“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 andthenjumped?”
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, youdohave 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 askingyou. 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.
