by Tom Hansen
“Where did the guards go?” Firtz pointed to where the two had been putting out the food.
“Oh no.” Ynya heard the whistle of air for a split second before something smashed into her back.
Beside her, Joanna grunted before falling to the snow.
The blacksmith whirled, shooting flames out of his hand at the soldier who was about to attack him, but he was too late to stop the attack entirely. The large wooden club came down on the blacksmith’s nose with a sickening crunch.
Ynya rolled, her back spasming from the blow, and kicked out, trying to catch the guard.
But the guard moved quickly, taking one step backward to ensure he didn’t get tripped by her legs. He swung again, aiming at her knee. She rolled to the side and his club hit the ground with a thud.
Joanne lay in a heap on the ground, the blacksmith’s face was bloody, and Ynya’s back hurt like it was broken.
Heal!
Her body had always healed faster than anyone else she’d known. Mama had told her it was due to her heat, but Ynya suspected it had more to do with her mother’s healing abilities. Ynya had never managed to heal herself from broken bones while lying at the bottom of a glacier crevasse quite like she could in the warmth and care of her Mama.
Ynya grabbed a handful of snow and tossed it at the man’s face. He dodged, but it gave her enough time to stand and run.
As she passed him by, he tried to elbow her. He missed, sending him spinning in place for a half-second.
It was enough time for Ynya to grab him by the neck and pour heat into his body. She needed to knock him out and get back to helping the others. Ynya held on with all she could muster, and in a few seconds the man stopped batting at her.
Another guard came up behind her and pelted her in the back with a club, knocking the wind out of her and lancing pain through her spine.
Ynya let go and fell to the floor in agony. She screamed as her back spasmed. She watched in slow-motion as the soldier fell on top of her, every detail playing out for her.
I’m done for.
We’re all done for.
Ynya hoped the other mages had at least made it to safety.
She was yanked backwards, out from under the unconscious soldier atop her. It wasn’t a guard who pulled her out, however.
It was Hans. His lips pressed into a worried and concentrated line.
“Get up, we have to go right now.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Pain pulsed through Ynya’s back, but she stumbled to her feet. Her vision wobbled around her, like her brain still wasn’t able to process everyone else’s movements. She wavered for a few seconds, trying to get her bearings.
Hans held three guards at bay with some kind of invisible field. Tyrain held Joanne under her arms, dragging her limp body through the snow. The two other mages who had run off with Hans were gone, but the blacksmith wielded two clubs in his hands.
“You all right?” Hans asked her. “We have to go.”
Ynya nodded, her mind still addled by the recent attack. She took a step then another, and another. Bolstered by nerves, magic, or something else, each movement lessened the pain, and soon she wasn’t stumbling anymore.
“Keep moving, it will help you get your bearings.”
Ynya nodded. It was helping.
The five made their way out of the camp toward the north, keeping up with the pace of Tyrain as he dragged Joanne’s limp body.
Every now and again Firtz launched an attack at one of the soldiers, getting in one or two good shots with either his clubs or a fire attack.
Ynya watched in rapt amazement at his ability to shoot fire from his hands. She’d never managed to figure out how to do it herself. It must just be his special ability. She felt safer with him around, a mature mage who understood the value of human life and had the experience to back up his abilities.
She felt a little better and moved over to help the boy carry Joanne.
But as she did, she looked to see everyone watching from the caravan. The two other wagons carrying prisoners stuck in her mind. All the small non-magic children huddled in their cages, their little eyes glued on her movements.
But the one that finally got to her was seeing Synol standing in the doorway of her covered carriage. She wore no shackles, she had no cuffs, but she was just as much a prisoner as the rest of them. She was due for the same exact fate.
Ynya’s heart broke. Yet again she’d rushed into something without a proper plan and others paid the price.
No more.
She couldn’t blame the mages for looking out for themselves. They had only their best interests in mind. None of them had gotten an entire wagon full of small children locked up and sent to the horrors unknown.
None of them had outed her own mother as a mage in an attempt to feel better about herself and prove just how tough she was to another mage.
Her own hubris and inability to keep her mouth shut had brought suspicion on her own sister. And even though Stefan’s father had most likely turned in the location of her family, he did it with the intention of keeping his son’s new wife safe from the Frost Queen’s clutches.
At least they were trying, even if it meant collateral damage.
All Ynya did was leave a wake of destruction in her path.
She didn’t deserve freedom, but the rest of them did. After all of this, if she didn’t at least save Synol, then what would it have been good for? She came here to recover her sisters, and now she was escaping with mages she’d barely met less than a day ago.
She dropped Joanne. “Take her.”
“What are you doing?” Hans asked.
“What I came here to do. You all keep running, I’ll make sure you are able to escape.” Ynya looked at the blacksmith, then nodded in the direction of the guard who limped and was bloodied from his last attack.
Firtz grimaced and nodded.
Ynya ran. Two of the guards followed her, and the blacksmith yelled a deep guttural roar. She heard the crunch of bone and the grunt as the guard crumpled to the snow.
