There was no need to land the Will of Winter. The Captain and his crew would remain aloft, watching over the fort, along with the Kobold’s Guile and the Hidden Palace of House Faydark. Their weapons would be a great boon to the defense, when it came time to fight.

However, that did not mean I was not going to visit the fort. Indeed, I had a need to see to the defenses and let the people know I was here. But all those who walked with me could fly, either through their wings or through magic, so landing was not needed.

Black wings outspread, I glided down through the frosty air. Our presence had already been marked, and though the Will of Winter was known to the fort’s guardians, they were not taking anything for granted. Illusions were, after all, a thing, and my generals were all too aware of the threat of allowing a force clad in an illusion to get too close unchallenged. After all, they had been on the giving side of such an engagement before, and had no wish to receive one.

That was why I made sure to give my generals a free hand when it came to the training and disposition of my troops. I was no military strategist. I could manage the tactical situation of fighting with my party, certainly, but even on a tactical level I could not manage a force much larger than that. And a general had to think strategically, as well.

No, I’d done something far more practical. I found good people who knew their trade like the backs of their hands, ensured their loyalty, and let them do what they did best, with only the barest guidance from me. This made me popular with my commanders, because they did not have to fight for authority chafe under restrictions that would hamstring their efforts.

It also served to make me fairly popular with the rank and file soldiers, as well. Even with them being a mix of ‘monsters’ like goblins and orcs as well as ‘civilized’ folk like humans and dwarves, the army was well organized, and I did not throw lives away without reason. Combined with my policy of always ensuring that those who followed my rule at least had a roof over their head and food in their bellies (even if it were only tasteless gruel), and I had quickly grown a reputation with not just the soldiers, but the people of my kingdom as well, for being a fair ruler, even if I could also be cruel as the winter wind. Just as Auril herself was both cruel and fair. None were special in the eyes of the Frostmaiden, save for those who proved themselves in the trials she set them.

“Hoh, there! Speak, and be recognized! Stay silent, and feel the bite of our bows! Wherefrom does wisdom come?”

A voice called up to me from the battlements, challenging us as soon as we got within shouting range. I had to smile at that. I doubted anyone in the fort did not recognize me, especially with the company I kept, but they were taking nothing for granted, and challenged me all the same.

“From enduring all that winter throws at you, and learning from every setback, so that you are prepared for the next trial,” I called back, completing the challenge phrase, which was an old saying in the Aurilite faith. The translation from the original Auran, the language spoken by the Air Elementals, was rough around the edges, but the truth of the statement was the same.

As I flew lower, I saw soldiers relaxing the tension on their bows as the officers began spreading the word to stand down. The voice called back, again, “Come forward, then! Who are you and how many?”

This was another test. No doubt, there would be someone hidden, using magic to see the invisible, so that they could see if anyone was lying about their numbers, or if hidden spies were trying to sneak in with my party. I would have to commend the training officers, as they had done an exemplary job with these soldiers.

“Five, in all, with Queen Melinda Rimedancer leading!”

“Advance, then, and welcome to Fort Coldmaw!”

I landed easily in the center of the fort’s stone walls. The fort itself was nestled in a gap barely four miles across, separating the Fayward Marshes and the Strafsack Hills. The gap was wide, and flat, which made it the perfect route to send forces through, from the southlands into Frostreach. Coldmaw was built to guard this route, just like a fort built into a mountain pass.

Of course, without mountains to actually form a pass, the defense of the land had some difficulties. Great moat works created a barrier to carts and the average soldier, while doubling as irrigation for the lands around, allowing what food might be grown in these lands to have a better time of it. The idea was not to stop an enemy in their tracks, but to slow them, and channel them by the route of least resistance towards the fort itself. The only time a force could easily bypass the fort was when the moats iced over in the deepest parts of winter. And there were other ways of slowing an army of southerners in winter.

The fort was built on raised earth, with walls of blackened stone above connecting ten watchtowers to look over the area beyond. Two towers flanked either side of the gates to the north and south, while the remaining six took up the corners of all six remaining points of the octagonal walls. Wards caused wind to blow across the top of the walls, rebuffing missiles shot at the defenders standing there. And that was before you got to the keep itself.

Fort Coldmaw only sported some five hundred soldiers, with perhaps another hundred and fifty civilians who tended the fields and helped with the cooking and such things. At any time, the fort kept supplies for eight hundred to last three months under constant siege, even without the use of magic to add on to the stores of food and water. It was said that, so long as the fort were manned, it could withstand a force twenty times its size and outlast any force that tried to besiege it.

A Snow Goblin in Captain’s armor met me on the ground. As I approached, he snapped into a sharp salute, a far cry from the unorganized rabble that had joined my forces as little more than a horde before the kingdom was established. I smiled as I recognized that face.

