He led her out. She barely had a chance to feel the bite of the cold before he ushered her into a smaller neighboring tent. The interior was very simple. There was a bed pallet piled with blankets and furs, a small trunk, and two braziers that threw off such intense heat she immediately shrugged out of the cloak again and handed it back to him.
“I will be back shortly with another supper,” he told her. “Have no fear. Despite recent events, the commander’s food is actually guarded quite closely, and I will test your meal myself.”
She felt a brief, tired exasperation. He seemed to have forgotten she was the one who had discovered the poisoning attempt earlier. But, unwilling to trample on his newfound chivalry, she said gravely, “Thank you.”
He was as good as his word, bringing both supper and another cloak. It was soldier’s gear, plain, serviceable, and too big for her. After she had eaten her fill, she wrapped herself up in it and dozed until the upheaval began to subside.
Then weather magic started up again. The cold turned vicious, and when she peeked outside, a driving snow had begun to fall.
She didn’t dare linger any longer. The longer she stayed, the more she risked discovery. There would be no better time to do this. Sighing, she sent a silent prayer winging to the goddess.
And Camael responded.
An invisible leviathan moved through the camp. The hairs at the back of Lily’s neck rose, and her skin tingled as the goddess’s presence poured into the tent. When it passed over her, the light from the braziers darkened, and she looked at everything as if through the gauze of a veil.
Lifting the tent flap, she stepped out. There were guards on her tent, and on Wulfgar’s, stationed in front of fires that had been stoked high to help ward off the cold. All were wrapped tightly in double cloaks and stood near a witch who chanted spells in a continuous, hoarse whisper to ward off the weather magic.
Despite the well-lighted area, no one turned as Lily slipped around them and made her way through the busy camp.
A few times soldiers hurried past, and once she had to dodge to avoid one who almost blundered into her, but not one of them looked at her. She slipped past the perimeter sentries and the witch who stood vigil to support them. Heels crunching in the snow, she walked along the curve of the road, back to the town and the docks.
Two guards and a witch stood sentry there as well, uselessly squandering their precious energy to watch the island when nobody who had taken shelter at the abbey would leave without the Chosen’s permission. They didn’t notice Lily as she walked out on the icy dock.
The night was an immense, dark blue expanse, filled with driving pellets of icy snow that stung the skin, the moon cloaked behind a heavy bank of cloud.
The island itself was a dark, hulking presence, lit intermittently with bright sparks of light in the windows of the towers, and Lily wanted to be in the comfort and shelter of her own room so badly she could taste it.
She frowned at the large, unwieldy barges. Not only were they frozen in place, it took a couple of people working together to maneuver them.
She said to the goddess, If you would be so kind, will you help me get home?
In response to her plea, ice cracked and shifted. She peered into the water, watching as a large shard of ice drifted close and came to a stop beside the dock. It looked to be a larger piece than the rest. Presumably it was strong enough to bear her weight. She sighed.
The goddess murmured, Remember. Be brave as a lion. Have faith that I am with you.
The goddess had once said those words to her when Lily had been very young, but faith came so much more easily to a small child who didn’t truly understand the dangers in the world.
Gritting her teeth, she gingerly climbed down the slippery ladder and stepped onto the hunk of ice. It bobbed gently in the water, enough to make her breathing hitch, but it held her weight. For a moment, nothing happened.
Then it began to move.
Wrapping her borrowed cloak tighter around her torso, she watched as the island grew near. Following the focus of her intention, the ice took her not to the main dock, but around to the small, private dock that faced seaward.
Carefully she climbed off. Ice coated everything, and it was especially thick where constant waves washed over the stone ledge. It was also ridged and uneven, so even though the soles of her boots were smooth, she was able to gain purchase. Pulling out a large key, she made her way to the iron-bound door, but it, too, was covered in a thick sheet of ice.
How flipping wonderful. She looked around at the splendid isolation of the half-frozen seascape, then up at the cliff that towered over her, and despite the indisputable evidence of the goddess’s favor, she felt foolish and very alone.
Pulling her magic together, she sent it out in a raw, inchoate blast of energy that struck the door. It shuddered, and the ice that coated it shattered. Raising more magic, she leaned against the door and strained to sense the heavy bar that she knew was on the other side. After several attempts to shift it with telekinesis, finally she could hear a dull thump as the bar hit the steps.
All but frozen now, she fumbled to insert the key into the solid metal lock. Her fingers had gone numb, and she dropped the key and had to kneel to retrieve it. As she tried again to insert it into the lock, the door jerked open and she tumbled forward in a sprawl.
Grim-faced Defenders filled the stairway inside. Some held torches while others gripped drawn swords. Several steps up, a disheveled Margot and a few other priestesses stood, their Power poised to strike.
Exclamations punctuated the air over Lily’s head. Someone lifted her to her feet while others peered outside at the desolate seascape.
“Lily!” Margot shouldered her way down. Briefly, she stared outside too. “How on earth did you get here?!”
“On a p-piece of ice,” she said, teeth chattering.
Margot repeated blankly, “You rode a piece of ice out to open sea? In a snowstorm?”
“Well, I didn’t do it all by myself.…” Lily looked around at everyone staring at her, their expressions filled with consternation and awe. “I didn’t consider how the door on this side of the island would be frozen shut. I had to knock the ice off before I could try to get it open.”
“Several of us felt the blast of Power.” After ordering the door to be shut and barred again, Margot grabbed her hands. “Dear goddess, you feel like you’ve turned to ice yourself. Clear the way!”
Lily let Margot put an arm around her and lead her up the stairs, pausing only to say, “We’re so complacent about our impregnability, we’ve been neglecting to set a watch down here.”
Immediately, Margot turned and raised her voice again. “Did you hear her? I want that remedied. If Lily can break in, another witch can too.”
“Yes, my lady. I’ll post someone down here, around the clock,” the captain of the Defenders promised.
As they climbed flights of stairs and strode down hallways, Lily’s frozen limbs began to thaw, hazing her mind with exhaustion. Shivering set in.
“Tell me what you need.” Margot’s arm tightened around her shoulders. “Food? Tea?”