by K. M. Shea
When they rounded a corner, a small courtyard opened up in front of them—which Rakel eyed with consideration.
“This is it. The big one is the municipal building Tryggvi mentioned, and it’s the one we want,” Phile said, pointing to the structure that crowned the courtyard. It was two-story, painted white, and supported by dark columns of wood. A tower jutted up from the center of the building—although calling it a tower was generous. Rakel didn’t think it was much over three stories high—the tower of her ice-castle reached much higher.
“The other buildings are just storage houses and guardhouses, if I remember correctly,” Phile said. “Well, what do you think?”
“The courtyard is a possibility. Is the municipal building used as offices or sleeping quarters for Chosen officers?”
“I don’t know. We could check it out.”
“It’s both,” a man said.
Phile leaped like a frightened cat and sprinted halfway across the courtyard, hissing as she went. Because Rakel recognized the voice, she was able to hold her ice magic in instead of blindly striking.
“Good evening, Snorri,” she said.
Snorri said what Rakel suspected was supposed to be “Princess,” and bowed.
“What is the matter with you? Don’t sneak up on your companions like that!” Phile said as she stalked back to them. “Although, that was a nifty trick. Think you could teach me it?”
“No,” Snorri said.
“Stingy.”
“You have inspected the interior of the municipal building?” Rakel asked.
Snorri nodded.
Phile fussed with one of her scarves. “Anything of interest?”
Snorri spoke but was incomprehensible.
Phile squinted. “Is he speaking another language?”
“You’re mumbling, Snorri,” Rakel said, her voice regal, but gentle.
“I found the offices of Colonel Graydim.”
It made sense that Farrin Graydim would be stationed here—it was the largest city closest to Rakel and the rebels. “Oh?” Rakel said.
“He was in it at the time. I was…”
“You were?” Phile said when he trailed off into another mumble.
“I was hoping he would leave so I might inspect it.”
“Yet he never did?” Rakel asked.
“He did, about five minutes ago.”
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Phile said, starting for the building.
Rakel moved so she could stand in the shadows. “Enjoy yourselves. I will remain here.”
Phile caught her by the wrist. “Nonsense! You’re coming with! You can help search through papers.”
“As I know nothing about the work you are about to do, my presence will not aid your mission. I will be a hindrance,” Rakel said, standing firm.
“Yes, but you could spy out the building. Get a feel for it and all of that.”
“To fight indoors with my powers would be a stupid thing. I hope I have the good sense not to do so,” Rakel said.
“Gah, you’re too smart tonight. Fine, do you know why you are going to come? It is because your handsome guard and charming attendant will be quite upset with me if I leave you here alone. I wish to remain in their good graces, so your presence is required.”
After a moment, Rakel realized she was right. Captain Halvor would attach a chain to Rakel if he knew she had wandered around alone, and even Oskar’s civil temper would be tested.
Rakel allowed Phile to start pulling her along. “We cannot stay long. It is too risky,” she warned.
“Don’t you worry none. You’re with a pair of professionals!” Phile said. She almost wiped out on a patch of ice.
“The confidence you inspire is astounding,” Rakel said as they reached the building.
Snorri held a finger to his lips. He pried a shutter barely open, peered inside, then opened it entirely.
Rakel gazed curiously into the room. It was in chaos, with bedrolls piled in the corner and papers stacked on every surface.
Phile—in spite of her abundance of clothes—hopped onto the windowsill and slithered in with ease.
Rakel, unsure if she could copy the physical feat, hesitated. When Snorri cupped his hands together and crouched, it took her a moment to realize he intended to give her a boost. “Are you certain?” she asked. If he did as he offered, he would have to touch her—something that repulsed everyone except for Gerta, Kai, and Phile.
Snorri nodded.
Rakel reluctantly reached out, placed a hand on his shoulder, and stepped onto his hands. She was impressed he didn’t flinch at the contact, and he hefted her up as if she was made of air. She sat on the windowsill and slipped inside. Snorri followed her with a nimble leap.
