13. Maddy

Chapter 13

Maddy

W e walk quite a distance from Odin's High Hall, past the Wolf Wing and on into the canopy, headed to what Eldith informs me is called the Silver Springs.

When I see the pool nestled amongst the rocks and foliage, water flowing gently over shallow rocks into crystal-clear water, my heart swells.

I've missed the water. We have hot springs throughout the Ice Court Palace, but there have been many times where I lowered myself into the freezing water around the moving ice that houses our dwellings, and I always relished the deliciousness of the cold.

I was always with Freydis, of course, and I get a sharp pang in my gut. It's not just the cold I've missed.

There are fae all around the banks of the spring, talking excitedly. Many of them look up and then talk even more fervently when they see me approach. They know as well as I do that if I pass out in the water and sink, I could very well die. But I've got more chance of surviving now than I've had since I got here.

I want to try this. Perhaps I shouldn't, but I do.

I have Henrik and Eldith, I have some magic, and if I can show them I'm a good swimmer, I potentially have everyone on the team to help me if I get into trouble.

Most of the fae are in undergarments, although I see a couple already in the water who might be naked. I take a moment to decide what to do. Half of these people have already seen me naked, but that doesn't mean they need to again. The female warriors here wear tightly wound straps across their breasts like Navi's—even if they're not quite as severe as hers—but I don't. I wear a brassiere made in the palace that holds my fairly voluptuous chest in place, and I don't want to show anybody that. I figure keeping my shirt on over my underwear will be my best option.

Roge bangs on one of the rocks to get everybody's attention. "Okay, folks, listen up! Here are the rules. There are two teams, one at each end of the spring. There are two batons." He bends to pick up two sticks that have been crudely painted, one red and one blue. "We have nine fae on each team," he carries on. "Swim the baton to each end, give it to the next person, and then they swim back. It's as simple as that. First team to have everybody go from one end to the other wins."

"And what's the forfeit for the losers?" somebody calls.

"We'll come up with something, don't you worry." There's laughter and folk punching each other on the arm while making good-natured threats. I find myself swept up in the competitive excitement, and it outweighs my nerves.

"Right, we start in half an hour!" calls Roge. "Warm up before the race begins."

Henrik slides into the water easily, his underwear immediately sticking to his legs, and I feel my cheeks pink. He's built like a god.

At that exact moment I swear I can feel a gaze on me. I turn, squinting through the dense foliage, looking for one fae in particular. But I can't see Kain there, so I shake the feeling and turn back to Henrik.

"Race you to the end?" I ask him.

"Okay."

"I'll walk alongside," Eldith says, and I'm grateful, knowing it means she can dive in at any point to help.

I slip into the water, and the delicious feeling swallows me whole. I take a shallow breath and let myself sink, letting the cold water flow over my head and wet my hair slowly. I really have missed this. Freydis and I had many, many lessons on how to use our bodies in the water, how to get the most from each stroke and cut through the liquid efficiently. I may not be super slim or super fit, but I know the techniques to pull myself through water quickly, and I can hold my breath for a remarkably long time. When I break the surface, Henrik's grinning at me. The water is just deep enough that I'm having to kick, but I hardly make a splash as I do it.

"Okay, touch the side," Henrik says, and we both reach out to touch the bank, shuffling backward so our feet meet the sandy bottom. "Three, two, one, go!"

I crouch low in the water, sink under the surface, and then launch myself, gliding twenty feet at least just off the power of my push. I cut through the water like a sword through butter. Once my momentum slows, I power my arms in wide arcs, making sure they slice through the surface above me cleanly. When my lungs can't take it anymore, I barely tip one side of my head up to the surface, suck in air through the corner of my mouth, and continue on. There's no friction at all to slow me down. I've reached the other side before I've even begun to get going. Henrik is three or four feet behind me, and he's beaming at me when he catches me up.

"You weren't kidding," he says, and claps me on the shoulder hard enough that I stumble under the water, digging my toes into the sand for balance. "Sorry." He grins. "This is going to be excellent. Race you back?"

