Page 92 of The Last Valkyrie

If outside was palpably nervous, inside Fort Woden was even worse.

My eyes darted around the vaulted ceiling and old gothic architecture of the interior, showing me a castle that had withstood centuries of secrecy. I wished I had time to exploreall the offset rooms and nooks of this place, because it was gorgeous, if not a bit grim and utilitarian.

Every inititate always wondered what inside Fort Woden was like. Most never got to see it. I supposed I was one of the lucky ones, though I wasn’t feeling very lucky at the moment. My damn heart was hurting and smacking against my ribs, bile rising up in my throat as I prepared for a lecture and bad news from the Hersirs in command.

Down a few halls, we heard yelling coming from a conference room. Raised voices from people I recognized without having to see them.

At the door, two Huscarls stepped aside and bowed to Thane Canute.

The one-eyed lord grunted over his shoulder. “Wait here.”

He paused when I stepped next to him. “No.”

Narrowing his eye at me, he analyzed my face. The man was a towering brute, yet I wouldn’t be persuaded. He would have to go through my five mates to get to me, and we didn’t need any bloodshed in Fort Woden itself.

The Thane, wiser than he looked, seemed to come to the same conclusion once I said, “It was my village that was ravaged by all this, sir. I deserve to know what’s going on.”

“You’re a cadet.”

“I’m also tired of the closed-door discussions from leadership here. Aren’t you, Thane? Maybe none of this would have happened if we had been privy to—”

“Fine, just shut up and stay quiet,” he interjected, his voice deep and exasperated.

Inside the circular room, around a wide table, three figures stood and argued—Hersir Ingvus Jorthyr, Kelvar the Whisperer, and Tomekeeper Dahlia. They were like talking heads on a news program, interrupting each other, the line of their conversationimpossible to make out among their combative language and tones.

The trio froze when Thane Canute and I stepped into the doorway, with my mates not far behind.

“What did I miss?” Canute asked, frowning and crossing his arms. “The academy is in a state.”

“Yes, and we requireleadership,” Ingvus snapped haughtily, his braided yellow beard slapping against his chest as he shook his head.

“What is going on?” I asked.

Tomekeeper Dahlia splayed her hand out, her face disgusted. “Who let the half-breed cadet in here?”

“I did,” Canute answered in a clipped tone.

“I support it,” Kelvar added, flinging his cloak down as he sat at the table. “It’s not important what she hears now. Everyone will know soon enough. Maybe she can blunt the message to the student body better than we can.”

“What message, sir?” I tried to stuff down my frustration. I was happy Kelvar had come to my defense, but Dahlia and Ingvus would always hate me.It’s totally untenable, the position I find myself in with these two. There has to besomethingthat can sway their minds about me and my guys.

“The jotnar have come down from the Telvos Mountains,” Kelvar explained. “Damned scouts spouted off to half the school about it before debriefing us so we could prepare a statement about what to tell the academy.”

I blanched. The corner of my lip twitched. “You mean so you could hide the truth about what happened?”

Kelvar smirked at me, no one else seeing it, and gave me that one with a dip of his chin.Always secrets with this lot.

Ingvus scoffed, raising his chin defiantly. “So we could prepare properly without causing a riot. You wouldn’tunderstand the measures we must go through to keep everyone appeased, Miss Linmyrr.”

“Because I’m a half-blood?”

“Because you’re young and foolhardy,” he answered with his chin and gaze lowering threateningly.

I’d been called worse, so I ignored the shipbuilding Hersir’s insult. I tilted my head. “Were you aware one of your ships, theYellow Wraith, is missing from the dock, sir?”

He reeled. “What?”

Clearly, he hadn’t been in on the dark elves taking the ship. Or he was an excellent actor.

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