“This is where they house their colonels? It’s not much to look at,” Phile said as she poked through the papers.
Snorri fastened the shutter. “This isn’t Farrin’s office. His is on the second floor.”
“Oh. Lead on, then,” Phile said, dropping the papers.
Snorri eased the door open and peered into a hallway. He beckoned for them to come with him and slipped from the room.
Rakel and Phile followed him down the plain hallway, their boots adding to the watery puddles left from previous patrols. They entered a stairwell and were about to go up it when a door banged above them.
Phile dragged Rakel to the underside of the stairs, pushing her into the crates and barrels of supplies stored there.
Rakel held her breath.
The staircase creaked under someone’s treading feet. Her heart pounded in her ears as a soldier cleared the last step and strode past them to get to the door.
Snorri held his hand up, motioning for Rakel to stay where she was. He and Phile ventured forward.
“It’s safe. Hurry,” Phile whispered after peering up the staircase.
Rakel abandoned her hiding spot and hurried after them, doing her best to be quiet. At the landing, Snorri again eased the door open. He waited a few moments and then led the way, tip-toeing down the hallway. He tried a doorknob of a door halfway down the hallway; it was locked.
Snorri backed up, and Phile stepped in. “Please, allow me.” She knelt and pulled several strips of metal from her scarves. She peered at the lock and got to work, expressionless in her concentration. After a few long moments, she smiled, and the door clicked. “I love my work,” she said, sighing happily as she waltzed inside the room.
Rakel followed her with Snorri on her heels. He shut and locked the door behind them and turned his attention to a ledger.
Phile pawed through a stack of loose papers, crowing with happiness. “I’ve got correspondences with some of his superior officers here. Talk about the perfect source!”
Rakel circled the room, taking in his spare uniform that hung on a hook, his neatly folded bedroll and supply pack, and the careful order with which his papers were stacked. Only one ornament—a tiny wolf sculpted in jade—occupied a space on his desk.
There’s nothing about this room that would make you suspect a colonel of a bloodthirsty army sleeps here.
She turned to the desk and paged through a set of papers Phile and Snorri hadn’t gotten to yet.
“King’s curses,” Phile said. “They’re going to attack our encampment.”
Rakel was at her side in a moment. “When?”
“Two days from now,” she said, her eyes scanning the paper.
“Bring the orders with us,” Rakel said.
Phile shook her head. “Best not. If possible, I would like to hide our little visit.”
“You think a man as meticulous as this isn’t going to notice that his papers have been moved?” Rakel asked, gesturing to his creaseless uniform.
“We’ll put them back, no trouble. I’m an old hand at this sort of thing, and something tells me Snorri is quite skilled in it as well.” Phile grinned at the quiet soldier.
Snorri ignored her and kept paging through the ledger.
“Farrin has magic,” Rakel said, studying the wolf sculpture.
“I would think so. He’s highly ranked in an army that values magic users above everyone else,” Phile said, studying a new paper.
“Do his papers give you any idea of what it might be?”
“No, they’re all work orders and supply lists. Why, are you worried?”
“I would feel more confident if I knew where his powers lie,” Rakel grimly said.
“I wouldn’t worry about it. You walloped that other mage like he was a bug.”
“Because of the type of magic he had. If Colonel Graydim has another magic—for example, the ability to manipulate fire—we will be much more evenly matched.”
“Or maybe he can manipulate water, in which case you can grind him under your heel like wheat chaff,” Phile said, flipping the paper over.
Snorri mumbled.
“What was that, dear?” Phile asked, glancing at him.
“The colonel’s magic is a speed boost,” Snorri said. “He can move faster than any man—faster than your eye can track, even.”
“How do you know this?” Rakel asked.
