Page 40

Chapter 12

Acrack of thunder and a blinding light made her cry out in fright, and she sat up, flinging one hand up to keep the harsh light out of her eyes.

Her visitor was slower to wake, and as he blinked in exhausted incomprehension, she saw his face clearly. A deep pink scar puckered the skin at the inside corner of his left eye and dragged down the length of his nose. His long hair was as brown as elm wood, and his eyes were brown too.

The queen’s sharp, grinding voice rang out in fury. “Foolish child!” Her eyes blazed. “Why did you not even look at him?”

With one gray hand, she reached out to Alexander, and he shrank back, keeping himself between the queenand Gytha.

He fought free of the blankets and furs and stood, though he had to get a little closer to her to put his feet on the ground. He extended one hand behind him, as if to keep Gytha away from the queen.

Light blazed from the queen’s crown so brightly that he shielded his face with his other hand. Gytha squinted, but she could not help trying to see him. He was of about her father’s height and terribly thin, and his brown hair fell in messy curls halfway down his back.

The queen cried, “I am tired of this foolish bargain! You will marry me within a fortnight, Alexander de Gracey, or I will rip out your heart and eat it in front of all my subjects.”

The young man said hoarsely, “Your Majesty, you promised…”

“I lied!” The queen’s voice cracked with fury. “Submit to me because of the bargain or submit because of my power. I care nothing for your reasons. But submit you will, and I will have you as my own.” Her cold gray eyes flashed as she focused on Gytha. “Idiot human. I will honor this part of our bargain, Alexander: I will leave the human child here, unharmed. Now, come, and you will see the glory and might of my kingdom. Soon you will either rule with me or die in agony.”

She caught the young man by the nape of his neck and lifted him nearly off his feet. Then she ripped a hole in the world and vanished.

The world collapsed around Gytha in a clap of thunder. She covered her ears and closed her eyes, and the last thing she remembered was rocks and ice falling upon her head.

Muffled sounds slowly brought Gytha back to awareness, but it took some time before she understood her situation. She was entirely buried in snow and ice, but someone was methodically digging somewhere above her head, producing the cold crunching of snow.

“Help!” she called, but her voice was weak. It was hard to breathe, even though there was a little space around her nose and mouth.

There was an answer, but with her hood muffling her ears and snow beyond that, she could not understand the words.

Eventually strong hands freed her head and arms and hauled her out of the snow. She staggered and would have fallen, for her legs felt weak, but Eshkeshken kept his hands on her arms, steadying her until she nodded.

“Thank you,” she said gratefully.

His gray eyes swept over her and then he nodded and stepped back. His gaze flicked to behind her shoulder, and she turned to see the ice goblin cook.

The female bowed a little and said, “I am ready.” She had a heavy pack over each shoulder, and she slung one of them off and handed it to Eshkeshken.

He nodded formally and looked back at Gytha. “Can you walk?”

“Yes.” She looked around in wonder.

In three directions, starlight glinted on ice and snow. A short distance to the north, the vast icy tundra fell away to the sea, which shifted beneath a thick layer of broken sea ice. The tops of the icebergs were jagged and of uneven height, so that it was difficult to imagine how one might even attempt to cross them.

Broken chunks of ice formed a low ridge some distance away, and far in the distance, outlined against the black sky, mountain peaks glittered with snow. Besides the two ice goblinsand Gytha herself, no sign of life was visible, and for all she knew, they had been transported to an entirely different world in which no life existed.

“Where are we?” she whispered. “What happened?”

The female said, “The queen put an end to her pretense of mercy.”

Eshkeshken set off west, striding over the ice with utter confidence. “Come, Gytha, if you would rescue the bear prince.”

“Yes. Yes, of course.” Gytha hurried after him, feeling more at a loss than before.

The female goblin walked behind her.

“Um. My name is Gytha,” the girl offered after a moment. She had introduced herself nearly a year ago, but not since then, and it was only reasonable to assume the goblin might have forgotten it. Anyway, it was better to be unnecessarily polite than unnecessarily rude.

“Dakjudr,” the goblin said.