Free Autumn by Maddy Edwards

and disappeared before I could think of anything biting to say.
    “Autumn?”
    I rushed down the stairs so fast I almost fell.
    Tripping into the dark I stared around, begging my eyes to adjust faster to the lack of light.
    “Where are you?” I croaked.
    “Over here.” His voice sounded tired, and I had to strain to hear him clearly. Instead of waiting until I could see something, I stumbled around blindly.
    His soft laugh came in the dark and my heart lifted a little. How bad could it be if he could still laugh?
    “Are you okay?” I asked. I was horrified that he was in the dark.
    When my groping hands connected with bars, I felt a power surge under my fingers and moved away a little. I was starting to be able to handle it when people were drawn to me because I was a Fairy, or when plants stretched themselves to greet me, but other forms of magic still made me uncomfortable.
    “I’m fine,” he said. I knew he was standing close, but it was driving me crazy that I couldn’t see him or touch him. How was I supposed to know if he was alright?
    “How are you?” he asked.
    “I’m fine,” I almost cried. I didn’t want to talk about me. “I’m not locked in a crazy lady’s basement. So, I’m fine.”
    “This is the Winter Court’s basement,” said Holt, ever ready to explain. “It will pass to Samuel soon.”
    I felt breathless. I hadn’t expected him to mention Samuel, at least not so soon in the conversation.
    “What about Samuel?”
    I felt Holt sigh more than heard him.
    “Be nice to him. He’s the only thing that’s kept me sane this past week.”
    My heart twisted. “He’s taking care of you?”
    I don’t think Holt liked my phrasing, because I heard a sound like he was scuffing his foot against the floor.
    “Something like that.”
    “But Holt, when are you getting out of here?” That was all that mattered to me. We could deal with Samuel or thank Samuel or whatever Holt wanted to do, we could do anything, just as soon as he was free.
    “Autumn,” he said, “I don’t know. They haven’t told me anything.”
    “You haven’t even seen them?” I heard my voice crack and tried to force myself to calm down. This wasn’t how I had expected my first meeting with Holt to go. I couldn’t even touch him!
    “I haven’t seen them,” he said. “Besides Samuel, you are the first person I’ve ‘seen.’” Funny how much irony can be conveyed, even in the dark.
    My hands clenched. Not even his mother had come to see him. After she had just given her older son, her heir, over to the Supreme Council, the least she could have done was visit. But no, of course not.
    I started to say something, but Holt cut me off. His voice was still soft, but he sounded more confident. “Look, we don’t have much time and I don’t know...I don’t know how safe it is to talk, so, let me just get this out.”
    My resolve of calming down wobbled.
    “Okay....”
    “I want you to make sure you are safe,” he said. “Whatever happens to me. You must be safe. If I know you are out of harm’s way, nothing else matters.”
    “Holt,” I pleaded, “I’ll be safe with you. This isn’t going to last much longer. It can’t. You didn’t do anything wrong and soon they are going to see that and let you go. Your mom will come around. Susan already is....”
    Holt gave a bitter laugh. “My mother is not going to come around. As for Susan, she might support me, but her hands are tied. She cannot go against my mother and none of them can go against Mrs. Cheshire. She was waiting for her chance. She’s been waiting ever since the beginning of the summer and now she has it.”
    I felt like I was a rock that had been thrown into the lake and was now sinking inexorably down. I had nothing to swim with and no way to push myself back to the surface.
    “Please tell me there’s something else I can do,” I whispered.
    “I don’t know what you can do,” said Holt tiredly, “other than be nice to Samuel, and if