Chapter 5 | Magnus

Chapter 5

Magnus

I FELT AN APOLOGY WAS in order. It was rare for me to think that way, but Ravinica going missing had started to clear my head somewhat. She had the ability to take control of my emotions—which were barely there to begin with—and with her absence, I felt . . . liberated.

It was awful. The stifling need to care for her, to hold her, to fuck her against the bookshelves in Mimir Tomes, had started to diminish. Which was a horrible place to be, because I wanted to feel. I simply couldn't. Something was wrong with my genetic makeup.

I knew it wouldn't last. There was a tendency for me to go through these ups and downs. Though I felt freed right now from the burden of my past traumas, there were certain negative sensations I also felt.

Firstly, I hated not knowing what was happening to my silvermoon. She was a force here at the academy, even if she couldn't Shape runes. She had me and Grim Kollbjorn wrapped around her little finger, and I suspected Arne Gornhodr and Sven Torfen were well on their way.

Ravinica's dormant powers would hopefully wake at some point. Otherwise she would join the Lepers Who Leapt, which wasn't the worst thing, and she'd find a way to make a difference with those rabble-rousers.

No, I didn't worry about Ravinica's capabilities or resilience here at Vikingrune Academy. I worried about her safety and never seeing her again.

She was the first person I worried about in . . . perhaps ever. Such was the pull she had on me.

The apology I needed to make wasn't for her, directly.

I stood outside Nottdeen Quarter toward the end of the day, arms crossed as I weighed my options and stared at the stout two-story longhouse and its expressionless fa?ade.

The female first-year dormitory had been in an upheaval ever since the deaths of Astrid Dahlmyrr and her friend, named Corta Gamdeen. When speaking about Ravinica's safety, it was impossible to ignore that the safety of the entire first-year initiate class felt threatened after those deaths.

Astrid hadn't been staying at Nottdeen. She'd had her own longhouse, being a child of nepotism as the daughter of the Tomekeeper, near the southwest village where Eirik Halldan and his gang lived.

Corta had stayed here, though. She'd been found fifty feet from the front door of the place, stuffed into a bush . . . where I had placed her after snapping her neck.

Was it wrong that I felt no remorse for killing the girl? Absolutely. I should have felt something , even if that something wasn't remorse. Guilt, shame, sadness even.

Alas, I didn't have those settings. Not when anyone other than Ravinica was involved.

Corta had hurt my girl. It was as simple as that. After tasting Ravinica's blood to rend her memories, I witnessed the moment of her ambush at the hands of Astrid and her minions. Corta had brought my silvermoon to the ground, giving Astrid the cudgel she would use to knock Ravinica unconscious.

It was cowardly. Both tormentors deserved everything they got. In a moment of cold ruthlessness, I had deduced Corta would warn Astrid what I planned for her if I'd let her live. So I didn't.

I marched through the front door of Nottdeen Quarter. My gray eyes immediately met the skittering orbs of Dagny Largul behind the counter near the stairwell.

Dagny looked tired, eyes rimmed with purple bags dragging them down. She tensed when I entered, my trench coat billowing around me to hide my scars and runic tattoos.

Standing from her seat, she said, "Magnus Feldraug, what are you doing here? You know you're not—"

"Allowed. Yes." I walked up to the counter.

"Especially now," she finished.

Classes were over for the day. A bevy of footsteps pounded the ceiling overhead, from the ladies in their rooms upstairs. Others were likely in the nearby mess hall, or out enjoying the end of the sunny autumn day at Vikingrune, since they didn't feel safe here in this dorm.

Dagny pushed her Coke-bottle glasses up, wrinkling her nose and meeting me head-on. "I'm getting tired of men knowing the rules and breaking them anyway. Sven Torfen did the same damn thing."

I frowned at her. "Yet you helped him retrieve Grim Kollbjorn from his shackles, all so we could go rescue your friend."

"Ravinica's still missing. It was a failure, in case you forgot."

"I did not forget."

Her words were spiteful. She was not only angry; I could tell she was fearful. Her tiredness stemmed from her friend going missing, and also from having to stay up late to be a stalwart protector of the dorm for the other women, because of what had happened near here.

It wasn't often two women went missing and were found dead on this campus. It spoke of a predator—a killer on the grounds no one wanted to mention, for fear of bringing him or her to their doorstep.

I supposed the women were slightly relieved to hear neither woman had been raped, after an autopsy had been done on them over the past week. Gothi Sigmund made sure to hold a campus-wide assembly to tell students, as a means of "transparency."

I felt a rare tinge of remorse about how I'd made Dagny's life harder. Alas, she's a creature of circumstance. That's what RAs are meant to do: assist and prevent problems of the residence they lord over.

"Are you here to bring up Vini, then?" she asked, tilting her head. "Because I'm rather tired of crying."

