls. Toby noted several side passages, none lit; they seemed to be getting bigger and more-traveled. She even spotted several other trolls, of both genders, heavily armored, and of a rich variety of blues, greens, and browns. They all seemed to duck through the shadows as if they were avoiding the lighted path that Toby and Ganja were walking along. Toby didn't understand how they saw in the darkness with their tiny glittering eyes.

"Oh? Not going to add 'Slayer of many princesses' to that list?" Toby snarked, then nearly ran into the troll when she stopped. Ganja turned and for a second the brunette regretted letting her tongue get away with her. The troll frowned.

"Good queen. Not like dirty dragons. Fight honorable, respect life of Believe."

Again with the dragons. Toby's chest hurt at the thought of Theo and what it must be like to have so many on both sides dislike him so intensely just for what he was. Before she had a chance to process what Ganja meant, the troll was walking again. Toby inhaled and followed.

Minutes later, they emerged from the tight tunnels into a chamber so large that not even the pale blue light reached to the top. Long, spiraling columns descended from the roof and melded into the ground, providing support for the massive structure. High, high above them, Toby could see tiny white lights adorning the pillars and sparkling from the roof. There were many trolls here, moving through the half-light, speaking and grunting in their strange guttural language. Dimly, she could hear the whining cry of a child. Strange smells tickled her nose – the rich, earthy smell of fresh dirt, the mouth-watering odor of some meat being roasted, even the tickling tease of a perfume or a flower.

The sudden disconcerting sensation of such openness underground made Toby dizzy, and she paused. The troll turned to look at her again.

"Everdark Great Hall," the troll grunted, holding out her hand to indicate the entire, volumous cavern. "Heart of troll lands. Never seen enemy feet, trolls good fighters." The troll's chest puffed out in pride of her people.

"So this is where you all live? Just… out in the open like this?"

The troll squinted at her. "Family dens nearby, but trolls be with trolls. What society good if no live together?"

Toby was struck by the sudden humanity of the lumbering warriors, and she stared around for a moment. "Oh," was all she finally managed, not sure what to make of it. The trolls were the enemies, right? Why then did they seem just like any other group of people? … minus the tusks and bad grammar, of course.

"Come. Jade Lady waits." Ganja gestured, then turned and headed into the crowd again. Toby followed.

There didn't seem to be any central passage or even organization to the trolls' dwelling spaces, except around the deep pits in the ground that glowed with cooking fire embers. Trolls squatted in groups or knelt on rough woven blankets much like the one Toby had awoken on. She could see groups of warriors, standing around inspecting armor and weapons, and then groups of caretakers, smaller males and females, gathered around children and cooking suppers. Someone somewhere was playing drums, the rhythmic pounding only seeming to accent the flow of conversation.

As Toby and Ganja passed by, the trolls stopped and stared at her. Then, to her utter amazement, they began to bow their heads in respect. Toby felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment at the reverence, and hurried to keep up with Ganja.

"Kjaja," they murmured as she walked past. "Kjaja ta'ano."

"Ganja," Toby whispered. "What are they saying?"

The troll smiled and even in the semi-darkness her teeth gleamed. "Kjaja means Life. Ta'ano is Welcome."

'Welcome Life?' Last she checked she was a princess, not a goddess. She just nodded, unsettled, and they continued on their way. Toby fixed her eyes resolutely on Ganja's broad back and tried not to think of finding a nice niche in the cave walls and sealing herself in.

So deep was her concentration she nearly walked into Ganja again when the troll stopped. Stepping to one side, she looked up, and couldn't help but gasp slightly.

The doors stretched high into the darkness, glittering with gold and gems in an intricate design. She could see trolls and fairies depicted, dragons and even what must have been princesses, gems shining from their brows. It was like the doors told the story of the trolls' entire existence.

Two guards stood to either side of the door, urns with the pale blue fire burning in them just behind and to one side of the trolls. Ganja thumped her chest with her fist. The two guards mimicked her gesture, then grunted at her. Toby stood there, feeling ice creep down her spine as the troll guards stepped forward and began pushing the giant doors open with a great creaking.

Toby could see a large hall, by no means the size of the Great Hall but still quite large, beyond, and at the end a darkly shining figure sitting at a large stone table. Toby swallowed hard.

Ganja stepped to one side, and gestured for Toby to walk in. "Jade Lady. Ganja wait here," she said. Toby froze. Finally the troll reached out and gave the brunette a gentle push, smiling in her most reassuring manner. Needless to say, a reassuring smile from a giant lumbering war-machine around two tusks was not very reassuring at all.

"Go," she instructed. "No fear."

No fear. Hah. You aren't the one about to get turned into so much pixie dust, Toby thought, annoyed, then stepped forward, walking into the royal hall. As soon as she'd stepped past them, the guards pulled the door shut with a resounding boom.

Then Toby stood alone with the Beserker Queen of the trolls.