Page 20 of The Serpent’s Shadow

“Partly.”

“Then it must be her. She was a half-elf, like me. A bog-blood crone.”

At this information, the elders looked directly at her. They tried to hide the eagerness from their eyes, but their simple acknowledgement of Ravinica was enough for her to shrink within herself and become smaller from the scrutinizing. Even Deitryce stared at my sister, slightly aghast.

“What is the name of this crone?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

“The man you found me with—the one who betrayed me—called her Elayina.”

I inhaled sharply.

Deitryce swallowed her gasp. “That’sLadyElayina to you, half-blood.”

Ravinica blinked at everyone surrounding her. “Then that is who you are looking for? The Niflbog seer?”

Niflbog seer? What is that? What name have the humans latched onto our Ancient One? What disrespect have they shown her in the eons we’ve been absent from Midgard?

“Yes,” I said. “Lady Elayina and the Ancient One are one and the same.”

“Well, shit, why didn’t you tell me before?” Ravinica slapped her knee. When I tilted my head curiously at her, our eyes locking, she smiled. “I can bring you to her.”

I clenched my jaw to keep it from falling open.

Deitryce’s eyes darted from me to Ravinica to the elders, then back to me. “Seems she’s more useful than I imagined, brother. Let us be wary it’s not a trap.”

“A trap?” Ravinica said with a scoff. “Why would I wait so long to set up an ambush? I’ve been here weeks. You’ve seen no one looking for me. You already killed the men who abducted me.”

Deitryce leaned forward. “Aye, but you could lead us out of the camp to somewhere of your choosing, where you may outnumber us.”

“I’ve seen the way you fight, Lady Deitryce,” Ravinica said. “I’m not about to submit the people I know to that kind of danger.”

Deitryce crossed her arms and sat back with a pouting frown. She seemed content with that answer, and I was impressed by Ravinica’s acumen: laying compliments at my sister’s feet to satiate her antagonistic whims.

“Regardless, we will not go to Lady Elayina yet,” I announced, “whether you can take us to her or not,lunis’ai.In time, that may change.”

Her brow creased. “Why not?”

I glanced over at Deitryce, the glint in her eye—the warning—before I faced Ravinica once more.

“Because we are in Midgard for another reason,” I said. “As a vanguard on a scouting expedition for our nation in Alfheim.”

Ravinica’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “A scouting expedition? What are you looking for?”

“We are here to ascertain and establish defensive measures.”

Her head lurched. “Speak plainly, please,” she said in frustration.

I firmed my lips. Stared at her. “We are here to discover how strong the defenses are at Vikingrune Academy.”

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