Page 6 of Into the Isle

Before I’d made it three steps into the house, I heard a throat clearing to my left.

My mother sat on a rocking chair in the darkness.

“Ma,” I said, halting in the center of the room.

She pursed her lips. “Heard you beat Damon like a drum.”

I nodded.

“As suspected,” she said with a smile. It vanished as quickly as it had come, and she stood from the chair. “You’ve essentially guaranteed your acceptance into Vikingrune Academy with this victory, Ravinica.”

“That’s what Korvan tells me,” I said. It was also what I’d been told for years—that I was the next in line. I was the most adept and worthy in Selby Village.

My mother approached me. Lindi was still beautiful, still young enough to be sought after by men other than my stepfather. Yet she remained true, despite his deficiencies.

I respected her. Thought the world of her. I had defeated Damon in her name.

Which was why I wasn’t caught off-guard when she said, “You remember what you must do at the academy, daughter?”

“Of course.” My teeth ground together as I gave her a tight nod. My eyes darted, making sure we were alone in the longhouse.

She held my gaze in her blue orbs. “Tell it to me then, dear.”

I cleared my throat. My voice came out thick, low, and brooding. “I will find and kill the ones responsible for tarnishing our family name.”

Chapter 2

Ravinica

THE NEXT MORNING, I went to the well just outside Selby, with Anna.

Anna was a slight, slender, fairy of a woman who I considered my only friend in the village. Unless I counted Korvan, who was more of a mentor and father-figure, being twice my age.

Anna was my only peer to ever show me decency, and didn’t care about “myrr” attached to my last name.

After filling up two buckets with water from the well, I handed one to her, raising my brow to ask if she would carry one. Anna batted her lashes at me, pouting her heart-shaped face. She raised her arms. “These noodle arms were not built to carry, Vini. You know that.”

She certainly had a way about her.

Rolling my eyes, I took both the buckets by the straps and moved steadily, balancing myself on the walk back to the village.

Anna skipped up beside me, cheery as ever. The jaunty girl had little bounce to her, given her thinness, yet she always maintained a jolly air. She seemed to be the antithesis to my sullen attitude, which was probably why we got along. Opposites attract and all that.

“What’s the first thing you’re going to do at Vikingrune?” she asked, grinning, green eyes sparkling. The chilly morning air whipped her golden locks around her face, making her look like she had a halo hovering over her head.

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