[Fairy Queens 00.5] Of Ice and Snow by Amber Argyle

Author:Amber Argyle [Argyle, Amber]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairy Queens Series
ISBN: 0997639016
Google: i9w1DwAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 20734689
Publisher: Starling Books
Published: 2014-01-01T07:00:00+00:00

The clanmen chose a narrow place in the mountain pass where the fire had been blocked from the forest by the river on one side and a cliff on the other. Sometime in the night, the weather had changed, shifting from the spice of autumn to the chill of winter as dark clouds billowed across the turbulent sky.

Concealed behind a bare outcropping of rock, Otec felt the outline of the broken little mouse in his pocket as he lay waiting, shivering, with the boys of the Tyron and Argon clans in the hours before dawn. All were silent and still, anticipating the signal from Otec’s father, who hid with the men behind a rise in the road. They would prevent the Raiders from entering Argon, while the boys fired from above.

Otec just hoped he didn’t get any of the boys killed. A clanman learned the art of the bow from the time he could walk, but these boys had never fought in a real battle before, and he’d never been a leader.

He heard a scuffle behind him and turned to reprimand the boys, since the Raiders would come into view any second. The twins had pinned another boy down. It was Ivar, his eyes wide, like those of a spooked cart horse that is determined to run, no matter who or what it plows over. “I can’t do this again,” he cried loudly. “I can’t kill another man, even a Raider!”

One of the twins clapped a hand over Ivar’s mouth. “You fool! You’ll get us all killed.”

Every man had to face his fear. For the twins, the fear had come first. For Ivar, it was coming now. Seeing the panic in the child’s face, something within Otec hardened. “I have killed Raiders,” he said. “They die just as easily as a deer or a lamb, and they are more a beast than both.” The boys all looked at him, and he so desperately wanted to say something to rally them—something like Seneth and his father had said earlier. For some reason, Otec thought of Matka on that cliff, terrified and alone.

“Though you are still boys,” he began, “you are more man than any Raider, for you fight to save your sisters and mothers. And save them we will. When you are old, you will tell your grandchildren of this day.”

Ivar stopped fighting, and the boys holding him slowly eased back. There was a dark stain on his trousers—he’d lost control of his bladder. Ivar saw Otec notice. Knowing such a thing could haunt the boy for the rest of his life, Otec said, “Fear touches all men. It’s what you do with that fear that counts.” He said it loud enough and with enough conviction for all the boys to hear. Hands shaking, Ivar took up his bow and settled back into position.

Moments later, Otec heard the sound of marching. He peered over the trees stripped of their leaves, to the canyon floor, stained black and choked with still-smoking debris. Orange flames glowed here and there whenever the wind picked up.

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