A gust of freezing air assaulted Tracou where he sat and he hugged himself in an attempt to prevent unsightly shivering. Someone like Pendaer or Ina would have commented on this in some way, but Yash simply observed him. Maybe this was a kind of Winlean joke. Keeping the window open to show that Winleans could handle the cold and that foreigners couldn't didn't sound especially funny to Tracou, but he knew nothing about Winlean humor.
"Dezmek dislike the cold?" Yash asked at length.
"Usually..."
"Let's get you away from the window. Dezmek Tracou, would you mind taking a look at something for me?" Yash asked as he stood up.
Tracou nodded, eager to leave the cold.
Yash led him over to the table with various bits of parchment he had been hunched over earlier. A map of Dezmer lay on top of everything else, Winlean words scribbled on certain areas of the country. On the brittle, aged parchment, the faded shape of Dezmer seemed a little off. No towns, roads, forests, cliffs, or anything else had been marked on the map—essentially it was a few, empty lines and some text Tracou couldn't understand.
Why did Yash have a map of Dezmer?
"Where in Dezmer are you from? Are you from Terel?"
Despite being the capital of Dezmer, most people outside of Dezmer didn't know its name. Tracou looked for Terel on the map. Where Terel should be was a word in Winlean, but that was the only named area as far as he could tell.
"No, but I travel through it often. I'm from Ergakan."
"Ergakan?"
"A village by the coast." Tracou pointed to the approximate area on the map. "About half a day's walk to the ocean on a good day."
Yash grabbed a thin brush, dipped it in ink, and left a few curly letters on the parchment next to Tracou's finger. "Tell me about Ergakan."
Relieved that he would be able to talk about something he understood, information flowed from his mouth with abandon.
"Ergakan is a village with not quite two hundred people. We have some fishermen that live there, but most people are farmers. Oh, but since we're so close to the port, sailors in the navy pass through the village twice a year. There aren't many other villages in the area because the soil is better inland. My family has held the land there for generations, though, and Ergakan usually does fine."
"There's a port nearby?"
"Yes, a small one. It's only active twice a year—in the spring when the sailors leave and in the fall when they return."
Carefully leaving another note on the map, Yash nodded. "If you had your own ship, you could make a tidy profit for yourself and for Ergakan. You could sell fruit and anything else from your village directly to Winlea..."
That was never something Tracou had considered. Truthfully, the port near Ergakan wasn't as close to Winlea as others, particularly one that was several days north of the village. But traveling by ship would be fast enough to make the difference negligible. Maybe if he struck this deal, Ergakan could grow.
But that had never been his goal. Once he returned, Ergakan would hopefully be fine. Only Mirthal's position was precarious.
"You're uncertain?" Yash asked.
Tracou blinked up at him. "Ah... I, um. I don't have the means to commission a ship right now."
"I see. Because of those Aodehsh you're stuck with, right? You have to do the woman a favor, which means spending money."
Tracou averted his gaze. He was stuck with Ina and Pendaer, even if Yash didn't understand exactly why.
"Right..."
"Are all dezmek so easily taken advantage of?"
How rude! Tracou glared up at Yash, whose eyebrows twitched in surprise. Damn. He was supposed to be getting on Yash's good side, not getting angry at him! Tracou bit the inside of his cheek.
"They... have my wand."
"I could have them searched. Then you would be free to spend your money as you wish."
That offer was too late, but if it had been an option earlier he would have taken it. Tracou eyed the door, imagining the shock and outrage Pendaer would have felt if some humans he had never met had forced him to hand Tracou's wand back to him. What a missed opportunity.
Yash followed Tracou's gaze to the door and quirked an eyebrow at him. "Are you worried they're listening?"
"I know they're listening."
"Hah, I see. Let's turn to other matters, then. From Ergakan to Terel, how long—?"
But a knock coming from the other side of the room, hidden by cloth, interrupted Yash. An elderly voice asked something in Winlean, to which Yash replied with words that slid from his mouth as though he had said them a thousand times before.
The towers in the Frosted Castle were all connected. If Yash was in one of them, who were in the others?
The two spoke for a while before the voice retreated.
"There's something I must attend to," Yash said, rolling up the map of Dezmer. "You're welcome to stay in the castle, though—in fact, I insist."
Tracou, who had been staring at the cloth, snapped his head back to face Yash. "My companions, too?"
"I'd rather they didn't stay... Ah, but you want them around because they have your wand. I understand. Choose one, then speak to Karthik—the boy who brought you up to me earlier—and tell him that I'm letting you and one other stay. You can do whatever you wish, within reason, but be ready for me to call on you again. Is that acceptable?"
He didn't have a choice. If he tried to push to keep both Ina and Pendaer in the castle with him, Yash might call the whole thing off and tell him to come back another day.
"Yes, that's fine."
"Excellent. Perhaps I'll call you for dinner," Yash said as he approached the room divider. He lifted up the cloth and was gone in a moment, much too fast for Tracou to catch a glimpse of what was on the other side.
