The Icemark Chronicles: The Cry of the Icemark by Hill Stuart

Author:Hill, Stuart [Hill, Stuart]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Published: 2011-04-30T23:00:00+00:00

17

Thirrin and Oskan gladly accepted a selection of meats. It was torn, rather than cut, into huge chunks, and smoked from the rough toasting it had been given over the nearby fire. King Grishmak ate with surprising delicacy, picking up slabs of raw flesh between his thumb and forefinger and biting off a modest mouthful before returning the rest to the flat piece of stone that served as his plate.

The caves were warm and dry and, as the Werewolf King had promised, were more than big enough to accommodate them all. In fact, they were so big that a decision was made to fetch the horses from the palace stables and house them in another of the connecting caverns rather than leave them to the uncertain care of the Vampires.

The caves lay in a rocky outcrop about a mile from the Blood Palace, and as Thirrin sat eating her meal, she could see at least six fires burning in the vast space. King Grishmak had obviously brought a large household with him on his visit to Their Vampiric Majesties. And though neither Thirrin nor Oskan could quite work out exactly what the duties of the dozens of werewolves were, they all seemed amazingly busy, bustling around from fireside to fireside and constantly arriving at Grishmak’s side to whisper in his ear.

“The treaty should be ready for signing tomorrow,” the King said as he politely licked the last of the blood from his plate.

“So soon?” asked Oskan. “I’d have thought there’d have been all sorts of legal wranglings and niceties to deal with first.”

“No. You can bet Their Royal Face-aches have had their clerks working on it for weeks already. Tomorrow morning their people will arrive here and it’ll all be ready for signing. One thing, though,” and he looked at them closely. “Let my clerks read it through first. It’s almost certain they’ll try to pull a fast one in the wording somewhere, and you’ll end up ceding a province here or a town there, if you’re not careful.”

Thirrin nodded. “We’ll be glad to let your people read it first. I’m most grateful for your help.”

“Happy to be of service,” the King answered gruffly. “You’ve both done very well for such youngsters. Their Vampiric Majesties are as tricky to handle as fish in a barrel of grease, even for one as gray-pelted as I am. But come the day when the Blessed Moon has completed her cycle a few dozen times, you’ll both be more than a match for them, whether they’ve lived for a thousand years or not.”

“Have they really lived as long as that?” asked Thirrin in an awed whisper.

“Well, I suppose we should technically say existed,” Grishmak answered. “But actually it’s longer. More like twelve hundred years, but they’ve ruled for a thousand.”

“They claim their kingdom extends to the top of the world, where the ice never melts,” said Oskan. “Is that true?”

“No. They’d like it to, but there are some to the north of here far

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