CHAPTER 17

Erix's words clung to me like sap on a tree, sticky and resistant to my attempts to forget them; they showed no signs of budging from my consciousness.

I'd expected him to come into my room alongside me, so I couldn't deny the blush of disappointment when he closed me within and remained outside.

For what seemed like hours, I played with the idea of inviting him to join me. But then what? All my mind could think of was his touch and how distracting it was. I wondered about his limitations, where his touch would begin or end. My mind was full of silly thoughts, distracting and unimaginable. Yet I couldn't shake them.

Because a distraction was exactly what I craved.

I supposed I could've taken my mind off him by thinking of Briar, but the haunting vision of her frail body in the bed was not something I was ready to reimagine.

Instead, I sat myself on the bed, legs crossed before me, as I reached for that strange yet familiar chill that curdled in the box deep in my chest. The power was frightening, but I called for it to heed my invitation. As it had with Lady Kelsey, I almost expected some resistance, but the sudden rush of ice that spread through my veins was a shock. It had me gasping for breath.

The magic slipped out of the box like melted butter, dripping down the dark edges of its confines, filling me with a cool gust of winter wind until each breath caused fog to slip into the room. Relief. That was what it felt like. And the release gave me what I longed for, another vision to replace the one of Erix.

Mother. Her dark hair and melodic voice filled my mind. I closed my eyes, not wanting anything to divert me from it. Julianne . Her name echoed in a voice similar to my own, but deeper and aged, like ale left in a casket over summers. It was Father's voice. I could hear him call for her as though it was a memory I'd only now allowed myself to remember.

I didn't need my eyes to open to know that the hungry, devouring ice that longed so deeply for escape crept across the sheets of the bed; had I shifted. I could hear the crackle of material as it snapped beneath my weight.

The cold was what I needed to silence the heat that had blossomed in my core as a result of Erix. His words had sparked the itching fire, but his stare… his knowing, wanting stare, fuelled that feeling.

And I couldn't stop myself from contemplating if I returned that want.

The answer was almost too simple.

What do I want? The thought turned Father's calling into a mere whisper. It was a question I had not allowed myself to face, nor had I the time to think on it. What I wanted was now out of reach, a chance to see my mother. Julianne . It was the only thing I had ever truly wanted. But now, even knowing I would never see her, I felt oddly closer to her, more than I had before.

Answers. Another thought replied. I want answers . To learn everything I could about her, whether it was Father telling me or not.

I fell into a trance of kinds, allowing my mind to ponder everything that had happened and everything that was to happen. The choice I was left with. Accept the Icethorn Court and prevent a war, or turn my back on it and watch as the world beyond Wychwood was devoured beneath the wild power that threatened the humans.

What do you choose? I didn't know.

Then I thought of our home in Grove, and the many who lived around us, even the sprouting of other small villages and slightly larger towns that peppered the lands of Durmain all the way to the northern capital of Lockinge. I couldn't see those I'd grown up with – no matter how they had looked at me – destroyed in the explosion of wild power.

Power I was supposed stop, yet I didn't even understand what that meant or what I had to do.

I snapped out of my trance as the door to my room slammed open. How long had it been? Time was hard to grasp in a room without windows.

Magic surged from me in response. It was instinct to throw out a hand, opening my eyes in time to see five teardrop-sized shards of ice split from the tips of my fingers. Like arrows, they sliced through the air, each thudding into the open door, narrowly missing Althea, who stood beneath its frame.

"Before you say it, there isn't any time to knock," Althea added, eyes unblinking as she regarded one of the shards that embedded inches from her face into the surface behind her.

With a shuddering breath, I recalled the cold back into the box, mentally closing the lid. I was too horrified about what I had almost caused to truly recognise how responsive the magic had been to my command.

"What's happened?" I swung my legs from the bed and stood to greet her.

"Hope. That's what has happened."

"Briar, is she okay?" I asked.

"No. Not yet at least" Her face was straight as she responded, her voice etched with tension. "I have just received word that the Hunters have breached a weakening spot in the barrier and have made it quite far into our lands; all the way up to The Sleeping Depths. Which, as per the second message just received ahead of Tarron's arrival, is exactly where the weed needed to evict the Tugwort out of Briar's system is located."

