Page 100 of Into the Isle

“I dunno,” I said. “I have nothing against him.”

Ulf stared at me, not replying.

“Ulf.”

The voice behind me made my blood run cold. It was raspy, accusatory. Goosebumps jumped along my arms.

Sven Torfen and his elder siblings, Edda and Olaf, approached our table from the side. Sven dropped his smoldering gaze directly to me, arms crossing over his chest. He was hard to look at for a few reasons—mostly because I despised him. Also because he was stupidly attractive.

“What in the nine realms are you doing fraternizing with the enemy?” Sven asked his younger brother.

Randi’s eyes grew huge. Her head swiveled between all the people who had rudely interrupted her peaceful morning. I felt bad for the girl.

Ulf sighed heavily, like he was growing tired of being commanded by his older brother. “Sorry, brother,” he said before starting to stand. He looked to Randi with a small smile. “Enjoy your breakfast, Randi.”

Randi’s hand darted out and grabbed his wrist. “You don’t have to go, you know.”

“He does,” Sven growled. “We have a meeting.” His eyes fell back on me. “With Eirik Halldan.”

The alarm bells in my head rang louder than ever. Wait, what? Sven Torfen is meeting with my fucking brother?

Betrayal hit me right between the tits. A sick, nauseous feeling coiled in the pit of my stomach, and I suddenly wasn’t very hungry.

Sven noticed the color drain from my cheeks and gave me a sinful smile. “We’ll be seeing you soon, little menace.”

His words sounded like a threat and a promise. I watched him and his kinsmen leave the mess hall together.

“Damn. That guy is cold.” Randi blew a raspberry. “And ridiculously hot. Like, are you kidding me? Jaw lines that sharp and eyes that fiery should be illegal. Have you ever seen biceps that looked so muscly yet so smooth at the same—hey, where are you going, babe?”

My feet had launched me up from the table without my brain having any say in the matter. I blinked at Randi, feeling pale and sickly. “I . . . sorry, Ran. I need some time.”

Her face sank. It made me even sadder. It was a shame, because any other time I would have been smiling and laughing with her. Randi reminded me of my promiscuous friend Anna from Selby Village.

But the bombshell Sven just dropped—if it was true—was impossible to ignore. I was ashamed it affected me as much as it did.

On the way out of the mess hall, I thought, Is that what you meant about your precious reputation being so important, brother? That you’ve made alliances with the same family who bullied me since before I even got here?

Learning that, it felt harder than ever to trust anyone around this damn place.

I kept to myself for the rest of the day, eventually stuffing down the emotions of Eirik and Sven’s supposed alliance, or meeting, or whatever the hell they were doing. I’ll confront Eirik about that eventually. For now, I can’t be bothered—too much else is on the line.

Ever since coming here, I’d been biding my time. I’d kept the true reason for coming to Vikingrune bottled up. The longer I stayed, the more I was finding myself wanting to stay for pure reasons; to actually learn, train, and become a better defender.

To learn to Shape. The same reason every other initiate came to Vikingrune Academy.

I’m not like every other student though, which people have made painfully clear.

My visit to Isleton last night with Arne flipped everything. It brought my initial motives to the fore, and I couldn’t get them out of my head.

I wondered if there was a way to have my cake and eat it too—if I could learn who destroyed my family name in the records room, punish the people responsible, and come out of it unscathed so I could continue my studies. The best of all worlds.

I thought those things when I descended the western mountain path toward Isleton that evening, after the sun went down. I gave the Huscarl at the gate, Grant, a bullshit excuse for why I was going down there, just like Arne had last night.

This time, I was alone. I hadn’t been able to find Arne, Magnus, or Grim, which was fine. I wanted the peace and quiet so I could get lost in my own thoughts.

I kept my head moving like a turret as I made my way through the thin Helgas Wood toward Isleton. I clutched my spear in my hands, opting to have it ready rather than slanted across my back.

As I’d promised myself, I wasn’t going to get caught slipping again.

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