“I’m afraid it’s back to the ships,” the Princeps said into the shocked silence. “Where we will sail the length of the Shieldwall to Phrygia and take the remaining intact causeways south to the aid of Riva. Your ship assignments will be the same as they were when we left Canea. You all know your ships and your captains. Fall out by cohorts and report to them. We’ll leave as soon as the road ahead is ready for us.”

“Bloody crows,” Marcus breathed. If all the ships could sail so swiftly over the ice—though he somehow doubted that the Slive’s performance was typical—they could sail the entire breadth of the Realm in... bloody crows. In hours, a handful of days. Phrygia and Riva were the two most closely placed of the great cities of the Realm—a fast-moving Legion on a causeway could make the journey in less than three days.

If it worked, if the winds held, the ice held, and the newly designed ships held, it would be the swiftest march in Aleran history.

Stunned, Marcus heard himself giving orders to his cohort and coordinating with the First Aleran’s officers to make sure the embarking went smoothly. He found himself standing in silence beside the captain as men, Canim, and supplies were loaded.

“How?” he asked quietly.

“My uncle used to take me sledding during the winter,” Octavian said quietly. “This... seemed to make sense.”

“The snow was your doing?”

“I had help,” the captain said. “From more than one place.” He lifted a hand and pointed to the north.

Marcus looked and saw movement among the trees to the north of the Shieldwall. Faint, blurred shapes with pale, shaggy fur flickered here and there among them.

“Sir,” Marcus choked. “The Icemen. We can’t possibly leave Antillus unprotected.”

“They’re here at my invitation,” he replied. “Managing snow in springtime is one thing. Turning it into ice quickly enough to suit our need is another thing entirely.”

“The reports at Antillus were true, then? That the Icemen have power over the cold?”

“Over ice and snow. A form of watercrafting, perhaps. That was my mother’s theory.” He shrugged. “We certainly don’t have the ability to coat the ground in ice from here to Phrygia. The Icemen do. That’s where Kitai’s been the past few days. Their chiefs are on good terms with her father.”

Marcus shook his head slowly. “After all those years of... they agreed to help you?”

“The vord threaten us all, First Spear.” He paused. “And... I gave them an incentive.”

“You paid them?”

“In property,” Octavian replied. “I’m giving them the Shieldwall.”

Marcus began to feel somewhat faint. “You... You...”

“Needed their help,” the captain said simply. He shrugged. “It is Crown property, after all.”

“You... you gave them...”

“When this is all over, I think I’ll see if I can get them to lease it to us.”