Silver Winds

Chapter 16

As Astra approached the fire pit, which had been lit on fire, Pengill approached her. His bright eyes bored into her as he stopped in front of her. He towered over her, and normally that didn’t bother her, but it did with this man. She stood as if she were a bit taller, with one hand on her hip.

“Astor Olsen,” Pengill murmured. “Is all of your Munrskipan present?”

Astra nodded, and Pengill scratched a few lines down on a pad of paper he was holding. His hand moved quickly, but it looked sloppy to Astra’s eye. She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. One of her suspects appeared in the space between Pengill’s elbow and his body, and Astra’s eyes narrowed. Her nostrils flared.

“Excellent,” Pengill continued as if he didn’t notice Astra’s behavior. Volos clearly did. His eyebrows drew together so much that it almost looked like a unibrow. He frowned. Pengill waved a piece of paper in front of Astra’s face, and she took a step back before realizing it was harmless. “This is the list of competitions for the next few months. The order is still random, though, so you shouldn’t train for the competitions in the order they’re listed. If you want my advice, make your strengths stronger, and you should have a chance of winning.”

“Thank you,” Astra replied with a small amount of stiffness in her voice, then sidestepped him to move toward the fire. She let her eyes glaze over the list of events, but before she could go into it in detail, she folded it. The edges were crisp when she stuffed it into her pocket.

Her eyes seemed to ice over, and held a razor edge to them while she walked toward the fire. The flames reflected on the icy blue, but did not melt the cruelty frozen there. She managed to hide it when she walked up to one of the Munrskipans. She seemed to recall that he was the Vinr of the Mountain Lions.

“Hello,” she greeted, holding her hand out to grasp his. He met it after a few moments. While they shook hands, Astra continued, “I don’t believe we’ve properly met. I’m Astor Olsen. It’s a pleasure.”

“Nel Rubensen,” the man replied. His pointy ears flashed from beneath a thick mop of red hair. His freckles bent and twisted as he smiled. “Nice to meet someone shorter than me, finally.”

Astra laughed it off as she released his hand, though it stung a bit. She tapped the side of her thigh once. “Haven’t you met the Sterns? Enok and Rune are just as short as I am!”

Nel chuckled. “I suppose they are, I suppose they are. They’ve got a long time of growing left yet, though.”

“Right,” Astra returned. “They’re only sixteen, after all.”

“So they are. You are their Vinr, correct?”

Astra nodded. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a limping boy laughing with someone she associated with Nel. She slid around Nel, forcing his eyes to follow her, and pointed to him. “Who is that? Is he one of yours?”

Nel smiled and raised his hand in answer. “Oi! Oskar! Come over here a minute!”

The boy, of medium stature, had a nice feel to him. He had a big, lopsided grin planted firmly on his thick lips, and his fluffy blond hair stuck up in all different directions. He was wearing clothing that fit him well, and he waved at Nel as he apologized to the young man he had been talking to. He limped over to Nel, his eyes bright and filled with joy. Even men like this could be a killer, Astra reminded herself. That helped her to avoid feeling attachment to the boy who seemed like fun to be around.

“Oskar, this is Astor Olsen, the Dragon’s vinr. Astor, this is Oskar Elska.”

Astra ran her eyes over him one more time before he extended his hand. She took it after a few more seconds of scrutinizing. He didn’t seem like a murderer . . . but there were stranger things in Kilione.