CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The Hot Springs

When they reached the foot of the ice flume, they were a smaller party than that with which they’d headed out. Twenty-odd contestants out of fifty had left, nursing their wounds and pride.

Rollo’s ice crystal began to glow. ‘One at a time, lie down at the bottom and you will be lifted back to the great hall.’

Canute cast a wary eye at the flume. ‘That’s a long way back up,’ he said from behind Saga and Ruvsá.

‘Or you may climb the ice staircase and pass the raven’s test again.’ Rollo shrugged. ‘It is of no concern to me, though the evening meal is being served and this magic shall only last a few moments. I suggest you take advantage while you can.’ And, with that, he lay at the end of the flume and promptly flew up.

There was a frantic rush.

‘I don’t think anyone wants to meet that raven again.’ Saga pulled a face at Ruvsá, who agreed. When it was Saga’s turn, she sat on the bottom of the flume and leaned back. She felt an invisible force grab her, sucking her up through the flume in reverse. With her hair on end, shooting up round the twists, she hadn’t caught her breath when she popped out of the top of the flume and fell and rolled on to the ice in the great hall.

Torben came roaring after her, followed by Ruvsá.

‘Odin’s beard, that was a wilder ride than if I’d mounted Sleipnir!’ He patted his own beard back down.

Saga laughed at the mention of the god Odin’s eight-legged horse. The great hall was warm with the scent of hearty stew and she could smell bread, fresh from the fire. Pushing back her fur hood, she tried to brush the ice from her hair.

‘You look like you need a dip in the hot springs,’ Torben told her, ‘before you turn into an icicle.’

‘What hot springs?’ Saga asked, Ruvsá listening at her side.

‘You haven’t discovered them yet?’ Torben’s shaggy eyebrows shot up his forehead. ‘I would have thought you young ones would have explored the whole castle by now.’

‘That’s forbidden,’ Saga said unsurely.

Torben gave her a mischievous grin. ‘So don’t get caught.’

Unn flew up from the ice flume at that moment, landing neatly on her feet like a cat. ‘Pay no heed to Torben’s teasing. The entrance to the hot springs is hidden at the back of this hall.’ She pointed at a glassy wall of ice. When Saga squinted at it, she detected the outline of a door. ‘Before your group arrived, the sorcerers informed us that we were most welcome to make use of it.’ She glanced at Torben, her green eyes filling with concern. ‘But you were right, the rest of the castle is strictly out of bounds – you mustn’t go exploring or you’ll be sent home and forfeit the contest. Or worse.’

Torben scratched his beard. ‘I reckon you’ve got better ears than a cat, woman. How did you hear all that from inside the flume?’

‘You happen to be extraordinarily loud, Torben,’ Unn said with a roll of her eyes. ‘The whales in the sea could have heard you booming away.’

‘We’ll only go to the hot springs,’ Saga interrupted to promise, Ruvsá nodding in agreement.

‘Bjørn!’ Saga ran into her room, sending the door flying open and thudding into the wall as she called for her bear. Roaring his delight, he tumbled over the ice and wrapped his paws round Saga as she hugged him fiercely. ‘I missed you so much,’ she said into his fur. ‘But look! I did it!’ She pulled the talisman from her pocket, wincing a little at the gleaming rune before stuffing it back inside. After Saga had given Bjørn lots of tummy rubs, they walked into the great hall to join Ruvsá and Canute for dinner.

But as soon as Bjørn saw Canute, he sniffed uncertainly, a growl rumbling in his throat, ears tucked flat against his head.

‘What’s wrong?’ Saga asked him in amazement. Bjørn thumped his front paws on the ice, blowing air from his nose.

‘I told you he doesn’t like me!’ Canute yelped, hiding behind Ruvsá.

Saga frowned, wondering what had got into her bear. She waved a fish at Bjørn, distracting him from Canute, and the three children and one bear settled into their feast.

After a moose-sized bowl of stew, scooped up with rough chunks of fresh bread slathered with golden butter, and sizzling fish that had been roasted in the fire until their skins were crisp, Saga and Ruvsá made their way to the hidden door at the back of the great hall.

‘I hope there won’t be any sorcerers about,’ Ruvsá said as Bjørn happily plodded behind them.

