Page 61 of Blood of Ancients

He snorted. “I’m not gonna ask, cadet.” He blinked at me. “How are the other Torfens?”

“Villainous,” I spat, losing my smirk.

Axel frowned. “Shame. They wouldn’t have anything to do with you ending up in the infirmary, would they?”

My face went deadly. “No, of course not. I . . . fell.”

Our eyes locked, both of us knowing I was lying.

I liked Hersir Osfen because he was not an inquisitive man. He did not pry. He never got in the middle of his students’ affairs.

“Itisquite dark in these tunnels, cadet.”

“It is.”

We went silent as the other three trainees circled us.

Axel pulled out a piece of paper from beneath his chainshirt. “Sven Torfen, I have you roaming the southwest district.”

Near my family’s den,I thought.

Axel continued, reading down the list. “Eric Morn—”

“Give me the northeast,” I interjected. When all eyes looked at me for interrupting our commander, I added, “Please. Sir.”

Axel’s reddish eyebrows jumped. “That’s Eric Morngandr’s quadrant.”

Morngandr. Snake shifter.I looked over to the slithery cadet named Eric. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Clearly, he could tell by the wrath on my face that Ididmind. Shrugging, Eric said, “Any quadrant’s just as good as the next to me, boss. It’s all dark as shit and boring down here.”

Axel frowned. “Spoken like a true Huscarl, Morngandr.”

Eric blushed with embarrassment, looking away, and the Hersir eyed me. “All right, then.” Axel crossed off my name on the list. “Sven, you’re northeast.”

When I nodded, ready to take off to “patrol,” I caught the glint of mischief in the Hersir’s eyes—no doubt because he could see it in mine, too.

“Watch your step in the dark this time around, eh?”

I flashed a smirk. “Sure thing, Hersir.”

The northeast quadrant of campus was the opposite side of where my family den was located. It was home to the cellars of Mimir Tomes, Eir Wing further east, and a congregation of housing units for students past the initiate year.

It was also home to the Lanfen family den.

It was no coincidence the homes of the Lanfens and the Torfens were on opposite sides of campus.

Ever since my father’s time here, and likely before him, our wolf packs had fought. It was a regular Hatfields and McCoys situation, and I had no idea where the hate came from. All I knew was they were theenemy.

Now, I had a reason to hate them. They had shown themselves as my adversaries, in full force, and that couldn’t go unanswered.

My anger was already starting to boil once I made my way east through the tunnels. I reached the central section of the Vikingrune undercity and cut north, staying in the smaller corridors between Mimir Tomes and Eir Wing, away from passing students.

Patrollers were supposed to do exactly that: patrol the grounds of the campus and make sure nothing was afoot. If a fight was breaking out among students, I was supposed to stop it and make a report.

Did we have Huscarls for that job? Allegedly. They seemed more inclined to guard doorways and important people like Gothi Sigmund than actually get their hands dirty with any kind ofwork.

Student brawls were regular occurrences at the academy. We were all competitive, young, dismissive, and trying to make a name for ourselves. Everyone thought they were better than everyone else. Add that to the frustration of being cooped up underground for weeks on end, and you got a violent concoction of testosterone and anger.

---