Anubis was on edge. Ketil could see it in her eyes and the way she moved. "We have to move quickly today. We have to cross the Elv."
"It should be frozen solid at this time," Raziel whispered.
Anubis' eyes flashed to Ketil who refused to meet her eyes. "It's the only way to get past Trädstrom. If we take any other route, we go through bridges and checkpoints and I don't think any of us will pass through a checkpoint."
"So we cross the river? No big deal, I'm sure Ketil's crossed a few frozen rivers, yeah?" Vasco slapped him on the back and Ketil quickly shook his head.
"Anubis, there has to be another way." He shook his head again, "please, don't make me do this Please." He tried to hide the fear that crept into his voice.
"What's so wrong with crossing the river?" Dante said, crossing her arms.
Anubis' eyes met his and she shook her head. "Ketil..."
He stared at his hands, goosebumps running up and down his arms. "My mother broke through the ice and drowned."
Everyone fell silent and Ketil stared at his feet.
"We will take every precaution," Lio said finally. "We don't have a choice but to cross over. Ketil, you can ride point or you can take the back."
"I'll take the back," he whispered finally.
"Good. Dante, Jameson, Vasco, you will ride in the sled with our supplies. Raziel, ride point with me." Anubis looked to Lio, "and you know your role."
He smiled, mounting a large white horse. He checked his saddle bags carefully before looking to Anubis. "I'll meet you there." He leaned down, kissing her softly.
"Do you have your map? We'll meet you there. Be careful."
He nodded, straightening up before digging his heels into the mare's flanks. He was gone without another word. Against the white of the snow, his horse and cloak made him almost invisible.
Anubis grabbed Ketil's arm gently. "Just this once, okay? No more crossings, I swear it."
He nodded, silent.
"Thank you." She turned to the rest of the Order. "Mount up. Let's get moving. We need our timing to be impeccable."
~~~
The snow was hard packed from travel and the horses Anubis had chosen for the journey were newly shoed and surefooted. Ketil's horse, a big dapple grey mare, had seen better days, but she was smart. Ketil could tell in the way her ears flicked forward and she avoided certain melted parts of the trial.
Vasco stared at him from the wagon as Dante sat cross legged, reading a book to Jameson who drove the sled. Ketil stared at the braided portion of the mare's mane, his mind caught up in the memories.
He was seven when Aslaug returned alone and desperately told everyone the story of how their mother's horse was spooked and ran out onto the ice. She had dismounted and ran but the ice was thin and they both fell in.
The search lasted a day when fishermen found both the horse and the Empress tangled up in nets. He remembered faintly staring at his mother's face, marked with scratches and cuts from debris. He remembered faintly trying to wake something up inside of himself in the desperate hope that there he had the power to heal her.
But his mother was thoroughly dead. The nation mourned for a week, his House mourned for even longer. Her grave stood in the middle of the gardens under the sky blossom tree. This time of year it must have been beautiful.
He unconsciously bit his cheek hard enough to draw a thin line of blood. Why was he thinking about this? He didn't want to remember.
The sled ahead of him stopped and Ketil went pale as the river bed appeared in front of them.
"Are you alright?" Vasco yelled, sitting up.
Ketil nodded, clucking his tongue to drive his horse beside Anubis'. She carefully laid a hand on his shoulder, offering him a small smile. "It's going to be okay."
"I know, I just hate this."
A woman at the side of the river nodded. "Ice is thick here, perfect for crossing."
Anubis pulled a dat from her bag and placed it into the woman's hands. "For your services."
The woman tucked it into her dress with a small smile, "don't linger in the middle. One at a time, I will tell you each when to cross. The sled should make it fine."
Anubis looked back to him, "Ketil?"
He nodded, "I will be alright. Go on."
She offered him a small smile before making her way slowly across the frozen river. The woman nodded for Raziel to follow as soon as she'd made it halfway across.
Raziel made it and the woman nodded for Jameson to drive on.
Jameson looked back at Ketil. "Just make your way whenever we hit the other side, yeah?
