Page 93 of The Serpent’s Shadow

“That’s what I said!” I yelled.

“Why’s your spear on the ground?” Osfen growled at me. “Think I’m gonna go light on you ‘cuz the elves took you? All the more reason to get better, initiate.”

Sven chuckled and wandered off as I bent down to swoop it up. “Sorry, sir,” I grumbled.

I faced off with Grim again, as the Hersir wandered off to harass other students sparring on the flat expanse of Tyr Meadow. The yellow and red autumn grasses were starting to peel away to show hard soil underneath, a sign of the season to come.

Grim said, “Youaremoving a bit slowly, little sneak.”

My mouth fell open. “Et tu, Brute?”

He smiled at me, but the smile wavered after a moment. His beard was nice and trimmed, highlighting his handsome mug up there in the clouds where he stood so tall. He looked positively imposing with that battleaxe in his hand, his black-and-gray hide armor and fur coating his body like he was going to battle.

Allegedly, ever since my disappearance, Grim had started wearing his armor full-time, as if the battle was coming to his doorstep.I suppose, in a way, it might be.

He asked, “Is something distracting you, love?”

I shook my head diligently. Off to the side, out my peripheral, I caught Randi and Ulf Torfen laughing together, rather than sparring.

In my opinion, Randi was a poor judge of character if Ulf was the guy she was going after. Then again, so was I, since Sven got my blood heated and was also an asshole, and Magnus was a certified crazy person. Or was that Grim who was the crazy, angry person? And Arne was a traitor.

Fucking hell, huh? I have no room to talk.

Grim stepped forward. “Ravinica . . .”

I swallowed hard and faced him. “Yes?”

“What’s going on?”

I wasn’t really sure. It was surreal being back at the academy, training as if nothing had ever happened. I’d gone through a lifetime of change over the past month, had narrowly escaped death more than once, and now I was expected to swing a sword and stab a spear at my lover, and pretend he was an enemy? An enemy—the elves—who weren’t actually the enemy, as it turned out?

“Are you worried about the finals duel against me?” he asked.

I flared my nostrils. “No. Absolutely not.” With a sigh, my shoulders dropped, my spear lowered. “I don’t know. It’s just a whirlwind coming back here, is all.”

This teasing from Sven, the training from Grim, the stern-but-heartfelt words from Hersir Osfen, the laughing from Randi . . .

None of it will last if I try to disrupt the status quo here.

Perhaps it was the doubt of my new self-proclaimed mission that was staying my hand and making me useless.

Grim moved like he wanted to wrap his arms around me and console me. The damn teddy bear always had my wellbeing at heart, and it made me giddy to see the pained look on his face—pained because his little sneak was struggling.

Alas, we were in the middle of Combat & Strategy class. Couldn’t rightly shag right there on the meadow in front of everyone.

When I saw Randi packing up her things early, throwing on her backpack as Ulf begged her to stay, I furrowed my brow and headed over. “Randi? What’s up? There’s still a half hour left of class.”

She smiled at me over her shoulder. Her cheeks were darker than usual, and I wondered if she hadn’t snuck a kiss with her beau in the shadows of a tree when I hadn’t been looking. “Oh, hey, Ravin. Yeah, I got leave to go early for prep.”

“Prep?”

Her brilliant smile widened on her face, proud. “I got accepted to become an acolyte-in-training. Happened when you were, uh, gone.”

My heart leapt for her. “Gods, Randi, that’s amazing! Congrats.”

“Thanks, babe.” She winked at me. “Tomekeeper wants me trained up by winter, so I can work the stacks when everyone goes underground.”

“Work the stacks?” I suppressed a shudder at Tomekeeper Dahlia’s name being mentioned.

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