Hearts of Ice by Adi Rule

Author:Adi Rule
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Evangeline gripped the edge of the greasy bartop. “Are—are you a ghost?”

“No, I’m not a ghost,” the disembodied voice squeaked. “I’m back here!”

Evangeline and Hortense leaned over the bar. On the other side, a girl with golden pigtails, large, square teeth, and long, upright rabbit ears stared up at them. She wore a dirty apron over a pink jumpsuit that matched her wide-apart eyes.

“Oh. Hey there,” Evangeline said, but the girl only pursed her lips and looked nervously around.

“What are you doing?” called the bartender from the other end of the bar. “Get back to work!”

The pigtailed girl gave a frightened squeak and put her head down. She grabbed a tall glass and filled it with something from a dingy tap. “Here’s your drink, miss,” she said in a shaky voice, setting the glass down on a napkin and pushing it toward Evangeline.

“I didn’t order—” Evangeline started, but with another nervous glance at the bartender, the girl hopped away and disappeared into the back room.

Evangeline and Hortense exchanged confused looks.

“What is this?” Evangeline said, picking up the glass. It was the color of watered-down orange juice, but there appeared to be little bits of fluff or vegetation or something floating in it.

“Look!” Hortense pointed to the napkin under the glass. Only it wasn’t a napkin at all—it was a scrap of paper.

Evangeline slid it across the bartop toward her. “A note!” she whispered, then glanced around the busy tavern. “Meet me in the alley,” she read in a low voice before slipping it into her pocket.

Leaving the mystery beverage, Evangeline and Hortense made their way outside into the late afternoon. The village of Oak, nestled in a valley, was warmer than the forest that clung to the mountain, but the mud here was still tinged with ice. Hortense pulled her shawl tightly over her ears as they ducked into the alley next to the Bundle of Sticks.

Suddenly, a cry from the street made them stop in their tracks. Some kind of kerfuffle was going on in the town square. Cautiously, from the shadow of the alley, Evangeline and Hortense peeked around the edge of the building.

A small crowd had gathered by the well, and at its center stood three people. Two wore long red cloaks that cut through the grays and browns of Oak village as vibrantly as if they were traffic lights. The third, Evangeline felt sick to realize, was the Lord High Keeper himself. With one massive, icy hand, he gripped Evangeline’s discarded mortal band. With the other, he held a small, knobby-horned man up by his neck. The man wore a simply embroidered cape made of brown velvet that flapped as he kicked his legs. A pretty brown hat lay in the mud beneath him where it must have fallen from his balding head.

“A white fox, an arana, and Princess Desdemona!” the Lord High Keeper bellowed. “Surely a trio like that would stick out in a soggy, disgusting village like this! We know they came thorough a

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