Page 113 of Arrows and Gems
But he did. He was alone. And it was his poor choices that had put him there. From the day he fled to the woods until tonight, he’d made one decision after another that put his friends in danger until now, they were in General Valentin’s power.
“You shouldn’t have sent me away, Jean,” he muttered into the bush. “I should have to bear the consequences this time.”
And he was so tired of running. Of fighting an impossible fight.
“Dummkopf.”The fire in her eyes when she said it.
“I needed you to keep moving this time.”The understanding in Jean-haut’s.
Digging deep into his energy reserves, Cap maneuvered his hands under his chest and found a branch with enough resistance to let him shove himself free. He heard the ripping sound as the thorns tore free from his clothes, but Rouge could scold him later. If he ever found her.
“That’s enough,” he told himself as he dropped to the ground next to a tree trunk. “It’s just the fatigue talking.” And his voice. He was so exhausted that he was talking to himself. “The wind is never gone, it just needs to rest sometimes. Even the wind…needs to rest…”
His head settled back against the tree trunk. “Just for a few…minutes…”
He let his eyes drift closed as his hand slipped off his knee, and he was asleep before his hand hit the ground.
~
“I never thought I’d see the day. A defenseless Cap, sleeping like a rock with no one standing guard. In the middle of the day, no less.”
Cap’s eyes flew open, but the sword point on his chest kepthim from shooting to his feet.
Lifting his eyes to its bearer, he scowled. “What are you doing, Rouge?”
She smirked and sheathed her weapon. “Having a little fun. I expected you to wake up before I got that close.”
Cap stood up and brushed himself off. A few members of his band huddled together nearby, their eyes wide. But not, he suspected, because of Rouge’s games.
“You must have fared better than I expected,” he commented lightly. “To be poking fun at me.”
A shadow crossed her face. “The General’s men captured some of my people.” She examined him, then stepped forward and swiped her fingers across a cut on his cheek. He jerked away with a wince. “What about you? The only other stones I can find are all north of here.”
“I don’t know.” His right hand reached for his arrows’ fletching. “Your brother removed me from the battle.”
He could still feel the despair of the night before, but it was weaker after a solid… He lifted his eyes to the treetops, trying to judge the sunlight filtering through the barren branches. It was almost noon. No wonder he felt better.
“Jean isn’t with you?” she asked quietly. “But I thought—”
“You already observed that I was alone and unguarded,” Cap replied. He searched the ground for his pack before remembering he didn’t have one. “Can you not tell where he is?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t been replenishing the magic in his stone since we were traveling together. I assumed he escaped with you.”
The look on her face was so different from her normal fire that Cap decided not to tell her about Jean-haut’s magic cutting out. Maybe later.
But not now.
“What do we do now, Cap?” Rouge glanced over her shoulderat the young women and boys lurking behind her. “The rest of my group is at a spot I found last night. We have enough supplies to last for a while, but what about everyone else?”
Cap gripped one of his arrows and stared off to the north. He couldn’t leave the noncombatants unprotected. But he couldn’t abandon the others, either.
Especially when two of his favorite people were missing.
“Have you been back to the campsite?” he finally asked. “Is there anything…anyone…left?”
“I didn’t want to risk it if they left guards.” She looked back again and lowered her voice. “And I didn’t want them to see…” She gulped. “I wasn’t sure what state the clearing would be in.”
Dragging a hand down his face, Cap checked the location stored in his token. The clearing felt close. “I’ll go look.” He pulled out his stone and handed it to her. “If you put the location of your new camp in here, I’ll find you after.”
