Instead, the exact opposite happened. Feathery tendrils of frost shot across the surface of the water, extending out from the sphere in a carpet that rapidly condensed into a solid surface. The expanding ice pushed the sphere a bit farther from the bank, still bobbing in the current. As the iceberg grew, it changed shape, ice creaking and snapping under the influence of an invisible force. The top hollowed out, and within a few moments Alice could see the shape of the thing that was growing.

It was a boat, made entirely of ice, with the sphere embedded in the deck at the very center. It looked like the small wooden rowboats that Alice and her father had taken out on the lake in Central Park, but much larger, as befit a craft designed for giants. Alice borrowed Flicker’s spear and used it to pull the vessel up against the bank. The slope was shallow enough that they could step from shore to boat without even getting their feet wet, but the fire-sprite still looked deeply unhappy.

“Last chance to back out,” Alice said.

Flicker shook his head. With a major effort of will, he stepped gingerly over the side of the boat. When it swayed under his weight, he hurriedly sat down, hugging his knees.

He and Ashes would get along. Neither of them likes to get wet. Alice put her pack in the bottom of the boat and climbed in herself, spear in hand. Erdrodr had assured her that the current would carry them downstream, into the fortress and up to a smaller gate, where the ice giant girl would be waiting.

The important thing was that they not be seen on the way in. Alice tossed the remains of her bedsheet-pack over Flicker like a shroud. Not being able to see the river seemed to comfort the fire-sprite, and he pulled the sheet tighter around himself. The fabric blocked the light from his hair, leaving Alice in almost total darkness. She waited a moment for her eyes to adjust, the bulk of the hill just barely visible in the starlight, and then she pushed them away from the bank. Using the spear like a pole, she shoved the little craft out into deep water, until she could no longer reach the bottom. Then there was nothing to do but hunker down beside Flicker and wait.

The current was so smooth that there was hardly any sense of motion, but soon they were rounding the side of the hill, the fortress looming larger by the moment. Alice could see Byrvorda still standing at the gate, but the river was some distance away from her, and the boat was nearly invisible in the darkness.