"The Sleeping Depths," I questioned, reminding Althea that I knew little of the geography of anything north of the Wychwood barrier. "How far is it?"

"It is a loch that covers both the land of Cedarfall and Icethorn. Which means the ballsy fucks have grown confident enough to make it that far from Durmain. And I'm not an idiot to know just how well timed it is that Hunters are in the same fucking place the antidote for Briar is. But I am in the right mood to pay them a visit." Her arrival had happened so quickly that it took a moment to realise she was dressed in the armour of a warrior, steel and leather overlapping one another, not an inch of skin on show from her neck down. Althea's deep red hair had been collected in a braid that rested over her shoulder. "You said you'd do anything to help if you could. So, I want to know if you are coming with me."

"Me?" I asked aloud, almost laughing at the thought. "Is it safe?"

"Yes, you." Erix pushed past Althea, entering the room with arms full of clanking armour and darker material. "The Hunters are currently occupying your land. By birthright, it shall be your hand that ushers them from it. That and it is important you actually see what the decision held over you means. Seeing the Icethorn power in person should help you make your decision."

Nerves prickled my skin. "But… what do you expect me to do about it?"

"To be honest with you, Robin, you are accompanying me because I need Erix and his tactics, but by command, he cannot leave your side. I also see the importance of you understanding just what we are up against," Althea said, a sly grin creeping across her striking face. "And nothing will keep my mind off Briar's failing state…better than breaking some bones." She paused, taking a hulking breath in. "That antidote is mine. I'm not returning without it."

Part of me wanted to refuse to join, to stay locked in the room away from the danger beyond it, but then I wanted to slap myself. Swallowing the knot of worry, I nodded. "I will try and help where I can."

Erix's gaze flicked to the melting shards of ice that dribbled down the door. "You may be more help than you could imagine."

Althea clapped, the metal gleam of her armoured chest catching the light. "Then it is done. Robin, get yourself changed. I expected the introduction to the Icethorn Court to be far less bloody, but I suppose we cannot have it our own way."

Realisation settled across me at that moment. Home . I was going to see it. The hairs on my arms and neck stood to attention, matching the line of guards waiting silently against the wall beyond the room. "I wouldn't mind throwing a few fists either, if I'm honest."

My magic flexed within me, readying itself for a promised release.

"That is exactly what I like to hear," Erix breathed, his grin flexing the shadow of a beard across his jaw. He held out his arms, offering the pile of clothing and armour towards me. "Then let's see what Eroan has crafted for you, shall we?"

"And whilst you change, I will prepare the party," Althea said, slapping Erix on the back of his shoulder. It was impossible to ignore his wince at her strength. Then she looked my way, thrusting two outstretched fingers to her eyes and then to me. "It is time you see what being an Icethorn means. What the title comes with. I'll give you a hint, it's a shitload of land. And right now, there are Hunters on it. Show them why you deserve your name and what happens when that name is threatened."

Our small party left the protection of Aurelia's trees and exposed ourselves to the harsh lashing of rain and wind that battered down upon the world beyond. The thick crown of gold leaves and the monstrous branches kept the weather out of the city, but the land beyond was not so fortunate.

Erix's tall frame behind me sheltered me from the pelting of cold autumn rain, but still the water soaked into the tips of my midnight-black gloves and soaked my hair into dense strands across my head. He must've noticed my shivering as his arms tightened on either side of me as he leaned in. The metal of our armour kept us inches apart, but I liquefied into him in as much as I could.

Eroan's outfit was similar to that of the training leathers he had supplied, except where my arms and chest had been exposed, they were now covered in a flexible, form-fitting metal that was etched with intricate patterns; the armour was as beautiful as it was useful.

The journey was long and made miserable by the unrelenting weather. We were a party of five, far from the size of the one that had galloped into the camp of Hunters all those days ago. This was small for a reason, to be kept unseen, but with enough power to destroy the moderate-sized camp of Hunters that Althea had explained we were to face.

