But none of the strange occurrences that had tumbled, willy-nilly, into her life over the previous month prepared her for her first view of the palace grounds the following day.
After traveling through the ice city for almost an hour, passing block after block of tall houses, the skim carriages paused at a tall iron gate in the middle of a long ice wall.
The prince, who had been traveling in the front carriage, climbed out, and the carriage pulled off, down the road.
The king's carriage pulled forward and stopped beside the prince. He climbed aboard and sat opposite Repentance. She stiffened. But maybe he didn't live in the palace. Maybe he was just going to visit or he had some work to do there.
On either side of the gate, two ice statues towered over the carriages. Giant men with crossbows, surveying the sky.
"What are they hunting?" Repentance asked the king.
"They're guarding against dragons."
"I've never seen a dragon."
"Nor will you. They were annihilated in the Dragon War. Once, they were a threat to us, though, so dragon hunters were highly regarded."
The drive wound through grounds filled with mist and magic. Colored ice fountains were abundant. And from hot water fountains, ice fog lifted and settled on pine trees, clothing them with thick, frosty shawls.
Repentance put her hand out of the carriage window, feeling the warm day. "Why doesn't the ice melt in the sun?"
"It can't melt. One of the gifts of Providence, you know."
No, she didn't know.
"Like the cloths and the hot springs," the king said, as if that would clear it all up for her.
She nodded, not wanting to press him for an explanation lest he grow exasperated with her.
Off to one side, a patch of slick, smooth ice shone like gold, and several children slid across the surface.
Repentance laughed. How much fun her brothers would have had sliding there.
She looked closer. "But it looks wet, there, where the children are sliding,"
"It is wet," the king said. "It has a constant sheet of hot water running over it to keep it slippery. Otherwise it would freeze, dry and sticky, like the streets."
"And would you like to know what's really funny?" the prince asked.
Repentance looked shyly at him.
"Me?" she asked.
"No, you're not funny," he answered looking at her with a kind of strange, hungry look. "I can assure you, you're not funny."
She blushed. "You were asking me if I wanted to know something funny?"
"Oh, you are funny, after all. Yes, I was asking you. Who else? You don't suppose my uncle likes to laugh, do you? Can't you see what a sour face he has?" He cocked an eyebrow.
His insolence was shocking.
He continued, apparently feeling no reproach from her shocked expression. "What's really funny is when someone turns off the hot water that washes over the top of the frozen pond. The children come to a screeching halt in seconds. The water freezes and they are stuck solid."
Repentance tried to picture such a scene.
The prince was laughing. "Small children waving their arms around and screaming hysterically." He waved his arms around to demonstrate. "Help, help!"
"Their mothers didn't find it as entertaining as you did," the king said. "The cook quit."
"But Uncle, you have only yourself to blame for that," the prince said. "A king shouldn't allow his servants to quit."
"When the prince freezes a child's feet to a pond so they get ice-burned, it would hardly be fitting for the king to make the mother continue to cook for the young ne'er do well."
The prince frowned. "I don't see why not. The king owns the child's feet. He should do as he pleases with them."
"Yes, and the king was pleased to provide healing treatments for those feet. Do you question my rights in the matter, or only my wisdom?"
"Neither, Uncle," the prince said turning away to gaze out the window. "You are all sovereign and wise and ever may you receive honor and glory," he muttered.
The king's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. He pulled out his flask and took a swig.
As the carriage approached the palace Repentance ducked down and looked out the window, so she could see the top of the palace towers, which soared into the blue sky like giant icy cliffs. "So tall!"
"The palace is five stories," the king said, "with the towers going up four stories beyond that."
The face of the building was carved in elegant scrolling patterns, while sculpted dragon hunters guarded the main doors.
The carriage halted and the king stepped down first. He waved the footman away and turned to help Repentance down himself.
The prince tucked his leather pouch under one arm and stepped out in front of Repentance. "Thank you, Your Majesty," he said, taking the king's hand.
As he let go, he gave the king a little jerk, pulling him off-balance.
The footman caught the king and steadied him.
The king slapped the footman away, as if offended that anyone would think he needed help standing on his own two feet. Then he helped Repentance from the carriage and led her up the wide palace steps.
"Here's Provocation," the king said indicating an old slave woman standing in the doorway, dressed in a fine gown. "She is head over the affairs of the house. If you are in need of anything, you may go to her."
The prince brushed past the woman and into the house.
The king squinted at the prince's back for a moment, then turned his attention to Provocation. "I've brought home a friend," the king said. "This is Repentance. She's to have the queen's chamber."
Provocation's eyes widened for a moment before she bowed her head serenely.
Repentance was much less composed. The queen's chamber!
"And, send Biased to me," the king