By the time we're ready to go, I can see that Henrik is right—I'm definitely one of the strongest swimmers here. They do need me, and that makes me excited. For the first time since I got here, I can actually make a difference to a team activity. I can actually help the other rooks be stronger. Formation fighting or fighting in a team are the things I've been convinced I will let everybody down in, and I know that they all feel the same, so having a chance to prove that wrong is sending a thrill through me.

This might also make the other rooks less awkward around me. It's not that I need their approval, but it really wouldn't hurt to have a few more friends. Perhaps some might actually catch me when I fall off my chair, or help me off the floor when I pass out.

"We're going to save you for last," Henrik says. I nod; it makes sense having the strongest swimmers go first and last.

"I assume you're starting?" I ask him.

"I sure am," he replies.

Roge bangs the rock again. "Okay, rooks! Starting positions!" The teams form up on each side of the spring, and the atmosphere is electric. "Three, two, one, go!"

Henrik wins the first round easily, but by round six we're starting to fall behind. It appears that we have the fastest swimmers, but we also have the slowest swimmers. The other team is more consistent, and that is serving them well.

By the time it comes around to my turn, they're ahead, but only by half a length.

I can win this. I'm sure of it.

I'm waiting in the water to my waist, as the rules dictate, reaching out as far as I can to grab the baton from my teammate as soon as she reaches me. She's panting as she does, and I swipe the wooden stick from her and do exactly as I did on my test race with Henrik: I crouch in the water and launch myself through the liquid.

I'm in my element, adrenaline flowing through me as my arms power me through the water. The baton is slowing me down slightly, causing some friction, but not a huge amount.

I can see my opponent and I'm gaining on her.

I can really win this. I might finally make a difference. It may be a friendly competition, but still, everybody's here. I can prove to all of them that?—

Something tugs on my leg, hard.

I just keep from crying out and sucking in water, but then the tugging increases, and I'm pulled down under the water.

My first thought is that I'm going to lose the race, and it only takes me a moment longer to realize that I am now over a foot under the surface.

Shit . Panic replaces the competitiveness as it occurs to me that I might be in actual danger.

I look down through the clear water and see black shadows winding their way around my ankles.

Orgid. It's fucking Orgid, and he's trying to kill me.

I can't swipe at them—they're shadows. I picture my bear and hold out my hand, and icy shards erupt from my palm toward them, but nothing happens when they meet the shadows; they are completely resistant to it. They're dragging me down further, and I can see the bottom of the spring, but I can't fight them enough to get to the top. I last took a breath too long ago.

I hear a splash and look up to the surface and see Henrik. He's dived in and he's swimming toward me. Hope floods me. They think I've passed out and he's coming to help.

But the next thing I know, Inga's in the water too, and she's thrashing her way toward Henrik, hitting him in the side hard and stopping him from getting to me. Beyond the rippling surface I can see other fae moving, but everything's become a blur.

I was worried that a blackout would cause me to drown. It never even occurred to me that what I should have beenworried about all along was Inga and Orgid.

My vision starts to fade, black swirling beyond the water for a moment. I think I can see something flashing, a flicker of fire, a dark form, white hair. Is it Kain? Is Kain going to save me? It's my last thought before conscious thought becomes impossible.

There's a splash so massive that it jolts me free of the shadows. My fuzzy brain registers that the tugging isn't happening anymore, and I kick loosely, but my mouth opens and water starts to trickle in.

Then all I see is white.

The colossal head of a bear is scooping under me and rolling me down its neck. I can feel wet fur beneath me, and I'm so shocked that I barely notice my mouth opening the rest of the way, my lungs forcing my body to try to take air. But I break the surface just as I do, the powerful creature swimming hard, me clinging to its back. And in its wake, in our wake, I realize that the water is turning to ice, fae scrambling to get out of the spring on either side of me.

I lose my grip on the bear's thick fur andslide off the creature's back,blinking dazedly.

My feet hit freezing, solid ice. I am standing in the center of the completely frozen spring, next to an eight-foot white bear. And from their faces, there is absolutely no question that every other fae here can see her too.