There’s still time, said the old voice, still strong, a memory trapped in ice like the Huntress’s fish, swimming free into the clear, cold spring at last. I reached for Juniper and the rose unfurled, leaves and vines and thorns lashing themselves onto the porous surface of the lake and pulling me in with Juniper’s help until we were panting and shivering on the shore.

The black gates rose before us. I traced the iron roses with my eyes, my body collapsing into paroxysms of cold.

“Come on,” said Juniper.

I let her pull me to my feet, one arm around her shoulder, the other trembling along the wolf’s back.

“T-t-t-this w-w-w-way.” I stuttered the words between chattering teeth. The shadow of the stable fell over us, and I stumbled over bones and dried leaves on numb feet. Two more wolves detached themselves from the empty stalls. Juniper didn’t whimper, and I didn’t have the strength or coordination to reassure her, anyway. The stable opened into the abandoned hall. In the delirium of hypothermia, I thought I saw banners flapping from the rafters and smelled the rich aromas of roasting boar and frothing ale. Faces passed before me, people I had never met, ghosts, maybe, but real and warm and laughing. A few raised their mugs towards me, ale and mead and wine sloshing down the sides to pool on the floor where eager dogs snarled. I tried to smile back with frozen cheeks.

Ghosts followed us into the kitchen. A large woman stepped out of our way, bearing a tray of sweet breads, and a child tried to pluck one while her attention was elsewhere. A lithe woman with hair so blonde it was nearly white slapped the child’s hand, then snatched a roll for herself with a wink at the cook. Fresh herbs and apples polished until they hurt the eye rested on platters. My mouth watered, and the heat from the many hearths burned against my face. Juniper sat me down before one, her face pinched with fear.

“It’s okay,” I tried to tell her, but no words came out.

Rowan.

The people in the kitchen paused, as if they, too, heard the woman’s voice, and I watched in dismay as they faded away, leaving behind empty tables and dark hearths. Beside me, Juniper struggled to light the fire. I tried to help, but all I could do was shiver.

“There,” she said, catching a spark at last.

“Clothes,” I managed to mumble. I had to get out of my wet clothes. Juniper nodded, and I noticed with detached clarity, as my sister peeled layer after layer of icy furs from my body until I was naked before the blaze, that a layer of dust had settled over the room.