They brought their horses to a halt.
“Is everybody okay?” Ingrid asked, staring at them with worried eyes.
“Fine,” Lasgol said breathlessly. He had turned to Eicewald, who seemed to be about to fall off his horse.
Ona and Camu were fine. Their tongues were lolling, but they were well. So was Trotter.
“We should do this more often,” Viggo said jovially. “It’s been really fun.”
Ingrid rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, really fun,” Gerd repeated scornfully.
An officer approached them. “You are expected in the throne hall,” he said.
“All of us?” asked Viggo.
“No, only the King’s Mage.”
“That’s better. I feel like resting a bit. Too many emotions.” He made as if he were about to faint, and Ingrid jabbed him with her elbow.
“Lasgol comes with me to see the King,” Eicewald objected. “I need him.”
“As you wish, King’s Mage.”
Lasgol looked doubtfully at the Mage.
“It would be better if you heard it firsthand whatever they have to say. You’ll have to help me with the spell, as you did last time.”
“Oh, okay, then.”
Nilsa was shaking her head, and Gerd did not look very happy.
“We’ll look after them,” Ingrid said, indicating Ona.
“Thanks,” Lasgol said. Then he turned to Ona. He knew Camu was beside her, even though he could not see him. Stay with Ingrid. I’ll be back shortly. Don’t get into trouble, and be good.
We good.
Lasgol smiled. I know you are.
The officer gestured them to follow him, and they rode through the city to the royal castle. Lasgol could not see much in the darkness of the night and with no lights burning in the city, but he had the impression that things were not going at all well here. By now the city had been under siege for some time.
They were led to the castle very quickly. When the portcullis was raised and they were allowed in, they dismounted. Immediately an officer of the Royal Guard asked them to follow him to the throne hall, where King Thoran was waiting for them.
“Eicewald, at last!” Orten barked in greeting as Eicewald and Lasgol approached the throne. “We were beginning to think you weren’t coming back!” He was standing beside his brother, who was sitting on the throne looking annoyed.
“I hope you’re back with good news, for your own good and that of all of us,” the King said, also without even any pretense of a greeting. There was a glint of despair in his eyes.
“Your Majesty, my lord,” the Ice Mage said as he knelt before them. Then he nodded courteously to Commander Sven and Gatik, who were watching him from the King’s left.
“Did you get it?” Orten insisted urgently. “In case you hadn’t noticed, the situation is desperate. That accursed Specter is decimating us.”
Eicewald took the Star of Sea and Life out of his travelling bag very carefully and showed it to them. “We were successful,” he said, indicating Lasgol who was standing behind him in silence.
Thoran rose to his feet. “Is that the Object of Power you went to look for?” he asked. His eyes were wide, bright with hope.
“It is, your Majesty.”
Everybody stared in fascination at the Star of Sea and Life, as if it were able to work a miracle at a moment’s notice.
“It’s surprising,” Gatik commented.
“So it is,” Sven admitted. “I wasn’t expecting it to be like this either.”
With his hands raised high, Eicewald went on displaying the Star, with its five sea-blue tips, the width of two hands. It was mottled with an infinite number of bright spots which looked like tiny diamonds.
“Will you be able to kill that thing of the ice with it?” Orten asked.
“I hope to be able to destroy it. I’ll need the other Ice Magi.”
“They’re alive,” Sven told him. “We haven’t risked their lives too much in case this moment finally arrived.”
“I’m glad to know that,” the Mage said, and this was no mere courteous turn of phrase. Lasgol saw in his face and his dark eyes – which he was already beginning to decipher – that this was really true.
“We were expecting you a month ago,” Thoran said, sounding annoyed.
“I came as fast as I could. I was very much aware of the danger the realm was in.”
“We’ve barely been able to hold out!” the King barked at him. “We’ve been under siege for six weeks, and they almost managed to break through three times!”
“Getting the Star turned out to be complicated … very complicated …”
“I’ve no time for your excuses!”
Lasgol swallowed. The King was having one of his famous tantrums, and the best thing to do at those times was to lower your head and say nothing. Eicewald knew this, and did the same. Both of them were silent, staring at the floor.
“And that’s without counting the three weeks we spent trying to delay them as they came down from the mountains,” Orten added.
The King took a couple of steps to one side, then turned and came back. The gleam of hatred faded slowly from his eyes. “We’re still here, which is the important thing,” he said more calmly. “Now we have to turn the situation around. And to do it quickly, before they manage to get into the city and everything’s lost.”
“I’ll deal with it, your Majesty.
Thoran jabbed his finger at him. “Do not fail me!”
“Does the Specter come close to the wall?” Eicewald asked.
“Not always,” Gatik said. “There are days when it does, then sometimes it disappears for several days. Which is a blessing for us.”
“We don’t know why, but that’s how it acts,” Sven added. “It doesn’t always follow its leaders’ designs.”
“That’s understandable,” the Mage said thoughtfully. “It’s a creature with free will. The fact that they’re using it doesn’t mean they
