With his weight as a counterbalance, Farilane reached the opposite end. Whatever had corked the shaft and lifted the bridge had come unplugged and the discharge far outmatched the inflow. Already the passage on the far side was more than five feet above the bridge. By the time she got there, the opening to the tunnel was too high to reach.

“Go back!” she shouted and waved at Kolby. “Use your weight to raise this end!”

“I need to come with you!”

“You can’t! I need you to lift me! Do it! Do it now!”

With a frustrated growl, the knight shuffled backward. His weight, far more than hers, lifted Farilane’s end until she could almost grab the ledge. “Jump!” she shouted over the rush of the falls crashing on the center of the bridge.

She didn’t look to see if he heard her. Farilane turned her back on him and positioned herself on the edge of the bridge-raft like a diver on a board, her toes hanging off the end, her knees bent, and her arms out. The bridge went down briefly, then lurched up.

Farilane jumped.

Her fingers caught the ledge of the far passage. The wooden platform fell away, leaving the princess to dangle, legs swinging. Her body slammed against the rock wall as the bridge, Kolby, and the water plummeted beneath her.

This probably wasn’t a good idea.

She heard Kolby gasp and grunt as he dealt with what she imagined to be an unruly raft reacting poorly to her exit. He sounded disturbingly far away.

Fingers can’t last! she mentally yelled at herself. Up! Climb! Up!

She got her chin onto the ledge. Gritting her teeth, she used her jaw as a third hook, just enough to find an improved grip with her left hand.

“Farilane!” Kolby shouted, his voice a gasp from far away. “Are you all right?”

Can’t talk right now—I’m hanging on by my chin!

Once she had her elbows up, life improved immensely. Pressing both down, she bent at the waist, lifting her hips and swinging a leg up. After that, she rolled onto her side and lay panting for air. Her heart raced and muscles burned.

“Princess!” This time it was Virgil.

“You’re missing all the fun, my friend,” she shouted back.

“Oh, I’m certain of that. Are you okay?”

Farilane sat up. Looking across the chasm, she spotted the glow of Kolby’s lantern. “Nothing broken, and I’m on the far side. Kolby, how are you?”

“I’m fine, but I’m at the bottom.”

“We’ll need to raise the water level again,” Virgil said.

“Not yet. Hold on. Let me light a lamp.”