"Our father stayed away for a long time, and honestly, that's just as well," Kate said. "I wished he'd never come back."
Ulla leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. "Why? I would love it if my father visited, even once."
"Your father probably isn't completely obsessed with revenge," Kate countered. "To be fair, Mina was already preoccupied with it before he showed up. But once he came here around six or seven years ago, her preoccupation turned into her solitary drive. They talked only about how they would make everyone pay."
"How were they planning to make everyone pay?" I asked.
"I don't know." Kate shook her head. "I tried not to pay attention. My sister Krista and I never cared that much for it. Dad tried to get us to join, but Krista eventually fell in love and moved to Edmonton with her boyfriend. I stayed here, but I spent as much time outside and away from them as I could.
"The only plan I ever really knew about was when Mina came to me and said she was going to a ball where she would make the King fall in love with her. It seemed ludicrous. I thought for sure Evert would recognize her, but she insisted that she'd only been ten the last time he saw her and now she was a woman of twenty.
"Not to mention that fact that Evert is our second cousin." She wrinkled her nose. "I know royals do that all the time to keep the bloodlines pure, but it's still always seemed so gross to me."
"But Evert didn't recognize her, and he did fall in love with her," I said.
Kate snorted. "Much to my surprise. She came back once after the engagement, and she tried to promise me riches and glory. I told her that I didn't want any of it, and I asked her to let it go. Vengeance never brings people happiness or peace. I said, 'What kind of life is it to be married to your nemesis?'
"Mina looked at me, with her eyes cold and hard, and she said, 'It will be my finest achievement, and I pity you that you'll never understand that.'" Kate grimaced. "And that was the last thing she's ever said to me."
"Did you know Evert was murdered last week?" I asked.
Kate lowered her eyes. "No. I'm surprised it took this long, but I guess Mina's plans are finally under way."
"Do you have any idea what she might do next?" I asked.
"Not anything specific," she said, looking at me with stormy gray eyes. "But honestly, I don't think she'll be happy until everything is suksraungiksuk."
I shook my head and didn't even attempt to repeat the word she'd used. "What's that mean?"
"There's not a literal translation in English," Ulla explained. "But it means 'destroyed' or 'finished.'"
"More like obliterated," Kate said.
THIRTY
nanuq
I awoke just after the sun started to rise, which meant that it was only four in the morning. After sleeping fitfully all night with my usual nightmares, I was happy for the reprieve that being awake provided.
We'd left Kate's hut not long after she'd confessed that Mina was her sister. Before we'd gone, I'd asked her why she'd been so open in telling us everything, and Kate had simply shrugged and said, "Why wouldn't I? Mina's never been much of a sister to me, and I have no reason to keep her secrets."
Ulla had been very excited about everything we'd found out, even though she didn't understand the implications of much of it. Growing up so isolated, she now fancied herself embroiled in plots of treason and espionage.
It had taken quite a bit of convincing for me to get her out of my room last night, telling her that I needed to get to bed early. But really, I just needed a chance to process it all for myself.
Once I did, everything Konstantin and Kate had said fit together perfectly, creating this portrait of a diabolical, unstoppable madwoman. Both Mina and Viktor had been incredibly patient, waiting years for their plan to come to fruition.
And now that it had, I was certain that Mina would do everything in her power to make sure that nothing got in her way. You don't plan something for a decade and let it all fall apart at the end.
I needed to get back to Forening. I thought I finally would have evidence to convince Queen Wendy that the Trylle needed to depose Mina. Assuming, of course, that Wendy believed me, since Kate wasn't about to leave Iskyla to testify.
I packed my bag and opened my room door to find Ulla on the landing just outside my room. She'd changed clothes from last night, and she was asleep, using her own bag as a pillow and her coat as a blanket.
When she heard the door open, she sat up with a start. "Finally. You're up."
"Finally?" I asked. "What are you doing?"