After the sound of a door scraping against the floor faded, Tracou let out a sigh of relief. He drifted over to the exit, turned the knob, and jolted as the door lurched toward him. Pendaer, his ear pressed against the wood, lost his balance and nearly fell forward with a yelp. Ina grabbed his arm and yanked him back just enough to get Pendaer upright again. He coughed, turning away from the other two, but Ina had to be used to the lack of gratitude by now.
"Pendaer relayed everything he could hear for me. He wants Dezmerian goods, huh?"
Tracou closed the door behind him. "I guess so. More importantly, only one of you gets to stay... Who should it be?"
"Obviously me," Pendaer huffed. "What kind of stupid question is that?"
"I bet he'd make you leave if I told him I wanted Ina to stay."
"You aren't going to do that. What does Ina offer that I don't?"
Tracou couldn't keep a lopsided smirk off of his face. "Do you want a list?"
"No, I think he's right." Ina gestured to the others to follow her and started down the stairs. "Pendaer knows more than I do about castle life. The only problem is his personality."
"My personality is just fine!"
"Do you have friends, Pendaer? Elf ones?" Tracou asked.
"Yes, of course."
"How many?"
"...I...have too many to count."
Tracou turned his gaze to Pendaer, watching him as they inched down the stairs. Whatever Elvish society was like, Tracou had imagined that Pendaer fit into it so well that leaving it brought out the worst in him, but maybe he was always terrible.
Soon Pendaer noticed that Tracou was watching him and sneered. "What are you looking at, dezmek?"
"Pendaer!" Ina stopped in her tracks and whirled around. "You need to cooperate. Call Tracou by his name and pretend you don't hate him, okay? That Yash guy doesn't want either of us here, so he'll use any excuse to get rid of you."
His eyes on the wall, Pendaer gave a noncommittal and possibly not even Aodehsh mumble. But this satisfied Ina.
"Okay. I'll try to visit every day, if they'll let me. Maybe having me on the outside will be useful."
Tracou nodded. Ina could help them escape Dorssur, even if she couldn't help them in the castle. But visiting once a day, at most, wasn't reliable.
"I could make a pigeon my familiar and send you messages."
Ina shook her head. "That would be useless—I can't read."
"O-Oh."
They began walking again, silently this time. It couldn't be late in the day—lunchtime at most—but Tracou wanted to sit and do nothing for at least an hour, if not more. His body weighed on him. The constant, complex flow of magic required his vigilance, which made everything else just a little bit harder.
Light appeared below them. Ina stopped them again and held her hand out to Pendaer.
"If I'm leaving, you have to give me enough money to stay at the inn, eat, pay for the horses..."
Pendaer clicked his tongue, but dug a handful of coins out of his pouch and set them in Ina's hand. "Make yourself useful while you're out there and find the best path to leave Dorssur."
Ina nodded, counting her coins.
"We should walk you to the gate," Pendaer grumbled. "Then we'll find that Kattick boy."
They trudged toward the gate, the faint Winlean sun hardly noticeable in the cold, dragging out the process as long as they could. Countless knights stood around outside, with nothing better to do than watch them.
Karthik greeted them at the gate. The old guard from before didn't make any movements, his gaze focused on the slope of the hill in front of him.
"Kid. Will Ina ferch Angharad be safe in Dorssur by herself?" Pendaer asked, his fake face full of premature fury.
"Yes. Not only do knights patrol the castle, but they patrol the entire city! A noblewoman like Ina ferch Angharad will have no troubles."
"All right... if she dies here, Aodehn will not be pleased."
Ina laughed and waved her hand back and forth as though she heard Pendaer make this threat to people daily.
"You're too serious, Pedr—everything will be fine! I'll visit you tomorrow, okay? Good bye!"
Pendaer grunted and Tracou bleated a good bye. Ina gave them a final wave as she left, too much pep in her step for someone suddenly left on her own in a foreign city. Seeing her head sink below the curve of the hill made Tracou frown. He should have pushed to have her stay instead of Pendaer.
"You aren't going with her?" Karthik asked.
Tracou glanced at Pendaer to see if he would rather do the talking, but he gestured his head forward, telling him to go ahead.
"Right. Yash Acharya told me to stay and said I could choose one person to stay with me."
"I see..."
Karthik addressed the old man next to him, presumably explaining the situation. The old man said only a few words in return, but Karthik's shoulders tensed.
"I, ah, believe I should show you around..." he said, taking a glance back at his superior. "It would be rude not to."
"Yes, fine," Pendaer said.
"Let's start here in the courtyard, then..."
Tracou tried to keep himself focused on Karthik's tour, but the castle grounds weren't particularly interesting. Karthik didn't show them much anyway. He guided them around the courtyard, which they had already seen, but he ignored the few outside buildings. The only thing of note was a group of men training out in front of the castle. One man led them in various sword play stances, barking orders Tracou couldn't understand. Karthik ushered them into the castle, eager to get inside.
