Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn Read Free Book Online

them found Alora and were prevailed upon to stay. Perhaps they were thrown into chains and bound into slavery. Perhaps they succumbed to the glamour of that place, the bewitchment of those aliora voices, and they threw down their weapons and petitioned for admittance. I only know that, once lost, these men have never been recovered—and Fergus, at least, has been missing for fifteen years. A long time to be gone for a man who meant to come back.”
    I put my hand on my uncle’s arm. It was the hand with the golden fetter. “Perhaps he was not careful,” I said in a small voice. “Perhaps he did not wear his gold charm when he went hunting. But you’ll be safe—you’ll be careful, won’t you, Uncle Jaxon? You’ll wear a gold band always, you’ll not stir a step without gold aroundyour wrist? You won’t let the aliora mesmerize you and carry you away?”
    He laughed down at me, covering my hand with his big warm one, and the brief spell of the story was broken. “I’m safe,” he promised me, but I noticed he did not answer the question. All of us had been forced to wear gold into the woods, but not once had Jaxon showed us a talisman of his own. Did he fear that wearing the gold would prevent him from getting close enough to an aliora to catch one? Or was he, like Bryan, so sure of his prowess that he scorned to stoop to the measures that would keep him protected? I vowed right then to stick closely beside him while we were in the woods, to guard him with my own body, my own gold, whatever weapons I had.
    Jaxon patted my hand once again, then turned toward his horse. “Let’s make camp here. Strip down the horses, have something to eat, clean ourselves up in the river.”
    Kent glanced from Jaxon to the water and back to Jaxon. “But—the river,” he said cautiously. “If it’s enchanted, as you say, are we safe to step into it?”
    Jaxon nodded. “Oh yes. Swim in it, drink from it, it’s just water. Sweeter and purer than any water you’ll ever taste again, but there’s no harm in it. I’ve drunk from it many times.”
    We all hesitated a few moments, covering our uncertainty by unloading the horses and setting up a rough camp. But, now that we were free of the dismal overhang of the trees, we began to grow hot in the summer sun, and the turquoise water looked unbelievably enticing.
    â€œOh, fine, I don’t care if I am bewitched,” I said finally, and began stripping off the outer layer of my clothes. I hadn’t exactly packed for swimming, but I was wearing a dark shirt under my man’s jacket, and it hung to my knees. Modesty enough with my uncle as chaperone, don’t you think, Greta? Yes, I think so, too!
    I was the first one in the water, Kent and Roderick right behind me. The river was not as cold as I’d feared, so it must have lain quiet in the sun a mile or so before it raced down the falls, but itwas frothy as a cauldron bubbling over the fire. It boiled past me with a delicious tickling effect, and I squealed with chill, sensation, and delight.
    â€œCareful! Don’t go too far in!” Kent shouted, splashing over beside me and spraying water everywhere. He had stripped to his breeches, and as he strove with the river, his pale chest seemed more well-muscled than I had expected. “It’s probably deep farther in.”
    â€œI can swim!” I called back.
    â€œNot in this current!” he replied.
    So I was careful to go no farther than my feet could find a purchase on the sharp rocks of the riverbed. Roderick had instantly dived for a handful of those same rocks, and now he came up, his sandy hair sleeked back from his face. The sudden severity of the hairstyle threw his broad cheekbones and strong chin into relief; he looked like nothing so much as a model for good, sturdy, yeoman strength. I watched him as he began skipping rocks into the lively water.