“Captain Whiterazor, good to see you again.”

“’At it is, your Majesty. Glad you still remember those of us who fought with you when you were just a warlord rounding up the tribes of the glacier. We got a sending from the capital three days ago, saying to prepare for war. Something about your trip abroad? You didn’t go and stir up trouble like that time you ‘just wanted to talk’ with the frost giants?”

I laughed, glad that my royal nature hadn’t changed his attitudes. While I was a queen, and demanded respect, that didn’t mean I wanted those who knew me best to be afraid of me, or try to talk around me as though I weren’t there. Plus, our little back and forth was calming for the soldiers who were trying (and failing) to not look like they were listening in, and what we said would be around the entire fort quicker than an archon could fly.

“Now, now. I did just go up there to talk. Unfortunately, they were just so impolite. Apparently, they didn’t think a ‘puny bird girl’ could defeat one of them in battle. Stupid brutes never knew what hit them.”

“Yes, well, they probably weren’t expecting you to have people conjure Walls of Stone over the exits before letting the catapults cover the entire arena in Alchemist’s Fire. Fairly certain most of their clan died that day.”

“My oaths prevent me from using flames myself, save the barest minimum needed to cook. However, that does not mean I can’t mention to those under my domain that a conflagration would be bad for the giants’ health. And while the Icedawn does not prefer her faithful to use themselves as bait, her tenets do not prohibit it, especially in service of a greater goal. And those tenets most certainly say nothing about flying up, out of the way of the flames, without bothering to try and save the giants. Really, if they wanted to survive a surprise attack with fire, then they should have learned to fly.”

We both shared a laugh at how we had decapitated the Frost Giant leadership in the local area. It had been a huge success in uniting the tribes of the glacier into the army that made the taking of Frostreach possible. That victory had won me the loyalty of Icetongue and her Frostfolk, as I had proved to my general that I had the steel in my soul to back up my dreams. Without her, and her leadership in battle, I would not have had a kingdom waiting for me when I returned from Torm’s domain.

“So,” the frost goblin said. “The sending came, telling us to make the defenses ready for war. We sent scouts out immediately, of course, to search out the main body of any invading force. Also, a rider from the capital came last night, and gave us the details that you sent ahead. Army of zealots looking to invade, and kick all the ‘monsters’ and ‘heathens’ back out to the glacier, right?”

“Something like that. Probably not all zealots, though. There’s still a few lords who are a bit upset that we rightfully annexed this land that they think belongs to them. Especially since we’ve made some improvements in the short time the kingdom has existed.”

Sanvi walked up beside me. “Mistress, if I know my father, he will not put this effort into a single thrust. Especially one that can be so easily bottled up by holding one lone fort. He’s going to look for other ways to attack Frostreach, and crush all that you have built.”

“Yes, I had thought of that. That is why I gave instructions for scouts to be sent out to the north and east, as well. There are still some forces on the glaciers, like the giants and the elementals, who might be persuaded to attack me. And to the east there are several barbarian tribes following the silver dragon Meltharan.”

“And to the west, Mistress?”

Whiterazor snorted in laughter. “You need not be worrying about the west, miss not-an-angel. Those lands are where the old Sky Kingdom was. When their cities fell, they cursed that whole land. Shades, magic-eaters, and worse roam those deserts. Perhaps one of the death gods could bring what lives there together as a force, but none others could. And, these types don’t look to be friends with the god of Death.”

“No, they most certainly are not,” I agreed. “However, if what we expect is true, then I don’t doubt that we’ll hear reports of movement from the north, and perhaps the east. Nothing might come of it, but it would draw off forces that would otherwise be used to defend the fort, and come to its aid.”

“Would these giants or barbarians be able to bring together enough of a force to truly make a difference? Or would they just be a distraction?”

I shook my head at the fallen archon’s words. “If faced with the full army of Frostreach? No. But if our power is split between three fronts? That becomes more problematic, especially if there are individuals in their ranks who are considerably more powerful than your typical mortal fighters.”

“You mean my father, and his remaining wives, yes?”

“Exactly. They are a wild card, that I cannot properly plan for. If they split up, lending their aid to different forces, then they could vastly amplify the damage the foes could do if left unchecked. Especially in the time it would take to move the army about. Which is why we must devote forces to counter them if there is movement. Otherwise, we might win one battle, only to find the war lost behind us already.”

“And, by now, my father would have made arrangements so that scrying will not work on him. Even if he does not know I am a traitor, he will know that I scryed on his wives, since we used it to send messages. And without a person I know to anchor the spell to…”

“You won’t be able to be sure of the spell succeeding,” I finished. “Yes, that is why I had the scouts sent out in all directions an attack might come from. If they report back on movement, or even if they fail to report in at all, then we will have an answer, and then we can start making proper plans.”