"I was waiting for you." She stood up and stretched. "I'm coming with."
"You can't come with. You heard what I told you last night. It's too dangerous."
"I know, but I can help," Ulla insisted. "And besides that, nobody wants me here. I have no reason to say."
"You may not have a reason, but I do. I can't afford to take you back with me. I have barely enough money to charter a plane and get back home myself," I explained.
"I've got money. I've saved up every dime and nickel I've ever made." Ulla reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a surprisingly thick wad of cash. "I can pay my own way, and help you out."
I sighed. "How old are you?"
"Fourteen and a half." She stood up straighter, as if that would make her seem older. She was already taller than me, with slightly broader shoulders, probably thanks to her Omte genes. "I'm mature and strong for my age, though. I can help you."
I was about to tell her no, but the desperate, heartbroken look on her face finally made me cave. With everything that Ulla and Kate had told me about what it was like to grow up here, I didn't think it would be good for anybody.
"Fine, but if you slow me down, I'm leaving you behind," I said, which was more of an empty threat than I wanted to admit.
Ulla almost squealed with delight, but I silenced her and then walked past her and headed down the stairs. Taking her with didn't seem that bad, since I was just headed back to the Trylle. Ulla should be safe with the Trylle, and they could help her find a place in this world.
It wasn't until we'd taken the snowmobile to the nearest town that I realized that Ulla had never been outside of Iskyla before. She was amazed and entranced by every little thing, and I had to constantly remind her that we were traveling incognito and that she needed to stop making a scene.
Surprisingly, she handled the plane better than I did. Somehow the ride managed to be even more turbulent than it had been last time, and the pilot told me it was thanks to an incoming freak blizzard.
Our landing was twice as rough this time, but at least we made it alive. The pilot was right about the storm, though. A brutal wind was coming from the north, bringing with it heavy snow. Ulla suggested we get a hotel for the night and head out in the morning, but I suspected that she just wanted a chance to see more of the city.
I, on the other hand, didn't want to waste any time. I had information that I needed to get to the Trylle as soon as possible. Everyone in Doldastam was depending on it, whether they knew it or not.
So, despite travel advisories telling me not to, I rented an SUV and headed south. For her part, Ulla actually didn't seem to mind the storm or the slow going. I think she would've been thrilled by just about anything I did, though.
The first hour or so into the drive went okay. I barely went above thirty, but we were moving. And then we weren't. We hit a snowdrift so large, the SUV just couldn't get through it. We were stuck.
"Don't worry. I got it," Ulla said. She'd taken off her kamiks while I was driving, but now she slipped them back on, along with her heavy gloves.
"What do you mean, you got it?" I asked, but she was already opening the car door and hopping out into the snow. "Ulla!"
I wasn't about to let her disappear into the snowstorm, so I jumped out after her. She'd gone around to the back of the SUV, and she'd put on what reminded me of old flight goggles. They were strapped on underneath the earflaps of her hat, and while they were comical-looking,
they probably worked well at keeping the snow from stinging her eyes.
"What are you doing?" she asked me, like I was the one who had leapt out of the vehicle without explanation. "Is the SUV in neutral?"
"No. It's in park. Why? What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna get us unstuck." She flexed her arms.
It sounded ridiculous, but she did have Omte blood. She may not have been the size of the ogre Torun I'd seen in Fulatrask, but she should have some of his strength.
"Be careful," I told her, but I left her to it.
I got back in the vehicle and put it in neutral. I adjusted the rearview mirror so I could watch. Her head bent down as she pushed on the back, and the SUV jerked forward a bit.
Then nothing happened at all for a few seconds, and suddenly it lurched forward, going straight through the snowdrift. Snow flew up around the vehicle, and it skidded to a stop on a clearer stretch of highway on the other side of the drift.
As soon as the SUV stopped, I put it in park and jumped out to make sure Ulla hadn't been hurt. After all, that had been an awfully big push.
