Page 83 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

They were all silent for a while after that. Kolfinna crossed her legs on the bed and laced her fingers together on her lap. It had been a while since she had gossiped, laughed, and spoken like this. She and Katla used to whisper and giggle during the nights about everything that had transpired that day. She and Eyfura had done something similar during the West Border mission in their tents. She had thought she would never experience that again, but here she was.

Kolfinna cleared her throat and gave Herja what she hoped was a friendly smile. “So … What is, um, this Haakon person like? Toyou.”

Herja opened her mouth then shut it. “It was complicated. I thought we were both just interested in the physical aspect of things, but … the fact that he’s still writing me letters all thesemonths later tells me otherwise. And, of course, the content of those letters.” Herja waved a hand. “Well, whatever. It doesn’t matter too much because it’s not like I’m going to see him anytime soon.”

“You’lleventuallyhave to face him.” Inkeri gave her a look. “He’s the most powerful lightning elemental in the country and you’re the second most powerful fire elemental. You both are on the top level, power-wise, in the military, so you probably will have to work together again in the future.”

“Yes, and that will be a problem forfutureHerja.” She gave a lopsided smile and patted her chest. “This Herja will currently enjoy life and ignore all men.” She gestured to Kolfinna. “Enough about me. What’s the status of your love life?”

Kolfinna couldn’t stop the blush from spreading across her face. “Contrary to what you think, my love life isn’t kicking off or anything.”

“Really?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, really.” Kolfinna felt uncomfortable to be under the limelight, so she motioned to Inkeri. “I was there when you were injured, and Ivar absolutely lost it when you were hurt. If you want my two cents, I think he’s interested in you and I think you should pursue it.”

Inkeri ran a hand over her face. “Then why won’t hetellme? Why won’t he propose? Or confess his feelings? Or dosomething, other than being an asshole to me all the time.”

“Why don’t you tell him instead?” Kolfinna said. “Since he seems to be lacking confidence.”

Inkeri made a noise of displeasure in the back of her throat. “Me? Tell him? Tell him, what, Kolfinna? “No way. Besides, I’d rather my man take the lead.”

“I’d rather take the lead,” Herja said with a chuckle. “Makes it easier to get what you want. Instead of”—she gestured to Inkeri—“moaning and groaning about how things aren’t working out.”

Inkeri flicked her wrist in Herja’s direction and a gust of air blew her wild curls off her face. Herja chucked her pillow in retaliation, but Inkeri shoved more wind at her, sending the pillow flying straight to her face.

Kolfinna and Inkeri burst into laughter.

“You bitches.” Herja grabbed her pillow and chucked it at Kolfinna.

It missed, by a hair’s breadth.

“Hey!” Kolfinna sat up indignantly. “I didn’t do anything!”

“You laughed. That’s a punishable offense.”

The rest of the night continued in a similar fashion. With Herja and Inkeri and Kolfinna talking to each other, laughing, and acting like friends. Something Kolfinna hadn’t even realized she had missed. It wasn’t until they all started drifting off to sleep that Kolfinna’s thoughts could travel to Rakel and the haunting words she had told her. But even as those words infiltrated her mind, she was too exhausted to think further about it.

18

Kolfinna receiveda package from Fenris the fourth night after she met Rakel. It was a thin book with a single note attached to it.

I hopethis is useful to you. It was the only one I could take. Since I cannot read runes, I tried to find one with a title similar to the runes you wrote out for me. I think this is one of them.

Take care,

Fenris Asulf

She had askedhim for a book of runes and had even written out a few keywords in rune writing that could be useful to her, such as ‘rune magic,’ ‘beginner,’ ‘rune bonds,’ and any other phrases that might help her escape.

Excitement had bubbled in the pit of her stomach when she saw the package, the note, and the embossed title that readBeginner’s Guide to Rune Magic. But her excitement was short-lived when she spent the whole night reading it, and there was nothing useful. Everything written in it were either things Revnahad already taught her or things Kolfinna had picked up on her own.

Kolfinna wanted to bang her head on the floor.

If she didn’t find out how to rid herself of the runes?—

She didn’t want to think about it.

The early morning light filtered through the window atop her bed and she rubbed her grainy, sleep-fatigued eyes. She flipped through the pages one last time, her heart sinking. She already had a plan in mind to get out of here, but it all hinged onifshe could break the rune. The matter of what to do after that was still unclear: run away as far as she could, or transfer to another unit like Blár suggested? She wasn’t sure if going with him was a good choice, since the military would most definitely kill her if they found out how important she was to Ragnarök.

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