Page 25 of Blood of Ancients

When Grim, Arne, and Magnus tried to follow me, spears came down to block their path.

“Only one visitor at a time,” the guard growled.

“Why?” Arne spat.

“To make it harder to bust him out. No shit.”

“Not that anyone has tried doing that before,” one of the other guards said.

Arne frowned. “You’re making this whole situation seem more prisonery, lads.”

“I’ll be fine, boys,” I said, smiling at them over the shoulders of the Huscarls.

My three mates begrudgingly stood back.

“Yell if something happens,” Grim said.

There was thick tension between us four students and these two soldiers. On a macro level, it had been that way ever since the gates of the academy had closed and the elves had shown up—ever since a multitude of Huscarls on a siege mission mysteriously died.

Not that I’d know anything about that.

Everyone standing here knew it would only take one wrong move to get the other side to pop off. Students here didn’t feelsafe or protected as they once did. If anything, they felt, well, imprisoned.

Which meant the first part of my rebellious scheme was going swimmingly, and I hadn’t even needed to do a damn thing to start it.Now I just need to figure out a way to twist the tension into bloodless acceptance. So we can all be allies.

The man inside the room I walked into was the key to unlocking that puzzle, in my mind.

Corym E’tar sat in his cave on the edge of a bed, head bowed like he was deep in thought. Or depressed.

His room looked exactly like mine. It wasn’t a prison cell, per se, and he had the same amenities as a student. The difference was Corym stayed under constant, vigilant watch while he “housed” with Vikingrune Academy.

I suspected the room would be bugged with some kind of magic listening device, so I simply smiled when I saw him.

“Corym,” I breathed, my voice full of adoration.

His face lifted, brightening when his golden eyes landed on me. “Lunis’ai.”

As he stood, I pushed myself into him in a fierce embrace. His arms encircled me, and for a moment everything felt right with his body pressed against mine.

The tall elf looked exactly the same as he did last time I saw him a week ago. I tilted his sharp face a few times left and right just to make sure, like a worried mother.

He chuckled and rubbed my chin with the pad of his thumb. “I’m fine, my love. The soldiers have not deigned to beat me yet.”

“They better not,” I warned. “Or they’ll be getting my spear in their asses.”

“Oh, I’ve no doubt.”

He sat on the bed, taking my hand in his lap. Despite the cold of the room, his touch was warm. It sent tingles of anticipation down my arms.

I stayed standing in front of him, between his legs. Leaning forward, I kissed him gently, closing my eyes and letting our breaths mingle and meld together.

Peace fell over me for the first time in days.

When my eyes opened, we were both smiling.

My smile faltered shortly after. “You’re okay then?”

Corym nodded and sat back. “The academy has not broken my spirit, despite their best attempts at doing so.”

---