Rowan pushes off the stone wall with her feet, spearing for the surface of the loch ten meters above her head. She may not be as fast as the finfolk, but she will take as much of a boost as she can get. The finfolk man chases after her, his expression full of rage. He reaches her so quickly that she has barely even covered a quarter of the distance. He grabs onto her right arm.
"You will come back with me."
Rowan shakes her head, trying to yank her arm out of his grip. She's still kicking for the surface and she's still moving, but he is slowing her down considerably. "Why would I do that?"
He raises an eyebrow. "Because you are to be my bride." Rowan freezes, stunned. He smiles. "Come back now. You've made your point and we know you are strong-willed. You will make a wonderful addition to the family."
He starts to pull her down again, back towards the tunnel. Rowan yanks again, speaking through gritted teeth. "I. Will. Not. Go with. You!"
Her arm ripped free from his grasp and Rowan goes flying backwards through the water. It actually sends her up to the surface a bit too. She starts kicking again and the man darts up to her. He holds his hands up before her.
"I don't want to hurt you, but you need to come back with me."
Rowan shakes her head and he grabs her again. By her left arm. Rowan cries out in pain but he doesn't release her. "Let me go!"
"No. You are coming back to the city with me, whether you like it or not."
Determination courses through Rowan. She is not going to stay here and slowly wither away to a shell of herself. She will escape, she will go home. No matter what. Rowan summons fire beneath her skin and grabs onto the man's wrist. He lets out a cry of pain and tries to pull away, but Rowan doesn't let go. Not yet. She glares at him.
"I am never going to go back with you. I am going home to my family and my cridhe."
Horror fills his eyes, so much so that his pain almost disappears. Rowan lets her fire fade for a moment. She doesn't like hurting him, but she needs to go home. "You have a cridhe?"
"Umm, yes?"
"I apologize. We had no idea. We would never have taken you if we had-"
"If you had known?" He nods mutely. "Then let me go now."
He nods and releases her arm. After a moment, Rowan lets go of his wrist. Beneath her palm, his skin has turned red and there are small blisters beginning to form. Rowan winces in sympathy.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I deserved it." He pauses. "I will stick with what I said before. You would have been a wonderful wife. Now go, before someone else comes."
Rowan nods and starts swimming again. When she breaks through the surface she grins in relief. But her smile fades just as quickly. The sun is hanging low in the sky. How long has she been beneath the loch? Rowan touches her bracelet and thinks of the passage once again. The water around her ripples and surges for her, swallowing her whole.
Rowan lets it carry her to the pocket realm, hoping that she can emerge there within a few minutes of her disappearance. When she pops through, there is a black horse pacing at the edge of the water. Rowan beams, her pain forgotten for a moment.
"Andrian!"
He swings his head towards her and breaks into a gallop. When he has almost reached her he shifts and pulls her into a hug. "Where were you? It's been an hour!"
Rowan blinks, her adrenaline fading all at once. "What? I tried to get back here only minutes after I disappeared."
Andrian pulls back and looks down at her, fear and worry flooding his face. "Ro, how long has it been for you?"
She blinks again, stumbling over the rocky bottom of the river. When she speaks, her words are fuzzy. "I think a day, but I don't know."
"Rowan, what's wrong?"
"I don't know. But . . . I feel weird, An."
"Come on, let's get you on dry land."
Rowan nods and starts shivering, the water in her clothes from the loch soaking her to the bone. Andrian helps her out of the river, only for her feet to crumple beneath her on the edge of it. Rowan wraps her good arm around herself tightly, shivering. Andrian frowns.
"What's wrong with your arm?"
"I smashed into a rock in the rapids. I think I might have broken it."
Andrian winces. While he thinks of what to say, Rowan summons a flicker of flame to run beneath her skin. Water steams off of her and into the air, surrounding her in a cloud. There is something against her neck and Rowan reaches back to lift her hair. Something slimy falls into her hand. Andrian makes a choking sound.
"Is that seaweed? Where were you? Ro-"
Rowan doesn't hear the rest of the sentence, slumping sideways into the rocky ground.
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READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE!
Okay, so I have something to tell you guys. Tomorrow's chapter might be late or it might not come. I will be on a plane tomorrow because I'm moving! Yay! Going to college. If I can't get the chapter to you guys tomorrow, do you want me to give you two on Saturday? Tell me your answer! Oh and also, the times I post chapters will be three hours later because I'm not getting up at 4 or 5am to post the chapters and the time I used to post them before the move. And now, to the normal author's note stuff.
Yay, the finfolk man let her go! Sure, it was because of Andrian, but he still did it. What do you think is wrong with Rowan? Tell me what you think!
Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!
~Goddess of Fate, signing out.