9. Maddy
Chapter 9
Maddy
" W hy are you here again?"
I force a smile on my face as Brynhild glares at me. It's an hour before runes, and just like last week, she is dressed immaculately, reading in the library.
"I would like to talk to you more about ice-fae magic, hersir ," I say.
She regards me. "You couldn't see the Bear Wing, could you?"
"No. But I don't want to talk about my val-tivar —I want to learn about magic."
"I've told you, you have to concentrate."
"Yes, and I am working on that," I say, choosing my next words carefully. "But I realized I learn best when I have a lot of information, and I never had a proper tutor in magic. My parents didn't believe it was worth it."
I eavesdropped on my sister's lessons, of course. But Brynhild is a Valkyrie, and one of the most powerful ice-fae alive. My court has practically worshipped her for as long as I can remember, and even though she's never been kind to me, surely she knows more about ice magic than anyone else I know.
"Information?" Brynhild repeats.
"Yes. Can you teach me more about the theory of ice magic, if you can't help me with the actual control of it?"
"You already know the theory of using magic—we have discussed it. But I suppose there could be value in learning the types of things a strong ice-fae should be able to do. And perhaps we can evaluate what you have inadvertently been able to achieve, and what you can already control," she says thoughtfully.
Hope swells in me. She's being more forthcoming than I feared she would be. "I would appreciate your time, hersir ," I answer meekly.
She pauses, then nods. "And I appreciate your efforts not to be idle." She steps back to let me enter. I start toward the library, but she gestures toward the hallway, and another door. "This way, rook."
We enter a very high-ceilinged training room, with beams jutting all over the vaulted space above us. For the birds, I assume. The walls are decorated with paintings of many types of birds of prey, and if I was alone I would study them all.
But I'm not alone. I'm with the terrifying Brynhild.
I wonder if I should say something about her marking the other rooks that attacked me. To thank her, perhaps? But she's brisk and straight to the point, and the opportunity is gone before I can take it.
"I will list the skills possible for you to learn," she says, and paces back and forth before me. "The most basic, I suppose, is temperature magic. Simply lowering the temperature around you. I imagine you have achieved this numerous times, planned or not?"
"Erm." I don't know if I have, if I'm being honest. "I'm always too hot, and I make it snow over me sometimes. I guess that's not the same, though."
"No. It is not. That is snow summoning. It can be an incredible weapon on a large scale. But just creating snow to cool yourself is not the same."
"Right."
"So, you haven't just…" She waves her arms, and the temperature in the drafty room plummets. Goosebumps leap to life on my arms, and I let out an accidental sigh of happiness. "…made it cold?"
"No, hersir . I don't think so. Not enough that I noticed, anyway."
"Hmm," she says. "Moving on, then. Next we have ice creation and sculpture." I blink, but I keep any reaction from showing on my face. She is definitely not referring to magical memory sculptures. "Creating ice, and then using magic to carve it into the shape you require," she continues. "Again, this becomes a far more powerful weapon the more you are able to manipulate. Small shards can work as darts, but entire walls of ice can protect hundreds of fae from an enemy or disaster."
"Do you need water around you to freeze, or can you summon the ice out of nowhere?" I ask.
She pauses her pacing. "Small shards can be created from the moisture in the air by semi-competent ice-fae. A Valkyrie fae should be able to create much more. But for a wall of ice, yes, you would need water available. Which brings us to the next skill—freezing large bodies of water. Something we know you're capable of, because you froze the spring."
I nod.
"Frost breath is a lesser-talked-about skill. Exhaling freezing air. Not particularly useful in a battle, but it can freeze wounds to stop bleeding or festering, to freeze items, or even alarm people if they are close to you. It is essentially a gentle way to freeze."
I nod again.
"Far more useful is ice armor."
I snap my eyes to her. My heart races as I think of the crystalline protection that formed when I was with Kain, my body's desperate attempt to let me get close to him without burning. We both know it's no match for his curse, but that stolen touch…
"This is forming protective layers of ice around your body. From your expression, I assume you are familiar with this?"
"I have, erm, found parts of my body freeze when I'm hot." The words come out awkward, clumsy.
"I thought you said you cause small snow flurries when you're hot?"
"Erm, a different kind of hot."
Oh, Freya help me, why am I admitting this?
"Do you mean during sex?"
Her bluntness shocks me, and my cheeks flame. "No!"
She frowns. "Then what are you talking about? I don't have time for vagaries and games, rook."
"When my emotions are running high," I blurt.
"Like when you froze the trench during the strength display?"
"Yes."
She stares at me a minute. "Which parts of your body freeze?"
"Random parts. In patches." I swallow and struggle to look her in the face. She must know I'm lying, but she chooses not to push.
"Then I would assume you have the capacity to create ice armor."
"Right."
"Most ice magic uses exactly that as a base—ice. If you can create solid forms in the shapes you desire, you can use it hundreds of ways. Freezing the ground to move faster across it, blocking incoming weapons, hurling your own weapons—all comes from control over ice. But the truly powerful ice-fae can access magic beyond this."
I lean forward. "Like what?"
"Blizzards that can engulf a city with snow that lasts for years afterward. Freezing winds that can slow the passage of time. Snowflakes that can carry the whispered word."
I let out a long, excited breath.
"Do you know who else possesses these powers?"
"No."
"Frost Giants."
"Oh."
"And do you know which fae are best designed to fight Frost Giants?"
The answer seems obvious, so I go with it. "Fire-fae?"
"Precisely. And there are none left."
That's not strictly true—there are two in Featherblade right now—but she doesn't give me a chance to correct her.
"It is up to us, rook. If you can't fight ice with flame, then what good do you think vines, shadows, and light will do?"
Again, I want to answer. Light can burn through ice. I've seen it. It can blind and distract and even solidify. And shadow-fae can terrify their victims without even touching them—I'd been on the receiving end of that too. Surely the Frost Giants are not immune to fear? And the earth-fae can do more than create vines, they can?—
"It is up to us. The ice-fae. We are the best placed to destroy this threat, Madivia."
Her eyes are a little wild, and I use all my self-restraint to keep my mouth shut.
Why does she think it's up to four of the rooks and her to be the army we are being trained to become? She's never said anything like this before.
When I don't answer, she raises her hand, and ice shoots from it, a wide and beautiful arc of glittering shards. When they fall, they move, forming a tiny statue as they land on the planks. A Frost Giant.
"They must be destroyed. You were chosen, and you have a duty. You have the power of a berserker in there somewhere. It is time you used it."
"I'm trying," I say, my voice quieter than I hoped it would be.
She moves with sudden violence, stamping on the glittering little Frost Giant. Ice shoots away beneath her boot, tinkling in the quiet.
"Then you need to try harder."