Heart of Ice (The Snow Queen #1)(59)

Rakel watched Gerta and Kai slowly approach the gigantic reindeer again. “It’s General Halvor, now.”

“So you picked up on what was going on, hmm? Good job. You must have corrected some of those nasty officers.”

“Colonel Vardr was the biggest problem, but Halvor seems to have taken command without any major difficulties,” Rakel said. Her interest in the reindeer finally got the best of her, and she edged forward, offering her palm to the ornery beast.

He turned away, ignoring her, and started digging, searching for buried greenery.

“He’ll come around,” Phile promised, patting his shoulder. She backed away when he tried to ram her with his horns. “I think.”

“Happy Birthday, Princess!” Gerta shouted.

Rakel smiled at her, although she barely heard the comment. Phile’s return had set the wheels in her mind turning. Now she was more open to applying pressure to Halvor to get him to march on Ostfold.

“Do you think Steinar is okay?” Rakel asked.

“Who?” Phile said.

“My brother.”

“Oh. Well, the appointed two weeks haven’t passed yet, and…”

“And?”

Phile squinted at the sky. “There’s a chance, now that Farrin is there, that he’ll survive.”

The weight of the past few weeks threatened to crush Rakel. She felt the opposite. Her brother was normal, after all, and Farrin’s charity seemed to extend exclusively to magic users.

She hadn’t met Steinar, ever, and she only had his portraits in books to judge him by. He had kept her imprisoned on Ensom like their parents…but like his parents, he hadn’t killed her, when it would have been the safest thing for him to do. I would like to spare his life in return, Rakel thought. “Children, it’s time to go back.”

“I thought you said today was a ‘rare, free day’…” Kai said as Gerta jumped and hopped, making snow crunch under her feet.

“It was, but something came up,” Rakel said, offering them a smile.

“Going to go talk with General Halvor?” Phile asked, snatching up the leadline attached to the reindeer’s makeshift halter. She tugged on it. The reindeer glared but trailed after her.

“Yes.”

“Good, I’ll come with. Maybe he’ll finally talk to me again.”

“That’s unlikely.”

“Don’t crush my hopes, Princess. I just gave you a birthday gift.”

“A wild, unbroken gift that could potentially kill me.”

“Yes, isn’t he just like you?”

“I dare you to tell Oskar and General Halvor that.”

“Pass!”

“Mmhmm.”



“Our best tactic would be to sweep down from the mountains and push them south, through the palace and through Ostfold,” General Halvor said, indicating the north side of the Ostfold palace. Snorri had created a model for the discussion using wooden blocks borrowed from a merchant’s child. “We have an approximate soldier count, but our main concern is the magic users. In addition to the four we’ve dealt with in the past two battles, it seems there are eight more serving at the palace. There are several others included in their ranks, but they have skills unsuited for fighting and are not counted for our purposes. Most of their magic force, thankfully, is south, with their leader.”

“Do we have any new magical recruits from Glowma?” Rakel asked. She had requested that Oskar and General Halvor extend the invitation city-wide—although she didn’t think many would respond. Still…twelve mages? Ragnar could transport and keep only one elf active at a time—and it took him a long time to recoup his energy for a second summons. If his elf spent the entire time keeping Farrin busy, even with the other magic users, twelve magic-using enemies was a high order.

Oskar raised a finger in the air and smiled. “Yes, three more magic users have joined our ranks.”

“All three possess powers that will be helpful in the battle,” General Halvor added. “They are being briefed by Ragnar and Frodi right now.”

“Excellent,” Rakel said.

“I still think you should attack the open west flank,” Phile said, flinging Foedus so it impaled the bare ground west of the model palace.

Oskar shook his head. “It’s too open. Even I know that, and I’m just an attendant.”

“There is a gulley there that gives the palace defenders high ground. If we came up that way, there would be a steep climb—a situation never favorable for an attacker,” General Halvor said.

“Yes, but you can’t assemble an army due north of the palace—you would have to start your run halfway up the mountain,” Phile said. “Wouldn’t it be better to fight indoors? Little Wolf must know the palace by heart.”

Rakel awkwardly cleared her throat. “I don’t.”

“What? Oh—even though it’s been twelve years since you lived there, I assure you they won’t have changed much. Palace construction is expensive.”

“It’s not that. It’s…after my powers manifested, I no longer lived in the palace,” Rakel said.

Phile’s eyes were slits. “What.”

“My parents had a tower built just north of the palace. That is where I stayed until I was exiled to Ensom Peak.”