When Faolán popped back up, he found himself in the air pocket created by the capsized boat above his head. Panicking, he flailed to stay above the surface and grabbed at the sides to stay afloat, finding purchase in the rickety floor boards that he wedged his fingers between as his choking breaths and gasps echoed hollowly in the water chamber.
And it was right then, as he held himself above the water, that he realized Valia was gone.
At least, until he saw she wasn't gone--she was still there, her foot wedged right near his head!
She was trapped upside down and drowning.
"Oh no...no, no, no!"
As much as he might despise the wretched girl, he couldn't just let her drown. And not just because the duchess would have his head. Moving fast, he grabbed at her shoe and wrenched at her foot, and quickly found the heel wedged in too far to pull out--at least not while he was fighting to stay afloat. And so he grabbed instead at her leg and struggled to pry her foot free of her shoe--and just about cried with relief when her foot popped free--
And kicked him in the face.
For a second he saw stars and tasted copper--and water when he dunked beneath the surface--but he reached down frantically and grabbed onto anything of Valia's he could as he scrambled to get hold of the boat again.
And then his flailing hand caught her fingers, and pulled.