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“A man will come to your bed in the dark for a year and a day’s worth of nights. He will neither speak to you nor touch you, and you must neither look at him nor touch him.

“I shall assume the bear told you that if you persevere, he will be rewarded with something he desperately wants, and you will be allowed to go home safely.”

Gytha nodded. “Yes, more or less.”

The queen laughed again mockingly. “You are an innocent, aren’t you! Let us assume the man has no ill intentions, shall we?”

Increasingly uneasy, Gytha nodded again. She knew it sounded ridiculous. But Alexander could be trusted, couldn’t he? He would not have asked her to do it if he thought the man had bad intentions.

“Let us also assume that for so many nights, you are able to resist your curiosity about the man who shares your bed.” She raised her eyebrows in challenge. “No touching, no looking, no word of reassurance from a stranger in the dark. You must be a brave soul!

“At the end of the year, what reward do you think an enormous white bear would want?”

The girl’s eyes turned involuntarily to the bear, who lay with his head on his paws and his eyes locked on her face. “I hadn’t really thought about it,” she admitted.

“Well, first he will eat you, of course,” said the queen carelessly. “But beyond that. What do you think an intelligent predator might desire?”

“Why would he eat me?” Gytha’s voice cracked.

Queen Javethai laughed, a bright, tinkling sound like ice crystals. “He’s a bear! Of course he wants to eat you. But he wants you fattened up first.”

“But you’re feeding me.”

The queen’s red lips pulled back from her sharp, pointed teeth. “Far be it from me to prevent you from making your own foolish choices.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “The bear and I have made something of a bargain or a wager. A contest of wills, you might say.

“If I win, I will make you my heir, bequeathing you all my extensive lands with their snowy beauty, and all my servants with their skills in the working of metal and stone. I am not human, as you are, so I will live many human lifetimes, but if you like, I can give you long life too, so that you live long enough to enjoy it as ruler, not merely heir. I will make you a princess with magic in your fingertips and ice in your heart, strong and cold and powerful.” The queen’s eyes gleamed. “Of course you will also be treated as befits a princess even while I rule.”

Gytha swallowed. “That is a kind offer,” she said carefully. “May I ask what exactly the terms of the bargain are?”

The bear’s gaze still rested on her face, and she wondered what he thought of the queen’s words.

“The bear thinks you will be able to resist the fear and uncertainty of a man sharing your bed for the nights of an entire year and a day. If you do so, he will take my throne and much of my magic, and he will try to defeat me, to usurp my rightful place as queen. If he succeeds in that, which of course he will not, he will rule with an iron fist, mistreating my people and causing much trouble for the humans in the south.” The queen’s lips twisted in anger. “Of course he would eat you before you saw your family overrun by ice goblins or the great wolves or even other white bears. You wouldn’t have to worry about seeing the devastation you caused.”

Gytha frowned. “And if I do not resist the fear and uncertainty? What happens if I look?”

“Then you will see that he is a handsome prince!” The woman smiled at her, sharp teeth gleaming. “A conniving, silver-tongued liar prince, with no mercy in his heart for my people. If you look, you will see the truth, andIwill win the bargain, and I will enact justice upon the bear prince as I see fit.”

“So if I don’t look, the bear wins and he rules your people and kills mine, and if I do look, I see that he’s a handsome but treacherous prince who lied to me about the bargain?”

“Exactly.” Queen Javethai nodded, her eyes flashing.

Gytha bit her lip and snuck a glance at the bear. “Why did you consent to the bargain?”

The queen shot another murderous look at the bear before composing herself. “We have been at odds for two and a half centuries, and I was tired of waiting for him to give in. I am the queen! He has no right to hold out solong against me.”

The bear’s gaze felt like a weight on Gytha’s face, and she wondered what he thought of the queen’s words. The queen’s voice had a sharp air of impatience and annoyance, and Gytha had the feeling she ought not push too far with these inquiries.

Queen Javethai said abruptly, “You must be hungry! The food!” She clapped her hands, and one of servants hurried back into the room. The servant bowed and motioned toward the door. The bear remained motionless, his dark eyes inscrutable.

With a quick, imperious wave of her hand, the queen bid Gytha rise and led her through the corridors to the dining hall. The queen threw herself into the chair at the head of the table with an air of careless power and authority.

Cautiously, Gytha asked, “This is a grand room. Do you often have banquets here?”

The queen’s eyes flashed. “Not often. I will host no banquets until this contest with the beast is decided. I do not wish for interference in the game.”

Servants brought food for them in many courses. The queen ate in silence. Every motion was graceful, but she had a dangerous, mercurial air, as if she might explode into fury at any moment.

Gytha did not speak. The food was delicious, if strange, and she had been so hungry for so long that the feeling of fullness was odd and heavy. Soon her head was nodding.