Page 106 of Arrows and Gems
Quiet murmurs drifted down from the window despite the lateness of the hour. Helena grabbed the windowsill with onehand and peeked over the edge. A single candle sat in the middle of the floor, its flickering light illuminating a small space with ten of her friends packed into it. Including Jean-haut.
Seeing no sign of guards, Helena hoisted herself up and over. She quickly pulled the rope in after her so the night guard wouldn’t see it hanging down the wall. Glancing up at the arrow stuck in the ceiling, she grimaced. Hopefully, he wouldn’t look up and see that.
“Margit?” Jean-haut hissed. “What in the heavens are you doing here? Is Cap with you?”
Digging a knife out of her satchel, Helena stepped over someone’s legs and began sawing at the rope around his wrists. “No. I didn’t have time to search for him if I wanted to rescue all of you.”
The forester held still while she worked on his bonds, but his face was incredulous. “Did you bring anyone else?”
“Was there anyone else to bring?” she asked, lifting an eyebrow. “As far as I know, the General’s men captured all our fighters.”
He exhaled heavily. “They might have. But I think some of our noncombatants got away. And I haven’t seen my sister.”
That was something. “I didn’t stick around to see if anyone returned.” She pulled at the rope, holding it away from a pair of silver bracelets while she cut the last few strands. “Can’t you tell by the tokens? Or is everyone with one here?”
“I can’t access my magic,” he said grimly. He nodded at the bracelets. “They were ready for me.”
Looking at them a little closer, Helena felt her heart sink. “Are those magic-canceling cuffs from the Castellian prison?”
“Yes.”
That would complicate things. But it strengthened Helena’s resolve to find her way to the capital sooner than later. If she could prove Prince Raphael’s innocence, Cap and his bandwould no longer need Jean-haut’s magic. And surely the prince would free Jean-haut from the cuffs.
“I suppose that means you can’t help me with them,” Helena said, jerking her head toward the one wide-eyed and eight dozing forms around them. “Since I only have one knife.”
The rope snapped, and he pulled his wrists apart to free them. His skin was red and raw underneath. “If I could, I already would have. But maybe I can pick apart the knots.”
They had freed four of them when voices sounded in the hall outside. “The patrol saw something strange in the window. We’d better check it out.”
Helena stiffened, and everyone in the room went still as they listened.
“You really think he would try to free them from the second floor?”
A rattle of keys. “The General says he wasn’t among the prisoners. And he wasn’t the only one who got away; maybe he gathered enough men to feel confident.”
Rushing to the window on light feet, Helena plastered her back to the wall and carefully peered out. The dim light of the candle made it hard to see, but she thought there was a waiting form next to the wagons.
“I’m going to distract them.” She focused her best imitation of her father on Jean-haut. “As soon as the guard is gone, use that rope to get yourself and those four out of here.”
He jumped forward and grabbed her arm. “What about you? Cap—”
“Then find him, and take care of him like you promised my cousin,” she growled. “They won’t catch me, and I have business in the capital anyway.”
Pulling free, she climbed onto the windowsill and reached for the stones above it. It was only a few feet to the roof. Without a rope.
“Cousin?” He sounded bewildered. “Who—”
Helena winced in the darkness. “Just get out of here!” she hissed. Someone shouted below her. Trusting the forester to have the sense to escape, she stopped arguing and began climbing.
The stone bit into her fingers as she struggled her way up. Scaling the walls of the castle back home was much easier. Even the wooden logs of the other buildings in Arles would be better.
But she needed to make it to the roof before any guards did.
Her cloak whipped around her in the wind whisking along the side of the building. Muffled shouts rang out inside. Stretching her arm up, she wrapped her right hand around the top of the wall. She gripped as hard as she could, found a toehold near her waist, and pulled herself up and over.
A smile played around the corner of her lips. She’d like to see the fancy ladies of the Ralnoran court do that. Better yet, Luther or Tobias.
The clatter of a trap door smacking against the wooden roof propelled her back into motion. She sprinted for the opposite edge.
