The Midsummer Captives (Firethorn Chronicles Book 2)

by Lea Doué

“Gwen!” Eddy’s voice reached her first, followed by Bay’s, both yelling her name over and over.

  “I slipped. My foot is caught.” She tried to speak loud enough for both of them to hear, but she wasn’t sure if she was screaming or whispering. “I’m all right. Bay, I’m all right.”

  Bay quieted.

  She wasn’t fooling herself, though. She scrabbled against the stone wall, twisting around, scraping her free foot against her trapped ankle, trying to work it loose. She spit out mouthfuls of water. Eddy was out of sight up above the stairs. Stone walls surrounded her. Water. Blue sky. She was going to drown, and Bay wouldn’t be far behind.

  Would Eddy be able to find his way back alone? “Eddy,” she whispered, halfway between a plea and a goodbye.

  A great splash beside her sent a wave over her head. She spluttered and coughed. Eddy dove under the water just next to her. She stopped thrashing and stayed as still as possible as his hands worked to free her ankle. After a few moments, he surfaced.

  His blue eyes looked at her for the first time in four years.

  “It’s just a rope,” he said. “One more try, and I should have you free.”

  He dove again, and a few seconds later, the pressure on her foot disappeared. She started swimming down the hall, and he surfaced next to her. He’d taken off his blindfold to save her.

  She would deal with whatever that meant later.

  “I dropped the rock.”

  He held it up and smiled, water soaking his beard.

  They reached Bay’s door, and Eddy felt underwater where the lock should be. “The rock won’t work with this kind of lock. I’ll try the hinges.”

  She took Bay’s hands.

  “Who’s he?” Bay asked.

  “I was right about Holic’s brother,” she said.

  “You were right? You found him?

  “Actually, he found me. I’ll tell you about it as soon as we get out of here.” She bobbed in the water, her toes barely skimming the bottom now.

  Eddy turned to her. “The hinges aren’t budging.”

  There was no other way out.

  Chapter Eleven

  Gwen wouldn’t give up. Bay was in this mess because of her, and she would get her out. “Is there a weak spot anywhere in the roof? Somewhere we could dig down and get to you?”

  “No,” Bay said, “but I tried to make a hole in the wall to the next room. I got some of the stones loose, but not enough to fit through the gap before the water came up.”

  The door to the adjoining room stood ajar. Eddy forced it open and swam inside, disappearing into the inky darkness.

  “Where’s the hole?” she asked Bay, reluctant to enter the closed space.

  “Near the bottom at the back.”

  Of course it was at the back. She took a deep breath, released it, and swam in.

  Bracing himself against the wall, Eddy sank down into the water chin-deep, feeling for the loose stones with his foot. “Found it.”

  He grasped his knife and dove.

  Gwen counted.

  At twenty, he surfaced, gasping and swiping water from his eyes. There was barely three feet between the ceiling and the surface of the water now. While he got his breath, she pushed herself down and kicked at the hole. They continued until it felt big enough for her to swim through.

  “Bay, I’m coming to get you now,” she called. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. The sound of the falls filled her ears, water slapped and echoed against stone, her heart pounded. It was now or never.

  “Wait.” Eddy gripped her arm.

  Her eyes flew open.

  “Take off as many layers as you can. You don’t want to risk getting caught on the stones. The hole isn’t that big.”

  She nodded, peeling off her belt, tunic, and the roomy green shirt, leaving on her black undershirt and leggings. She kicked off the boots, too, just in case. “Ready.”

  “Your hair.” He held out the blindfold, which he’d unknotted from his neck.

  She rolled up her braid and secured it as best she could. Eddy watched her intently. No one had ever looked at her that way before.

  He cupped her cheek in his hand. “You can do this.”

  She nodded, took another deep breath, and dove under, finding the hole easily and squeezing through. She surfaced in Bay’s cell and swam over to her.

  “She made it!” Bay hollered.

  Now to get her out. She’d never helped anyone swim before. Never taught anyone, either. Melantha had taught her how to swim years ago.