“Some of the soldiers you freed from the garrison faced him on the battlefield before they were captured. They said he’s a master swordsman—as good as a knight—but his speed is so superior to all, he can take on five men in a moment,” Snorri said.
With Rakel’s taciturn temperament, she knew she had no right to judge, but she never thought Snorri was capable of speaking so many words and in such a clear tone. Oskar would be flummoxed if he knew.
“Ugh. Sounds rough,” Phile said. She glanced up from her paper long enough to study Rakel with a troubled expression.
“I should be able to beat speed, but it will be difficult if I’m fighting an entire army at the same moment,” Rakel said.
“How can you match him? If he moves, and you don’t raise your magic in time, you’re sunk. No disrespect meant, Little Wolf.”
“Perhaps, but no matter how fast you run, slick ice will shatter your balance,” Rakel said. “If I can keep him away from me, I should be able to corner him eventually.”
“Smart girl…” Phile trailed off, her eyebrows pinching together as she read the paper.
“What is it?” Rakel asked.
Phile hesitated. “It’s about—”
“Shh,” Snorri said, raising a hand.
The trio fell silent as they heard two sets of footsteps thud down the hallway. Someone knocked on the door. “Colonel? Are you in there?”
“Bunny said he was checking in on the patrol leaders,” a second voice said.
“Yeah, but I thought I heard someone in there.”
“Do you need the reports that badly?”
“Mmm, probably. But it’s no trouble. He gave me a key.”
CHAPTER 8
FLEEING FARRIN
Phile scrambled to put the papers on the desk back in order, and Snorri flung open the window shutter.
“Out,” he whispered.
“We can’t! Rakel will break her neck. We’ll have to make a stand,” Phile hissed as the voices continued to murmur outside.
“We must leave,” Snorri hissed.
“Taking out two soldiers is a much better choice than jumping out a window, breaking our bones when we land, and getting caught due to our injuries. Yes, the Chosen will be alerted that there were intruders, but it’s better than getting injured and captured.”
Rakel ignored the whispered discussion and poked her head outside. The street was abandoned, and all the shutters on the building were shut snuggly, except for theirs. Rakel eyed the drop and deliberated.
Should I?
The door knob jingled.
“Darn it, wrong key,” a voice outside said.
Her heart pounded, and Rakel made her decision. She grabbed Phile by the hand and yanked her to the window. “Jump,” she ordered. She flung herself out of the window, falling like a rock. A quick thought, a snap of her magic, and a thick, fluffy drift of snow mounded up below her, cushioning her fall.
Phile snarled and followed Rakel’s example, landing next to her. “You are just as crazy as I am! Couldn’t you have summoned the snow first and then jumped?”
Above them, Snorri climbed onto the outer wall, scrabbling to get the shutter shut. He latched it with the use of a thin dagger blade, pushed off the wall, and let go, creating a puff of snow when he landed.
As everyone climbed to their feet, Rakel smoothed the snow out and blew some of it away, removing all evidence of their passage.
“See, you do have the right skills to be a spy. Now let’s move. We need to find your nursemaids and get out of here,” Phile said, grabbing Rakel by the wrist. “Any idea where they are, Snorri?”
“Halfway to fury-dom, probably,” Rakel said as they scurried across the courtyard and joined the shadows.
“I wasn’t asking you. Also, when we tell them about our findings, I would appreciate it if you left out the part about jumping from a two-story building,” Phile said.
“You don’t think it is a worthy tale that will build up your legacy?” Rakel asked.
“She wishes to see dawn,” Snorri said.
“Exactly so. Now, who wants to guess where they are?”
Farrin Graydim halted mid-step and turned around. He was making his usual evening rounds and checking in with the patrol leaders—which was little more than a thin excuse to get a breath of fresh air—but something felt…different.
He listened, but besides the howl of the wind and the murmurs of his men, he heard nothing.
“Everything alright, sir?”
“Yes.” Farrin turned north and narrowed his eyes. “You said your patrols were undisturbed?”
