Heart of Ice (The Snow Queen #1)(31)

“That was close,” Oskar said when they had left. “I think we have just about worn out our welcome. What do you think, Princess?”

“How are we going to leave? The gates will be barricaded,” Rakel said.

“Good question. Any ideas?” Oskar asked.

Captain Halvor rubbed his chin.

“How about a distraction?” Phile asked.

“Explain,” Captain Halvor ordered.

“Our group gets as close to the gates as possible. I’ll show myself and lure the guards away, leaving everyone else free to escape.”

Captain Halvor frowned. “You’ll need backup.”

“Nonsense. I can fare quite well on my own, and if I’m captured, what can they hold me for? Darting up dark alleyways? I’m not recognizable as a Verglas citizen. They wouldn’t charge me with war crimes.”

“Your goal is to evade, not be caught. Snorri will accompany you,” Captain Halvor said.

Phile opened her mouth but seemed to think better of it. She offered the scout a smile. “I suppose I would be up for some company. Do you want to wreak some havoc with me, Snorri?”

“Captain?” Snorri said.

“If we can get out of the city, I’m confident we can evade any pursuers.”

Snorri peered outside. “The closest gate is east.”

“Excellent,” Oskar said. “Lead on.”

The journey to the gate was more frightening to Rakel than all her previous battles with the Chosen army. Footfalls seemed to constantly pursue them, and the soldiers were always just a street away.

When they reached the gate, they hovered in a darkened alleyway and observed the six soldiers guarding the barred door.

“If you can lure three, the captain and I can handle the remaining three,” Oskar said.

“Who do you think I am?” Phile scoffed. She ducked into another lane, Snorri on her heels.

A few minutes later, Phile and Snorri staggered into the main road, spilling empty barrels everywhere.

“ ‘See a city siege,’ you said. ‘It will be romantic,’ you said!” Phile declared at the top of her lungs. “I don’t know about you, but getting chased clear across a city in this horrible wind isn’t romantic—it’s plum foolish!” She kicked a barrel to make her feelings be known.

“We’ll signal the others. Go get them,” a guard said.

When Snorri threw a barrel at the closest guard, four of the six left their posts at the gate and chased after the duo.

One of the remaining two guards blew four times on a silver whistle.

“Such horrible hospitality. No wonder nobody comes here,” Phile said as she sprinted away, her scarves flapping in the wind. As soon as she and Snorri led the four guards around the corner, Oskar and Captain Halvor attacked.

Oskar took the closest guard, chopping on his raised pike with his sword. He threw his weight into the weapon and crushed the soldier against the wall. He kneed him, knocking the air out of the soldier, and then elbowed him in the spine, sending him sprawling.

Captain Halvor felled his foe with a well-placed dagger. “He’ll survive,” he said, noticing Rakel’s gaze on the wounded man as he hurried to open the giant door with Oskar’s help.

When the gate swung open, five soldiers came clattering down the road. “Halt!” one shouted.

“Run. We can’t get it shut from the outside,” Captain Halvor said. Rakel followed him outside, but stopped and waited for Oskar to get through. Just as the soldiers reached the gate, Rakel threw up her hands, and a wall of ice as thick as a human head sprang up, sealing the soldiers inside.

Oskar whistled. “Good trick.” The soldiers pounded on the unmoving ice.

“Come,” Captain Halvor barked.

They raced across the open white field, heading for the trees where Aleifr waited with the reindeer.

“Well, Princess, do you think you’ve had your fill of spying?” Oskar asked.

Captain Halvor cursed when another set of gates opened, and mounted soldiers rode through it.

“Do you honestly have the breath to waste that you can ask me questions while running?” Rakel asked.

“Twelve years, Princess. Things get really boring really fast.”

“Aleifr,” Captain Halvor hissed.

“Ready, sir,” Aleifr said, the small sleighs already turned around and ready to go. “When I heard the noise, I thought you would want a speedy exit.”

Oskar leaped into one tiny, two-person sleigh, and Rakel hurriedly sat behind him.

“Do we leave one for Snorri and Phile?” Oskar asked as Aleifr and the captain climbed into the remaining two sleighs.

“No. The Chosen will find it when they comb the woods. We fly!” Captain Halvor snapped his reins, and his reindeer lunged forward.

Between the moonlight and the light bouncing off the white snow, it was quite bright, so careening around in the middle of the night was not as dangerous as it could have been. The downside, of course, was that the Chosen army could see just as clearly and would have no problem tailing them.

Captain Halvor did his best to lose them. He stayed to the trees and wove in different directions, often leading them astray. Rakel quietly—hoping to avoid drawing attention to another display of her magic—swirled snow behind them, covering the tracks of the reindeer and sleighs. But even with this, she could tell their pursuers were catching up. She could hear the pound of horse hooves above the noises of the reindeer.