  She floated, holding onto the bars. “Once we get you over to the wall, I’ll guide you down. Use your hands to find the hole and then pull yourself through. Easy, right?”

  “Yeah, easy.” Bay’s eyes showed too much white, like a spooked horse.

  “Eddy will help you through and pull you up. You just need to hold your breath.”

  “Can I keep my eyes open?”

  “Yes, but you won’t see much.”

  Bay still wore her tunic, but the shirt underneath was gone. Good. No extra layers.

  “Now relax and hold onto my arm. That’s it.” She floated Bay to the back of the cell and found the hole. “Okay, two deep breaths and one big one. Ready?”

  She nodded.

  “We’re coming!” she shouted to Eddy.

  They breathed in unison, and then she guided them down. Once under the water, Bay flailed and clipped Gwen’s chin with her elbow. Gwen brought them back to the surface.

  “Sorry,” Bay said, spluttering. Water dripped from her curls into her face, and she wiped her eyes. “I’ve never went under like that.”

  “You’re doing great. Just relax and keep your arms in front of you.”

  “Gwen?” Eddy yelled.

  “We’re still here!” Gwen yelled back. “We need to try again.”

  They tried two more times before Bay was able to stay under without panicking. Gwen guided her through the hole until her feet vanished on the other side, and then she kicked for the surface rather than following right away.

  Splashing echoed from the other cell. “I’ve got her,” Eddy said. “Now it’s your turn.”

  She swam through on the first try, and they made their way into the flooded hallway and over to the stairs.

  “Ladies first.”

  She put Bay in front of her, and they pulled themselves up the few remaining stairs. Bay had wrapped her shirt around her ankle, securing it with her belt, and she favored that leg as they crawled. When they reached the top, Gwen put an arm around Bay’s waist and helped her over the low stones at the stream’s edge and onto the grass. They flopped onto the ground.

  Eddy joined them, dumping her wet boots and clothes on the ground with a splat. She hadn’t seen him rescue them. He sat nearby with his head in his hands.

  Bay was safe. And if the potion worked like everyone said it was supposed to, Eddy was now in love with her, and it was her fault.

  “Um, Gwen?” Bay said. “I’m thirsty.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  Eddy chuckled softly and glanced at them. “I can tell you’re going to be a lot of fun.”

  “Yeah, I’m a basket full of laughs. Or is that barrel? Or bushel?”

  Gwen spotted a trencher-like length of bark on the ground and filled it from the stream. “Did I ever tell you how she met Hazel?”

  “No, but I’m guessing it was dramatic.”

  “She fell right into her lap.”

  Bay sat up and drank the water. “You make it sound like I was flying.” She held out the makeshift cup for more.

  “Weren’t you?” Eddy said.

  “I was jumping roofs in the city. Safest way to go when you’re on your own. I missed my jump—first time it ever happened—and Princess Hazel found me hanging on the edge of the roof.” She gulped more water. “When I dropped, she caught me on her horse. And now we’re here. Uh… where are we, exactly?”

  “Somewhere in the Ling Forest between Eltekon and Soc
ora.” Gwen passed out the food and then sat and unwrapped Bay’s ankle. “How did this happen? You looked uninjured when I left you.”

  “I followed you. Made it a good ways, and then I saw Princess Hazel running. I shouldn’t have went after her. I know you’re supposed to stay put when you’re lost. She kept going and going.” Bay ate and talked with her mouth full as she explained. “Thought it must be something important, ‘cause she’s normally not much of a runner.”

  Bay must have been following Sissi, mistaking her for Hazel in her haste. Gwen bit into an apple and slipped her piece of bread into Bay’s pile. She let down her braid and squeezed out as much water as she could. She did the same with the blindfold before using it to rewrap Bay’s ankle.

  “Not like Princess Azure,” Bay continued. “She could run forever. I never could catch up, though. And then I fell into that dungeon place and blacked out. Don’t know how I got in the room. Some girl brought food and water, said she was looking for help, but I couldn’t see her out the window. And then the water started coming in not long before you got here.”

  A couple of figs and some cheese joined the bread.

