Free The Toll by Jeanette Lynn

soggy burlap bag at my feet with a
sickeningly wet thump.
    Otvla gaped at me as the troll growled
and stormed across the room.
    Growling back, I crouched down and put
my hands out in front of me warningly.
    Otvla spluttered as I snarled like a
wild animal, a woman possessed, staving off his
approach.
    “ You wanted me to be here
of my own free will?” I challenged, glaring at him menacingly,
daring him to step forward, my body soaked through to the bone,
numb, my cape lost somewhere in the river. “Well,” my soggy arms
spread wide, water flapping about everywhere, “here I
am.”
    He eyed me for a moment
before he nodded. “And you’re amenable to a trade? A fair trade? Willingly?” He stressed
the words as if they were of the utmost importance.
    “ Yes,” I snapped finally,
willing my teeth not to chatter in front of him, “I’m willing to
make a fair trade for her with you, but only if it’s
fair.”
    “ Alright.”
    I frowned uncomprehendingly as he
nodded and walked over to Otvla’s cage, lowering the rope that held
it.
    “ What? Just like that?
Don’t you want to ask me what I offer first?” I followed him
warily, wet squishing sounds making a stench-less, juicy flatulent
symphony behind me.
    Squish, poof, squirt,
squee. And repeat.
    Stupid shoes, stupid
clothes, stupid river! Stupid paste jewelry! Stupid, cheap
relatives!
    He nodded to
himself— Or was that to
me?— as the cage creaked, slowly making its
decent towards the hard, packed red dirt of the cave floor, and
subsequently, Otvla’s freedom.
    “ I agree,” he grunted out,
as if that meant something to me.
    Or didn’t it?
    Wait. Does he think...?
No!
    Bellowing in dismay, I rushed in front
of the door to Otvla’s temporary prison, barring him from opening
it.
    “ You agree to what,
exactly?” I hedged, fearing I’d just done something monstrously
stupid.
    “ Move,” he ordered and
motioned for me to step aside.
    “ Explain,” I
countered.
    He growled, looking down at me as if I
was a gnat to be squashed, and let out an impatient
breath.
    “ Ye can take her place. I
agreed. Now move.”
    “ No! No!” I gripped the
bars tight and flattened myself out, gripping them for all I was
worth.
    The gruff troll tried to pluck me off,
but I wouldn’t let go, curling my fingers around the
bars.
    “ No,” I grunted, and he
growled impatiently.
    “ No, what?” he gritted out,
but I knew he wasn’t that stupid.
    “ No,” I repeated, shaking
my head vigorously. “No, I won’t.”
    “ Don’t be so selfish,
Daphedaenya,” Otvla whined, and I growled at her to shut
up.
    “ Too late, tis done.” He
snorted and slapped my hand, smashing it so hard into the metal I
let go, crying out in protest.
    Sighing heavily, as if truly
exasperated, he picked me up by the back of my gown again, easily
taking the other hand off the bars, and held me out and away from
him.
    Shrieking like a she-devil incarnate,
I screamed and cursed, swinging about violently, watching
helplessly as Otvla picked up the soggy burlap and made a run for
it, not even looking back at me.
    She did nothing, not even shout a
quick good-bye or thank me—the heartless wretch.
    A moment later the troll tossed me in
and slammed the door shut, locking it with a large, iron
key.
    “ No! Damn you! No!” I shook
the bars and screamed louder, ignoring his threats of eating and
dismembering me. At my current state, I’m almost positive I may
have even dared him to. Swearing under my breath, I took off my
boot and threw it in his general direction, growling as it whizzed
by his head. Spiraling in the air, it hit the wall with a wet thud,
splattering mud and muck everywhere.
    As if oblivious to my ranting tantrum,
he resumed his place by the fire, his back to me, and picked up
another slab of meat slowly roasting over a spit.
    Didn’t matter what I did, I screamed
and ranted, raving until my voice went hoarse, cursing him and my
sister, alternately, to hell and back, but it all fell