Queen of Ice (Through the Fire Book 2)

by Benjamin Medrano

“That’s life, Korima. I just wish I knew why someone attacked me. I mean, at least the demon had a reason, and unless the person left a message…” Ruethwyn said, wincing as she moved her shoulder a bit more. It was slightly sore, even if she’d been healed.

  “Careful, Rue. I healed you, but you’re going to be sore for a couple of days and you could make things worse again if you stress it too much,” Sella warned quickly. “If it weren’t for you having only one arm, I’d say we should put it in a sling and not allow you to use it at all.”

  “That would be awkward,” Ruethwyn said, wincing. “Food would be difficult, as would getting dressed.”

  “I don’t know, it could be fun to feed you,” Korima said, grinning.

  “For you, maybe,” Ruethwyn retorted, sitting up at last.

  Korima’s response died as she looked at Ruethwyn, then met her gaze, most of the kitsune’s amusement vanishing as she did so. Ruethwyn suppressed a wince, struggling to get her feet out of the sheets. Somehow, she’d gotten tangled in the sheets, and that made it more difficult for her.

  “Um, Rue… are those all from when you lost your arm?” Korima asked softly, her voice unusually quiet.

  “If you’re talking about my scars, yes, they are,” Ruethwyn replied, looking at the clothing on the floor and sighing. The hole in the tunic and dried blood weren’t a welcome sight, but at least she could fix it. “I’ve said that I shouldn’t have survived before, but not many people seem to believe me.”

  Ruethwyn didn’t look down at herself, but she let herself reach over to run her fingers over her side. The flesh was unusually smooth in some ways, though it was bubbled and had an uneven surface. There was a reason she thought of her appearance like she was made of wax that had warmed until it deformed along half her body. A part of Ruethwyn had wanted to keep the injuries entirely hidden from the two women, but they obviously weren’t going to let her do that.

  “I believe it. I’ve seen some bad burns before, but nothing like that,” Korima said, hesitating for a long moment.

  “They are what they are, Korima. The entire reason I’ve been focused on this quest is because I want to be able to use my body properly. Even if it doesn’t heal my mana core, it’ll help with everything else,” Ruethwyn said, giving a wan smile. “So please… try not to make a big deal out of it?”

  “It’s hard not to, Rue,” Sella said, shrugging and going over to Ruethwyn’s pack, opening it and looking inside critically. “I’ve gotten used to seeing you around, but seeing everything that happened to you is, well, shocking.”

  “Yeah,” Korima agreed, and Ruethwyn sighed heavily.

  “I suppose. Could you get my enchanted dress, Sella? It’s designed to deflect attacks at least somewhat, so if I get attacked again it should reduce the chances of me getting hit,” Ruethwyn said, her feet resting on the floor, then she paused and asked, “I just realized, we never had a chance to figure out how rooms were being dealt with. What’s going on with them?”

  “Oh, Tadrick was covering it. He’s paying, and they’re going to bring in a cot so the three of us can stay in one room,” Sella explained absently, nodding at the other bed. “I thought that was for the best.”

  “At least he didn’t think he was going to share a room with you,” Korima told Sella, her mood seeming to slowly be recovering again. “That would’ve ended poorly.”

  “I would’ve had to hurt him a lot if he’d tried that,” Sella replied, pulling out Ruethwyn’s glittering dress, the fabric shimmering between purple and blue, depending on the lighting. “I think he’s realized just how annoyed I am at the moment, which certainly helps.”

  “Well, you haven’t exactly been subtle about being upset. Now, if only we can get to Waterstone without having someone shoot at me again, life will be better,” Ruethwyn said, letting out a soft sigh as she took the dress and started putting it on.

  “Better yet, if we can catch them I’ll be happy,” Korima said, her ears flicking as she scowled. “I’m not going to forgive them for what they did to my nose.”

  “Agreed,” Sella said, then hesitated. “Want help putting that on, Rue?”

  “I think I have it. Let’s get downstairs and get something to eat, and hopefully someone will have seen something. If not… well, at least I know to keep my guard up. Things could be worse,” Ruethwyn said philosophically. She knew she should be more upset about someone trying to kill her, but she just couldn’t work up the energy for it.