"Ulla!" I shouted when I didn't see her right away, and I charged through the drift.
She was standing in the middle of the road, staring off to the right of her, but she didn't appear injured.
"Ulla," I repeated. "That was amazing."
"We should probably get out of here," she said flatly.
"What? Why?" I asked, and I looked to see where she was staring.
There, a few feet off the road and almost invisible in the snow, were two small polar bear cubs. The bigger, fluffier one hung back, but for some reason the smaller one thought it would be a good idea to trot toward us--its big eyes wide and excited.
Growing up near the polar bear capital of the world in Doldastam, there was one important lesson I had learned--wherever there was a cub, nearby was an angry mama bear.
"Let's go," I commanded.
Ulla started hurrying toward the SUV past me. I turned to join her, but it was already too late. The mama bear had come out of nowhere. The giant white beast growled and stomped between me and the vehicle. I had nowhere to run, but that didn't matter, because she wasn't about to let me run anywhere.
Before I could dodge out of the way, she swung at me with her giant paw, and that was the last thing I saw.
THIRTY-ONE
anguish
Searing pain. That's what kept waking me. I didn't remember sleeping or being awake. It was all one blur of pain.
My right side felt like fire, like I had been ripped open and filled with hot coals, and my head throbbed above my right eye. I remembered jostling. My body moving around without my control, bouncing and swaying.
At some point, I became alert enough to realize I was lying in the back of the SUV. From the driver's seat, Ulla kept looking back and telling me that everything would be all right.
I tried to tell her that I was okay and that she shouldn't worry, but all I could muster was a strange gurgling groan. In the back of my mind, I realized that I might actually be dying, but then the pain flared up, blotting out any rational thought.
Some time after that--I'm not sure how long, it could've been five minutes or five hours--the SUV jolted to a stop, and I rolled forward, which caused enough agony that I screamed out.
Ulla apologized and asked if I was okay, but before I could respond (not that I would've been able to anyway), the driver's-side door opened and a male voice was yelling at her.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.
"Who the hell are you?" Ulla shot back.
"Where's Bryn?" he asked, and that's when I faded out again.
I wanted to stay conscious and find out what exactly was going on, but the pain was too much. It overwhelmed everything, and I blacked out.
Then I felt a hand on my face, strong and cold against my skin. I struggled to open my eyes, but my right eye wouldn't open. The vision in my left eye slowly focused, and I saw a face right above mine.
Dark gray eyes filled with worry, black curls falling forward--it took me a moment to realize it was Konstantin.
"Oh, white rabbit. What have you done?" he whispered.
"Am I dying?" I barely managed to get out, in a voice that sounded far too weak to be my own.
"No. I won't let you die," Konstantin promised me. Then to Ulla he shouted, "Drive faster! We need to get there now."
Gingerly, he lifted my head and rested it on his lap. It still hurt, but I tried to hide my wincing as best I could. He took my hand in his, and it felt sticky from blood.
"If it hurts too bad, just squeeze my hand," he said.
I wanted to tell him that it always hurt too bad. That the pain was so intense, I felt like I was suffocating, drowning in flames. But I didn't. I just squeezed his hand and waited for darkness to come over me again.
THIRTY-TWO
convalesce
Before I even opened my eyes, I felt the difference. My body still ached, especially on the right side, but it was no longer an excruciating fire burning me up from the inside out.
When I did open my eyes, they both opened with ease, which helped quell my fears that I had lost my right eye. They were both there, working properly, as I stared up at the mobile above me.
Sunlight spilled in through the open doorway, but the mobile still managed to cast a few dimly lit shapes of the moon and stars around me. My feet hung off the end of Hanna's small bed. I was back in Forening, at Finn's house.
I looked around, still getting my bearings, when I saw the dark silhouette of Konstantin leaning against the doorframe, backlit by the sun coming in from the front windows.
