Page 105 of A Dark and Drowning Tide

***

Lorelei woke to a watery dawn light.

Last night had felt entirely unreal, but when Sylvia opened her silver eyes, it sent a thrill through her. How strange it was, to exist in a world where Sylvia von Wolffsmiledat her. Where they woke at each other’s sides as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Good morning,” Sylvia said blearily.

“Good morning.” Lorelei tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. And then, with more regret than she expected to feel, she sat up. She reached for her shirt, but Sylvia caught her wrist.

“Let me.”

“I don’t need youfussing—”

“I know you don’t need it,” she said, “but I want to. Don’t you want to make me happy?”

Heat clawed up her neck. “More than anything.”

“Then it’s settled.”

Once she was set to rights, they packed up their things and stood lingering by the edge of the Ursprung. Its surface gleamed without warmth, as though it had whiled away the hours drinking in starlight. Lorelei was reluctant to leave their idyll when she so dreaded what came next. Adelheid’s words flooded back to her.

Do you think he would even hesitate to throw the Yevani to the wolves if he thought it would gain him an ounce of public approval? Trusting Wilhelm to protect you is the greatest mistake you will ever make.

Lorelei did not know yet what power the spring would grant, but she did not know if she could hand it over to him in good conscience. “We could tell him we couldn’t find it.”

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. When she dared glance over at Sylvia, she looked less shocked than Lorelei thought she might. She was smiling faintly, but sadness filled her eyes. “I confess, the same thought crossed my mind.”

So the incorruptible Sylvia von Wolff had a treasonous thought every now and again. It almost made Lorelei laugh. If she returned without it, she did not know what he would do to her. But if there was another way to keep both him and his caprice in check . . .

Tentatively, Lorelei said, “We could take it for ourselves.”

Sylvia’s smile dropped. “Oh?”

“If it were convenient for him, he would turn on either one of us.”

After everything they’d seen, not even Sylvia could summon an argument in his defense. “Yes, I suppose he would. But protecting him is the best way to ensure stability. Besides, do you truly want to wield that kind of power?”

“Idon’t. If it is to be one of us, it should be you. It has to be you.”

Sylvia shook her head. “Me?”

“You’ve sworn loyalty to him. With the Ursprung’s power, you could protect him. You can be the adviser you always wanted to be. Better yet, you could make him into your puppet. What could he do toyou—ortoAlbe—ifhe depended on you to keep his enemies at bay?”

Sylvia’s gaze drifted to the Ursprung. Its waters twinkled beckoningly. The unearthly glow it emitted filled Lorelei up with a quiet, insuppressible wonder.

“I haven’t used magic in years. Not since the war.”

Softly, Lorelei said, “I would not press the matter. But you deserve forgiveness.”

Sylvia laughed breathlessly, swiping her wrist beneath her eye to catch her tears. “Do you truly think so? I was terrified to touch that spring in Albe, you know. I worried that it would find me wanting. I still worry.”

Lorelei could hardly process what she’d said. Here, in this hallowed place, with the light silvering the planes and scars of Sylvia’s face, it was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard in her life. “You?Found wanting?”

Sylvia opened her mouth to reply, but Lorelei barreled onward.

“Sylvia von Wolff, the noblest and most compassionate woman I know. Friend to the wildeleute. Full of boundless hope. Open to all joys and magic this miserable world still holds. Who would be more deserving?”

Sylvia did not reply. Suddenly, her hands were warm against Lorelei’s jaw, her lips soft and sweet on her own. For a moment, Lorelei could do nothing but stare at her long white eyelashes. Her heart constricted almost painfully with tenderness. Nothing had ever felt so right.