  “Yeah, you could be dead,” Korima said, and her eyes narrowed. “I’d find that rather offensive, so don’t cooperate.”

  Ruethwyn laughed, clipping a couple of the buttons together and smiling at Korima as she replied. “I don’t intend to. Now, let’s go see what’s going on.”

  The other two nodded, but Ruethwyn noticed how they were hovering nearby. It made her even more conflicted about things, but she shoved her feelings aside for the moment. She could figure it out later.

  Chapter 28

  Essryl looked into her scrying mirror and paused, taking a few moments to consider what she was seeing. She could see the room that Ruethwyn was in as the young woman sat on her bed, the other two women just barely stirring and starting to wake. More important was the tunic in Ruethwyn’s lap, with the blood stains and a hole through it.

  As Essryl watched, Ruethwyn cast a spell, and she saw the blood slowly fade away, particles of it drifting off to the chamber pot at the touch of Ruethwyn’s magic. Once the blood was gone, the young woman straightened the tunic and Essryl frowned. It looked like an arrow or crossbow bolt had pierced both sides of the tunic, and from where it’d hit, Essryl suspected that Ruethwyn had come quite close to death. She didn’t see an injury on Ruethwyn, but that didn’t mean that she hadn’t been hit.

  The Illisyr watched as Ruethwyn cast another spell and the cloth slowly wove back together seamlessly, almost as though it’d never been pierced. If she hadn’t decided to scry on Ruethwyn now, Essryl would never have known something happened.

  “Now that’s interesting…” Essryl murmured, and her suspicion promptly turned to Resvarygrath and his new guest, Hekara. A moment later, she dismissed her suspicions of Resvarygrath. “No, if he wanted her dead, he’d send me, not try to hide it. It must be someone else entirely, and Hekara said she had possible contacts. I didn’t expect her to be able to move so quickly.”

  Part of Essryl wanted to investigate more thoroughly, but she quelled the embers of rage before they could fully ignite. As much as part of her was angry that someone dared to attack Ruethwyn when she was looking forward to facing the young mage, Essryl couldn’t allow herself to overreact. She had her duties, and if Ruethwyn died so easily, it simply made her unworthy.

  Hesitating for a moment, Essryl waved at the mirror and broke the connection, allowing the scrying spell to fade. But as she did so, Essryl frowned at her reflection, pausing to consider her emotions.

  “I wonder…” Essryl murmured, her tail swishing slowly. After a moment, she shrugged and turned away from the mirror.

  She didn’t have time to worry about whether or not Resvarygrath was right about things. Anara needed Essryl to check on her, and once Essryl was certain the young woman’s changes had taken effect, they could begin proper training.

  Essryl left the mirror behind, along with the questions it was prompting.

  Ruethwyn was tense as she prepared to leave that morning. She had no idea if someone was going to try to kill her again, and that worried her. It didn’t help that she had the feeling she was being watched, though she didn’t bother telling the others. They were tense enough as it was.

  Breakfast wasn’t exactly relaxed, but no one seemed to be too stressed. Ruethwyn did notice a guard nearby, and based on how Tadrick’s gaze kept going to the man, she suspected that the guard was there to look out for assassins.

  “So, where’re we stopping tonight?” Korima asked calmly, looking at Tadrick and Ruethwyn as she nibbled delicately on a piece of ham.

&n
bsp; “We’ll get to Corwal toward the end of the day, or at least should get there,” Tadrick replied quickly, frowning. “The roads could always be poor, and after yesterday… well, we’re going to have to be on guard. Corwal is a bigger city, the largest in northern Selwyn, so we’ll likely be safer there.”

  “Not necessarily. Big cities make for plenty of cover if someone wants to hide in crowds,” Korima told him, frowning. “I think an illusion of Rue is in order. It might not fool anyone, but a distraction might at least give them enough pause to miss or allow us to spot whoever it is.”

  “Assuming that they’re still around, at least,” Sella said, her voice determinedly bright. “We’re moving by carriage, and there’s no guarantee that they’re going to have a horse, or even that they’ll try again.”