I was surprised to see that Orion had joined us. Adorned in the same armour as his sister, they rode side by side on stags of equal height, then there was Erix and me, followed closely by the fey-warrior Gyah. Her expression was stern and unbothered by the rain, as though it was something she was used to, droplets of water falling from her dark lashes and streaming down the sides of her face.

The sky above had darkened into charcoal grey that smudged for as far as I could see. It was impossible to know how late in the day it had become, for the storm kept any sign of the sun and its placement from view.

I focused deeply on the rolling lands we trailed, studying how forests turned into glades which opened out into vast fields that highlighted the faint outline of mountains far off in the distance. Everything I witnessed was grand, even through the sheet of unrelenting rain. Wychwood was magical in every sense. I was used to farms and hills and fields and lakes. But this… this made the world I'd known feel far more than flat and dull.

Soon enough, the fat droplets of rain softened into a flurry of snow, its appearance taking me by surprise as a large flake landed on the tip of my nose. The change in weather happened so quickly that it was impossible to see it coming. It was first obvious from the lack of noise, the pinging of water against the armour and the thud of hooves into thick, muddy ground silenced entirely.

Then the welcoming burn of colder air filled my lungs, and I felt my shoulders relax for the first time since leaving Aurelia.

"I have not been this close to the border of Icethorn for many years," Erix muttered over my shoulder; the tickle of his breath against my ear had me gripping onto the material of my trousers. "Yet it is painfully clear that the truth of the power weakening the barrier is not fabricated. It does not snow in Cedarfall. At least it did not ."

"I have heard much about the power but don't know what it is," I mused, contemplating pulling my back away from his chest but deciding against it.

"Winter. Uncontrolled, wild and frantic. It will make more sense when you see it. Each court rules a season, keeping it in balance for as long as it is required. But without your – without a person to claim the court, the season is left untamed . The power has swelled and grown and twisted into an entity of its own destruction. I am surprised the barrier has lasted this long."

"You make it sound like it's a monster," I admitted, staring ahead into the sweeping valley that was blanketed in white.

"Anything left forgotten for long enough becomes a monster. But monsters can always be slain… by the right person."

"And you think I'm that person?" I asked him, unsure if I was ready to hear his answer.

"It doesn't matter what I think, little bird. If you believe yourself to be, that is all that counts."

Your opinion matters to me . But I dared not let those words leave my mouth.

"Do you believe so?" I pushed on again, urging him to reveal what I thought he wished to say.

Erix's arms flexed at my sides, tugging on the reins of the stag to slow its pace. "Never rely on what others think of you. It matters not what I think or how I see you. All that truly matters is what you believe."

"That sounds like a polite way of letting me down gently."

"Far from it." I could hear the smile in his voice. Even among the chill of snow and wind, my chest warmed, that spark of fire glowing brighter as he fed it once again. "I believe you can do anything you desire. And I look forward to seeing your face when you finally realise it."

We rode in silence again after that, closing our ranks as the snow grew heavy and the sky darkened as dusk set over Wychwood. I wanted to speak more with Erix, to play with the way his words made me feel. But that would require asking him questions, and with the constant glares Orion had gifted me, I wanted to not bring attention from the princeling, not more than I had to, at least.

By the time our journey came to an end, my arse was numb, and my lower back whined in discomfort. Erix slipped from the stag's side, offering a hand to aid me in clambering down.

I didn't hesitate to take it.

Dusk had settled over Wychwood. The snow had eased slightly, but each of our breaths clouded beyond our lips. It was cold, so cold that Orion's teeth chattered, and even Althea shivered. Gyah was eternally unbothered. Erix joined the Cedarfall siblings, leaving me alone. He might've said something to me, but I couldn't focus. Not as a strange, pulling sensation invaded my body.

It was odd, faint at first, but the moment my booted feet touched the snow-covered ground, it was impossible to ignore. It was as though the very air called my name, but it was more a feeling than a sound, a tugging and pulling at the box in my chest, the cord disappearing far off into the dark distance ahead.

"Do you feel it?" The deep voice of Gyah interrupted my daze. We'd not spoken the entire journey; in fact, I couldn't recall her saying anything to anyone. "The feeling in your gut?"