  “There must have been a dam upstream that broke,” Eddy said, frowning. “Otherwise, you would have been underwater a lot sooner with all the rain we’ve had.”

  A chill washed over Gwen, and she glanced at Eddy. By the look on his face, he’d had the same thought.

  Sissi.

  She’d built the dam and then broken it out of anger. How could she risk harming someone just because she didn’t get her way? She’d already destroyed the books and the harp out of… what? Jealousy? Spite? But destroying a person was entirely different. Either way, they’d likely never be able to prove she’d done anything.

  “So, what’s going on now?” Bay said. “Where’s Princess Hazel and everyone else?”

  Gwen stood. “We’ll explain as we walk, but we need to get back to the fortress.”

  Bay perked up.

  “Don’t get too excited.” She took a long drink from the stream. “We’re not entirely safe yet.”

  Eddy joined her, slipping his piece of bread into her hand. “You need to eat something, too. We’ve got a long walk ahead.”

  She tore the bread in two and put half back into his hand. “Thank you.”

  After helping Bay stand, she found a walking stick and handed it to her.

  Bay brandished it like a sword. “How far is this fortress?”

  Gwen looked at Eddy. There was so much she wanted to say to him, and most of it she couldn’t put into words, so she just asked, “How should we do this?”

  “I’ll carry her piggyback—she’s not that big.”

  Bay threw the stick down. “Works for me.”

  They got Bay settled on his back and started walking. Even though Eddy could see now, their pace was almost as slow as when they’d come. He had the extra burden on his back, and Gwen had no shoes—she’d wrung out the clothes and rolled her soggy boots in them, tucking the bundle under her arm. He stopped every now and then, tilting his head from side to side, listening.

  Gwen explained to Bay everything that had happened up to that morning when they had set out to look for her.

  Surprisingly, she listened without a word until the end. A few minutes passed before she spoke. “It don’t make any sense why that girl wanted me trapped down there.” More silence, and then she addressed Eddy. “Wait. You had a blindfold on. What happened?”

  Gwen waited a moment before answering for him. “I slipped going down the steps.”

  “And you saved her. So, what, you’re in love with her now?”

  “I guess so,” he mumbled.

  “What do you mean, you guess so? Are you in love with her or not?”

  “Bay!” As appalled as she was at Bay’s nerve, she badly wanted to hear his answer.

  “Do you always ask so many questions?”

  “No. Maybe.” A small pause. “Are you gonna answer me?”

  He took a deep breath and exhaled, his cheeks puffing out. “This is awkward. Um, I… actually, I already looked at her.”

  “What?” Gwen said. “When?”

  He glanced at her as if pleading for her to understand. “During the chess game. I peeked. I… it didn’t even make a difference. I was already in love with you.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Gwen’s ears flamed, and she stopped walking. The words Eddy had just uttered… they were dangerous. She’d buried her heart four years ago to protect it. He couldn’t go digging it up again just like that.

  Eddy continued for a few yards before turning around. He lowered Bay to the ground gently and took a step towards Gwen.

  She backed up. His eyes, those blue eyes, tightened with pain. She didn’t mean to hurt him. What did it matter when he’d looked at her? The outcome was still the same. But it did matter. Why he looked at her made all the difference.

  “I’ve always known you were special. I kept telling myself I’d give you a chance to get to know me better, to see if you had feelings for me, too.” He took slow steps forward as he spoke. “I didn’t… I don’t want you to feel pressured. But I also didn’t want to lose my heart to someone I didn’t care about, someone like Sissi, because of a stupid potion. Does that make sense?”

  She nodded, but she still didn’t understand. Why her? He stared into her eyes until she had to look away. “What about Lily?” she whispered.

  “What about her?”

  “You said you found your match.”

  “I did. I mean, I hoped I did. But you were still so young, and… my mother wouldn’t let me speak until I had Father’s approval.”

  He’d found his match… and it wasn’t Lily. It was her.

  “I don’t expect anything from you, Gwen.”

  How fortunate, because she didn’t have anything to give at the moment. She was… numb. “We need to get going.”

