Page 112 of Arrows and Gems
“You have nothing to gain by continuing to shield him,” the General said gently. “Come, won’t you tell me who he is?”
“I don’t know,” she replied dully. “He never told me.”
“I am sorry, Your Highness.” The General sighed again and straightened. “It must be difficult to learn that someone you trusted is not who you thought they were.”
“What makes you think I care?” Helena lifted her chin and sniffed. “If you know who I am, then you must know why I left home. Cap offered me a convenient place to hide. I don’t know what stories you’ve concocted, but there is nothing more to our relationship.”
“Then why are you here in his place?” General Valentin asked shrewdly.
Dropping her eyelids to half mast, she carelessly replied, “The members of his band were kind to me. I did not wish to see harm come to them.”
He watched her for a few moments, then turned to one of the guards. “Untie her; she has endured enough stress tonight.” Giving her a half smile, he added, “I hope you understand if I put you in one of our holding cells. This establishment is not set up for guests, and I would hate for either you or more of my prisoners to disappear.”
“Am I not one of your prisoners, then?”
“A prisoner?” He laughed. “My dear princess, your father has been rather desperate in his search for you. I have no wish for trouble with Ralnor.”
She nodded stiffly. As always, her position was the most important thing about her. He could mourn Jean-haut’s and Cap’s desire to influence her family through her, but he was no better.
“I understand. I trust you will provide better accommodations once we reach Laurier?”
“You may be sure of it, Your Highness.” He gave her a shallow bow, then retreated to his desk.
As one of the guards began undoing the knots in her bonds, Helena molded her face into a pleasant, if somewhatreserved, smile. “Thank you, General Valentin. I appreciate your understanding.”
“Please, Your Highness, just Valentin,” he offered with a smile of his own.
“Valentin, then.” She let her expression grow a touch warmer. “I look forward to furthering our acquaintance.”
She maintained her improved attitude as the guards led her to her small room, even regretting the trouble she had given them and thanking them for treating her kindly now. They were both very polite, and the one who had carried her apologized for being so rough.
Once the door closed behind them, she allowed the tender looks to slide off her face like mud sloughing off the walls of Reineggburg. Not that she would know anything about that.
Her head ached, but she shoved her confused feelings aside for later. Right now, she needed to focus on her next step. She wasn’t done yet.
And bandits and generals weren’t the only ones who could use people.
CHAPTER 39
Cap
Cap was grateful for the tiny bit of magic in his token that still pointed toward the clearing; without it, he would have been completely lost. It was dark, and he’d never hunted this far south.
Stumbling forward on weary feet, he focused on the slight tug and adjusted his course again. Jean-haut had sent him much farther away than he’d realized. Either that, or the magic had become scrambled when its owner lost contact.
Cap shook his head. The magic in the tokens kept working when Jean-haut fell asleep. It should be the same no matter how he lost consciousness. Or even if he…
A fallen tree limb caught Cap’s foot, tumbling him into a prickly bush. He simply lay there for a few minutes, too tired and bruised to free himself from its clutches.
What was the point? His friends might all be dead. Any who survived would be prisoners destined for execution. The cursed forester that he called a friend had sent him in the opposite direction, so he had no hope of finding them before they reached the capital.
He had failed them in the worst possible way.
“You’re allowed to make mistakes.”
Margit’s alto voice drifted through the back of his mind as he lay there, suffering from a dozen sharp pricks. As he’d told her then, his mistakes could cost lives. And now they had.
“Not everything is your fault, Cap,”her memory chided.“You don’t have to bear everything alone.”
