Cass woke up to the feeling of a morning chill fresh against her skin. She pulled at the blanket covering her and Tristan, half expecting it to have slipped off her somewhat, and was surprised to find that it hadn't. Cass wiggled her cold toes in an attempt to get some warmth into them but had no luck. Her arms were covered in goosepimples and she had to repress a shiver.

It would be a cold day - and the only thing Cass could think to do was to place her freezing feet onto the leg of the man beside her. Tristan flinched away from the cold touch and rolled over to her, immediately noting the mischief in her eyes with a shake of his head.

"Oh, you're awake," she said, trying not to giggle as she blushed a little.

The Knight didn't say anything; he didn't have to. She could tell by the glint in his eyes that she'd just made a mistake. She didn't know how and she didn't know when, but she did know that he would get his revenge for waking him up like that. What have I done? Cass thought with a small smile, wondering exactly what she had just unleashed in Tristan.

The silent Knight didn't do anything as he pushed himself out of bed and started to get ready. Cass sighed and did the same, not eager to leave the bed and face the day. A wash of cold air hit her body as she let the blanket go and she shivered, her teeth chattering loudly. Cass found herself longing for the wonder of central heating as she quickly slipped into new clothes.

When they were both ready and had wrapped themselves in the cloaks that would be necessary to block out some of the chill, they left their room to go scouting. Cass pushed on the building's door and it didn't budge, causing her to walk into the wooden door. She blinked and stepped back, frowning at the amusement in Tristan's eyes.

She tried again, and when the door remained in place, she said, "It's not opening. Is there a lock on this door that I never realised was there?"

Tristan shook his head and pushed at the door with a little difficulty. They saw exactly what had been blocking the door as soon as they stepped outside. A thick layer of snow had fallen while they slept, concealing the Fort in a coat of white and piling up around the door. Now the cold makes sense, she thought.

"You were right about the weather taking a turn," Cass said, looking around slowly.

He inclined his head.

"I've never seen this much snow. How did that all come down in one night?"

Tristan shrugged but said nothing. Cass didn't understand how so much snow could have fallen while they'd slept; she had seen no sign of this weather when they'd gone to bed the previous night, even if Tristan had. It seemed that the snow was still falling too; large flakes floated softly to the earth and landed on top of the already settled snow.

They bypassed the tavern, which was mostly full of people huddled around braziers and any other source of heat. It would likely remain that way all day. Cass had a feeling that the tavern would very quickly be out of stew on a day like this. Tristan and Cass used their usual route to the stables and took their horses out, finding no one else likely to be heading out in the stables. No one else is mad enough to go riding in this weather, Cass thought.

As they walked their horses through the Fort, Tristan told her that he liked to take the horses out in the snow whenever it came so they remain used to the weather. The pair scouted for a while, but it wasn't difficult; all tracks would be very easily spotted in the snow. With prints left behind for everyone to see, only a fool would try to be sneaky in the snow. As they neared the Fort again, Cass pulled Kaydin to a stop. Tristan stopped beside her swiftly, sparing her a questioning glance.

"Do you think we could go and train?"

The Knight raised an eyebrow and replied, "We could. Was yesterday not enough?"

Cass opened her mouth to say something and then changed her mind quickly. She wasn't exactly sure what she could say that wouldn't be problematic. She wanted Tristan to fight with her again, particularly because she wanted to practice fighting in the snow. She remembered vividly the reason why she needed to know how to fight in the snow and it made her shiver – she hoped Tristan just thought she was reacting to the cold.

"I want to try fighting in the snow. It's not something I've had a lot of practice with," Cass said carefully.

He stared at her for a long moment, reading things into her silence that she was trying not to say, then nodded once and brought his horse around. They headed to where they usually trained but left the horses a little way away so it wasn't too dangerous for them. They would be fine tied there for a little while.

Tristan walked beside Cass as they moved into position and drew their swords. As she stepped backwards, Cass slipped on a stone she hadn't seen through the snow. The Knight's arm shot out and caught hers, righting her before she could fall into the snow. She laughed a little awkwardly even at the concerned look he was giving her and shook her head dismissively.

'It's okay. I'm okay,' she said, standing up straight, 'I really want to practice this.'

Tristan nodded but didn't look totally convinced but he didn't try to convince her that they shouldn't practice. She could tell from the moment that they started sparring that he was taking it easy on her though and she wasn't happy about it. His strikes were slow and often pulled.

