“Cinnia, are you hurt?” Gavin raced to her where she fell in his arms sobbing.
Ballard scanned the pond, terror exploding inside him at the sight of a dark head just above a hole in the ice an eternity from the shore. “Gavin, I need rope and Sparrow’s bridle.” He unbridled Magnus, knotting the reins to Sparrow’s. The rope Gavin brought to tie branches to the sled wasn’t long enough to reach Louvaen, and the sled was too heavy to risk falling through the ice. Knotted with the reins, the rope might reach if he crawled to her. Gavin secured the rope’s other end around Magnus’s neck and urged the horse into the shallow edge of the pond. Ice cracked under his hooves, sinking him into the frigid water to his fetlocks. He pranced but stayed in place.
Cinnia’s hiccupping explanation buzzed in Ballard’s ears. “We thought it solid enough and skated across. Louvaen heard the crack first and shoved me toward shore. She sobbed. “Oh dear gods, Gavin. She went under! I thought she’d drowned!”
Gavin patted her back and pushed her gently toward the sled. “We’ll get her, Cinnia. Just stay here for now.” He motioned to Ballard. “Give me the line. I’ll crawl out to her.”
Ballard shook his head. “I’ll do it. I’m lighter than you. When I say so, back Magnus up to pull us across the ice.”
He stepped gingerly atop the pond’s unbroken surface. “Louvaen.” She floated, unresponsive. “Look at me, Louvaen.” He was close enough to see the sleeves of her dress had frozen to the ice, helping her stay afloat.
She raised her head at his command. Newly formed ice frosted her wet hair, and her lips were blue with cold. “Cinnia. Where’s Cinnia?” She stuttered the words through chattering teeth.
“Safe on the shore with Gavin.” Ballard dropped to his belly and crawled to the broken ice. He clenched his teeth against the burn on his torso as the wet ice soaked through his shirt. “Louvaen, give me your arm. I’m going to knot the rope around your wrist and pull you free. Do you understand?” She lowered her head, taking shallow breaths and didn’t answer. “Louvaen, do you understand?”
She nodded. Her gloved hand stretched out to him as far as the frozen sleeve allowed.
It was enough for Ballard to tie a bowline around her wrist. A thin film of water spread under him, soaking him from chest to ankles. He could only imagine the cold shock she suffered, submerged to her shoulders and weighed down by her clothes. He pulled gently, enough to dislodge her sleeve and give him the leverage he needed to grasp her forearm. Exhausted, Louvaen sank below the water.
Ballard lunged forward. “No you don’t, you bloodthirsty scold!” He grabbed the back of her cloak and heaved so hard she cleared the water and slid across the ice, jerking him with her by the bowline attached to her wrist. He wrapped an arm around her waist as the ice cracked beneath them.
“Pull!” he shouted.
Gavin and Magnus wrenched hard on the rope, and they slid across the pond, racing the fractures that split the ice toward the shore until they plowed into the shallows. Ballard, as thoroughly drenched as Louvaen, surged out of the water with her in his arms and slogged toward land. She hung in his embrace limp and pale.
“Lou! Oh gods, Lou!” Cinnia slammed into him, nearly knocking him back into the pond in her bid to reach her sister.
Ballard shrugged her off. “Calm your woman,” he ordered Gavin. “I need to get Louvaen back to the castle.”
Gavin pulled the hysterical Cinnia away and urged her to be quiet. He grabbed Ballard’s arm. “Wait.” Ballard scowled at him until Gavin untied the bowline encircling Louvaen’s wrist. “I was afraid you’d both be lost for a moment there.”
Ballard nodded. “You saved us, son.”
Gavin shrugged. “You’re my father. What else would I do?” He bridled Magnus then held Louvaen until Ballard could mount and take her in his arms once more. He swatted the horse’s flank. “Ride hard.”
Ballard kneed Magnus into motion, and they took off through the labyrinth of trees at a gallop, slowing to a canter once they reached the open back gate that led to the bailey. Magnus had barely slid to a stop in the mud before Ballard dismounted with Louvaen in his arms. He slammed into the kitchen, startling Magda who was scrubbing a pot at the sink. “Blankets and a hot drink!”
She jumped to do his bidding, calling for Clarimond and Joan. In moments she had Clarimond running for Louvaen’s chamber to start the fire in the hearth and Joan at the kitchen fire heating a goblet of ale with the poker. “What happened?”
Ballard sat Louvaen on the bench so that she leaned against the table. He kept an arm on her shoulder to steady her and reached for his knife. His fingers were too stiff with cold to manage the knotted ribbons on her sodden bodice. Wet as they were, they might as well be forged shut. He sliced through lacings, dress and shift. She was welcome to kill him later for destroying her clothing. He gestured to Magda. “Strip her while I hold her up.”
Between them they quickly had Louvaen out of her frozen clothes, wrapped in a blanket and seated by the fire. Magda had covered her with a speed and efficiency that defied Ballard to catch more than a glimpse of white skin and the gentle curve of a breast. Joan handed him the goblet of warm ale. Louvaen huddled in the blanket, shivering so violently she almost bounced off the stool. “Louvaen, I need you to drink this. It’ll chase some of the cold away.” She turned her face away and hid deeper in the blanket. “Louvaen,” he repeated. “Louvaen!”
A shaking hand emerged from the covering to swat at him. “Frozen,” she stammered. “Not deaf.”
Magda grunted. “She’ll live.”
For the first time since he’d seen her clutching the ice to keep from drowning, the terror threatening to eclipse his reason subsided. He cupped a hand against the side of Louvaen’s head and held the drink to her mouth so she could sip without spilling. “If you don’t drink this, I will cast your sister out in the snow with just the clothes on her back and best wishes in finding her way home.” She capitulated then but glared at him over the rim of the cup the entire time she drank.
Her voice was steadier when she asked “Where’s Cinnia?”
“On her way back with Gavin. I’ll have Magda let her know you’re fine.” He turned to the housekeeper. “Keep her occupied when she gets here. Even half dead, Louvaen will try to comfort her.”
“Will not,” Louvaen protested from the blanket’s folds. She continued to shiver, drawing in on herself until she was nothing more than a quaking ball of wool blanket.
Magda patted her on the shoulder. “Let’s get you upstairs girl and under the covers.” She gave Ballard a quick once-over. “You best get out of those dripping clothes yourself.”
He kicked off his boots and peeled off his sodden breeches and shirt. “Send Joan or Clarimond to see to Magnus. I left him wet and bridled in the ward.” Magda shouted for Joan and tossed him another blanket which he threw over his shoulders. He shooed her away from Louvaen’s chair. “Come, mistress. I’ll carry you.”
