Despite our resolve to go out and take the fight to the angels and archons that were hunting us, the ruler of a nation does not have complete freedom of movement. After all, the nation relied on my guidance to keep them in Auril’s grace. I could not just up and run off on a whim!

Fortunately, I had talented lieutenants. Foremost among those were my seneschal, the highest-ranking priestess of Auril in my train, and the general of my army. All three were responsible for one portion of my kingdom. The seneschal managed the day-to-day issues of running a kingdom, the priestess saw to the spiritual side of things, and ensured that the Frostmaiden was properly honored in my lands, and the general saw to my army, and ensured that what I had conquered could not be conquered in turn.

Arnet Sagebow was my seneschal. He had originally held the office under the former Lord Mayor of Trenia, and had been the one to formally surrender the city after the Lord Mayor got an unfortunate case of ‘arrows to the face’, resulting in death. His only condition to surrender was that the people of Trenia be unharmed.

That, compassion made him an excellent choice as seneschal. He cared about the people of Trenia, and the rest of Frostreach. And they loved him, in turn, to the point where my naming him as seneschal had proven overwhelmingly popular with the public, and stifled many fears some had. This was a good thing, not only because it kept him from abusing his power overmuch, but also because it gave me chains to ensure good behavior. The people were bound by their love of the seneschal, and knew that acting out would cause him trouble, and Arnet was bound by his love for the people, and the knowledge that, if he failed in his tasks, the true victims would be the people, not me.

Even better, unlike the late and unlamented Lord Mayor, who had inherited his position, Arnet had earned his. While his family was known for being priests and rangers, Arnet was not blessed with a class suitable for taking up one of those traditional callings, and instead set himself to the task of learning to manage people, and businesses. So, when the former Lord Mayor needed an administrator, Arnet won the role fairly, with his keen mind enabling him to see problems before they developed. This made him the perfect administrator to ensure that things ran smoothly in my absence.

Jaketta Icetouched, on the other hand, was a different manner of creature altogether. According to the Voice of the World, she was an Ice Half-Paraelemental Human. Born of the union of a woman who had gotten too friendly with the wildlife while on the Elemental Plane of Cold, her birth had frozen her mother from the inside out, killing her, but showing the nearby priestess of Auril that she was destined for great things.

Raised from birth as a priestess, Jaketta had a strong connection to the Goddess we both served, and was made all the more zealous due to her innate powers, which she viewed as Auril’s grace upon her. To say that she was zealous in her beliefs was an understatement. This was a problem, in the early days after I first met her. She was too wild, and too full of zeal. Her recklessly blind zealotry would have unmade my work long before we ever conquered Trenia, if I had not reigned her in.

I did not want to break her of her faith, of course. The process of tempering that faith with wisdom was a slow one, but I succeeded. Though she still lamented how we had to tolerate the shrines of other deities, even in the capital, she had come to understand the necessity. We were, after all, playing the long game, here. While forced conversions sounded good, in the short term, in truth, they simply caused resent and dissent to fester. That kind of rot could not be purged with inquisitions or zeal, and, once set in deep enough, was almost impossible to cure. Instead, by allowing those other gods to have their shrines, so long as the priests and their flocks did not go against the kingdom, you forced acceptance. And when confronted with the works of Auril in the land, more people willingly converted, joining the faith because they chose it, and the other faiths had no ‘injustice’ to rail against and rally people to their cause.

With internal strife minimized, the defense of the kingdom fell to Freth Icetongue, my general. She had led the motley troops that formed my army, building them into an effective fighting force. She was no small part of the reason why I had this kingdom in the first place.

Her allegiance, and that of her tribe, had been won with the promise of their gaining a permanent home, rather than being forced to live the nomadic lifestyle they’d always had until now. With the conquest of Frostreach, I succeeded in giving them that. Trenia and the outlying cities, towns, and villages were all part of my domain, and the various tribes of Frostfolk, humans, orcs, goblins, and more had all accepted this permanent shift fairly well.

The same ‘tough, but fair’ approach I had used while we were on the Glacier was replicated in my lands. Some fools lamented that they did not get the chance to slaughter everyone in their path. They were quickly identified and either educated or dispatched by Freth and her people, who knew the value of not pushing too hard, and too fast. You did that, and you either overextended, and lost everything, or you got the attention of someone powerful enough to stomp you, and you still lost everything. She knew to never bite off more than she could chew.

My three aides met me in my private study, the day before we were set to head off for a final word in private. I looked at each of them, and said, “Well, while we never spoke of such things openly, all four of us have spoken privately about the fact that, eventually, the events of Tormfall would have to meet their conclusion. Now, it seems that that time is upon us. I have full faith in you, my Triad Council, to oversee and safeguard the kingdom in my absence, but the work I began, two years ago, now calls me afield once again.

