Overnight, the world had turned into a frozen wonderland. Branches were encased in ice, their early buds trapped in crystal tombs. As difficult as it was getting around on the ice, there was something oddly magical about it. The way it changed the landscape completely.
Mikko held court in a large round tent, the sides of which now looked like panes of glass. He stood inside, hunched over a table with a map of Doldastam spread out on it, wearing a dark gray fur coat. Someone had made a pot of tea over a fire, and he sipped from a chalice as he studied the map.
The large hill kept our armies and the fires mostly hidden from Doldastam, but the Skojare tower guard cloaked any smoke or light that might be visible. Still, the guards’ powers weren’t very strong, so we kept the fires to a minimum.
Ludlow, Finn, and Baltsar were already in with him when Ridley and I arrived. None of them were speaking, so it didn’t seem like we’d missed much.
“It’s damn early for all this,” Ludlow muttered, pouring himself a cup of tea.
Darkness only lasted for roughly six hours this time of year, and the plan before we’d gone to bed was that we wanted to hit Doldastam as close to daybreak as possible. Well, that was the old plan, at least. I was hoping to change it.
“If we go around—” Finn began to say, but I cut him off and stepped closer to the table.
“Sire, I would like to make a request,” I said, and Mikko slowly lifted his head to look at me. “I would like it if you waited to launch the assault against Doldastam and allowed myself and a few others to sneak in past the walls so we can get people out before the bloodshed starts.”
Mikko straightened up, resting his solemn gaze on me. “I know that you’ve grown up here, so you have friends and family to consider. But you can’t evacuate half the town, at least not without everybody noticing.”
“I’m not asking for half the town,” I persisted. “I’m asking to get my parents out, and Ridley wants to get his mother.” I motioned to Finn. “Finn’s parents and sister are there.”
Mikko’s gaze hardened, and though I wanted to go on and on listing people I’d like to get out of there—like Tilda’s parents, her sister and brother-in-law, and her three-year-old niece, or Kasper’s family, which had already had enough loss. Even Linus Berling and his parents, who had been nothing but kind, a rarity among royals.
I knew Mikko’s fear. I would evacuate the whole town if I could, but that wasn’t an option. But I’d be damned if I left my parents trapped behind those walls. Tilda had told me that the town was already turning against them, and I wouldn’t let them die there.
“Do you know a way that you can get in without being seen?” Baltsar asked, his curiosity clearly piqued.
“Yes, we think so.” Ridley moved to the map and tapped on the east side of the wall. “There’s a narrow pipe that drains out to the Hudson Bay. It wouldn’t be large enough to sneak an army in, but a few of us should be able to go in undetected.”
“I would like to get my family out of there,” Finn said. “They have no part in this.”
“I’d like to go too, my lord,” Konstantin said, appearing behind us in the tent, and I turned to look at him. “I’ve already had to escape Doldastam once by going out through the sewers. I can get back through them.”
Baltsar rubbed his chin, staring down at the spot on the map. “I would like to see the interior of Doldastam so I can plan my attacks better, but I don’t think it’s worth the risk.”
“You’ve been looking for a weak spot in the wall,” Konstantin pointed out, walking over to him. “And it’s hard to detect from this distance. If we were inside, I could show you the weakest points, and you can decide where you want to attack.”
Baltsar arched an eyebrow. “That would be invaluable information. Our only way into Doldastam will be by taking down that wall.”
“It will only take us an hour, maybe two,” I persisted. “Baltsar could gather information that would give us a great advantage in the war, and then we’ll return. We can go to war without anything lost.”
“Go, then,” Mikko said, his thunderous voice rumbling with irritation. “Leave before anybody else decides to join you.”
There wasn’t time to waste. If we wanted to rescue our families, it would be best to use what little time we had before the sun rose.
Just before we left, Konstantin stopped me at the bottom of the hill. He held one of his prized daggers, the handle pointed toward me. “Take it, white rabbit. It’ll come in handy if we run into trouble.”
I’d planned to grab one of the swords from the arsenal, but a dagger would be easier to carry. Not to mention that none of the weapons here would be as nice or as strong as Konstantin’s.
“Thank you,” I started to say as I tucked it in the back of my waistband, but he’d already turned and started walking up the hill.
Climbing back up the hill outside of Doldastam was much harder work than it had been last night, thanks to the ice. Once we reached the peak and looked down below, I had to pause to marvel at the beauty of it.