  The pain flashed in his eyes again. She didn’t mean to be the cause of it, but she couldn’t process this turn of events. He’d fallen in love with her four years ago, or been attracted to her at the very least, and now he was under the spell of a love potion. Or was he? If the feelings were already there, did the potion make a difference? Sorcery had a tendency to twist things, so his admission might not even be true. There might never be a way of knowing his true feelings.

  Bay climbed onto his back again and whispered into his ear, “Sorry I asked.”

  He glanced at Gwen, but she averted her eyes quickly and walked on.

  They continued to the sound of Bay’s constant stream of questions about the fortress and life in the forest. As they entered the courtyard, Sissi was nowhere to be seen, so they headed straight for Eddy’s room.

  Gwen knocked on the door.

  “I told you to leave me alone!” Hazel screamed.

  “Hazel, it’s me. We found her.”

  “Bay?” Her voice was high-pitched, almost hysterical. “Is she hurt? Hungry? Where is she?”

  “I’m right here.”

  Gwen reached for the key around her neck, but it was gone, as was the cord. “Hazel, could you open the door for us?”

  “Why don’t you use the key?” Eddy asked. He lowered Bay to the floor.

  “I think I lost it in the water.”

  The door opened. Hazel’s body was tense with fear, but otherwise she looked just as she had when they left. Bay hobbled over and threw her arms around her.

  After a fierce hug, Hazel drew back and held Bay at arm’s length, looking her over from head to toe. “You’re filthy, and you’re probably starving. Gwen, could you show us to the bathing room?”

  “Of course.” She could use a bath herself after the muddy dunking. She rifled through the basket and gathered some clothes.

  Hazel looped her arm with Bay’s, clearly wanting to keep her close. Eddy could have his room to himself for a change.

  Gwen glanced at him before shutting the door. “I’ll see you in a bit?”

  He nodd
ed.

  The other two brothers returned just before nightfall, thrilled that Bay had been found, and they all gathered in the dining hall for supper. Holic vied for a spot next to Gwen, but his brothers corralled him into a seat across the table. Once settled, they shared stories, and Hazel told them Sissi had been pounding on the bedroom door off and on during the day, saying she hadn’t been properly introduced and asking if they could start over. Theo and Holic stole one too many glances at Gwen, while Eddy studied his food. He said little, mostly listening, and excused himself early.

  When he didn’t return, Gwen excused herself, too, confused by the uneasy feeling in her stomach. She couldn’t find him anywhere and guessed he must have gone for a walk. The moonlit forest would be nothing to someone who’d roamed it in the daytime with no sight. She could use some fresh air herself.

  She climbed the stairs to the lookout, hoping she might get a glimpse of him walking in the clearing around the fortress. Instead, she found him standing in the shadows.

  He turned when the boards creaked under her weight. “I wasn’t expecting anyone. I’ll go and let you enjoy the view.”

  “No need.” She stepped closer. “I was looking for you.”

  His eyebrows drew up in surprise. He looked both worried and pleased, and like he was trying not to look pleased.

  She grinned. “Are you all right?”

  He didn’t answer immediately, but studied her face. “I’m fine.”

  She waited to see if he would say anything else. Maybe he was waiting for her to speak, too.

  “Gwen, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. I should have told you the summer I left.” He ran a hand through his hair, unencumbered by the blindfold now. “I want to say I’m sorry I looked, but I can’t find it in myself to be sorry for that. It’s like I’ve been sleeping all these years, and I’m finally awake.”

  That sounded too much like what Holic had said.

  “Whether you ever love me back or not, I can say I’ve given my heart to the best woman I’ve ever known.”

  Her face flushed and the heat raced down her arms. As amazing as those words sounded, how could she be sure he spoke from his heart? How would she ever know with certainty that he wasn’t being manipulated by the potion? The unsettled feeling in her middle worsened. She couldn’t bear to see him hurting because of her. It was natural to be concerned for him, right? She’d had no one else to focus on the past few days, and she generally wanted people to be happy.