Heart of Ice (The Snow Queen #1)(21)

Disarmed by the affectionate nickname, Rakel stared wide-eyed at her. Eventually a small smile cracked her features. “If I am a wolf, you are a weasel.”

“An ermine would be a kinder term, and no, that’s Oskar—though at first I wanted him to be a marmot. Marmots are so cute!”

“Why not a marmot, then?”

“Because he’s too cunning. The night I arrived, he cross-examined me so thoroughly, that handsome captain of yours had only a single additional question for me. Talk about protective. Now, throw some snowballs, Little Wolf! It isn’t long until breakfast, and I at least want to begin the long tradition of glorious practices.”

Rakel hesitated to show her magic for a moment. I should…no. She called my magic beautiful, and she feels genuine. She pushed aside her nagging fears of worry and judgment and threw a snowball into the sky, making Phile whoop with joy.



“Makes me sick, seeing her walk around. As if she was like us!”

Rakel hesitated in the shadow of a temporary building.

“Not so loud, Unnr. Someone might hear you!”

“And who cares if they did? She looks evil, with that bone-colored hair and them dark eyes. Must have broke our queen’s heart when she realized she gave birth to a monster.”

The voices drew closer, but Rakel found she couldn’t move. The words held her like a hunter’s trap.

“She’s reclaimed a number of villages and outposts.”

“Because Halvor and that attendant hold her leash. Mark my words, one of these days she’ll turn on them and ravage us all. And then where will we be?”

“That pants-wearing Baris girl, shameful as she is, could off her if that happened. And the monster spends most of her time surrounded by young, capable soldiers—they could put her down, too.”

“Beauty does tame the beast,” snorted the abrasive woman. Several other ladies joined her chuckle.

“Unnr!” another woman scolded, although she also joined the laughter.

When the village women—four of them—turned the corner and found Rakel standing square in their path, they fell silent. Three of them shrunk with fear, but one woman—a tall, gruff female—puffed up like an angry cat.

No one said anything, although the cold wind tugged at their clothes and wraps.

Rakel clenched her teeth to keep her chin from trembling as she stared at the village women. Her magic stirred angrily, but she pushed it down, instead trying to recall the captivating warmth Gerta and Kai gave off when they hugged her. She forcibly turned her stiff body and started to walk away.

“Do you think she heard us?” one of the women whispered.

“Only proves I’m right. She’s more animal than human.”

Rakel forced herself to keep walking. She didn’t think of where to go; she just wanted to get as far away from them as possible.

Must have broke our queen’s heart when she realized she gave birth to a monster.

Rakel’s throat ached, and her magic thrummed at her fingertips as the woman’s words rambled through her mind like a bad dream.

“Rivers flood your home, Oskar! You’re doing this on purpose.”

“Of course not! That would be pretty despicable, don’t you think?” Oskar’s voice was warm, jovial, and heard easily above the grunts and thuds that accompanied training.

Rakel made her way to the practice field numbly—hoping her curiosity would drown her thoughts—as Oskar, Aleifr, Snorri, and Knut drilled the villagers who had volunteered to fight.

Oskar was in a display sword match with Aleifr, and it sounded like he was getting the best of the younger man.

“But even if I was intentionally aiming for that spot, if a person hits you in the exact same place for eight consecutive matches, perhaps you should pause and think. Do you have a deficiency of defense in that area?” Oskar asked.

“I don’t! You just focus your strikes there,” Aleifr complained.

“Nonsense! I would never do anything so cruel. Well, if you don’t believe it’s a problem with your form, maybe it is what you eat. Do you have a mineral deficiency?”

“A what?”

Whack!

“Oh, look at that. I’ve won again!”

“OSKAR!”

“Point,” Snorri said—the equivalent of a forceful yell for him.

Knut raised a finger and addressed the recruits. “Oskar just demonstrated a time-tested tactic: distraction. A distracted enemy is an enemy half-beaten. Of course, the enemy will be much more difficult to divert than Aleifr. He has a mineral deficiency, after all.”

“I do not!”

The pain in Rakel’s heart eased a little as she watched the light-hearted exchange. She almost jumped when Oskar spun around and spotted her.

“Princess, welcome to our training grounds—though I must beg you forgive the foul-smelling swine for their odor,” Oskar said with a bright smile.

“You are one of the foul-smelling swine, Oskar,” Knut said.

“I didn’t know you were so well versed in combat,” Rakel said.

“To call me well versed is generous, but I do have a decade or so of practice.” Oskar admired his wooden practice sword, and then tossed it to a villager.

“Was it required for your post as attendant?” Rakel asked, wondering if she really wanted to know the answer to that question.