Rakel ignored the plea and marched through the castle, hoping to come upon someone she knew. (Liv stubbornly refused to reveal where Oskar, Phile, and General Halvor were.) After lying like the dead for three days, Rakelbadlywanted to learn about the rest of the battle for Ostfold. More importantly, she wanted to know how her brother, King Steinar, was reacting to his rescue.
Unfortunately, information was scarce. Liv, in her insistence that Rakel needed to return to her room to lie down, was impossible to twist information from. So Rakel was lost somewhere in the palace—while Snorri had drawn countless diagrams of the palace grounds, Rakel had paid scant attention to the innards—and hadn’t come upon anyone familiar.
She stopped walking and turned to Liv, her chin rising and one of her eyebrows arching as she considered what it would take to make the normally meek female talk. Fortunately—for both Rakel and Liv—a squad of patrolling soldiers rounded the bend.
“Princess?”
Rakel looked away from the quaking but determined Liv and smiled. “Knut, your timing is exquisite as usual.”
The soldier bowed and gave the pair his charming, gap-toothed smile. “Thank you, Princess. Congratulations on, uh, waking.”
“Thank you. I would appreciate your aid and expertise, if you could be spared for a moment,” Rakel said, casting Liv a thinly veiled scowl.
“How can I serve you, Princess?”
“Do you know the location of Oskar or General Halvor?”
“Not Phile?” Liv asked.
“As Phile has not sought me out yet, it is likely she is partaking in a shadowy activity of which I wish to remain ignorant,” Rakel said.
“Oskar and Phile were having a meeting in the royal library when my boys and I passed it not twenty minutes ago,” Knut said.
“Thank you for the information. Where is the library?”
“The first floor of the royal wing, Princess.”
“Where is the royal wing?” Rakel patiently asked.
The hallway was as silent as death as Knut studied his feet, and Rakel couldn’t quite pin down why.I didn’t ask anything unusual…did I?
“I will show you there, Princess,” Liv said, her voice quiet and almost mournful.
Rakel eyed her, suspicious over the newfound desire to help. “You will lead me directly there?”
“Yes, Princess,” Liv said, her lower lip trembling.
Rakel looked from Liv to Knut. “Is there a reason for the sudden lachrymose air?”
Knut straightened. “No, Princess. Good luck finding them.”
“Thank you, Knut. I beg your pardon for intruding.” Rakel nodded to the soldiers, then followed Liv, who moved through the palace at a brisk pace. In no time at all, she escorted Rakel all the way to the library. She hovered at the doors, preparing to knock, but Rakel—having spent too much time with Phile in the past month—threw the door open.
Phile was sitting on top of a desk, her legs draped off the side. She tossed Foedus high in the air and caught it. “Little Wolf.” She slipped off the desk and smiled as brightly as the sun.
Oskar was seated behind her, an arm thrown across his forehead. At Phile’s proclamation, he peered out from under the arm and then leaped to his feet. “Princess, it is a delight to see you so refreshed!”
“Oskar, Phile. Please forgive my curtness, but what happened during my…convalescence? Where is Frigid?” Rakel glided towards them, remembering to call out, “Thank you, Liv.”
“You’re welcome, Princess.”
As Liv slipped away, Phile gave Rakel a bone-crunching hug. “It’s good to see you up,” she said. “You’re thinking of when you were cursed, right? He ran off to the forests—I snagged him once the fighting was over. He was gorging himself on uncovered weeds. Nice work with Graydim’s sword, by the way. That was a neat trick.”
“Where is he?” Rakel asked.
“Farrin Graydim? Gone.” Oskar’s voice held a grim note in it as he pulled out a padded arm chair and indicated that Rakel should sit in it.
Rakel gave Phile an accusing glare.