“But I am no simple adventurer, not anymore. Therefore, We must take precautions against the grim possibilities of the future. Rogdun is still too young to take up his duties as Our heir. Therefore, while We are gone, and, until he reaches his majority if We should fall, and pass beyond hope of return, We name you three as co-regents of Our realm.”

That caused a ripple of surprise to run through them, and I grinned. My gaze fell first upon my general. “Freth, you are a master of war. Even had you not joined my cause, I do not doubt you would have led your clan to victory over your rivals. And now, you stand as general in charge of all the forces of Frostreach. But we both know that you are no master of politics. That is why you never sought to be chief of your tribe, even though none doubted that you could have bested the man who held that title. You, I know, understand that the right weapon must be used against the right foe.”

“Yes, my Queen. I understand.”

I turned to look at Arnet, next. “Arnet Sagegbow, you are a former enemy turned to close confidant, because your greatest strength, and greatest weakness, is the love for the people of Trenia. A ruler must sometimes be hard, and cruel, or they will be seen as weak, and their rule undermined. This is a quality you do not possess.

“Nor, in fact,” I smiled, “would I seek to see you change in order to acquire it. For, in so doing, you would lose your greatest strength. You are the balance against the harsh truths those of us who lived in the frozen wilds have come to accept as fact. But, in these more civilized lands, things move from white and black to shades of grey. Your use to me has always been as a counterweight, and I trust that, in my absence, you will continue to act as such, keeping the kingdom strong without sacrificing the things that have caused the people to follow us willingly, instead of at the point of a sword.”

“Of course, your Majesty. Thy will shall be done.”

I nodded, and turned to the final member of my triad. “Jaketta. You have followed me for a long time, and, in that time, we have fought often in the arena of words and ideas, and more than once in the actual arena, as well, with steel on steel. You know that I think you too reckless to actually rule. Focusing on the callings of the faith is excellent, and a great way to motivate the faithful. But in this world, one must take care not to take on troubles one could have avoided, lest you find your light snuffed out prematurely.

“Remember, We built this kingdom on the promise that Our rule would be tough, but fair. That is the same guide that enabled us to unite the tribes of the glaciers. That policy allows us to bring in those who would have been our enemies, like Arnet, here, and instead have their strengths add to our own. None in Frostreach deny the Frostmaiden’s power. We’ve made sure of that. Her breath can be cruel, but she is fair, and it chills all alike. And, when compared to other gods, who have complicated moral codes or the like that they inflict upon their followers, the relative simplicity of the Frosmaiden’s commands are comforting to people who have been burned by the ‘good’ faiths. And that gives us a way to reach them with Auril’s word.”

“Yes, my Queen. I will not disappoint you.”

“I know you won’t.” I paused, and then looked at the three of them. “There are still two lines of the prophecy that have yet to come to pass. Two lines out of six. So far, agents of the Frostmaiden have been key in all four of the lines that have come to be. Myself, and the dragon in the Aurilblood Jungle. It is likely that, with these new events, the other two will come to be as well.”

The three stiffened. Arnet was the first to speak. “If I may, your majesty, you are a woman with golden hair, and not far to the north is what could be called a sea of ice. Those of use with any wits have long considered that you might be the one in the prophecy. But, can a mortal kill a god in their full power?”

“Not easily, no. And certainly not in a fair fight. But I am not above cheating to survive. And there are ways to kill gods, if you have enough power, or resources. They are not talked about openly, for obvious reasons. But gods can die, and have died at mortal hands before.”

The priestess shook her head. “But what of the predator and the prey? I assume that you believe the sisters to be the demon-worshippers, and I don’t doubt that they could give rise to the dawn of evil, if they put their bodies to the task. But the rise of a new god?”

I shrugged. “That, I don’t know. The methods of attaining godhood are better known than those for killing a god, but are frustratingly harder to achieve. The people offering prayers to some almighty ruler is not enough to make one a god. There is some spark of immortality that you have to have, to even get on the weakest tier of godhood. A ruler could have an entire continent worshipping his name, but without that spark, he is just a man, and not a god.”

Freth nodded slowly. “And what happens when a god is slain? What happens to the spark they held? Is it snuffed out, or does it find a new home?”

We all turned to look at her, stunned. She simply shrugged, as though it were no big deal. “If a torchbearer has his throat slit, the torch does not go out on its own. But a torchbearer caught in a white dragon’s breath might find both his torch and life snuffed out in an instant. Would it not be the same for this spark you speak of?”

“That… is certainly something to consider, Freth.” I took a breath, and said, “Thank you all. My friends and I shall depart to track down the hunters arrayed against us in the morning. Until we return, the kingdom will be in your capable hands. And, should we fall, I trust you all to look over it until my son is old enough to rule on his own.”

“As you wish, your Majesty.”