Lingering in the entryway, Tracou took an actual look around. A rat's perspective, primarily concerned with slipping by underfoot and eating, was a far cry from his own.
Yash's room at the top of the tower exploded with color in comparison to the dull, empty interior on the ground floor. This castle had not been built to impress visitors. Aside from the kitchen and the garderobes, there was only one room: a huge hall that could be used to hold celebrations. The aged wooden furniture (a long table with rickety chairs) and bare walls were not fit for a king, let alone any kind of banquet. People, mainly knights with a smattering of servants, lazed about. Their king was above them, out of sight and out of mind.
"Pen— Pedr, how does this place measure up to others that you've seen?"
"It doesn't."
Tracou flinched. How could he be so blunt in front of someone who lived here?
But Karthik looked up at Pendaer with wide eyes. "How many castles have you been to?"
"I couldn't tell you how many," Pendaer said with a grin. "But, more importantly, I've seen a palace, too."
"A palace! What was it like?"
"Much more impressive than this Frosted Castle of yours. This palace was as big as a city, with singing voices carried through endless rooms, all enclosing a beautiful garden in the center. Nothing could compare to that!"
"As big as a city! I can't imagine that. I wish I could go to Aodehn to see it."
Pendaer, who had puffed himself up like a bird, sagged. "Right... It's something you can only see... in Aodehn."
Tracou scanned around the room until he spotted the door to the dungeon, tucked away in a corner. If he could rush in there, he could see Mirthal. Oddly, no one stood in front of it. The people here had decided that a thick padlock was sufficient security against the non-human who had attacked their king.
"Karthik, is that a prison?" Tracou asked, pointing at the door.
"Ah... Yes."
"I've heard that there's an elf in there. Is that true?"
Karthik winced. "Yes, it's true. He attacked the king."
"Dezmek," Pendaer warned. "That's not something for you to ask about."
"Call me by my name, Pedr. Ina ferch Angharad's orders."
Pendaer closed his eyes, his lips forming Elvish words without voicing them. Then his eyes snapped open as he took in a deep breath.
"De—..." Pendaer's entire body tensed, realizing his mistake. He tried to redirect, adding an r sound after the de, but he didn't get any farther than that. His verbal claws dug into that r fiercely, holding it for so long that he ran out of breath instead of moving onto the next sound.
Tracou could only watch him struggle. What Pendaer was doing was so strange that Tracou didn't know how to react to it.
"Tracou!" he spat, his face flushed. "There! Are you happy?"
"I'm not sure."
"Tch!"
"Um, excuse me..." Karthik said. "I should return to my post... I think. You'll be fine on your own?"
Pendaer nodded. "Yes, of course."
"Great. If you need help, you can ask me. The man who was training the others outside, Commander Burman, can speak Aodehsh well. He can help you, too."
"Fine, yes. Leave us."
Leave it to Pendaer to be abrasive to one of the few men who could speak a language they understood.
Once Karthik had left, Pendaer took a look around the room. "We need to find a place to talk."
"I don't think we can... it's so open."
"For once, you're right about something. Where are guests supposed to go? This is insulting! The top of the tower was closer to a palace than... this." Pendaer ran a hand through his hair. "Let's go and stand near one of the staircases. It's better than nothing..."
The staircases, which protruded into the castle's innards, provided more cover than nothing at all, so Tracou followed Pendaer over to one. Notably, Pendaer chose to avoid the tower that led up to Yash.
"So, what's the plan?" Tracou asked softly.
"That's a good question."
Tracou's shoulders slumped.
"We," Pendaer continued, "should try to find a weak point. There are many men here, but they're men, after all. There has to be something..."
"But we can't do this for long. Unless we can sleep alone, I have to stay awake to... you know."
Pendaer scoffed. "You can hardly climb a flight of stairs, so days without sleep might kill you."
"Maybe! And I don't want to die doing something for your benefit."
"Regardless, for at least today we should observe. Maybe we can learn something."
That wasn't active enough for Tracou. They were here. They had slipped into the castle and Mirthal was so close!
"I... want to see him tonight. Maybe I can bring him some food."
"And what will you do if you get caught, hm?"
Before, Tracou would have had no recourse. Without his wand he was nothing, but with it he had power. Maybe he could level this castle if he put enough effort into it, but he had never done something so destructive in his life.
"I would do whatever I had to do."
Pendaer eyed Tracou, the corners of his mouth pulled down. "All it would take is one person to kick you, let alone a sword or an arrow to reach you, for you to collapse. He isn't safe with you."
"You say that like someone slashing you with a blade wouldn't hurt you! Why don't you keep watch, then, if you're so invulnerable?"
"Maybe I will. Remember to thank me when I snatch you out of death's jaws. Come on, let's do some actual observation," Pendaer said as he sauntered away from him.
Red hot fury simmered within Tracou, but he couldn't let it take hold of him. He let out a slow breath and repeated his mantra to himself: he would tell everything to Mirthal when he got the chance.