  “It’s best to assume they will,” Ruethwyn replied softly, drawing Sella’s gaze. “Speaking of which, what about Evan? He’s going to be driving the carriage, Tadrick, and I don’t want to risk him.”

  Tadrick blinked, then smiled back. “Oh, I entirely agree! Fortunately, my father paid for enchanted items to protect the drivers of our carriages years ago. They’re not potent enough to stop, say, dragon fire, but they’ll stop most things short of that, at least for long enough to stop the carriage and take cover.”

  “Oh, good!” Sella looked relieved and smiled at Ruethwyn and Tadrick at the same time. “I hadn’t really thought of that until Rue said something, but it’d be terrible if something happened to him.”

  “At least I got a good enough sniff of the lady yesterday to identify her if we encounter her again. Assuming I don’t get another blast of that evil powder,” Korima said, setting down a crust of bread. “Chances are that I won’t get close enough, but everything helps.”

  “Very true. I’m just going to hope for it being a case of mistaken identity,” Ruethwyn agreed, smiling wryly. “I doubt that, given my appearance, but I can hope.”

  Tadrick chuckled darkly at that but nodded in agreement.

  Finishing breakfast, Tadrick went to settle things with the innkeeper, and Ruethwyn picked at her food a little more before deciding she was done.

  “Do you have any idea who might have someone shooting at you?” Sella finally asked, looking at Ruethwyn nervously.

  “That’s the question, isn’t it?” Ruethwyn said, sighing and thinking back on previous events. “I’m really not sure. You’ve been with me for pretty much all the notable incidents since Mellesyn, and I really can’t see Essryl sending someone to kill me. I guess there’s a few people who hated that I was in the academy, but I can’t see them going this far, so… I don’t know. Maybe the cult of…”

  Ruethwyn stopped, glancing around the room and corrected herself gently. “Remember the incident with Korima’s mother? Maybe them.”

  “Oh, that’s a horrible thought!” Korima said, her eyes going wide, and Sella nodded quickly.

  “It is, but it does make sense, after a fashion. But… but why would they target you in particular?” Sella asked, keeping her voice soft. “We were all there, and they had to shoot past Tadrick to hit you.”

  “She’s the one rumors really noticed,” Korima said unhappily. “When I heard about it around town, people knew that students had helped, who was kept quiet for the most part, but they mentioned that one of the students was missing an arm. If that’s what they’re working off of… well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t remember any other students like Rue.”

  “That makes sense. I really hope it isn’t them, since it isn’t like I need more problems,” Ruethwyn said, sighing heavily.

  “Nothing we can do about it right now,” Sella replied with a sigh of her own. “Come on, let’s get going. Tadrick looks like he’s done.”

  “Sure thing. I’m going to hope that we’ve seen the last of whoever it is,” Ruethwyn said, standing up carefully as the other two rose.

  “Hear, hear!” Korima said, grinning broadly.

  Then they headed back for the room to get their things. Ruethwyn was looking forward to getting away from the area, as nervous as she felt.

  Somewhat to Ruethwyn’s surprise, they managed to get into the carriage without being attacked again. Korima had been on point the entire time, and Ruethwyn suspected that if someone had attacked her, the response would have been swift. She’d also primed her shield ring to activate at a moment’s notice, so in some ways it was almost frustrating that they hadn’t had a chance to deal with the attacker.

  They left the village soon enough, though, and Ruethwyn imagined that the local guards were relieved to see them go. Small villages hated when people brought trouble, and even if she hadn’t intended to do so, it was a complication they likely hadn’t welcomed.

  Korima startled Ruethwyn by casting a spell on the windows, one which none of them recognized, and Rue paused, then asked, “Korima? What spell is that?”

  “Hm? Oh, it just makes the glass stronger. If someone shoots at you, they may as well be shooting solid granite for the next couple of hours,” Korima said, tapping the glass with satisfaction. “Glass may not be stone, but it’s close enough to reinforce. I figure I can cast the spell again after the effect wears off.”

  “I didn’t know there was a spell like that. When did you learn it?” Sella asked curiously, leaning forward to tap the window near her.

  “We all learned a bunch of spells over the year, Sella. What, do you think that I was twiddling my thumbs while you were learning healing spells?” Korima asked, grinning at Sella.