"What are you doing here?" I asked. I vaguely remembered him being in the SUV with me, but it all felt like a strange, terrible dream.
"I brought you here because you needed medical attention," he said, his voice low.
"But before you said that you couldn't come here because the Trylle would arrest you," I reminded him.
"That Ulla girl didn't know anything about where to go or what to do. I couldn't just leave you with her." He gave a half shrug. "Not if I wanted you to live, anyway. When we got to the gates, I talked to Finn, and he managed to convince the Queen to give me temporary amnesty since I was aiding an injured troll."
"Temporary?" I asked. "How long will that last?"
"I hope it lasts just long enough for me to get out of here without ending up in a dungeon," he replied glibly. His face was hidden in shadows, so I couldn't tell how concerned he really was about being locked up.
"How did you find me?" I asked.
"I'm tracking you, remember? I felt your panic, and I found you as fast as I could. I stopped your car just south of Winnipeg. Ulla didn't want to let me in at first, but I managed to convince her."
"You'll have to stop tracking me eventually," I told him.
"We'll see."
"I should probably thank you for helping me." I started pushing myself up into a sitting position, but as soon as I moved, my side screamed painfully.
"Easy, there." Konstantin rushed over. He put his hand on my arm, helping me until I was sitting, and then he sat down on the bed beside me. "Finn got a healer to come in and help heal you, but she didn't do it completely. A couple medics fixed you up the best they could after the healer had finished."
Konstantin didn't say it, but I knew why she hadn't healed me all the way--she didn't want to waste her energy on a lowly half-breed tracker outlaw. To be honest, I was surprised she'd bothered helping at all.
"You would've died without it," he said, supplying a reason. A healer could be moved to help even the lowest of the low if they would die without intervention.
I lifted up my tank top to better inspect my wounds, but they were all bound tightly with bandages stretching from my waist to just below my breasts. Some blood seeped through, and I gently touched my ribs, which sent a searing pain through me.
"You've got quite a few stitches under there," Konstantin assured me as I
lowered my shirt. "But at least she saved your eye."
I reached up and touched my eye, and unlike my side, it felt perfectly normal and pain-free. There wasn't any sign of injury that I could feel.
"The bear swiped you good across the face, but to save your eye, the healer had to fix it all completely," he explained. "Where the bear tore you open on your side, she mostly just closed up the internal organs. You lost a lot of blood."
"I'll have to thank her for that if I ever see her," I said, and I meant it. She hadn't needed to help me, especially since I wasn't even Trylle, and I was grateful that she'd gone out of her class to save my life.
Then I turned my attention to Konstantin. "How could you not tell me that Mina is Viktor's daughter?"
He inhaled sharply through his teeth. "I didn't know for sure."
"How could you not know?" I asked, incredulous. "You've been sleeping with her for years, and working with her dad? But somehow you never put that together?"
"They're not like a normal father-daughter." He shook his head. "At first I thought they might be former lovers, but I quickly realized that wasn't the case because of how cold they were with each other. They were more like colleagues. Mina never called him 'Dad.' They never talked about family. The only thing they ever mentioned was revenge and how they were going to exact it."
"And you never asked?" I pressed.
"Of course I did! But Mina just told me not to concern myself with things like that."
"And that was good enough for you?"
"No!" Konstantin leaned forward and put his hands to his face in frustration. "Nothing was ever good enough for me with Mina, but she wouldn't ever give more. You don't understand what it was like with her. Everything was on her terms. Everything."
"Fine. I can accept that you couldn't push Mina, but why wouldn't you have told me?" I asked. "You obviously had suspicions."
"Really?" He looked at me with an arched eyebrow. "What would've happened if I told you that Mina was Viktor's daughter, and it turned out not to be the case? Not only would that have destroyed any trust you had in me, it would've destroyed any credibility you had with whoever you'd gone to with that information."
I realized that he was right. If it had turned out that his hunch was wrong, it would've undone any progress we'd made.