Rakel reached forward,and the ice parted for her as it had the day she built the wall. When she brushed the hilt of his sword, Farrin started struggling.
It was no use; the ice held him still as Rakel dragged his weapon away.
Rakel struggled, the muscles in her arms screaming with bone-deep weariness as she lifted the giant sword. The ice holding Farrin started to crack, but it was too late.
We’ve won.
Ice snapped up from the ground, encasing the sword in a gem-like prism. She pulled her hands loose and frosted the surface of the ice so the sword couldn’t be seen. Next, she coated it in two additional layers of ice, twirling and moving them so the ice block was positioned differently, making it impossible to guess where in the foggy block the sword was located.
She gave the ice one last swirl as Farrin broke through the ice encasing his body. Farrin wryly stared at the ice block. “It seems I haven’t given you enough credit,” he admitted.“But this won’t stop me from getting it. The sword is a tool;Iwield the magic.”
“Yes,” Rakel agreed. Her elation made her lightheaded and warm. They did it! She and Liv had dealt amajorblow to the Chosen colonel.Getting smacked with that curse was worth it. We’ve got his sword.“Even so, you won’t be able to reclaim it. You can reflect magic, but your sword is much sturdier than yourhands. It will take you hours to smash all the way to the center to retrieve your sword, and you don’t have hours. You don’t even have minutes.”
“What are you talking about?” Farrin frowned.
A fireball popped up into the sky. Rakel shot off a storm of snowflakes in response, making a bigger cloud than she meant to thanks to the haze of joy that embraced her.
“What I mean is that we’ve won, and you’re going to be captured,” she said, smiling at Farrin as she flicked her hand, summoning a sword of ice, and held it to his throat.
Frodi, Genovefa, and a company of soldiers poured into the garden.
“Farrin Graydim, do you surrender?” Frodi demanded.
Genovefa tilted her head like a strange bird. “I would very much like to match blades with you again—though it seems you have lost yours.”
Rakel turned, looking for Liv so she could thank her.Ostfold is ours—and Steinar is safe!
Farrin studiedthe Verglas forces with chagrin. Rakel had bested him—even if he was free to move around again. Without his sword, he couldn’t easily attack, and even with his superior speed, he would be hard-pressed to escape the elf.
As he watched, the Verglas princess turned to smile at a woman who was hiding behind one of the water tower stands. Her grin abruptly dropped from her mouth and she groaned. “No!” Her eyes slipped shut, and she sagged to her knees.
Thrusting aside the regret of his loss, Farrin tapped his speed magic and caught her before she could hit the ground. “Rakel?”
“Back away from the princess!” the Verglas fire user yelled.
Rakel didn’t respond.
“Rakel!” Farrin said, his heart beating unevenly.
The elf was on him in an instant, dragging him away from the princess. He struggled—surrounded and significantly outmanned as he was—and one thought kept tolling in his mind.Rakel!
“She’ll be fine, lad,” said the older Verglas magic user who summoned the elf. He kindly smiled and held out a pair of those wretchedly unbreakable manacles. “Now if you’ll co-operate…”
Farrin let himself be led away, but he cast one more glance over his shoulder to look at his sword…and Rakel.
CHAPTER 17
KING STEINAR
“Princess, I’m certain you shouldn’t be up already,” Liv said, her forehead puckered with worry as she trotted at Rakel’s side.
“Ishouldhave been up long before now,” Rakel growled.
“You were unconscious until barely ten minutes ago,” Liv protested.
“That’s not a good excuse.”
“It’s anexcellentexcuse! Please, return to your room to finish recovering.”
