Alice thought for a moment. “Why do you need us? You’re already inside the fortress. Why can’t you just go through?”

“The room with the gate is sealed while Mother is on the other side.” The giant sat back, blushing again. “I have tried to steal the key, but Nordra the Warden keeps it out of my grasp. But I’m certain a mere locked door would present only a small obstacle to a Reader!”

Alice had to admit that was probably true. She looked at Flicker, who met her gaze and shrugged, as if to say, You’re the Reader. This is your show.

“All right,” Alice said. “If you can get us into the fortress, I’ll get you through the door to the portal.”

“You give your word you’ll bring me through?” Erdrodr said. “You won’t leave me behind?”

“I give my word,” Alice said. “Now, how are you going to sneak us inside?”

The ice giant grinned, and rummaged once again in her basket.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

A SUBTLE ENTRANCE

“YOU DON’T HAVE to come, you know,” Alice said.

Flicker stared miserably at the river. It was calm, to Alice’s eyes. She wouldn’t have worried about going for a swim, if it weren’t so cold. But from the way the fire-sprite looked at it, it might have been Niagara Falls.

“Pyros told me to take you all the way to the Palace,” Flicker said. “My memories of the other side may be useful.”

“You’ve shown me to the gate. I’m sure that’s enough.”

He shook his head. “No. Get on with it.”

They were at the bottom of the hill, out of sight of the ice giants’ fortress. Erdrodr had told them to wait an hour, which Alice had timed precisely by the hands of the silver watch. Erdrodr had gone back to the fortress and made her own preparations.

Now Alice held the ice giant’s gift. It was a sphere of ice about the size of her head, cool and slick like an enormous marble, heavy enough that she had to carry it in both hands. Alice had covered it with a ragged bit of bedsheet to keep it from freezing to her fingertips. When the hour was up, as Erdrodr had instructed, she tipped it into the water with a splash. The water was cold, but not frozen, so the ice ball ought to have begun to melt.