Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sylvi
The ice shattered beneath me with a roar that would’ve split the sky wide open.
I didn’t drop, I plummeted into the crushing depths of the lake, sinking faster than I could blink.
The moment the water closed over my head, it was like being slammed into a wall of knives. My breath seized in my chest as I shoved a scream back down my throat. Freezing water fought to invade my nose, my mouth, but I held my breath with all my might, though it burned.
Gods, it burned. A pain so violent it didn’t feel real.
I flailed, but the weight of my soaked leather armor dragged me farther down, faster and faster.
Panic clawed at my lungs as the glowing light of Jack’s magic began to fade, unable to penetrate this far below.
My arms, my legs, everything felt too heavy.
The cold didn’t just slash at my skin like sharpened blades; it burrowed through my flesh like millions of frozen needles corkscrewing into my bones.
Heavens. My chest spasmed, desperate for breath, screaming for air. But I kept my lips sealed, knowing even one crack would spell my death. Panicking would only lower my chances of making it out of this, but then I saw what swam below me.
Even through blurred vision, I was able to make out the pale shapes gliding through the depths, long and skeletal, almost aglow, their limbs seeming to bend the wrong way.
Its form trailed in the water like ribbons of milk in a dark abyss.
It didn’t swim so much as drift, coiling through the water as if the lake itself bent to its will.
Their faces were a mask of thin-stretched skin over bone, practically translucent.
They stared at me through hollow eyes, their expressions that of frostbitten corpses left beneath the tundra.
Blasted Solstice. Frostwraiths. Dozens of them.
This time I couldn’t hold back the panic that surged through my heart, and I kicked my legs harder, trying to swim upward, but my boots felt like lead balls. Something squeezed around my ankle, dragging me even farther down to the bottom of the lake.
I peered down, and the wraith opened its mouth, but there were no teeth, just endless dark. I knew once it brought me to the bottom there would be no escaping my watery tomb. It would feed on my last breath.
No, no, no…
I kicked again. Fought. But I just kept sinking. My strength bled away in these impossibly frigid depths. The pressure in my chest grew unbearable. The need to breathe turned into sheer agony, but I knew once I opened my mouth, once I gave in, the lake would claim me.
Pressing my lips tight, I warred against my body’s instincts, its desperate need for oxygen.
Air. Air. I need air…
I’d been under too long…too long…
Don’t breathe, Sylvi. Don’t breathe.
But my mind was powerless against my body’s need to survive, its unrelenting drive to inhale…
My lips cracked of their own volition, and water rushed to fill my lungs with such vengeance, a scream tore from my throat and was immediately silenced.
My chest convulsed uncontrollably as my insides flooded with iced water.
The more water that filled my chest cavity, the more I inhaled. The pain was unconscionable.
My limbs went limp, body curling into itself, twitching and contorting as the last remnants of air left my body, as my mind faded to black, the wraith pulling me deeper and deeper and…
Something hard wrapped around my waist, jolting my consciousness awake for one more moment…
My eyelids slid open and blue light flared all around me, so blinding I almost missed the swirl of silver hair in the water before the void claimed me again.
When I came to, I was flat on my back, and the sky was spinning.
Cold air punched into my lungs in a wheezing gasp, followed by wracking coughs that seized my whole body. Water poured from my mouth. I gagged and was hauled upright by someone.
“Come on—come on, Sylvi,” Jack’s voice strained. A hand pounded between my shoulders. “Breathe, dammit.”
I coughed again, profusely, almost choking. My eyes burned. My throat felt like I’d swallowed fire and frost all at once.
But I was breathing.
I collapsed against a hard chest, shivering so violently that I couldn’t speak. My vision blurred, but I didn’t need to see who held me. Jack’s heartbeat hammered against my spine like a stampede of deer. His arms squeezed tighter around me. “You’re okay. Fucking Hel, Syl. You’re okay.”
“S-so…cold,” I stuttered.
In an instant, Jack lifted me into his arms like I weighed nothing, his hold almost too tight, as if afraid I might dissolve into mist. “I’ve got you. Just hold on,” he muttered into my hair, voice a bit shook.
My teeth ached from chattering. I couldn’t even speak. My fingers curled in on themselves, numb and useless, my entire body locked in an uncontrollable tremble.
Sascha’s voice cut through the sounds of chaos. “She’s going into shock; her core temperature’s crashing. We need to get her warm. Now.”
Jack didn’t wait. He took off at a sprint, lungs ragged, arms locked around me like iron. He barreled through the camp, weaving between tents until he reached his pavilion, ducking inside with all the force of a battering ram.
Warmth met us instantly. A metal brazier glowed in one corner, coals crackling faintly, the walls and floor thick with layered pelts and furs to trap the heat. He dropped to his knees and lowered me onto the feather mattress, his arms trembling as he brushed soaked strands of hair from my face.
“I c-can’t…feel…my body,” I stammered.
“Bring hot stones!” Jack bellowed through the tent flap. “Now!”
Sascha burst in, Ingrid close behind, arms full of linens and her satchel already open. “We’ll take care of her, Your Highness. You need to wait outside.”
He didn’t budge. Soaked through, jaw clenched, his eyes had gone that deep, storm-born navy that reminded me of the lake’s depths. “I’m not leaving her.”