“Yes, sir. We didn’t have any trouble.”
“Good.” Farrin started to resume his walk when he felt it again. It was barely more than a flash, like a fish diving into deeper waters, but Farrin was able to identify it: magic.
It was generally believed that wielders of magic could tell when another was using their powers. This held true for roughly half the magic-using population, but the skill and level at which they could decipher the use of magic varied.
Farrin was not gifted at detection. He could tell when magic was in use in the surrounding area, but he couldn’t usually guess who it was, and if they were out of eyesight, they were generally out of his range.
As such, the cool, minty flavor of the faraway magic came as a surprise, and even more shocking was the realization that he knew who it was. “Rakel,” Farrin said. Her name rolled off his tongue and almost made him laugh.
“Did you say something, sir?”
Farrin inhaled as he tried to pinpoint the magic’s location. “There is an intruder in the city—Princess Rakel. She is in the northern part of town. Signal to all gatekeepers to bar their doors, and whistle for backup.”
“Yes, sir!”
“If she is found, capture her—alive,” Farrin said. He pointed to two of the soldiers. “You two, with me.” He altered his path and headed for the nearest stables. Was she trying to catch them unaware? She had no idea what she was up against. Something in him hoped that—with her abilities—she would flee and blast her way out of the city. Farrin glanced north, his eyes obeying the alluring pull of Rakel’s powers. Whatever game you are playing, Princess, I will win.
He allowed himself the personal luxury of letting one corner of his mouth curl up in a barely noticeable smile. “Ready the horses. It is likely this will end in a pursuit.”
“Where are all these soldiers coming from?” Phile demanded. She stiffly pumped her arms like a doll as she ran, thanks to all her clothes.
“Perhaps Captain Halvor and Oskar were spotted?” Rakel asked.
“Not the captain,” Snorri said.
Phile glanced over her shoulder. Though a patrol hadn’t found them yet, it was just a matter of time. Soldiers swarmed the streets, searching alleyways and lanes steps behind them.
; Phile hissed under her breath. “Get ready to use your powers, Little Wolf. They’ll catch up with us on the next street.”
The trio darted around a corner, and hands reached out and yanked Rakel back.
Rakel summoned a razor-sharp icicle, and was about to jab it behind her, when Oskar whispered in her ear, “Easy, Princess. It’s just me.”
Her heart slowed as she realized Captain Halvor had grabbed Phile, and Snorri was crouched next to him. Oskar released her, and they backed into a darkened building, swinging the door shut just as a squad of soldiers started jogging around the corner.
“That was close,” Oskar said when they had left. “I think we have just about worn out our welcome. What do you think, Princess?”
“How are we going to leave? The gates will be barricaded,” Rakel said.
“Good question. Any ideas?” Oskar asked.
Captain Halvor rubbed his chin.
“How about a distraction?” Phile asked.
“Explain,” Captain Halvor ordered.
“Our group gets as close to the gates as possible. I’ll show myself and lure the guards away, leaving everyone else free to escape.”
Captain Halvor frowned. “You’ll need backup.”
“Nonsense. I can fare quite well on my own, and if I’m captured, what can they hold me for? Darting up dark alleyways? I’m not recognizable as a Verglas citizen. They wouldn’t charge me with war crimes.”
“Your goal is to evade, not be caught. Snorri will accompany you,” Captain Halvor said.
Phile opened her mouth but seemed to think better of it. She offered the scout a smile. “I suppose I would be up for some company. Do you want to wreak some havoc with me, Snorri?”
“Captain?” Snorri said.
“If we can get out of the city, I’m confident we can evade any pursuers.”
Snorri peered outside. “The closest gate is east.”
“Excellent,” Oskar said. “Lead on.”
The journey to the gate was more frightening to Rakel than all her previous battles with the Chosen army. Footfalls seemed to constantly pursue them, and the soldiers were always just a street away.