The guards surrounding Glacia's small palace atop a mumakil were startled by a piercing scream of rage that shattered the night. Only two reacted, moving towards the main door, and they were grabbed before they made the mistake of entering. One veteran lowered his voice and spoke in their ears, "If she's angry, she isn't being attacked. Not that she can't kill anything that comes near her. You go in there and you'll be the target of her wrath." They chose to return to their posts. A wise decision. Exhausted from days without sleep while studying the wisdom in her book, she had slid beneath her silken covers and laid her weary head on her pillow, only to then smell the filth that encrusted everything. She would have killed anyone who rushed into her room.

Fury filled her, and she ran through the short list of people insane enough to do this, or who could have made it into her private quarters. She vowed to kill them all, just to be sure...and then paused. Still covered in excrement, she sat at her desk, only bothering to wipe her hands before turning to page 347.

"People will covet your power. They will try at every step to hinder your rise, jealous that you are the superior being. Never forget that, and be wary of their traps. They will first try to separate you from your semi-loyal minions and sycophants. When something drives you to fury, your first instinct will be to destroy those responsible. That's what they want you to do! Your true enemies are laughing at you, watching you lash out at minions or allies. The dangerous enemies will hurt you in ways that make it seem obvious someone else has attacked you. Defeat their schemes by ignoring them! The obvious target is what they want you to destroy! Quell your righteous anger! Stay your hand of wrath! Look beyond the obvious to the hidden. They are out there, slinking in the shadows, afraid of facing you, doing what damage they can. Controlling your anger is the way to defeat them, as you sift the shadows for their lair."

It was so true! Not even Tamique was insane enough to do this! Nor would Jarl Cragstone allow his little pet to upset her. He was not a stupid man. And the fact that a hidden enemy was trying to get him killed was evidence they wanted him out of the way. She'd dismissed the man for too long. He wasn't a wizard, with only his tribal hedge magics that any warrior of the North learned, but he had gathered tribes to his cause, was a competent commander, and well respected. If some enemy wanted him out of the way, then she would do the opposite and show him favor. And, she had a use for him. What had her book said?

"No one expects a frontal assault. They think that strong walls and defenses are enough, and that you will fear them. But every successful general knows when it is the correct time to strike! Gather your forces, ignore the gnats dancing on your flanks! Supply lines are for cautious chumps, we'll eat the food in that fancy castle. Bring together your army and like a mighty hammer, smite your enemies. They'll never see it coming. It's always worked well for the Inquisition."

Cloaking herself in mist, she stepped from her tent and spoke to her servants, "You will gather the snows and fill my bath. And someone summon Jarl Cragstone and the tribal council, I have a job for them." Her casual tone caused more terror than her wrath and minions scampered to find people and prepare her bath. An hour later, refreshed, she stepped into the command tent. As ordered, her servants had prepared a feast for the Jarls and brought out their best mead. Their mood was improved but wary.

"I called you back, because things have changed quickly. The Winds of Winter come slowly, so I have abandoned them and sought guidance from those I trust most to advise me. I will be journeying to Northguard where Baron Pinchpenny will bend the knee and deliver to me a great treasure that will gain us immediate advantages. I will return quickly, and we will crush the Duchess's army with a bold attack, bring the cold to these lands, and then blast through into Wolfsburg. For this, I need my army ready. Jarl Cragstone, I trust that you are prepared to take command as my second, and lead the army in my absence?"

Cragstone had been drinking heavily, expecting death at any moment. Tamique had come back with little information about Glacia's plans, because it seems the leader of the Winter Council had none. Just arrows on maps that made no sense, and questions scribbled on paper. Her true plans might have been in a locked book, but his bat had refused to open it, claiming it reeked of a trap. She'd also returned to him with her legs and feet covered in guano, dancing around, proud of her clever prank. He'd thought of riding north, but knew it wouldn't keep alive for more than a day. The real tragedy was having insufficient alcohol with him. He began rectifying that as soon as he entered the tent for the second meeting. Being offered second in command instead of death was quite a surprise.

He grinned showing pointed incisors, a present from one of his non-human ancestors. "Very ready. I'll start immediately, using our mobile troops to cut their lines of retreat and bring up the slower, heavier forces to begin a full assault when you are ready."

"Excellent, just what I was thinking. I will be taking our mounted Rime Knights with me, and the Council, of course. This will be a lovely surrender and some political bargaining. The frozen dead will begin their walk forward and all of the tribes will be sent to you. After the surrender of Northguard, we will rejoin the army, and begin our swift conquest of the Southlands with a mighty wind storm preceding us."

