Ice Water and Wind

A bath in water colder than ice… In my mind, it was the scariest thing I did while training with Mara. One time I actually started shaking so bad I couldn't even get out by myself, I was too panicked to turn to her and reach out an arm to take her hand, so she ended up dragging me out by the hair instead. 'I wonder if the scrapes I got back then left scars?'

The moment my foot touched the ice cold water I saw my skin lose a shade of color. I groaned, not wanting to get in, but knowing full well I had to. If I didn't, Mara would just throw me in.

Her back was already turned as she leaned against the outside of the cave wall.

"How long?" I asked, trying to hide the shakiness in my voice.

Without turning around she held up three fingers.

'Three minutes… Ok, I can do that.'

I knew the slower I got in the harder it would be, so I took a deep breath and jumped in, making sure to completely submerge myself at least once. It was a trick I learned. If I kept my head out of the water not only did I feel colder, but I was also more likely to get sick.

After I was in it was just a matter of keeping my breath steady, if I could do that I wouldn't freeze to death. I just had to make sure my body kept circulating blood.

My teeth chattered as I got used to the freezing water, but I continued to breathe, keeping a steady pace of quick deep breaths until I began to get used to it.

I saw the water change color around me as the mud and dirt slowly dissolved off of my skin with every small movement I made. 'Maybe I can get it out of my hair too before it dries.'

The mud didn't have a chance to dry so it wasn't especially hard to get off. Since I was trying to do it without undoing the braid Finlo put my hair in to hide the antidote though, it was taking a bit longer than I thought it would.

Eventually, my own shaking ended up proving more of a problem than the braids, and my progress slowed even more.

Mara turned around and walked over to me. "Your mouth is turning blue, get out before you get sick again."

"I'm almost done, I j-just." My teeth clattered together as I shuddered. 'I'm so close.'

"Out, now." her voice was cold as always as she stood in front of the spring with her arms crossed, but for some reason, she wasn't looking at me. Usually, she stared at me when she gave me orders, right in the eyes.

"I'm almost done." I hated the cold anyway so it wasn't a huge loss, but since I was already in the water I had hoped to at least get all the mud out of my hair. If it dried it would just make my head itchy, and having that for days was worse than an extra minute of terrible cold.

She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out by force, holding me in the air in front of her "I said now." she said slowly, squeezing my arm tightly. Even numbed by the cold I could feel it aching from the pressure as her hand squeezed around the swelling and bruising I had accumulated from Callum and Zu.

She held me in the air, staring at me. I was helpless against her, there was nothing I could do. Her word was law. I had forgotten and was reminded of aching bones.

Chills went through my body and I stared back at her, refusing to break eye contact as my shoulder and elbow began to stretch from my weight. "Right, sorry…"

She finally put me down and I did my best to dry off before dressing again. 'The air is still cold, but luckily it isn't a long walk back to the castle. I should be fine. Even wearing wet clothes.'

"If you get sick again you'll have to take even more time off, we can't afford that to happen if we can avoid it."

"Ah, you do care," I said coldly with a grimace. For some reason, it didn't feel so bad while I was in the water, but the moment I got out It felt like ice covered my entire body.

Mara looked towards the castle. "I can't make up for what I did unless I make you strong…"

'Makes sense… She hates herself for not killing me when she was supposed to. If I can become strong though she would have made up for that sin…' "Let's just get going. I'm hungry."

"Pft. That's a first." Her voice had gone from cold and heartless to lighter and only slightly heartless.

I rolled my eyes. 'And she questions the times that I make jokes at?' "Whatever…"

I stopped for a second, letting out a long yawn.

"Siya!" she yelled, snapping her fingers in front of my face.

"What!" I yelled back looking around. The only reason I could think for her to yell my name would be if monsters were approaching, but I didn't see any, and as soon as I responded she seemed to go back to normal.

She groaned and then continued walking.

'What was that about?' a gust of wind suddenly blew through and my skin lost whatever little color it had left as it met the water that was dripping from my body. I sharply inhaled and crouched down into a ball. "It's so freaking cold!"

"Let's hurry back." There wasn't any anger in her expression, it had all vanished. She was back to her cold self.

"Right." I sniffled, holding my arms across my chest as we walked. 'Maybe I should have gotten out sooner…'

For a moment I even thought about huddling up behind her, using her as a shield to block the wind. I didn't want to get scolded again. After all, this too was a part of my training. I couldn't get out of it, and my entire left arm from my shoulder to my wrist was a reminder of what happened when I made her mad.

I just held my arms tighter around me and pushed forward.

When we finally made it back to the castle I felt everyone's eyes on me. The guards were all together, loading up a wagon for something, but every single one of them stopped and stared. I felt like I was about to get executed, and I was marching towards the chopping block.