Page 86 of The Queen's Huntsman
Gwendolyn didn’t intend to wait about arguing. Having explored this chasm before, she knew it could be done. She would not be thwarted. Slipping past Málik, stepping down onto a small ledge closer to the aperture, she inhaled a breath and dove.
ChapterForty
Gwendolyn heard the splash behind her as she entered the water, but daren’t linger to see who had followed. It didn’t matter; she knew who it was.
Málik
Gods!
Even during the summer, the water was bitterly cold.
She turned and swam down into the churning waters, away from the muted light. It shouldn’t be too far, so she wasn’t worried—not about this part.
It was easy enough to feel her way into the cavern. It was only once inside that she must work quickly to find the opening to the conduit. It would be dark within, and she had only a vague memory of where it was. Always before, this had been done midday, when there was at least a sliver of sunlight pouring in through a crack higher in the stone.
But then, she realized… belatedly… with no light to guide her, she didn’t even know which way was up, and for the first time since devising the plan, she panicked.
Blood and bones.
Which way to go?
Instinctively, her hands sought the stone walls, finding none now that she was in the cavern below the mountain. Even as she hesitated, trying to gain her bearings, her lungs began to ache, and her breath demanded to be freed. She coughed a bubble and tried to catch it, so she could follow where it led. It slipped through her fingers like quicksilver.
Gods, oh gods. Which way to go?
All at once, she felt a tug on her arm, and suddenly she was being dragged to the surface. Her face broke free of the foaming surf in time to exhale and suck in a breath. But then, as she treaded water, her feet searching for leverage, and found none—already the water was too deep.
“You’re a hard-bitten woman,” Málik complained. “What in the Goddess's name do you think you are doing?”
“Getting us into that city,” she countered, spewing water, trying to calm the pounding of her heart. “Art planning to help, or did you come to harass me?”
Gwendolyn couldn’t see his face, so she couldn’t gauge Málik’s expression, or his mood, but there was a note ofsomethingin his voice that could be mistaken for pride. And despite that, she felt his tension even as she felt the water warming around his body, tempting her close.
An instant later, the cavern lit with a familiar blue light, and then another. One flew toward her face so fiercely that she was forced to duck into the water to evade it.
“Your displeasure will not keep me from my duty,” she said when she re-emerged, but quickly, she realized he was not trying to prevent her from reaching the conduit.
He meant to help her.
Both Faerie flames soared through the pitch-black night, lighting the area in their immediate vicinity. Like battling blue stars, they crisscrossed the cavern, and then came to a halt before the conduit, which was still too far up to reach.
Gwendolyn swam beneath it, muttering a reluctant, “Thank you.” No doubt she was grateful, but though some part of her wished she might have told him ahead of time so they could plan this together, she also knew Málik would never have willingly allowed her to subject herself to this danger. “We have to reach that conduit,” she explained.
“I know what this is, Gwendolyn. Who do you think provided the design?”
“Not you!” she argued. “I distinctly remember the man who gave us the plans.”
“And who do you believe provided the design for those gardens in Babylon?”
Gwendolyn’s brows knit. “The Fae?”
“Precisely.”
Treading water beneath the conduit, she tried to leap up to reach it, failing. Málik swam over to wrap his arms around her, and Gwendolyn didn’t even realize how much she was shivering until the tremors ceased abruptly.
Merciful Mother!His warmth was magnificent!
“By the by, my people are Danann,” he reminded her.
