“A week,” Samar grumbled.
Nadine tilted her head at Magnus. “Surely you can think of a better solution.”
Magnus stilled. His lips parted, and a look of surprise danced in his eyes even as his brother frowned next to him.
“It’s too dangerous,” Erik said. “We can fly over, we can go around, or we can wait and hope the frost sets back in. But trying to cross could mean death.”
Samar cursed beside her. “If this is going to be a problem, barbarian, why didn’t you lead us around while we were further down? Why bring us right up to the edge of the lake?”
Erik sighed patiently. “We hoped spring wouldn’t have set in yet.”
Samar turned to Nadine. “They’re trying to manipulate us.”
The thought had crossed her mind. But saying so would do nothing for them now. Besides, the accusation didn’t feel right. She considered what to do.
“We thought we’d be here sooner but”—Erik hesitated—“the mountain sickness . . . ”
Samar took a half step forward. “Are you saying my men are slowing the mission down?”
“Lanta,” Nadine said. The word was a warning, one her friend did not heed. Samar kept the back end of his lancet planted in the snow, but thrust the head forward so it leaned toward Erik. He sneered, one of his dark curls falling in front of his squinting eyes.
“We followed you because that was our best option. The Mushar has entrusted a great treasure unto you and your kind.” His narrow gaze slid toward Magnus before skipping back toward Erik. “One I think you do not appreciate. But I swear to you, savage, if you jeopardize my task, I will see your people pierced and emptied. And those you left behind in our city will follow.”
Anger ripped through Nadine like a comet charging through the sky. Her second stood making threats to their allies as though this were his mission, and this were his command. On instinct, Nadine reached for him.
Erik got there first. He lunged, and Samar’s free hand went up to ward off the attack.
All thoughts of anger fled Nadine’s mind, replaced by desperate will to keep the situation from exploding. Her hand shot out to grab Samar’s shoulder. He went stumbling back, and Nadine’s momentum had her bounding into his side. She looked up as a shadow loomed over them both.
Erik and Samar were in one another’s faces but for Magnus’s arm bisecting the two men. The four of them were huddled together now. From a distance it might have looked comical, or alarming to anyone with a modicum of sense. Only Magnus’s wry expression kept the tension between them all from reaching a fever pitch.
“Easy,” Magnus purred, then patted Samar’s shoulders. “No need for all that. I’ll do it.”
“Do what?” Nadine and Erik asked in unison.
Magnus looked as though he were holding back a laugh. “Walk across the ice.”
Erik took a step toward his brother. “No.” A string of Dokiri words tumbled out of his mouth.
Magnus cut them off. “If the ice can hold my weight, it can hold any of us. The rest of you follow at a distance. One at a time.” He slid a glance toward Samar. “I doubt the sand worshipers have any idea how to swim.”
Nadine snorted, if only to hide her incredulity at his plan. “And you do?”
Magnus was already turning toward the frozen lake. He spoke over his shoulder. “I swim like a fish. A very large, lust-inspiring fish.”
“This is a bad idea, Magnus,” Erik called after his younger brother.
Magnus shrugged without turning. “Our allies are full of them. Don’t let your men miss the show, kandiri.”
The other Dokiri riders had since moved on, flying over the lake with their gegatu mounts to patrol the other side. Erik, Nadine, and Samar kept silent as Magnus took his first steps onto the edge of the lake. They weren’t the slow, tentative steps Nadine had expected. He strode out onto the ice as though he owned the water and fully expected it to do his bidding.
The hairs on Nadine’s body stood on end as she waited for the danger the Dokiri had spoken of to swallow Magnus whole. Even Samar was still beside her.
Magnus was a good way out. Quiet unfurled along the embankment as everyone, even the Ebronians, watched, waiting to see what would happen. Each moment felt like an eternity until Erik broke the group’s silence with a grunt, as if Magnus had passed some invisible line that indicated he was safe. Or, safe enough. Erik turned toward the men, kicking up a drift of snow as he did.
“One at a time. Keep the distance. Let’s go!” Erik called.
Despite their open distaste, Nadine’s men readied to obey their Dokiri guide. Nadine picked up her pack and slung it over her shoulders. When she took a step forward, Samar stopped her with an arm in front of her chest.
“I’ll go first, Captain.”
Nadine liked to lead by example. But then, this plan had been at Samar’s insistence, not her own. And anyway, if she was lost beneath ice, the Eye would go with her. She nodded.
Samar tightened the straps on his pack, then strode forward to tiptoe onto the ice. The dry snow crunched under his feet, leaving a smaller set of tracks alongside Magnus’s. Nadine glanced up and out. Magnus was a good two hundred paces away. He strode forward as though he had not a fear in the world—as if the danger he and his brother spoke of had been made up all along. Nadine narrowed her eyes. Perhaps Samar’s instincts were the ones to be trusted after all.
Though he’d been tentative at first, her second was quick to match Magnus’s pace once it was clear the ice wasn’t going to shatter beneath his feet. If anything, he began to move faster. Nadine turned to glance at Erik, who was watching the pair from the bank.
“It seems your concern was for nothing,” she said.
Erik’s gaze met hers, and apprehension lingered. He said nothing, only swallowed before glancing back toward his younger brother.
Nadine sighed. And just like that, the Tempered was back to his reserved self. He raised a hand and waved her ahead.
Nadine ignored the trepidation buzzing beneath her skin as she took three confident strides toward the lake. Squaring her shoulders, she stepped down to the crunchy surface of the snow-covered ice. Her breath rose in a vapor in front of her face as she moved. Unlike Samar, she wouldn’t creep as she gave herself time to gain confidence. Not with her men watching. Her courage would give them theirs. She was careful to keep the distance between her and Samar equal to the distance between him and Magnus.
Despite their quick pace, the lake stretched out before them. It might take a full half hour to reach the middle. Maybe more. Nadine squinted through the glare of the sun reflecting off the snow. How far ahead had Magnus and Samar gone? She frowned. Samar was farther ahead of her than he should have been.
“Lanta,” Nadine called. Her voice echoed over the lake.
Samar didn’t respond. Magnus, on the other hand, did. He stopped. Turned. Even from so far away, the stiffening of his shoulders belied his anger.
“Back off, Ebronian.”
Samar did not. He kept going forward.
Magnus began to move again, this time walking backwards. “Va kreesha, you idiot. Stop! You’re too close!”
“Lanta.” Nadine called again, fear vibrating in her voice.
This time, Samar stopped.