Heart of Ice (The Snow Queen #1)(58)

The silence after her words was long and heavy, and she soon started to feel uncomfortable. Did I say something wrong?

“I’m not worthy, Princess,” Halvor said. Rakel opened her mouth to speak, but he continued. “Because I shouldn’t have kept you locked in the mountains for the five years I stood watch. I should have let you go.”

The fight went out of her. “You have no reason to feel guilty. I could have escaped any moment I wanted to.”

“That’s no excuse. I was wrong—our country was wrong.”

Rakel offered him a fragile smile. “If I thought you had wronged me, Halvor, I never would have stayed with you through Fyran, and I certainly wouldn’t have made you general.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Halvor said. He smiled at her, and then offered her a salute—not a bow, but a salute: his personal mark of respect.

Rakel hesitated, then reached out and touched the fingertips of his free hand, squeezing them. “I should return to the party. Oskar will lecture me for skipping out. You should come as well. Oskar can tell you everyone you need to talk to.”

Halvor brushed at his clothes—which were smudged with boot polish. “I shall follow you in a few minutes.”

“Good—oh, but Halvor?”

Halvor paused, halfway into his room. “Yes, Princess?”

“Do you know where Phile is?”

“I believe she said she was going on a hunting trip.”

“So you are talking to her again?”

“No, Princess. She announced it to the room.”

Rakel held in a snort, but she expressed her amusement through a small grin. “I see. Thank you, General.”

“It is my honor, Princess.”



Rakel smiled—refreshed with the bright sun, the chilly air, and the gleeful laughter of Gerta and Kai—and let her shoulders relax.

Halvor and Oskar were hard at work, taking inventory of the army supplies, stock, and soldiers, leaving Rakel free for the day.

“Let’s make snow angels, Kai!”

Free to enjoy the winter weather.

“Your clothes are too thick to make a proper snow angel. It will appear misshapen.”

Free to not have to think of her magic and the deadly ways she could wield it.

“Then how about a snowman?”

“The snow is too light and will not pack—though I believe we could petition Princess Rakel to change this.”

Free of the chaos and craziness that had ruled her life for weeks now.

“Looook ooooout!”

When Rakel realized she knew that voice, and that voice implied that her carefree day was in danger, she snapped to attention.

Phile—clinging to the back of a massive, velvet-brown reindeer—galloped in their direction.

“Do you have a clear shot?” Rakel asked Knut—the leader of three soldiers who wandered with her and the children as her “guard.”

“Now Princess, I reckon you’re mad at her for leaving you without warning, but that’s no reason to shoot ’er,” Knut said, motioning for the other two soldiers—who had started nocking their bows—to stand down.

“Pity,” Rakel muttered.

“That’s the biggest reindeer I’ve ever seen,” Gerta said.

“Its antlers have a strange appearance,” Rakel said. Considering the reindeer was almost as tall as a horse, its antlers seemed disproportionately small. They were there, but they didn’t have the extensive height and branching that her books showed.

“It’s a bull. The older ones cast their horns in early winter, so his are growing in again,” Kai said with confidence.

“I see…I don’t think she’s going to stop.” Rakel watched as Phile and her reindeer mount galloped closer, tossing snow in the air as they ran. “No, she’s not. Come, children.” Rakel took their hands and pulled them back, but she didn’t need to.

When he was about twenty feet away, the reindeer skidded to a stop and bucked, throwing Phile from his back. She whooped as she spun through the air and hit a snowdrift.

“Hoodlum,” Rakel said.

Phile rolled a few times, then popped to her feet.

“Happy birthday!” Phile said, gesturing proudly to the irate reindeer. He shook his head and pawed at the snow.

It was quiet for several long seconds before Rakel realized Phile was addressing her. “Me?”

“Yes!” Phile said.

Gerta and Kai clapped and cooed over the gift. Gerta meandered closer to the reindeer, but when it snorted, Kai yanked her backwards.

“My birthday is in the summer,” Rakel said.

Phile dropped her hands. “You’re joking. With your powers, you were born in the summer?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s a load of rot. But it doesn’t matter—consider him a gift for all the birthdays I’ve missed. Next year, I’ll steal you something better. I had to catch this boy—yikes,” Phile said, pulling her hand back when the reindeer snapped at her. “He could still use some taming.”

Rakel studied the reindeer, feeling touched in spite of herself. She couldn’t remember when she last received a birthday gift—it was probably before her magic was discovered.

“We’ll have to get him friendlier by the time we invade Ostfold—or Oskar and Captain Halvor won’t let you ride him.”