"Yeah."
"You can do it, Ketil." Dante said with a smile.
He nodded and Jameson made a sound, urging the horses on.
For a moment, Ketil blacked out, his mind still stuck with thoughts about his mother.
"Sir?" A hand tapped his shoulder and he quickly shook his head.
"I don't like this," he whispered.
"No worries, love. Go ahead and cross nice and easy." The woman said carefully, "don't hesitate in the middle, that's how people die. That's how the late Empress died."
"I know," Ketil said quickly, watching the sled cross the frozen river with no hiccups. Vasco waved across to him from atop the sled.
"Your turn!" He shouted. "Come on Ketil, the ice is thick!"
"Ya," he muttered to the horse and it set a large hoof down against the ice. He winced, waiting for it to break, but nothing happened. His heart raced as both hooves landed soundly on the snow topped ice. "Alright, easy does it, girl." He gripped onto the reigns with white knuckles, leaning forward until the saddle horn pressed up against his middle.
The horse continued her walk, the others watching from across the river. The ice was solid, he could see that much. "Don't let it thin out. Don't let me fall. Please don't let me fall in."
In his mind, each step was an auger into the ice, weakening it. He was maybe a third of the way through now, the middle still looming ahead of him. The current underneath would be quick there and the ice would be thinner.
The horse paused, ears flicking forward. She nervously stutter-stepped and he felt something shift underneath them.
"Drass, drass, no. Come on, we have to hurry." He muttered under his breath. "Ya," the horse didn't move and now Ketil could see a slender crack open up underneath her front hoof. He kicked his legs back into her flanks harder, yelling a quick "ya!".
The ice was cracking, the sound almost like a low rumble of thunder.
Now he was near the middle, the ice sounded thinner. He was just aware of the Order calling out to him, yelling his name. He looked up as the ice gave way.
He lurched forward, the horse throwing him as the ice underneath her back legs went out.
His front half splattered against the fracturing ice, the horse beside him desperately trying to paw her way up. For a moment he had a vivid image of her busting his head open with a hoof.
The water was a jolt to his system, the current tugging on his body. He reached as far as he could, leaving claw marks through the snow and ice as he tried to pull himself up. Something around his right foot had him caught and was now dragging him back down.
The stirrup.
He was caught. Drass.
"Anubis!" He screamed. "Help! Help me!"
"Ketil! Stay calm!" She stepped onto the ice and Ketil desperately clawed toward her. She was making her way slowly. She would never reach him in time.
More ice broke around the horse and the mare went under, dragging Ketil beside her.
His hands desperately reached toward the hole he'd falling into, but the rim came away in his hands, the horse panicking to swim as the current battered both of them. He opened his eyes to the dark and freezing water, slamming his fist into the top layer of ice.
Ketil wanted to scream to lose his mind and cry out for someone to help him. But he couldn't. His mother had died like this back when he was seven. He couldn't die like this when there was so much at stake.
He wasn't a strong swimmer and the horse was kicking at him. He needed to free himself from the stirrup first.
He twisted his foot until the pain was too much and then jerked his leg hard, then harder. His boot slid away and the horse was carried away even faster. He ignored the searing pain in his ankle before swimming upward.
Ketil desperately swam to the top of the ice, his face pressing against it and hands slamming in the hope that there was a weakness. His body slammed against a rock as the current began to grow stronger.
He couldn't resist the current.
What would the others do if he died? Would they find his body? Would he just sit bloated under the river until the thaw season? They wouldn't be able to identify his body if that happened.
He couldn't accept that. He could barely accept the fact that he'd fallen into the river to begin with.
Come on, he thought to himself, getting his mind back into one coherent thought. Survive. We are going to survive.
But his lungs were beginning to burn and the water was pulling him under, away from the ice and into the murky depths. He couldn't fight much longer, he didn't have the strength.
In one last bought of panic, he forced himself to the layer of ice, driving his hand upward and into it. The ice gave.
But the river was stronger than his panic and dragged him deeper into its icy hold.
ns 15.158.61.12da2
