into the Icemark next spring.
He smiled quietly to himself: At least he would be in a state of complete preparedness when the thaw came. No need to wait for regiments to make their way along recently opened roads. They’d all be in position, just waiting for his order to advance.
A short while later he became aware of a pleasant hunger — there was nothing like maneuvers to stimulate the appetite. A little beef for dinner tonight, he thought, cooked very rare, with one of those fine red wines from the latest of my conquests. The two would complement each other perfectly.
13
Thirrin pointedly ignored the long woolen warmers that Oskan had carefully rolled down over the ears of his mule, Jenny Even the fact that they were bright yellow with red pom-poms on the very tips didn’t drag any sort of comment out of her. She was determined not to notice them or the richly colored bridalry the mule was decked in, but she was swiftly coming to the conclusion that there were times when Oskan deliberately tried to annoy her. He still refused to ride a horse that she thought more fitting for one of her most important advisers, and now he’d taken to making a naturally ridiculous-looking animal look even more ludicrous by dressing it in brightly colored knitwear!
The escort of ten Hypolitan cavalry troopers and twenty housecarls had all grinned like complete idiots when Oskan had first appeared on his mule, and she expected anyone they met on the road to do the same. It was hardly in keeping with royal or ambassadorial dignity.
“Are you ready?” she asked, looking down on him from the huge height of her war stallion with what she hoped was disdainful dignity, and Oskan smiled brightly and nodded.
The main road out of the Hypolitan city was lined with the refugees from Frostmarris, who watched them ride by in almost total silence. They knew their young Queen was taking a terrible risk, and that if she failed they were almost certainly doomed to defeat at the hands of the Polypontian Empire. Even the sight of the mule in its ear-warmers did little to lighten their mood. A few raised their hands in farewell, and one or two called blessings and little spells for safe journeys, but otherwise they were as quiet as a frozen lake.
Thirrin was relieved when they’d finally ridden through the gates and the road lay empty before them. Oskan had said they could expect at least three days of calm weather, by which time they should be close to the border. And certainly the day was bright and clear — the best sort of conditions for traveling in the winter, if it really couldn’t be avoided. The frozen snow reflected the sunlight brilliantly, and the sky was the polished blue of washed enamel. Thirrin sniffed the air appreciatively. Beyond the immediate strong aromas of their horses and the leather of the soldiers’ equipment, the day smelled only of the clean cold scent of snow. She felt suddenly free, and had she been on her own she would have raced through the tingling air, urging her horse to greater and greater speeds. But she was now Queen of the Icemark, and an overriding sense of her responsibilities stopped her. The realization that responsibility would color her every decision and action from now on suddenly weighed heavily on her, and her mood darkened.
“I suppose you’re cold,” she said grumpily to Oskan.
“Of course. It’s winter,” he answered blandly.
“I might’ve expected you to feel it more than most.”
He looked at her, assessing this new mood, then he said, “Madam, I’ve lived all my life in a cave and walked naked in all weathers until I was seven. Yes, I’m cold, that’s an obvious fact — everyone who leaves their fireside in an Icemark winter is cold. But I’m not complaining. I’m as cold and as refreshed as someone who’s just plunged into a mountain lake.”
She grunted moodily in answer, but she had to admit to herself that he certainly looked comfortable enough, dressed as he was in the sort of brightly colored quilted jacket and leggings that were common among the Hypolitan. In fact, Oskan matched Jenny the mule perfectly. She was only surprised he wasn’t wearing ear-warmers under his scarlet cap.
His mood wasn’t exactly in keeping with circumstances, either. Most people had waved them off with a gloomy air, acknowledging the desperate situation that had driven the new Queen of the land to seek