At least they’ll make it out.
She kept running, making sure to slow her escape just enough to keep the guards on her. She glanced over her shoulder, noticing the guard in the snow and four mages gone.
Good.
Ynya turned back toward the camp and picked up the pace. She wove through the horses and dodged a guard who popped out, trying to grab her.
She ran past the wagon with the orphans, and yelled at Miss-Miss. “I will get you all out, I promise!”
The slight hint of a nod caught her eye as she sprinted past, toward the middle of the caravan.
“Synol!”
Her sister looked up, still standing inside her carriage. She had a sour look on her face and wasn’t wearing her furs. She clearly hadn’t been planning on making a run for it and was more comfortable lounging inside her rolling prison.
Ynya’s mind raced. If she grabbed Synol right now she would have to find warm clothes for her sister. They would have to run through the snow too, and as she rounded the corner, she saw her sister’s bare feet.
Dammit!
This wouldn’t work. She couldn’t grab her sister right now. There was no way they would make it.
Ynya’s mind raced, trying to find any other solution, but none came. Grabbing a horse with three guards on her tail was a stupid move. Trying to convince Stefan to take his barefoot pregnant bride through the snow with no clothes wouldn’t work either.
Ynya couldn’t even get the orphans out.
She was done for.
Ynya skidded to a stop next to Synol’s carriage, locking her gaze on her sister’s face and pleading with her eyes that Synol would somehow volunteer to run.
“Synol, please we need to go find Finny and Meki. You see what they are doing to us here.”
But of course Synol didn’t. She frowned, and crossed her arms on her chest. She wasn’t moving.
“Mama and Papa mollified you too much,
Ynya. It’s time to grow up and face the consequences for your childish antics.”
“I agree.” The woman’s voice came from the side.
Ynya’s stomach clenched as she recognized the clear, sharp voice.
She turned to watch the woman in black leather striding towards her through the snow, tossing the silver knife in her hands.
“You were here the whole time?” Ynya asked.
Captain Nora smiled. “I wanted to see how good you all were, get an idea of what I dealt with. I have to say I’m rather surprised at the lack of planning.” She tsk’d her tongue a few times, then turned to Synol. “So, big sister, you know her best. How do we contain her?”
Synol furrowed her brow, giving a quick glance to Ynya then back to the woman. “It’s simple. Put her some place warm and well-insulated. My cabin will do nicely. She will overheat and not be able to do anything.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ynya woke. She was wrapped entirely in blankets. She was also shackled with a thick chain strapped to her ankles, wrists, and waist.
She wanted to melt them off, but the blankets around her trapped too much heat and caused her to black out.
She had learned that the hard way already.
“You really should stop struggling, Ynya.” Synol frowned from her seat across from Ynya.
“If you just undo these blankets, I’ll be able to get the two of us out of here.”
Synol leaned back in her seat. “You know I cannot.” She looked over at the nurse Edith who was also in there with them. “You see what I have to deal with? She’s the main reason I left my old life.”
Edith nodded, a slight smile on her face.
The steady sound of Stefan’s horse bore into Ynya’s mind. The ever-present clomp clomp clomp that never left the carriage’s side. It was what drove her to try to escape the last time.
And of course Captain Nora wasn’t far behind, sticking her nose into the carriage from time to time.
“I read the document, Synol. I know what they are doing. They only married you to get to us.”
Synol turned up her nose. “I’m not talking about this with you. Stefan loves me.”
“It doesn’t matter if he does or not. The only thing that matters is the family. They killed Mama and Papa and kidnapped Finny and Meki. Now you and I are chained and being taken to the same place.”
Synol shifted her legs, crossing them one way then again the other way. Finally, she crossed her arms. “I’m not shackled, because I’m following the rules, something you can’t seem to do.”
As the heat rose once again around Ynya, she had to take some slow breaths to calm herself down. She couldn’t afford to overheat, not again. She needed to keep her temper under control to stay awake and alert.
“Fine, I have been a bad girl, and I will take whatever punishment I deserve for my many crimes, whatever those are.”
Synol huffed. “Whatever those are? They say that you are the one who set fire to our town. When they came to arrest you, you killed soldiers and ran. They have been chasing you ever since.”
Ynya’s mind raced as worry replaced rage in her mind. “Is that what they’ve told you? Is that–” Her voice broke at the thought. Hot tears flowed down her face and soaked into the blankets. “Do you think I killed Mama? Do you think I could possibly hurt Papa?”
The normal heat in her skin chilled in a heartbeat.
How can my sister think I’m capable of such horrors?
Synol turned away, her eyes flushing with tears. For a moment the tension seemed to pause as the carriage bumped down the road. The moment dragged on for an awful time as both girls dealt with their own rush of emotions.
Despite her horror at the realization, Ynya’s heartbeat was strangely slow and calm now that all the unspoken thoughts had been aired.
“Synol, you know me. You know I may be reckless, I may have been mollified as you said, I may be childish, but I never put anyone in any danger that I wasn’t willing to put myself in. You also know I would never hurt anyone in our village.”
