Page 101 of Into the Isle

Luckily, I passed a few other students on their way down the mountain toward the town. I caught a couple making out in the woods. It was Saturday, and as Arne had told me, Isleton was where students went to unwind. So I didn’t feel too nervous, watched, or cautious when I arrived at Liv’s Libations.

There were a dozen people inside. No one paid me much attention. I stood near the door, off to the side, watching the booths.

There was a slight blonde woman sitting in the same seat Dieter had last night. Her hair was luscious, bright, with a couple rows of braids bound on top of her head. She had a pointy chin, a cherubic face, and sharp, sky-blue eyes.

She sat alone. When a man came to sit across from her, she put her hand out and stopped him. “I’m waiting for someone,” she said in a voice that brooked no argument. The angelic expression on her face shifted to one of intensity in the blink of an eye.

She’s waiting for someone? Maybe that’s who I’m looking for. Dieter didn’t give me a contact name.

I wandered over after the man said something mean to her and left her alone. When I got close, the girl looked up. She appeared young, and also strangely familiar.

My brow furrowed. “Is this seat taken?”

“Not if your name is Ravinica.”

“It is.”

“Then it’s not taken.”

She had a sassy way about her.

I started to sit, but she stood. “No point in sitting. Let’s go.”

I followed her quickly out of the tavern, shocked at how swiftly she moved around people, like a damned snake slithering around tree roots.

Once we were outside in the cool breeze, I sidled up alongside her. She stared ahead, leading us down an offshoot of the main road, toward some longhouses and the eastern side of town; back toward the mountainside leading up to Vikingrune Academy.

“I’m Frida Gorndeen,” she said stiffly.

“Ravinica Linmyrr. Pleased to meet you, Frida.”

She nodded. Her bright blue eyes glimmered in the moonlight, watching everyone who passed us. “Not safe here for Lepers,” she explained. “We don’t like to stay in any one place for too long.”

“Makes sense. Eyes and ears everywhere, right?”

“Right.” She took me in for the first time, glancing up and down. “I see why Dieter wanted to help you. You look strong.”

“Um . . . thank you.”

“You’ll need to be stealthy, too.”

With a smile, I said, “A friend of mine calls me his ‘little sneak.’ Does that count?”

She chuckled, and looked beautiful when her lips cracked a smile for a split second. I felt like I’d broken through her icy exterior.

“I suppose we’ll see,” Frida said. “That little moniker only counts if the man is worth listening to. Is he?”

I frowned. Grim? “I think he is,” I muttered, mostly to myself.

“Can you rely on him? Count on him for support?”

I bit my lip. It was an abrasive and abrupt series of questions. “Yes. I think so.”

“Then hold onto him. Men like that are rare around here.” Her eyes darkened in a way that told me she had experience with this kind of thing. “There are better men with the Lepers, I say.”

We were back in the countryside, moseying through thin birch trees, undergrowth, and a sloping hillside.

Where the hell is she leading me? I scanned my surroundings constantly.

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