Page 63 of The Serpent’s Shadow

The Tors hated the Kolls.Yet they united for me. Strange.

Maybe I had read Sven Torfen wrong this entire time. The way he proudly exclaimed he had beaten Arne to a pulp didn’t get the round of applause he had hoped for, but it did show me there were things about the wolf shifter I didn’t know. Like Grim, Magnus, and Arne, it made me want to learn more about him.

I asked, “How did you guys figure out he betrayed me?”

We continued walking to the riverbank when it opened up into a pretty lake away from the bloody river of the battle. During the short trek, Sven explained in detail how he had tailed Arne after recovering him from the initial elven attack. He said he found it odd Arne hadn’t been killed with the Huscarls.

An astute observation,I thought.

Arne had been meeting with Hersir Kelvar, Sven said.

The iceshaper didn’t deny it. “The Whisperer wanted to learn about the elves, mostly. Also about you, Ravinica.” Fidgeting his hands in front of him, he added, “I tried to keep as much away from his mindshaping whispers as I could.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

Arne reached into his tunic and produced a crumpled up wad of paper. Slowly, he handed it to me with a slightly trembling hand. “Well, I kept this from him, for one.”

I stifled a gasp and took the wadded paper, unfolding it.

It was my hand-drawn family tree from Mimir Tomes. The one that had gone missing from my garb after Astrid’s attack, while I recovered in Eir Wing. I’d assumed one of the doctors had taken it when unclothing me to treat my wounds.

My eyes darted to Magnus—the only other person who would know what this was, since he was there when I’d made it—andthe bloodrender quickly glanced down at the ground and found an interesting flower to look at.

“What is it, little sneak?” Grim asked.

I folded the crinkled paper and tucked it into my shirt. “It’s not important. Not now.”

Grim grunted.

I asked, “Did you look at it when you stole it from me, Arne?”

He shook his head. “Only a passing glance, to try and identify its importance. I promise I don’t know what the letter entails, little fox.”

Good. Because it’s not a letter.

It was a death list. An answer to my questions, and the reason I’d come to Vikingrune Academy in the first place.

Eventually, I would hopefully have the heart to tell them what it was.

Today was not that day. Not when these men had just risked their lives to save mine.

Studying Arne’s face, I believed him when he said he didn’t know what it was, because it would have alarmed him and he wouldn’t have been able to hide the concern.

Who would, when the family tree implicated him, Grim, Magnus, and Sven in my assassination plans?

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