Chapter 2 | Ravinica

Chapter 2

Ravinica

THE NEXT MORNING, I went to the well just outside Selby, with Anna.

Anna was a slight, slender, fairy of a woman who I considered my only friend in the village. Unless I counted Korvan, who was more of a mentor and father-figure, being twice my age.

Anna was my only peer to ever show me decency, and didn't care about "myrr" attached to my last name.

After filling up two buckets with water from the well, I handed one to her, raising my brow to ask if she would carry one. Anna batted her lashes at me, pouting her heart-shaped face. She raised her arms. "These noodle arms were not built to carry, Vini. You know that."

She certainly had a way about her.

Rolling my eyes, I took both the buckets by the straps and moved steadily, balancing myself on the walk back to the village.

Anna skipped up beside me, cheery as ever. The jaunty girl had little bounce to her, given her thinness, yet she always maintained a jolly air. She seemed to be the antithesis to my sullen attitude, which was probably why we got along. Opposites attract and all that.

"What's the first thing you're going to do at Vikingrune?" she asked, grinning, green eyes sparkling. The chilly morning air whipped her golden locks around her face, making her look like she had a halo hovering over her head.

Appropriate, even if she is a little devilish.

I shrugged, wincing as some water sloshed over the top of the left bucket. I waited for the water to settle before continuing on. "Probably try to make some allies."

"Ah. Smart." She nodded diligently. "Or enemies. They're more fun."

I let out a soft huff. "I have enemies enough here, Anna. I don't think I need more."

"Maybe you can find someone to warm your bed."

I nearly tripped over a gnarled root in front of me, thrown off by her words. Gaining my balance—and losing more precious water as I did—I scowled at her. She simply returned an ear-to-ear grin, the little rogue knowing exactly what she was doing.

"This water supports both our families," I said, glowering at her. "Lest you forget." Stop trying to make me spill with your outlandish claims.

"You're just gonna gloss over my recommendation? For shame, Vini. I think getting laid could be good for you."

I shrugged—smaller this time—and kept moving as the squat longhouses and cabins of the village came into view. We traversed a grassy flatland between the village and the woods behind it.

"I've done it before," I admitted.

"You didn't enjoy it?"

Perhaps I simply didn't enjoy my partner. "I'm not saying that. I'm saying my focus is going to be elsewhere. Under the sheets is your dominion, Anna, not mine."

She pouted again, shaking her head. "The men at Vikingrune Academy will be the most strapping lads you've ever seen."

"So I've heard."

With a sigh, Anna quickened her pace to keep up with me. Even carrying two buckets, I outpaced her, likely because her mind was drifting elsewhere.

"You're not wrong," she said, laughing at herself. "I do love being ravaged—"

"I know, girl. It's all you talk about."

Her laughter rose again, light and airy just like she was. It was hard not to smile at the sound, as much as I fought against it.

"Who do you have on the docket these days?" I asked, trying to shift the focus from my nonexistent love life.

She counted off on her slender fingers, pursing her lips and peering up at the cloudy morning sky. "Let's see. There's Gustav. Pretty cock, ugly face."

I snorted a laugh.

"Finn is still in the running. He has the opposite problem."

I blushed at her admission. I thought Finn was quite attractive, too. Who didn't, with his strong shoulders, sharp chin, and piercing dark eyes?

She held up her pinky, bending it and drooping with a severe frown. I let out another bark of a laugh, shaking my head.

"Oh!" she yelped, bouncing up next to me. "Hemming is a dark horse candidate," she said, nodding profusely. "He certainly knows how to work a woman over. That's more important than all the size and beauty in the world, you ask me."

"Fair point." When she smiled coyly at me, I asked, "Do any of these men know there are other competitors?"

She let out a snort that sounded somewhat like Damon's from last night. "As if. No, I need filling, not killing. I don't need them slaughtering each other for my affection. I just need them stuffing my—"

"Are you sure they'd be so against it?" I asked before she could continue her lewd talk. "Against working together for your hand, rather than against each other?"

It was an interesting thought that went against everything we had learned in Selby.

Anna took my words seriously, tapping her chin as I watched the cogs turn in her head. "Damn. You might be right, Vini. Being filled at every end, at the same time ? Gods protect me." She giggled. "But no, I'm just playing the field of suitors, so I can make a suggestion to my da. I'm leaning toward Hemming. Even though he doesn't have much of a personality." She shrugged, completely content with carrying on the conversation by herself. "That's okay. I bring enough personality for both of us."

I smiled. Anna was right; her father adored her and would do anything she wished—let her choose any man she fancied to take her hand—despite her well-documented promiscuity around town.