I let out a soft sigh and shook my head, staring down at the counter. When I lifted my gaze, I said, "I am here to apologize, lass."

"For what?"

"Ravinica had nothing to do with Astrid's death. She was angry about getting attacked by Astrid, certainly. But she is not vengeful . . . like I am."

Dagny's angry expression returned. "How do you know that? What makes you an expert on how vengeful Vini might be—or anything she feels?"

"Because I have spent more time with my silvermoon than you might know, Dagny." I lowered my chin to give her a pointed gaze. "What we spent our time doing alone is my memory to hold and cherish. I just wanted you to know—"

"Fine," she cut in, waving her hand at me. "I already suspected as much. There's a reason Grim was in a jail cell when we broke him out." She matched my gaze with an expectant look of her own, narrowing her eyes. "Should I feel bad about breaking Grim out, Magnus?"

I pursed my lips. Slowly, I shook my head. "Grim Kollbjorn did not kill those girls, either. He was wrongly accused. So, no, you should not feel bad about helping him escape his cell."

Dagny flared her nostrils. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I killed them."

She blanched a sickly pallor, pale as me. Her neck tightened, hollowed, and she lurched back, stumbling a step away from me.

I said it with no emotion, no change to my face. My twisted mind and rage during their deaths was gone. I had carried out the killings because I needed to keep a secret with Corta, and I needed to make sure Astrid never did something like that again to my silvermoon. It was as simple as that.

I could only tolerate bullies so far, and Astrid would have made Ravinica's entire existence at Vikingrune Academy a hellscape.

Now, I had to deal with the fallout of my decisions. Namely, I had to ease the worries of the other women on campus, like Dagny, and I had to face the consequences of my actions. There was also Tomekeeper Dahlia Alfinn to contend with—Astrid's mother—who had been in an odd state of disappearance since her bastard daughter's death.

I didn't like that. Quiet plotting was scarier than outright rage, in my book.

As I studied Dagny's startled face, she leaned forward and hissed, "Why did you just tell me that?!"

It was an odd reaction. I slanted my head. "I thought you'd want to know the others under your care are safe. Is that not the right thing to do?"

I was asking honestly. It was foreign for me to feel any sort of obligation toward others' wellbeing.

Dagny looked baffled. "Well, yes, but—what the hell! Am I supposed to keep that a secret?"

I shrugged. "What you do with the information doesn't matter to me, Dagny Largul. I have a plan to rectify the issue."

"What's your plan?"

I stood in front of Hersir Ingvus Jorthyr's office, counting my breaths. It was at least five minutes before I knocked on the Warden's door.

I knew Jorthyr's ego was bruised after our break-out of Grim from his cell. The information I had to share was above Jorthyr's pay grade, yet initiates like me could not get direct meetings with the Gothi.

I hoped what I had to say would get to Sigmund Calladan's ears eventually. I suspected it would.

"Come in," said Jorthyr's gruff voice from the other side.

I entered the small office room and stood over the desk the Hersir sat behind.

"Magnus Feldraug," he said, looking up. "What can I help you with?" The man's blond-gray beard was in braids down to his chest. He had a hawkish look on his face.

"I have information you'll want to hear, Hersir. In fact, the Gothi will want to hear it too, because I have come seeking a negotiation with Vikingrune Academy."

Jorthyr stood. He was a tall man, equal to my height. His forehead creased with furrows. "What is this pertaining, initiate?"

There was no levity or acceptance in his voice. Only suspicion.

I understood the history of my upbringing because of my secret studies in Mimir Tomes alongside Ravinica. I had discovered much, though there were still pieces missing—pieces blocked behind amnesia that must have been cast on me as a whelp, through magical means.

I knew what Vikingrune Academy wanted with me.

"Grim Kollbjorn did not kill Astrid Dahlmyrr or Corta Gamdeen."

The Warden of Vikingrune gritted his teeth, baring them. "What's your proof?" he spit out.

"Me. I killed them," I said simply, emotionlessly. "And I'm willing to confess to that, with some stipulations."

"Huscarls!" Ingvus called out, and boots were already pounding on the floor outside.

I had precious seconds.

"Though most of the students do not know, I suspect you and the other Hersirs at this academy know what I am, Hersir Ingvus. I am also aware of what you want with me. Or, rather . . . what's inside me."

The door burst open. Two armed guards stood behind me, hands on their weapons.

Ingvus held up his palm to stay them before they could arrest me. Slowly, he said, "What is it you're trying to do, whelp? What do you want?"

"A guarantee you will not prosecute Grim for this crime falsely alleged to him. And, more importantly, a vow that Ravinica Linmyrr will not be harmed or pestered once she returns to Vikingrune Academy. If you can make these two oaths, sir, then I will voluntarily give myself over to the academy to test my blood, as you people attempted to do so many years ago."