“Please, My Prince,” Sascha said. “We need to strip her down. Stimulate her blood. Treat her lungs. Warm her from the inside out.”
He still didn’t move. Not until I rasped through chattering teeth, “I’ll be okay, Jack. I promise.”
Sascha stepped closer and laid a hand on his arm. “You’ll help her more by letting us work. Five minutes. That’s all we ask.”
With a reluctant exhale that was half a growl, Jack backed out of the tent, casting one last glance over his shoulder, his gaze pained, slits of fear and warning that seemed to say, If you die, I will rip this world to shreds.
The moment the flap dropped shut, Sascha and Ingrid flew into motion.
“Let’s get these leathers off,” Sascha said, already undoing the laces at all the joints.
Her hands were gentle, but I still winced with every tug.
My skin burned with a tingling sensation, like millions of ants scurrying right below the surface, biting, pinching.
It was my blood rushing back to the surface, my body coming alive after being excruciatingly numb. But gods, it hurt.
“We’ve got you,” Ingrid whispered, moving to my boots.
Sascha worked fast, muttering under her breath about idiots and icy lakes. They stripped me of my sodden armor, layer by layer, until I was bare to the skin. Sascha uncorked a small clay jar and began rubbing a warm, pungent cream across my arms and legs.
“What…is that?” I managed through chattering teeth.
“Rakaroot balm. It draws blood to the surface. Good for deep chills and near-drownings in frigid waters.” She glanced up. “Works fast, but it will feel like flames licking your skin at first.”
She wasn’t lying.
The second it touched me, my body arched as fire seemed to leap beneath my flesh. Not pain exactly, just intensity, a violent awakening from the cold’s numbing grip.
After a minute or so, the shivering dulled.
Ingrid helped pull a thick wool gown over my head and fetched water from a heated basin, dabbing at my face with wet cloths. They wrapped me in layered furs and propped me upright with pillows. Sascha handed me a steaming cup of tea. “Birchbark and clove,” she said. “Good for shock.”
I took it with shaking hands. The tea scorched my tongue, but I drank.
Sascha pulled my hair over one shoulder and settled beside me, undoing my braids. “The waters in that lake aren’t just cold, they’re cursed. Another minute and we might’ve lost you, Captain.”
I gave her a faint nod. “I’m…not captain.”
She waved a dismissive hand. “That’s a technicality.”
I met her gaze. “ Still. Call me Sylvi. Both of you.”
She smiled, her posture easing. “Very well, Sylvi.”
Ingrid perched on the end of the mattress. “Thank the goddess the prince dove in after you. But when he didn’t resurface right away…”
I took another sip of the tea, its heat traveling down my throat and warming my insides.
“The whole thing is such a blur. Everything happened so fast, and the water… Gods, I’ve never felt cold like that.
It was like drowning in a lake full of razors, not water.
I tried to fight, but the lake took all my strength, and I couldn’t hold my breath much longer. ”
A crease formed between Sasha’s eyebrows, and her gaze dropped. “Don’t be hard on yourself. Not many people can plunge into those waters and survive. You’re lucky the prince acted as fast as he did. But this is really our fault. We helped you escape. If the prince finds out…”
I touched her arm. “No. Don’t you dare. I made the choice. If I hadn’t, Jack and the others might not have made it out. I’ll take the consequences.”
Ingrid’s lips trembled. “My family relies on my pay, mistress.”
“You’ll keep your post; I’ll make sure of it,” I said, voice steadier now. “And the prince doesn’t need to know who helped me, anyway.” I winked..
Sascha arched a brow. “I still can’t believe the guards fell for that.”
“The damsel-in-distress routine?” I chuckled weakly, recalling their diversion.
Sascha and Ingrid had rushed past the guards, claiming a soldier had stomach worms. Sascha had feigned twisting her ankle and nearly face-planted into a fire pit.
“Soldiers are hard-wired to respond to a cry for help,” I added.
“I’m surprised they didn’t trip over each other offering aid. ”
Ingrid chuckled softly. “Our cries for help were pretty convincing.”
And they’d earned me the quick moment I’d needed to run past the gates. I’d stayed flush against the wall so the archers atop wouldn’t notice me slinking through the shadows until I finally made it to the forest’s edge.
Sascha leaned forward conspiratorially. “They panicked when they heard about the worms and demanded they be given the same tonic as a preventative measure.” She batted her eyelashes, feigning innocence. “Little do they know, all they got was warm water with ginger drops.”
The three of us laughed softly, and for a moment, the warmth of shared mischief dulled the memory of the lake’s tragedy.
Then a page entered, cradling a large clay bowl of steaming stones. “His Royal Highness said to bring these to you, mistress.”
“Perfect,” Sascha said. “Set them here. Ingrid, wrap them in linens; we’ll tuck them between the furs.”
They slid the hot stones beneath the blankets, and the warmth that seeped through was heaven. The lanterns flickered softly, casting the pavilion in golden light, and the scent of cedar, burning coal, and frost hanging in the air settled in my lungs.
“I’ll let the prince know you’re well enough,” Ingrid said.
But I barely heard her, my eyes already sliding shut, body sinking into the luxurious heat. I tugged the blanket tighter around me. Jack’s scent clung to the furs, and I allowed myself to drown in it, in the feeling of safety, of his strength.