Heart of Ice (The Snow Queen #1)(42)

Rakel froze. “How do you know about that?” she asked, reaching for her ice magic.

“I just found out about it a little while ago. I was on my way to warn you.”

“You found out about it? Do you have an oracle in your army?”

“No. The Chosen army technically is behind the attack. Kavon, a colonel in a different regiment, made the arrangements.”

The declaration hardly stung less. After Phile had just finished harping about her people’s loyalty, it was not promising to have one of the soldiers betray her for the enemy.

What kind of luck do I have that I evade an assassination attempt and then run into my greatest enemy, who inspects me for wounds? Farrin spun her around so he could study her back.

He eventually let her go, but Rakel wasn’t fooled. With his speed magic, he could grab her any time he chose. She backed away from him, her muscles tight.

He held his hands up. “I’m unarmed,” he said, turning so Rakel could see that he hadn’t brought his two-handed greatsword.

“You can still use your reflective magic,” Rakel said, snowflakes whirling at her fingertips.

He raised his eyebrows and gave her an almost imperceptible nod, approving of her observation. “Yes, but a weapon makes it easier.”

Rakel stored that tidbit for later. “Why didn’t you bring your sword?”

“I doubted you would pause to hear my warning if I had it.”

“Why would you want to warn me?”

Farrin paused, and she could sense he was constructing his answer. “Because you are very talented, and though you stand against us, you are of noble character.”

She stared at him, hearing his words and sensing that while they were not false, they were not the entire truth.

“You don’t believe me,” he said.

“Isn’t now the time for you to ask me to join you again? Or will you drag me back to Glowma, regardless of my wishes?”

Farrin furrowed his brow. “I would not—it would be pointless—so I would rather spare myself the trouble.”

“Pointless?”

“I don’t believe I could ever convince you to join our cause, even after you were nearly killed by one of your own soldiers. Though you might consider leaving them, you would never turn against them.”

“You can’t know that,” Rakel said.

“You would consider betraying your country?”

Rakel snapped her mouth shut and was tempted to glare. “Whether or not I would, your cause is hardly just.”

“We seek to establish a country where magic users can live without fear. In what way is that unjust?”

“Because you would build it on the backs of others. Even so, that is not your primary goal.”

Farrin’s easy demeanor left him. “What?”

“Verglas is one of the least-cruel countries on the continent when it comes to magic users—Baris is likely the only country that is significantly more kind. Why would you attack a country that is mostly self-contained, harbors a small amount of magic users, and is among the least brutal? You would fast gain the enmity of the more savage countries.”

Farrin stared at Rakel. “Least brutal?”

“I’ve read the stories. Ringsted has an active slave trade in magic users; Sarthe holds gladiator battles. In Verglas, they are scorned and driven out of towns, and a few are held in service, but we have never been forced to fight for our life.”

“What about you?” Farrin asked. “Is your treatment not among the cruelest of all? To never have a childhood, or even friends?”

Rakel shut her eyes, briefly reliving the long, lonely years. “Perhaps, but even I am forced to admit that setting me loose or attempting to use my powers would have been potentially deadly.”

“You are not dangerous.”

“No, but my royal blood can be when it is used as a political weapon.”

“So you defend your parents and brother who abandoned you, and a people who have betrayed you. Perhaps you can see why I did not bother to waste my breath with another offer?”

“Rakel! Little Wolf!” Phile shouted, her voice snaking through the trees.

Rakel turned to listen, but she almost jumped when Farrin moved to stand next to her. “You will speak to her?”

“I trust her.”

Farrin nodded. “Though I know you will not believe me, there will be no more assassination attempts from our camp. But you cannot win this war alone, Your Highness. It would be wise to consider alternate options.” He captured a lock of Rakel’s wild hair, slid his gloved fingers down it, and tucked it over her shoulder.

The action could only be considered affectionate, but it made Rakel’s spine tighten to have him so close to her when she knew he could harm her in less than a heartbeat. She considered stepping away, but the thought came to her too late.

Farrin left, leaving a wind in his wake as he headed back to Glowma.

Rakel shivered. I may have spent twelve years in seclusion, but even I can tell he acts peculiarly compared to others.

“Little Wolf!”

“Oskar would say he has a mineral deficiency,” Rakel sighed as she moved towards Phile’s voice. She called out enough that Rakel had no difficulty finding the thief mounted on her stolen horse and brandishing a torch.