Page 107 of The Seeker

The power I’d faked reading to him. I debated on going with them, thinking it might be easier to undermine them while also gathering the knowledge of Malheim, but then my mind flashed to Askel, Otho, and all of Ralheim that respected and relied on me.

And I remembered that I respected myself.

I was no longer Leif’s to control, no matter what the scar on my palm indicated.

And I was tired of lying.

“I didn’t read you the persuasion book, Leif,” I confessed. “And I refuse to leave with you. Now, get out of my home.”

“Runa,” Collum pleaded, “don’t make us do this.”

I didn’t wait to find out what she meant by “this.” Instead I did the only thing I could think to do—the only thing they wouldn’t expect.

The only thing I ever did when faced with something I didn’t know how to handle.

I ran.

CHAPTER 37

Of course, like everything in my life from the moment I was born, the absent gods decided I wasn’t suffering enough, because not long after I’d stormed out of Signa’s—my—cottage, the sky began to rumble, the first errant raindrop falling on my face.

“Seriously?” I cried up at the sky. It almost never rained in Heimland—it was known for its dry and arid climate.

No one answered, though. Not like I expected them to anyway.

I picked up my pace so I could find some sort of shelter before the few drops bouncing of my head did much damage.

I was wrong about that too.

Six steps later, the skies opened up, dumping a thick sheet of rain down on the earth.

I paused, pressing my back up against the nearest tree. It was a pine, and it provided little, if any, shelter from the downpour. With a sigh, I evaluated my options.

One, I could swallow my pride and turn around, heading back to the cabin filled with the people I didn’t want to see right now.

Two, I could stay here and probably freeze to death in my clothes, which were already drenched, or three⁠—

My gaze caught on something visible through the trees. At first, I thought I was hallucinating, but when I blinked, the shimmer was still there.

What was a cabin doing in these woods? It was well-known that Signa lived on the edge of society—that no one else could be found in these woods until Salheim, which was nearly a day’s travel away.

I wasn’t anywhere close to Salheim, I knew that much, which had my vision flashing to another cabin in the woods. A memory that made me cringe.

Well, everything else I’d learned in life had turned out to be wrong, so maybe my knowledge of civilization near Signa’s home was wrong too.

Regardless, I didn’t have much choice.

It was walk toward the strange apparition, or risk Leif and Collum catching me and forcing me to return to Malheim.

Checking that my dagger was still tucked into the holder I’d made for it, I pushed off the tree trunk, crashing through the trees at top speed. Unfortunately, this only further drenched me as every branch I pushed through brimmed with water. But I kept my eye on the prize, and soon enough, I was pressing my face to the smooth, round logs that made up the exterior of the cabin.

There was a small overhang from the roof, which wasn’t much, considering it was raining sideways, but I allowed myself the luxury of pressing my face against it, breathing in deeply to center myself before shuffling toward the door.

I was Runa Wormald, and no matter what greeted me in this cabin, I could handle it.

Better that than give my time to those who didn’t deserve it.

Pausing one last time to check the woods behind me, I raised my fist and knocked twice.