Page 74 of Blood of Ancients

Huscarls getting closer, yelling.

Come on, dammit . . .

“Fine,” Sigmund declared. “I trust you, Whisperer. Don’t make me regret it.”

“I’ll need a team of my own choosing.”

“Very well.”

“. . . Which will mean . . .him.”

More silence.

“Step aside, you fucking whelp!” a Huscarl shouted, closing in fast, leveling his shield at me.

My eyes widened, but I stayed, ear to the door.

“You can’t be fucking serious,” Sigmund grunted.

“We’ve finally found use for him, sir,” Kelvar said. Then, in a lower voice, “Give me the elf.”

I gasped.

“Fine. But no one is to step foot into that portal, you understand me?”

I gritted my teeth, preparing for impact, and swung away at the last second—

Just as a shield still clipped me and sent me spinning to the ground. Another Huscarl on the way kicked me for good measure, pain lacing through my stomach.

I crawled away, wincing, the voices inside the conference room too loud for me to hear.

I finally had something to report to Ravinica. And it wasn’t fucking good at all.Magnus . . . Corym . . .

With a gulp, I pulled myself to my feet and slunk away. Pulled out the letter from Dieter one last time, ready to give up on my dream of helping the Lepers and deposing my sister.

As I passed a wall-torch, I was ready to toss the letter into the fire, but something in it caught my eye. Furrowing my brow, I unfolded the crumpled note and let it sit above the flickering flames of the torch. Amagictorch, set to stay alight in this hallway for the entire winter.

There, at the bottom of the letter, I found a new script—new handwriting in Dieter’s scrawl. Faded letters that hadn’t been visible before, only appearing with the magic flame backlighting the note.

Help us, Arne. Your sister is gone.

I don’t know where she’s gone, yet I worry . . .

A gasp ripped through me, loud and wheezing.

Oh gods, this is too much! Magnus dead? Frida missing? Dieter scared? Corym used? Sven ever-vengeful?

My body shook with the onset of a nervous breakdown—pulled in so many directions. Before I could lose it, the doorto the conference room swung open, and Kelvar the Whisperer exited with a severe look on his gaunt face.

As he marched past me, black cloak billowing, he grunted, “With me, iceshaper.”

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