  “No, of course not! I just wasn’t sure, since you like fire magic so much,” Sella protested.

  “It’s a neat spell, that’s for sure. I know a similar one, but it only works on metal,” Tadrick said, looking at the window closely. “Master Mara said that choosing to focus on metal would have some advantages and disadvantages… at least there’s a decent amount of research on the sphere of metal. Otherwise, I might’ve tried to learn earth, even if I don’t have a great talent with it.”

  “Come to think of it, what’s your favorite spell you learned this year?” Ruethwyn asked curiously. “We haven’t really talked about it much, so…”

  “Well, that’s a good question,” Tadrick replied, sitting back as he started looking thoughtful. “There are a bunch of useful ones, from a couple to strengthen my sword or armor, to a minor healing spell… but I think my favorite is shard spray.”

  “What’s that do? It sounds like one I have, that sends a cone of stone shards out from my hands,” Korima said, her ears perking up.

  “Huh, I think mine may have been developed off of that, but I’m not sure,” Tadrick said, looking intrigued. “Mine requires a metal weapon, but it can be used in a couple of ways. Either way, it conjures metal fragments that look like they came from your weapon, but you can either create a short-range spray of them in an arc where you swing, or you can throw one shard about forty yards. I’ve heard that a swordsman’s weakness is range, so I decided to learn something to make up for it where I could.”

  “Yeah, that’s neat!” Korima said, her eyes bright. “I wonder if I could use something like it with the stone version? It doesn’t require me to have a rock, but… anyway, my favorite spell I learned is to control fire. It doesn’t work on magical flames, but it allows me to play with the intensity of a fire, or even to put it out, within limits. I also learned a fire resistance spell, since Master Mara said that if I was going to play with fire, at least I should try not to get burned.”

  Sella giggled at that, and Ruethwyn smiled too, then Sella asked, “Nothing more than that? You talked about how you liked the idea of more powerful fire spells, and how pretty they were, so…”

  “Oh, there are some. I can juggle small balls of fire and that, but I’m only second circle in fire,” Korima said, shrugging. “I’ll work my way up to fireballs eventually, just wait and see! What about you, Sella? What spell do you like the most?”

  “I don’t know, really. I’d say the most convenient one
I got was one to draw water from the ground, but the healing spells are awfully good, too. Then there’s the mending spells that Rue taught me…” Sella replied, frowning heavily. “I think that the problem is that I haven’t been sure what I really want to advance in. Life is fascinating, but I haven’t been able to grasp some of the more advanced aspects of the sphere. Shapeshifting is particularly confusing.”

  “Shapeshifting?” Korima asked, looking slightly confused. “Why would it be confusing?”

  “Korima, just because you can change forms naturally doesn’t mean that other people find it easy,” Ruethwyn interjected gently. “It gives you a definite advantage to learning that sort of thing.”

  “I suppose so. Sorry, Sella,” Korima apologized.

  “It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Sella said, a smile playing across her lips. “In all honesty, I’m not all that sure I even want to learn to shapeshift. While I know it’s a neat ability, it isn’t that appealing to me.”

  “Hm… I can see that,” Tadrick said, tapping his chin, then focusing on Ruethwyn with a smile. “Rue, your turn. What spell have you learned this year that’s your favorite?”

  “Well, I don’t know that I’d say it’s my favorite, but the one that will be most useful in the near future? Icewalking,” Ruethwyn replied simply and smiled as they looked at her in confusion.

  “Icewalking? What does that do?” Sella asked, frowning.

  “It allows the user to walk across snow or ice without breaking the surface, no matter how fragile or thin it might be,” Ruethwyn explained, shrugging slightly as she did so. “I probably wouldn’t be nearly as happy about it most of the time, but with this trip to the Frostglades… well, I’m glad I learned it from Zaria.”

  “Ah, that would do it,” Sella said, her confusion fading.

  “Rue, have you even learned many spells this year? I know you spent most of your time on artificing,” Tadrick said, looking contemplative. “It’s just something I realized, most of us had to spend our time building up our knowledge of the spheres, where you were pretty far ahead of us.”