Ice Kissed

“Mina, I value your counsel, but on this matter, my decision has already been made,” Evert told her firmly. “We will find him, and we will destroy him, and that’s final.”

Mina lowered her eyes, holding Vita more closely to her, and she said nothing more after that. Evert stood up, saying he needed to meet with advisors, but he’d be calling on Ridley soon. If we were preparing for war, Ridley would have to gather the trackers and start readying them to be soldiers.

As soon as we were dismissed, Ridley stood up and stormed out of the meeting room. I followed quickly, but his strides were long and angry and it took me a moment to catch up with him.

“Ridley,” I called after him as we walked down the palace hallway, empty apart from a few maids with their hands full of cleaning supplies. “Wait.”

He whirled on me then, his dark eyes blazing, his lips pressed together. I couldn’t help but think back to when his eyes had blazed in an entirely different way a few days ago, when he’d pulled me into his arms and pressed his lips passionately against mine.

But whatever desire he’d held for me was gone, replaced by barely restrained anger. “You should’ve told me, Bryn.”

“I wasn’t sure—”

“That’s bullshit!” he roared, and I flinched. The maids were at the other end of the hallway, and they glanced back at us before hurrying on. “That may be why you didn’t tell the King right away, but you should’ve told me.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, since there was nothing else I could say.

He ran his hand through his dark hair and looked away from me, his jaw set hard. “I know things have been … complicated between us lately, but that’s no excuse not to tell me this.”

“That’s not why.” I hurried to reason with him. “I just had to be sure. I couldn’t tell you something this big without being absolutely certain.”

He smirked darkly at me. “So you thought it would be better to blindside me in a meeting with the King and Queen?”

“No, I … I wasn’t thinking.” And that was the truth. Everything had been such a mess lately, and I hadn’t been able to think clearly—especially when it came to Ridley. “I screwed up. I’m sorry.”

“No.” Ridley waved his hands and took a step back from me. “I don’t need your apologies, Bryn. And I think for right now it’d probably be best if we stayed away from each other as much as we can.”

“Ridley,” I said lamely, but I didn’t argue with him.

Then he turned and walked away, his footsteps echoing heavily in the empty hall, and as my head began to ache again I felt more alone than I had in a long time.

THREE

militia

When I stepped into the gymnasium, the noise from training fell to a dull murmur, and I could feel eyes turning toward me as the door groaned shut behind me. Thanks to my Skojare-esque appearance, I was used to being stared at in Doldastam—my blond hair and pale skin had always stood out in stark contrast to the tan skin and dark hair of the rest of the Kanin. But this was way beyond normal.

Since the King had officially declared war on Viktor Dålig, Konstantin Black, and all of their associates yesterday afternoon, the tracker school had been turned into an army training camp.

The changes had fallen over the city swiftly and quietly. As I’d walked to the tracker school in the blowing snow, I’d noticed Högdragen standing guard in front of houses—two in front of the more important Markis and Marksinna homes, while one was enough for the less notable families. In the least prominent neighborhoods, one guard would be enough for a whole block.

Even this room full of trackers seemed different: some stood in rows listening to an instructor, while others ran laps and still others did combat drills. Yesterday they had been merely trackers, but now they were soldiers, preparing for a war with an enemy that they might never encounter.

All these changes had taken place because of me, because of what I’d told the King, and because I’d let Viktor Dålig and Konstantin Black slip through my fingers once again. That’s why everyone looked at me, their expressions ranging from respect to skepticism to annoyance.

Ember Holmes broke through the trackers practicing combat drills. Her dark hair bounced in a ponytail behind her, but her bangs were damp with sweat, making them stick to her olive skin.

Boxing tape bound her hands, but her knuckles were still red and one of them was bleeding. To make up for her petite size, she fought twice as hard as anybody else, and I’m sure she’d given her training opponent a run for his money today.

“Haven’t any of you ever seen another tracker before?” Ember asked over her shoulder, casting an irritated glare at everyone in the gym as she walked toward me.

The teacher instructing the trackers barked an order, and that seemed to get everyone back in motion. The volume in the room returned to normal, and I could feel eyes shift away from me.

“You’re late,” Ember pointed out, as if I weren’t aware. “I thought you might be taking the day off to recuperate.”

“I had considered it,” I told her, but that was a lie. The headaches still flared up intermittently, and occasionally the vision in my right eye blurred for a few minutes. But I didn’t need any more time to rest. I was ready to get back to work.

I just hadn’t wanted to come here and deal with all this. Especially when I didn’t know what the point of the heightened security was. Viktor Dålig and Konstantin Black were dangerous, but we didn’t know where there were, and there were only two of them. It wasn’t like we were planning to invade another tribe or country. An army felt unnecessary.