Page 102 of Arrows and Gems
Helena wrapped her fingers in his shirt. “If you don’t, you’re a biggerDummkopfthan I thought.”
His lips spread into one of his full smiles, and then he gently cradled her head as he brought that wonderful smile down to meet her.
CHAPTER 35
Cap
Containing his emotions at that moment would have been like trying to tame the wind. He’d broken down and asked, and she’d consented. After weeks of holding back, Cap was finally going to learn how it felt to kiss Margit for real.
But just before their lips met, the wooden token under his shirt buzzed. He froze, reading the pattern.
Margit’s eyes widened. She stepped back, her left hand flying to her empty back.
“Get your bow, then up the trees,” he said urgently. She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. “I’m not sheltering you. You can’t fight at close range, and I need you to cover our backs. Now!”
She gave him a brisk nod and darted off.
Growling in frustration at his laxness, he sprinted for his bow. “Eagle protocol!” he yelled. Those who didn’t have their own tokens stopped their merry-making and ran for the tents. “Enemies to the east. Hurry!”
Cap dodged around a young woman ripping tent stakes out of the ground. What had he been thinking, leaving his bow in his tent when they were so low in the mountains? Wearing it wouldn’t have kept him from dancing with Margit. Feeling normal couldn’t happen until he was back where he belonged.
The numbers pulsed through his token. They weren’tfacing a single scout this time. General Valentin had sent a larger force than any they’d faced. And it was too close already – what happened to their sentry?
Thankful that he’d at least kept the sheath, he flung open the tent and dove inside, buckling his quivers and sword around his waist and snatching up his bow. Rolling his and Jean-haut’s bedrolls and tossing their belongings outside was the work of a moment. If the noncombatants didn’t have hands to grab them before fleeing with Rouge, he would grab them on his way out.
Or such was the plan. They’d never tested it quite like this before.
The tent collapsed on his head as he reached for the flap. He flailed for the edge, but it was whisked off him before he found it.
“Sorry, Cap; didn’t know you were in there,” Jean-haut panted as he packed the canvas into his arms.
Cap spared him a brief glare as he grabbed the rope and began wrapping it. “Maybe you should check before pulling the supports with your magic.”
“Did them all at once.” The forester’s voice was terse. Flat tents around the clearing were being rolled and tied by those already armed or not yet collected around Rouge.
“Leave the pegs!” he hollered. “We’ll make more.”
Another warning pulsed through his token. The guards were almost at the campsite.
He fingered his arrows. He could set up a multi-arrow shot, but with the trees, the dark, and the enemy’s speed, it wasn’t practical. Better to do one arrow at a time and be sure of each shot.
“Rouge, go!” he ordered.
Their fighters found cover along the edges of the clearing. The others grabbed one last bag and ran after the redheaded fire-user.
Cap nocked an arrow and drew. He couldn’t hear the approaching soldiers over the exodus, and the trees blocked too much of the moonlight. He couldn’t find a mark.
A new pulse began in his token. Cap’s fingers twitched on his bow as he translated it.
The sentry to the west had spotted guards as well. The noncombatants were walking straight into their arms.
Knowing he couldn’t fight both fronts, Cap forced himself to relax and focus ahead. Rouge would have received the message on her token, and he had his own battle.
But how? What made General Valentin sure enough of their location to send such a large force?
Had someone betrayed them?
The quiet crunch of boots on forest litter was audible now. Jean-haut eased up next to Cap. His staff was tucked into his bow sheath, and his bow and an arrow were in his hands.