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Cragstone's head reeled. This was actually a plan that might work. They'd spent months slowly slogging south, with both the Frost Devil and the Council content to slowly freeze the lands and conserve their strength. He was so used to the incompetency of the council that decisive thinking was a great surprise. His mind was already thinking of how to use the forces at his command to cut the enemy supply lines and be in position to block their retreat. Then use his monstrous forces to break the lines for the tribes to ravage and exploit the chaos. It would be a glorious victory and the tribes would claim new lands for themselves. There were certain other members of this coalition that would contest that. He'd make sure those forces were on the front lines when the time came to charge and shatter the southern forces. The cold valleys of the north grew too little food for his tribes to increase their numbers. He'd passed fine grazing lands here in the south. It was wasteful to see huge swaths of land. The Empire deserved to lose them.

"All will be ready." He slammed a fist to his chest, and the other Jarl's did the same. The meeting broke up, Cragstone to begin the job of sending out large forces of his mounted warriors and beast masters, and Glacia to join her entourage and begin the trip to Northguard, where the key to victory awaited her. As she walked away, someone was suddenly at her side, walking next to her. She turned her head to find Gillihowlet, his strange eyes looking into hers.

"I have questions." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Fury returned, and her face flushed, but the man seemed oblivious to her angry gaze. She remembered the stories told about him, and how his calm demeanor hid a berserk creature that ripped out entrails and feasted on them when challenged. She admired that, and even feared him a little. He cared less about politics than Bronk, and it had been a major coup to have him answer her summons. "Ask them."

"You split your forces. Who do you wish watched? This army here, or your forces moving north? Mind speech to my birds will not stretch over both. An offer of a great treasure could be a lure to bring you to an ambush. Is it perhaps to good to be true?"

She considered that, as she had before. "Good enough that the offer cannot be ignored, and something I trust no one else to handle. Pinchpenny's line is known for hoarding treasures, and the Casket of Stolen Summers was lost in a great excursion to the south long ago, and never found. It fits too well. With it, I can steal another summer, and bring Winter as far south as the city of Wolfsburg, making for an easy conquest and along with the destruction of the southern armies. If he lies, he will die. If there is an ambush from the north, my knights will crush them. I have the Winter Council with me. A small force trying to ambush us will die quickly, and a larger one will be seen by normal scouts. I need you here, giving Cragstone direction on where the Duchess has her army. They are split up across the land, trying to block our advance."

He chuckled, a nasty sound. "Like mice running through the brush, waiting to be picked off, one by one and gobbled up. Foolish of her not to consolidate her forces. I will enjoy helping the jarl find the little packs. And if I find the Duchess, I may bring you a present. She is known to ride with her troops. One swoop and she and her horse will be in the sky, screaming." He inhaled deeply, flexing his claws. His owl screamed at the same moment. There was a sudden urgency about him, as if he had scented prey. He turned and walked quickly away, leaping to the back of his owl and was in the sky, seconds later."

Glacia watched him go, wondering how much humanity was left in him. Maybe the Duchess would find out.

In a small camp surrounded by a thousand wargs, a dozen Beastmasters huddled around a fire, grilling meat carved from four of their pack. It was stringy and tough, but they didn't care. They needed food to survive the daily stress of keeping the packs together and under their control. A task that was nearly impossible after the loss of the huge sled of supplies to the Hungry Ones. They knew that the packs were fighting among themselves. The sound of animals tearing into each other was a constant theme each night, and every morning their were fewer wolves to control. Worse, the maddened animals were still starving, as if they hadn't fed the night before. They found the signs of the fights and blood on the ground, now and then a stripped carcass with wargs fighting over the bones. It felt wrong, somehow, but they were starving themselves and eating what they could, and their minds were strained from the task of keeping the packs under control.

The night after General Glacia left was the worst. Every pack was fighting and cacophony of rage, hunger, and terror exhausted all of them and left two mindless and three dead. When they went to throw the bodies to the wolves, they saw that barely a thousand dogs were left. Tracks led away north, showing that some of the survivors had broken their mental chains and gone wild. Soon after they were ordered to take the rest of their packs and follow a group of cavalry, sent to outflank the southern army. The Jarl only shrugged when they told him of the missing wolves. Cragstone was actually delighted to be rid of the liability that the wolves had become. They were Glacia's problem now.

Far to the north, commanding his growing army, Chartok agreed. "This is going to be so much fun, Benjamin! Let's start with the supply wagons, and then the horses. I want to see how good they are at walking in the snow."