"There is certainly something I can feel," I replied, feeling slightly detached from reality. I pressed a gloved hand to my chest, over the twisting coil of cord that slithered like a snake. "Do you sense the same thing?"

She shook her head. "I'm not recognised by the Icethorn Court. But you are. It is your home. When I leave the court which I have sworn to, a deep, longing sickness fills my chest. Only when I return does it ease. It is a feeling you grow used to, but the first time is… jarring. From what I remember anyway."

I looked into the distance, squinting to make out the subtle shapes that stood out in the darkness. "It's not the home I've grown up used to. No matter the label, or truth of what this place should mean to me, it's as much a stranger to me as I am to you."

"I suppose you are right," Gyah added, her body stiff as a spire next to me.

I massaged the leather strapping across my chest, trying to ease the ache. "So, are we close to Icethorn land now?"

I knew the answer already, but asked the question anyway.

Gyah snuffed a laugh, voice vibrating in the dark around us. "You don't need me to tell you that, Robin. Can you not feel it?"

I did. I felt the energy around me, as though every flake of snow selfishly wanted to land upon my skin, or how the chilled breeze flirted with the skin at my neck and jaw, a finger of ice that kept me looking forward to Icethorn.

"You cannot deny it," Gyah added, "just as it cannot deny you."

"Robin," Althea called out my name, joining us with her brother and my personal guard in tow. "We have reached the furthest point to the Sleeping Depths. Across it, if the message was correct, we should find the Hunter's camp. And with it, Briar's antidote."

There it was again, the hope flashing in her eyes. I tore my attention away from her, looking out to the distance.

I couldn't see the named lake, not through the curtain of white drifts and darkening sky. Nor could I hear the usual lull of water against a muddied bank or sand.

"I can hardly see a thing. How can you be sure?" I asked, moving ahead in search of the promised body of water. A hand struck out, gripping me by my upper arm, halting me.

"It is named The Sleeping Depth for a reason," Erix warned, urging me back with a nervous grin. "It waits in silence for the unexpected to stumble into. It is not a place you would want to find yourself within, even by an inch. Those that go into it, never come out."

His words sent an unnatural chill down my spine, settling at the base where it pooled outwards.

A torrent of questions clattered around my head, but I was far too distracted by a sudden glow of amber that sparked before me. The light was stark against the night, causing the daring flakes of snow to hiss as they fell into it.

The orb of flame hovered above Orion's open palm, casting shadows upon his stern face. "Your promise of him keeping out of the way is proving difficult to keep, sister ."

"Do not make me regret asking for your assistance, brother ," Althea snapped.

I looked at him, holding his heated stare. He bared teeth through parting lips as a snarl overtook his round face. "Please, Robin, have a little walk and see if you can locate the lake."

"Careful," Erix warned, voice deep and tempered, his pupils engulfing the silver, even with the light spilling into them.

Orion smiled, brows narrowing in over his haunting stare. "Oh, relax, Berserker . It is a joke. I am not stupid enough to harm a hair on his head. Not with you in the way anyway."

Althea raised a hand, stopping Erix from taking a step without a word.

"Are you familiar with Tugwort by any chance, Orion?" I asked, feeling the shift of Erix's dagger, which hid in my left boot. Before we'd left Aurelia, I'd slipped it from beneath my pillow, keeping it on me as a precaution.

Erix had his sword strapped around his waist. Althea carried twin axes, both curved like crescent moons with the same silvered metal to match. I cared little for the bow across Orion's back nor the fire he fuelled in his palm.

Although, I'd yet to notice Gyah's weapon of choice.

"If you are suggesting that was my doing, you are greatly mistaken," Orion said, stepping toe to toe with me. Erix didn't stop him, nor did Althea. It was as if they wanted to see what I'd do. "If I wished to see an end to you, it would have been achieved far before now."

"Then why haven't you?" I cocked my head to the side. The thundering pressure eased that box open, ready for me to call upon the magic within to aid me against him.

"I'm not an idiot," Orion replied quickly, his words rushed. "That is why."

"That could be debated," Althea muttered through taut lips.

"Then what are you?" I asked Orion.

