“Sure you are. You’ve done it already. You can’t tell me you didn’t know it was Knut who shot at you in your castle, and you’ve never treated him with hatred or scorn.”
Rakel took a step back. “How do you know about that incident?”
“He told me—so did Oskar. You could have told Halvor, and he would have sacked Knut—war or not—but you didn’t.”
“It was obvious Knut shot at me out of fright. As my guards rarely saw me, his fear was perhaps understandable. This incident with Aleifr is far more serious as he purposely acted as a traitor.”
Phile balanced Foedus on her knuckles. “How do you know? He said he thought you were sleeping when he entered your room.”
“Farrin Graydim found me,” Rakel said bitterly.
Phile dropped Foedus in her shock. “And he let you go?” she exclaimed.
“It is odd,” Rakel said, still unsettled by the memory of Farrin tucking her hair over her shoulder. “But I refuse to discuss his behavior. I still take offense that you believe it is unfair that I am so guarded.”
“Why? You practically made my point for me when you said Knut and Aleifr were different situations.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Hm, right. I’ll try to use a metaphor you will understand. Do you knowwhypeople fear those who can use magic so much?”
“Because we are monsters of nature.”
“No,” Phile said. “It’s because when folks started discovering magic—besides the small things that herbwomen, woodsmen, and the like can do—there were several evil, greedy people who had magic and decided they were better than everyone else, so they should rule the world. They didn’t get very far—back then there were even fewer gifted with magic than there are now—but they taught the continent a bloody lesson: magic users aren’t to be trusted. You follow?”
“I read as much in several history books,” Rakel said.
“Of course you did. Now, certainlyyouknow that supposed lesson is wrong. You’re a good person, and even some of the enemy mages seem nice enough. It would be truthful to say that regular people made a sweeping decision, when it was only afewmagic users who couldn’t be trusted. Sadly, they made their minds up, and now magic users are subjected to horrible things because of the actions of those few evil people. What you think about the villagers and troops is the same concept. Because of the actions of several weak-minded, greedy men, you are going to forsakeallof them—including the Gertas, the Oskars, and the Halvors among them.”
Rakel was quiet as the snow continued to fall.
“Come with me.”
“I haven’t agreed to come back.”
“We’re notgoing togo back, but there’s something you need to see.” Phile grabbed the reins of her horse and moved east. Rakel reluctantly fell in step with her and used the walk to adjust the weather so it no longer snowed on her behalf.
When Phile stopped to extinguish her torch, Rakel could hear faint shouts.
“Princess!”
“Princess Rakel!”
Phile, Rakel, and the horse made their way around a thick wall of pine trees. The forest was dotted with flickering lights. Villagers and troops alike held torches above their heads as they squinted in the darkness and shouted.
“Princess!”
“We’re sorry!” Knut shouted, his usually smiling face lined with grief.
Rakel’s icy wrath buckled. She thought she was valued for her ability to free villages, but a valuable weapon wouldn’t bring out so many people. Inga—Gerta’s mother—was out, as was Captain Halvor and the guards from his squad, a number of Fyran and Vefsna villagers, and many of the soldiers she had freed from the Chosen garrison. They were searching for her in spite of the snow and cold, on the same night as a hard-fought battle. They had to be bone-weary, but they kept plodding through the forest.
“What am I supposed to do, Phile?”
“Trust them,” she advised. “Let them know you trust them. No matter where you run, if people are involved in your life, you will be hurt; it’s a fact of life. But you of all people should know that loneliness hurts even worse.”
“That doesn’t make it any less frightening.”Rakel raised her chin and walked towards the searchers. Phile followed behind her, towing her horse.
It was Captain Halvor who saw her first. “Princess,” he breathed, his face slackening with relief. In four quick strides, he bridged the space between them and searched her—in a much less invasive and personal way than Farrin had—for injuries. “You’re not wounded,” he said.
