“Furthermore, in the winter of that year, Ringsted was completely isolated by the storms and cut off from all contact,” Lucien added.
“The isolation of Ringsted was perhaps a bit strong and one of their mistakes,” Stil said. “It made Angelique sit up and take notice.”
“Yes, but I imagine they had to do it if they planned to crush us,” Severin said. “Ringsted has the fastest and largest ships. If there was trouble continent-wide, Ringsted would be able to get things from one side of the continent to the other faster by ship than by trekking across the land.”
Elle laughed. “That one certainly blew up in their faces. Not only was the sea witch who was sent to isolate Ringsted captured, but when Dylan fell for Callan, it guaranteed the selkie entrance into this battle. The Ringsted ships can go even faster now with a selkie singing their way along.”
Colonel Friedrich peered at the papers. “The following year, the selkies defeated the sea witch—a win for us—but Princess Rosalinda’s curse activated, and Sole still sleeps, its Magic Knights unwilling to leave its borders.”
“Stil was also chased down that fall and early winter,” Gemma said.
Stil shifted uncomfortably. “Well, yes, but that’s nothing compared to Sole’s situation.”
“But it’s more proof Prince Lucien is right,” Gemma argued. “Another one of the Snow Queen’s first allies was Tollak—the first craftmage ever recorded. You are the strongest craftmage alive today, and you are also a stout supporter of Angelique. They targeted you because they knew you were capable of greatly impacting future battles.”
Battles? For a moment Ariane’s stomach heaved, but Gemma was right—as was Lucien. The Chosen had obviously been planning this for centuries, and judging by their actions, they planned to march against the continent. This was no longer random attacks or an unusual sweep of malevolent creatures; this was war.
“The Chosen are clearly targeting the Veneno Conclave, as well,” Severin said. “A number of the rogue mages we’ve encountered are students or exiles from their forces.”
“Indeed,” Colonel Friedrich said. “I imagine they’ve been trying to weaken them for decades.”
Stil’s expression turned pained, and he shook his head. “It’s impossible. We were founded on the Snow Queen’s principles!”
Colonel Friedrich shrugged. “Then how do you explain the two would-be-assassin mages sitting in Severin’s dungeons?”
The study was uncomfortably quiet for several long moments.
Elle scratched her cheek and glanced at Lucien’s timeline. “We have a number of the counterparts to the Snow Queen’s allies pointed out—and the deeper we comb through seemingly ‘random’ events over the past few years, I imagine we’ll find a few more. But this does raise a rather urgent question.” Elle’s expression was dark and guarded as her eyes scanned Ariane and the others. “Who do the Chosen believe is the Snow Queen?”
Silence.
Elle smiled grimly. “They must believe she has an equivalent. They wouldn’t be so meticulous in attacking the likes of Lord Enchanter Evariste, Stil, and Severin if they hadn’t already targeted her—or him.”
“Perhaps they already killed her.” Lucien glared at King Steinar’s journal on Severin’s desk.
“No.” Stil rubbed his eyes and sighed. “She’s alive.”
Gemma laid a hand on his elbow. “You know who it is?”
Stil nodded miserably. “It can only be Angelique.”
Ariane blinked in surprise at the statement. Angelique? Then does that mean Lucien was right, and she is frighteningly powerful? But I would have thought other mages would embrace that, yet they seem to disdain her.
A smile twitched across Lucien’s lips—one Ariane recognized as being simultaneously smug and pained for being right. “You believe so? Even though she claims she is an enchantress-in-training?”
Stil rubbed his neck. “Angelique is obscenely powerful, so much so it was greatly debated if she should be allowed to become an enchantress due to the sheer strength of her magic. If Evariste hadn’t taken her on, she would have been exiled because of her power.”
“But she wasn’t able to defeat Clotilde when she faced her directly after the Arcainian princes were turned into swans,” Elle pointed out. “And even this week she was unsure if she could defeat Rothbart on her own.”
“It’s because she fears her own powers and doesn’t use them. It would even be accurate to say she hates her core magic,” Stil said. “Moreover, her magic is at its best when she is on the battlefield against regular soldiers or armies—not against magic users. There, on her own, she can destroy an entire army in minutes.”
Ariane shivered and felt goosebumps crawl up her arms. She knew Angelique. She knew the Enchantress was self-sacrificing, loyal, and steadfast. But the power to destroy whole armies? No wonder they believe she is the Snow Queen’s equal.
“It matches up. She’s had a wretchedly hard life since her magic was discovered and she was taken to the Academy,” Stil added. “Which I imagine means they were already targeting her back then. It’s a testament to the strength of her character that she hasn’t wavered—though I don’t relish the idea of telling her she’s our version of the Snow Queen.”
“What does this all mean?” Elle asked. “Should we call the representatives back?”
“I believe we should build our case and organize Lucien’s findings first,” Colonel Friedrich said. “It will be better for everyone if we can present a whole and thorough explanation when we send out word. Many of us are attending Prince Callan and Princess Dylan’s wedding in a few weeks—we can explain then. It would be better than trying to relay all of this over magic mirrors.”
“Indeed. Lucien’s discovery will help us prepare better,” Severin said. “We now know who the enemy is, we might be more effective in predicting their patterns.”
“Yes,” Lucien agreed. “But we still don’t know where they are.”
“They obviously cannot be in Verglas. But does it matter what country they’re hiding in?” Gemma asked.
Lucien plopped down dramatically at the desk chair and propped his chin up on his fist. “It does—mostly because I highly doubt they’re skulking around in caves. If the Chosen have stayed hidden this long, you can bet they cut out a place in society for themselves as they’ve bided their time.”
Lucien smiled as Ariane edged closer to the desk. When he saw that her eyes were on King Steinar’s journal, he picked it up and offered it to her.
Ariane hesitated, then shook her head. “It’s nothing. I was just wondering…”
Lucien enfolded her hands with his. “Yes?”
“What happened to the mirror?”
Severin turned around so fast he almost knocked into Elle. “What.”
Ariane bit her lip. Was it a stupid question? But I didn’t hear anyone mention it. “The mirror that the Chosen were trying so hard to get. What happened to it?”
The study was silent for several long moments.