Saga quickly looked over her shoulder at the sorcerers’ table. Rollo seemed to have more bloodlust than the most ferocious raider, and when she’d tried to tell Holger about the troll attack on her village he hadn’t listened. She still hadn’t forgiven them for not saving her afi and she didn’t trust any of them.

‘Me too,’ she said darkly.

They slipped through the door unseen, following a narrow passageway that was warmer than the hall. Sconces lit their path with violet fire. As they walked deeper into the castle, melting ice from the walls and ceiling dripped down the back of Saga’s neck. ‘Ugh,’ she shuddered, drawing her tunic closer round herself, ‘I should have brought my furs for this!’

‘I don’t think you’ll need them.’ Ruvsá pointed past a nearby sconce to where the wall looked different; here it was no longer ice but rock. ‘Look, this must be where the castle ends.’

‘We’re deep in the mountain now,’ Saga agreed.

They exchanged excited looks. Not long after, they discovered low doorways cut from the rock. When they peered inside, they saw hot springs in little caves, filled with shieldmaidens and other contestants who had favoured warming up before eating. Saga and Ruvsá found an empty cave and scurried inside, Bjørn padding after them.

‘Oh,’ Saga said happily. ‘It’s hot in here.’ It was probably the only place in the whole castle that wasn’t made of ice.

‘I’d forgotten what being this warm even felt like!’ Ruvsá laughed as both girls tore off their thick overlayers and boots. ‘Which hot spring do you want to try first?’

‘All of them!’ Saga said.

There were a variety of steaming pools of water, sunk into the rock. In a rainbow of colours, some churned like a cauldron, others were scattered with herbs and minerals, another seemed to be blowing soap bubbles by itself. One was as large as Saga and Ruvsá’s room, another the size of a puddle.

Bjørn dabbed a paw in a dark-green bubbling pool.

‘What do you think?’ Saga asked him. Bjørn leaped into the water, sending a great wave hurtling over Saga and Ruvsá, who both squealed. Steam curled up in the air as Bjørn wallowed in the pool, making happy bear sounds.

Saga stepped in after him. Her legs sank into deliciously warm water and she walked deeper and deeper, until only her nose and eyes poked out of the steam.

Ruvsá joined her with a delighted sigh. ‘So, how did you get past the white bear, then?’ she asked. The ends of her long brown hair dipped into the water.

‘Magic runes.’ Saga shrugged, kicking out her legs and watching the water ripple as she avoided Ruvsá’s eyes. ‘What about you?’ She glanced up curiously. ‘You took almost no time at all. What happened inside that bear den?’

Ruvsá floated on her back, the bubbling water making her bob up and down. ‘The bear didn’t seem bothered. I just walked in and picked up the talisman.’

Saga narrowed her eyes at Ruvsá, but didn’t say anything. She hadn’t exactly shared her own secrets so why should Ruvsá? It felt lonely, though, and she suddenly missed Dag, who knew her as well as if she was made of ice and he could see straight through her. She hoped he was all right; she’d already been away for longer than she’d planned and she worried about what was happening to Dag and Afi with the trolls. But the seer had wanted Saga to enter the contest, so Saga had to trust that she’d made the right decision – even if winning it felt impossible.

After soaking for a while longer, the two girls and Bjørn sat on one of the large rocks around the cave, drying off on the warm stone until they could pull their overclothes and boots back on.

It wasn’t until they were leaving that it happened.

Saga had cast a longing look back at the steaming pools, wondering if her parents had swum here when they’d entered the Fifth Winter, if they had been afraid too or if they were braver than her, and what secrets they’d told the raven door. She decided she liked picturing them here, hoping that some of the new memories she’d made were memories they’d had too. She’d just decided to swim in the large sky-blue pool next time, when she heard a soft song behind her, followed by a bear-like rumble. Turning round to Bjørn, she saw Ruvsá quietly sing those same notes again. And Bjørn responded.

When Ruvsá noticed Saga staring, she turned scarlet.

But Saga had already known Ruvsá’s secret, hadn’t she? The knowledge of it had itched at the back of her head, slowly taking root in her thoughts until just now, when everything had come together and she’d realized that she’d already known. The way Ruvsá’s reindeer, Snowflake, had been so obedient. How they’d crossed a sea on whaleback, how quickly she’d completed the first challenge. Why Bjørn had instantly taken to her.

‘You can speak to animals,’ Saga said out loud.