" Patient ." Orion's arms tensed, a warning of his next move. The flame in his hand recoiled as he lifted his hand over his shoulder, and then he launched it forward, careening it over my head like a falling star of light.

I winced from the sudden appearance of heat as the ball of golden flame careened off into the distance.

That was when I saw it. The Sleeping Depths was uncomfortably close. Erix had been right to stop me, because the water's edge was a short stone's throw away.

Its still, glassy surface stretched out for as far as the ball of fire soared, and even further, I was certain. The obsidian water was unmoving as though it had frozen into a mirror of night, reflecting nothing but the unending shadows beneath it.

When the ball of flame finally fell into the waiting body of water, the black depths devoured it. In a blink, it disappeared without a splash, or hiss of smoke to prove it'd ever been there.

"Understand the need for caution now?" Orion said, his sister pushing him back with a stern arm.

"For fuck's sake, Orion, we do not need to give the Hunters any inkling that we are here. What were you thinking?"

He scoffed, deep voice a whisper to mock his sister's worry. "Let them know we are coming. It would not be a fair fight otherwise."

"If you jeopardise me getting the antidote, I'll kill you myself." Althea stood with her back in the direction of the lake.

"Sounds like fun, sister."

Ignoring her ignorant brother, Althea regarded the group, reciting our plan for the umpteenth time. "The plan is simple. We venture to the far side of the Sleeping Depths in hopes the Hunters have yet to move on. Once we reach them, we kill them, all but one. Get Briar's antidote and then leave. This is the perfect opportunity to gain insight into the Hunters' movements, and as much as I hate to say it, keeping one alive is the only way of obtaining the information we require."

"Not that I question your plans," Erix spoke up, clearing his throat. "If we are to walk the perimeter, it could take us all night. Time is not a luxury we have to waste."

"Who said anything about walking?" Althea's voice was full of mischief. "The quickest way is not to go around."

"But over," Gyah muttered. She was so quiet it was easy to forget she was there.

"Gyah," Erix said coldly. "Are you certain?"

All the warning of the lake made me want to scramble away from it, not venture over its still, haunting surface.

"Erix, tell me that is not fear I hear beneath that husky voice of yours?" Althea asked.

"It is a risk," he retorted, gaze falling upon Gyah. Then I noticed that nearly everyone stared at her. I joined them, noticing how she looked undeterred by the sudden attention.

"Please do not insult me, Erix" Gyah said, dark stare flicking to him. "I have traversed far greater threats than this bastard lake. You are always welcome to wait here if your lack of trust in me is that great?"

I shook my head, unable to grasp the conversation or what it meant.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Althea said impatiently, waving a hand in gesture. "Gyah, if you will."

"Certainly, my princess." Gyah curtsied, but not before I caught a mischievous smile cutting across her face.

What happened next had me rooted to the spot. I watched, unblinking, as Gyah's body folded in on itself. A chorus of snapping bones and ripping flesh filled the vast space around us. My stomach jolted violently, my heart filling my throat. I couldn't speak or take my eyes off her as she… changed . Gyah's body grew, elongated and twisted into a hulking form four times her original size.

It was impossible to grasp if the change had happened quickly or not. Her skin melted from her body, revealing a layering of gleaming scales. Wings unfurled from behind her. The air around Gyah twisted in shadows that her new body absorbed, feeding into it as though darkness gave her more size, weight and height.

"Impossible…" I heard my own voice as the creature lifted its long neck, revealing a jaw of sharpened teeth and two glowing yellow eyes.

In the place where Gyah had stood, was now a creature I couldn't name. Graceful, narrow body slick with dark scales. She swung a long neck, thick tail coiling like a viper on the ground. She had two great, claw-tipped wings twitching as she fanned them out at her sides.

"I suppose that is one way to make an entrance," Orion drawled, stepping towards the creature with an outstretched hand. "And all this time, an Eldrae has been hidden under our dear aunt's nose. How long have you known, sister?"

"She was never hidden," Althea added. "Just a well-kept secret."

"And why was I not privy to the knowledge?"

"That conversation is for another time, brother. For now, shall we get a move on? I have a desire to see some blood spilled tonight."