Cass frowned but didn't object. He wasn't doing it because he didn't trust that she was good enough; he was doing it so she had time to get her feet in the correct position without slipping. She needed that time right now.

She hadn't realised how difficult it would be to move swiftly in the snow; everything felt heavier, like her feet were getting stuck in quicksand. The more they worked, the better her balance got and she started to figure out how to move despite the snow. Tristan increased his pace as she improved, pushing her where he could, and they only stopped when her fingers started to feel numb around the hilts of her swords.

'How can you do that?' she said when they finally finished.

He tilted his head questioningly.

'How can you tell what I'm going to be able to do?'

The Knight shrugged, 'I've been fighting for a long time.'

She raised her eyebrows as she put her swords away.

'You knew what I'd be able to do before I did.'

His lips quirked upwards slightly as he regarded her. She still didn't seem to understand how well he knew her. He could read every motion of her body as she moved and he could see her slowness as she grew accustomed to the new conditions. In a fight, she was easier to read than any other for him.

'I'm observant,' was all that he said.

'And cryptic,' she replied, rolling her eyes.

Tristan slipped his sword back into its sheath and moved toward where they'd left their horses.

'How different do you think this is to fighting on ice?' she asked instead of following him.

He paused.

'Probably quite different.'

'Have you ever done that before?'

Tristan shook his head and she frowned.

'Okay, maybe I need a different sort of practice then. Can we run for a while?'

Now it was the Knight's turn to frown. Cass was not a runner, and she'd already proven that the icy conditions weren't her friend while they fought. The only probable outcome of her running now would be her injuring herself.

'Why?'

She looked a little pained as she thought about what to say and he knew she was withholding something from him again.

'I just want to know that I can run in the snow, in case I ever need to,' she hedged.

He could see something in her eyes - a determination that he didn't understand, but one that he wouldn't question. He gave her a single nod. Whatever Cass was not telling him, he would still help her with this. It would keep her safe. And he wouldn't say no to anything that kept her safe. Practice had already helped her with her fighting in the snow; this couldn't hurt too much. He'd rather have her running than fighting anyway.

So they ran and, much like they had both expected, Cass slipped a lot. She managed to keep herself from falling though and soon Cass' face was red from blushing as well as the exertion. She kept trying, despite how difficult she found it even to run around the area Tristan had directed them to use.

The Knight kept pace with her, though both of them knew that he could easily run ahead if he chose to. After a while Cass started to get used to the snow under her feet, with its give and slipperiness, and her confidence grew. She didn't stop until Tristan reminded her that they had left the horses for some time and should be getting back. She reluctantly agreed, but felt satisfied in knowing that this training would be worth it. It would potentially be the most important training she had done so far.

As they walked back where they'd left the horses, Cass was surprised to find that she was warm – even her previously numb fingers had feeling again. She was almost sweating, in fact. Cass didn't mind; she was just glad to know that she'd made good use of the snow. She was distracted by her thoughts while they rode slowly back towards the Fort, barely paying attention as Tristan moved closer to her. If this helped to prepare her to stop something from happening to one of her friends then it would be worth it.

Cass felt the Knight's hand shoot out and push her sideways off of Kaydin, knocking her swiftly back into reality as she disappeared into a big mound of snow. Spluttering, she sat up in the Cass-shaped snow angel hole in the snow and looked up at her still-mounted Knight in disbelief. Tristan just gave her the same look he'd given her that morning when she'd put her cold feet on him, the glint in his eyes shining.

After a moment of her simply staring at him, the Knight slipped off of his horse and held out a hand to her. He pulled Cass to her feet and out of the mound of snow as she shivered and scowled at him.

'Y-y-you kn-know, that's n-n-n-not playing f-fair.'

He raised an eyebrow admonishingly.

'I'm n-n-not sure I really d-deserved that.'

He said nothing again.

'Alright, I did.'

Tristan chuckled softly and pulled her close to him. His arm encircled her as he wrapped his cloak around her. He had seen the mound of snow coming and chose his opportunity carefully, knowing that she wouldn't get hurt if he timed his push correctly – and he made sure that he did. The Knight kissed the top of her head, on her now wet hair, and Cass found herself smiling at his playfulness in spite of herself.