“Aleifr,” Captain Halvor hissed.
“Ready, sir,” Aleifr said, the small sleighs already turned around and ready to go. “When I heard the noise, I thought you would want a speedy exit.”
Oskar leaped into one tiny, two-person sleigh, and Rakel hurriedly sat behind him.
“Do we leave one for Snorri and Phile?” Oskar asked as Aleifr and the captain climbed into the remaining two sleighs.
“No. The Chosen will find it when they comb the woods. We fly!” Captain Halvor snapped his reins, and his reindeer lunged forward.
Between the moonlight and the light bouncing off the white snow, it was quite bright, so careening around in the middle of the night was not as dangerous as it could have been. The downside, of course, was that the Chosen army could see just as clearly and would have no problem tailing them.
Captain Halvor did his best to lose them. He stayed to the trees and wove in different directions, often leading them astray. Rakel quietly—hoping to avoid drawing attention to another display of her magic—swirled snow behind them, covering the tracks of the reindeer and sleighs. But even with this, she could tell their pursuers were catching up. She could hear the pound of horse hooves above the noises of the reindeer.
Captain Halvor scowled as he looked behind them. “Princess, I’m going to take us over a shallow ditch. When we get to that bridge, I want you to bail out and hide.”
“Won’t they expect that we’ve split up and search the forest?” Rakel asked as she nudged a drift to settle over their tracks.
“Even if they suspect it, they won’t search for a long time, giving you ample opportunity to get away. Besides, they won’t think you’ve separated as long as all three sleighs keep moving together.”
“Are things that bad?” Oskar asked.
“It’s bad enough that I won’t risk her getting caught,” Captain Halvor said.
“Why don’t we take a stand—or have the Princess cover our trail?”
“Because they’ll change tactics and track us through her magic.”
Rakel cut off all contact with her magic so quickly it made her fingers sting. “What?”
“We’re almost there. Prepare yourself, Princess.”
“But I?—”
“Youmustdo this, Princess.”
Rakel’s spine tingled with the knowledge that she had placed them all in danger. She wriggled so she hung over the side of the sleigh. “We need to talk about this, Captain.”
“If we make it, I will tell you what I know. Now!”
Rakel pushed herself over the side of the sleigh, clamping her teeth shut to hold in a yell. The sleigh was not high off the ground, and the ditch the bridge spanned was barely wider than Rakel was tall, but the fall was still a good drop. Rakel winced when she hit the ground harder than she had prepared herself for. She rolled under the bridge, swiping her cape behind her to cover her tracks—after Captain Halvor’s words, she dared not use her magic. She slid herself under the branches of a scrubby shrub and wrapped her cloak around herself, its gray color blending in with the pale shades of the forest.
Her teeth chattered and the ground shook as the Chosen soldiers thundered across the bridge. Their mounts’ tack jingled, and they whistled and called to one another.
When the bridge stopped shaking and the noise faded away, Rakel relaxed, but she didn’t move. She waited several seconds, then exhaled in relief.
I’m safe.
No sooner had the thought formed than a man slid off the bridge and landed inches from her hiding spot. “Princess Rakel, you are ill-suited for subterfuge.”
Farrin Graydim.
Rakel slipped out from under the bush and snapped her cloak, raising a fence of jagged shards of ice.
One moment Farrin stood beyond the fence. Rakel blinked, and he was on top of it and leaping down at her.
Yes, he has speed magic alright.
Rakel flicked her fingers, coating the ground with ice as she scurried backwards. Farrin took one misstep and turned it into a leap, tackling her so they tumbled to the ground.