She wished so much to reach her hand out and touch her sister. She wanted any human contact at that moment.
“I was out on a solo fishing trip and came back to the carnage. You must believe me. I don’t care what else you think, you have to know I would never do something like that.”
Synol turned, wiping away the tears. “I don’t know what else to think, Ynya. I don’t know what I’m doing here half the time.”
“Why are you here? Why did you come?”
“Captain Nora said I needed to come to testify on your behalf at a trial…help be your defense…which I jumped at, you know. Nothing is more important—”
“—than family.” The two girls finished the phrase together.
“Synol, they have lied to you, I saw the document myself in the office on the second floor. I had it in my pocket until they arrested me.”
Ynya looked out of the windows to ensure Stefan wasn’t within earshot. She lowered her voice just in case.
“Ask your husband if it’s true. His father made a deal with the Frost Queen to know of our existence, your hand for our location. I know all about the fake names and location, but I’ve spoken to someone who was actually from Kropprfjell and she says the city was burned to the ground tens of years ago. The only people who were from there still alive are scarred and at least seventy years old by now.
“I want you to think carefully. Even if you don’t care about my fate, you must care about Finny and Meki. What is to become of them?”
Synol sighed and looked out the window. Her eyes went wide and her nostrils flared.
Ynya glanced out the window. Stefan rode there once again, but so did his father. How she hadn’t noticed the gaunt old man in the caravan up to this point was beyond her.
After another quick glance out the window, Synol spoke. Her face was emotionless and tense. “I do care about them, but there are rules and protocols to follow for a civilized society, Ynya. You just need to let me handle things on my own terms. You get all hot headed and break the rules and other people pay for it. If you had just played the games like Mama told you, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”
The men rode side by side, but this time the father was the one closer to the carriage.
They were eavesdropping. Most likely the nurse was as well, but Ynya couldn’t worry about her now. She wouldn’t be able to tell anyone else until they stopped and got out, so now, the girls just needed to play along.
Ynya decided to break the silence with banter expected of women.
“Do you remember pulling taffy in the spring?”
Synol smiled ever so slightly. “Coating our hands in butter and holding onto it just long enough until it burned us? Well, not you of course, but the rest of us would dance around trying to keep the taffy moving fast enough so it didn’t harden.”
“Mama yelling the whole time to not let it touch the floor.”
“If Ynya can do it with her eyes closed, you girls can do with your eyes open!”
For the first time since the girls had seen each other, and possibly in the last four years, Synol actually giggled at the memory.
“Stuffing Meki’s pants so full of dirt that she couldn’t fall over.”
“I did that to Finny too, but you might have been too young to remember.”
“Mama wasn’t happy.”
“Papa sure laughed though, told Mama to leave her so she could rest for once.”
The two laughed out loud at the situation. Tension in the carriage dissipated with each genuine laugh, and Ynya felt like she had her sister back. The two hadn’t had such a good relationship since—
“Venturing into Yolphinir’s cave and nearly getting ourselves killed.”
Synol stopped laughing and frowned.
Ynya realized her mistake as soon as the words left her mouth. Regret and worry washed over her as she tried to diffuse the situation. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up.�
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The two rode in an uncomfortable silence for a while. Ynya remembered how her mother taught her to focus her mind, concentrating on certain thoughts or memories and pushing out the others. It was a way to handle stressful situations, but hadn’t been one Ynya had to use much.
The silence between the two grew and gnawed, and despite all the focusing exercises, Ynya couldn’t take it any longer.
“Is that where it all went wrong between us?”
Synol turned away, her lips drawn to a fine, colorless line.
“I never thought there would be a frost bear in the cave. If I had known–”
“It’s always ‘if I had known’ with you, Ynya. Always regretting but never learning.”
“Are you two done reminiscing?” Captain Nora stood in the open doorway of the carriage, having snuck in when the two weren’t looking. “It’s time for a demonstration.”
Captain Nora grabbed Ynya, blankets shackles and all, and lifted her out of the door and atop the carriage in a single motion. The woman was scarily strong.
Wind howled from the north in front of them, cooling down Ynya’s overheated body. She had been managing her body temperature well enough inside the carriage, but now that she was outside, she might be able to take out one chain at a time as long as the wind continue to blow like it did.
If she pushed excess body heat through her scalp and into her hair, but not enough for it to glow, it would dissipate even faster. She did just that, dumping as much as she could without attracting attention.
“What is going on?” Synol asked, shivering through the biting cold. The nurse popped below to grab a blanket for her mistress.
Ynya eyed the nurse, wondering if she was going to go spill everything they’d talked about to the guards.
“Oh, just a small lesson for you and your sister.” Captain Nora whistled. In the distance, a form stood up from the snow and jogged toward them.
It was the woman in white, the woman with the frost bear pelt for clothes.
Ynya had wondered if she too was Skarmyord, but she supposed she had her answer now.
Ynya’s heart sank. She now had two of them following her. One was bad enough.