A sinking feeling filled my gut. I lowered my eyes to the ground to watch where I walked. It became rocky closer to the village as we stepped off the grassy heath. That wasn't why I dropped my chin, though.

It must be nice having someone care for you like that. Like you're a princess, only wishing the best for you.

Stifling a sigh, I raised my eyes from the ground, squaring my shoulders. We drew close to the village. Smoke wafted from holes in the roofs, dissipating into the gray sky. People moseyed around, setting off to the day's chores. It looked like something out of medieval times, rather than a village in the twenty-first century.

Alas, that was the Old Way, which we lived by. Traditions were carried on from our ancestors, insulating us from the rest of the world at large so we could hone our crafts and focus on the dire situations at hand. The prophesies and gods and battles planned for our futures.

You wouldn't find a telephone pole within miles of Selby, here in this forgotten corner of Iceland. Nor a cell phone, much to the dismay of the younger folk who craved connection with the outside world.

I was old enough to not care about those things . . . as much. I didn't need a device on my person tracking my location at any given moment. I had no wish for televisions to distract me, and saw no point in learning about the histories of celebrities, or training with guns.

Anyone could pull a trigger. They were weapons of the weak and frightened, according to the elders. A spear, sword, or axe, on the other hand? Those required skill, which I had an abundance of.

Anna and I made it into town and marched slowly down the main road toward our longhouses. She had essentially become my best friend out of formality, since her family home was next door to mine.

As we walked, chatter picked up around us as more people exited their houses to start the day. I liked to get an early start, though not everyone else did.

I turned to my right say something to Anna—

And pain lanced up my left arm.

Stumbling, I seethed, looking down as a fist-sized rock tumbled to the ground.

"What the fuck," Anna said, lips parting. She looked past me, and I whipped my head around to the left—

Just as another rock flew in and smashed into my face, bursting my lip.

"Bullseye!" someone screeched from the side of the street.

Blinding white light shot behind my eyes as I staggered and instinctively dropped the bucket in my left hand to raise my arm protectively. The bucket thudded, turned over, and splashed, water soaking into the mud of the road.

Knocking over into Anna, I tasted coppery blood on my lip and licked it away, growling as I barely managed to stay on my feet.

She helped me stay upright, wrapping an arm around my middle. Her voice rose, stepping to my side to confront my attackers. "What the fuck, you little hellions!"

I blinked away the pain and blurry vision.

Three whelps snickered on the side of the street, arms cocked to toss more rocks. When I stared daggers at the boys—little more than early teenagers on the cusp of puberty—their wicked smiles grew.

One of them shouted, "Take that, you bog-bred cunt!"

He laughed with his friends and scurried off into a crowd of people, before disappearing down an alley between two longhouses.

Anna moved to charge them. My anger was already abating. I put out my arm—free after dropping the bucket—and barred her. "It's not worth it, Anna."

"Those little bastards! We can't just let them get away with hurting you. Gods, Vini, you're bleeding." Her face paled and she swiped a finger over my lip.

I shook my head, more frustrated than pissed. Of the dozens of people walking down the road, hardly anyone paid us any mind, if they'd seen the attack at all. A few passersby eyed me warily, suggesting they had seen it and simply didn't care.

I was given a wide berth, and it wasn't because of the blood on my split lip. The children were gone and there was no point chasing them. I was used to this.

Anna typically didn't see it, because she was a perfect little princess in town and everyone loved her.

I said, "You shouldn't be associating with me once we're in town, Anna. It'll be bad for your reputa—"

"Oh shush, Vini. My reputation as a slut and rabble-rouser? I think I'll manage."

Perhaps my opinion of her was a bit skewed compared to what she thought of herself. I had rarely, if ever, seen her this angry. Especially on my behalf. Her cute heart-shaped face was pinched with wrinkles, nose scrunched like a pig's snout.

Seeing the anger I had caused her made me frown sadly. "Even so . . ." I dropped my chin.

We both looked down at the ground, where the bucket had spilled over. The dirt path had turned dark and muddy. We looked to the bucket I still carried, miraculously holding on even after being stoned by little hellraisers.

Anna bit her lip. "I'll go back with you to refill—"

"No," I announced, and shoved the remaining bucket into her small chest. "Take it for your family. I'll go back." I crouched to pick up the fallen bucket.

"Alone?"

I sighed. Our eyes locked for a moment. I quickly looked away, unable to stare her in the eye for too long. My shame was too great.

"I'd rather be alone, Anna. I'd always rather be alone."