"I-Ilona... You have to w-wake up now."
Mason spoke to his beautiful pirate through chattering teeth, but she didn't stir. He slowly moved one hand to the side of her neck to try to feel for her pulse, but his fingers were too stiff and numb for him to be able to. His heart was beating slowly from the cold, but the realization that he didn't know if Ilona was alive or not made him begin to panic and his pulse pick up.
He had to do something. He couldn't let her die.
Looking ahead at their salvation, Mason focused and stretched out his stiff legs until he felt them hit something again.
The ground.
By some miracle, the storm had swept them up to an island, and now the Prince was determined to get them out of the freezing ocean and onto the dry, sandy beach beyond as soon as he could.
