Sentenced to Troll 5 by S.L. Rowland

Author:S.L. Rowland [Rowland, S.L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-07-07T16:00:00+00:00

23. THE CRYSTAL PALACE

Limery and I meet Taryn downstairs for breakfast. He already has a pile of food on the table and a mixture of eggs and syrup coating his beard. Limery flies over, taking a seat and sneaking a piece of sausage from Taryn’s plate.

“Didn’t want to beat down our door this morning?” I wink when he looks up from his food.

He returns my jibe with a grin. “You look chipper this morning. I’m guessing things went well?”

I sit across from him and lean in. “There’s no way you’re going to believe me. I’ll fill you in later. How was yours?”

“Bro, it was just what I needed.” He takes a bite out of a pink, hard-boiled egg. “I’m ready to grab this tournament by the balls!”

Limery takes an egg and tosses the whole thing in his mouth. “Yeah! Limmy is ready to grabs this tournaments by the ballses!”

I bury my head in my hands to keep from laughing.

After breakfast, we head out into the streets. The city is alive as the tournament festival begins in full force. There are street performers, minstrels, and many fanciful costumes of people dressed as monsters or fantastical heroes.

A young gnome races by in a red dragon costume, complete with a long tail that drags along the street as he chases behind a group of performers that hold up dancing fabric monsters on long poles. The monsters soar over the crowd, with glowing eyes and moving jaws, like something out of a Chinese parade.

We take in the excitement for a few minutes before heading to the stables to grab Caustic. In the end, Taryn decides to bring all of his pets into the city for the day. It turns out to be a good thing, because on Berry’s back, Taryn can see over most of the crowd.

“If you asked nicely, I could have let you sit on my shoulder in your bird form,” I tease.

“Hardy-har-har.” Taryn rolls his eyes. “Maybe I’ll perch on one of your horns and poop on your shoulder.”

We take some of the outer streets that are less crowded as we make our way to the Crystal Palace. Since we still have two days before the tournament contestants are revealed, we decide to use today to try to speak with the gnomish council. If all goes well, we can make some headway with them before the tournament begins.

Jordy leads our little procession, followed by Caustic, who has put on a few more pounds since yesterday. Breebis must be feeding him well. The little nubby horns have started to split into full-blown antlers. Limery rides on the dragon’s back, perched between the crest of his wings.

“So, how’d it go?” Taryn leans toward me so that he can speak over the crowd.

“You first. Mine is pretty big news. How’s the family?”

He frowns for a second before his face lights up. “They’re doing great, man. Mom and Dad have both cut back on their hours, and they’re spending so much time with my sisters. Honestly, I’ll never be able to repay you for this.

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