Page 128 of Arrows and Gems
How could that have been a lie?
As if he could read Cap’s thoughts, the General added, “Acting runs in her family, you know. Her brother has become a regular performer at the Himmelsburg theater since you ran off to the woods. She clearly shares his talent.”
Reeling, Cap stumbled back through the doorway, then raced for the secret passageway. He slammed the hidden door and leaned against it, listening for sounds of pursuit. The door locked automatically, but the General might have a key.
Had she only been acting? Or had it been real?
Cap shoved away from the door, staggering blindly down the passage. He needed time to sort the truth from the lies before he faced Margit again. He couldn’t let her trap him if Tucker was right. If General Valentin was telling the truth.
Because it was all plausible. And Tucker said they were betrothed, and Margit wasPrincessHelena, and—
Heavens, he hoped the General was lying. Cap’s judgmenthad been growing worse, but surely he hadn’t misjudged her loyalties, her feelings, so badly.
His initial belief that she was a spy was wrong. Marielle would have warned him.
Unless she didn’t know either.
Space. He needed space, and he wouldn’t find it in the castle. But he couldn’t deal with people right now, so the park was out. He would take his favorite path, the one that ended just inside the woods. The one he was sworn to reveal to no one, not even his closest friends, lest an enemy learn of its direct access to the castle.
His feet slowed. Since when did General Valentin know about the secret passages, let alone that Cap frequented them? If he knew about the door just now, what other exits was he familiar with?
The General couldn’t watch all of them, but he had plenty of guards to do it for him. And he hadn’t felt compelled to follow when Cap fled.
Cap had sent his friends into a trap.
Turning, he jogged back to the passage he’d just left. The nearest empty suite had a balcony; he could climb down from it before any lurking guards noticed.
He paused before working the lever for the bookcase, sliding aside a thin piece of wood and peering through a peephole to watch for movement. A lit candle suggested the suite wasn’t as empty as he had thought.
When he saw no sign of a guard, he carefully opened the hidden door and slid into the bedroom, closing the bookcase silently so he wouldn’t alert anyone in the next room.
“Not another step. Hands where I can see them, please.”
A woman? No, not just any woman.
Slowly turning, Cap raised his hands. His heart lurched at the sight of Margit’s beautiful form. But her drawn arrow waspointed at him.
“So, General Valentin was telling the truth,” he bit out between clenched teeth. “You really were his spy.”
Her hands dropped. “Cap? What in the heavens are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” He gazed at her, his eyes hungrily taking her in. She was unharmed, but he should have expected that, given the General’s words.
“You…you actually came for me?”
“Always,” Cap said softly. His heart hardened as he glanced around the room that he had expected to be unoccupied. “But I guess you knew that, didn’t you? And that’s why I found your precious Valentin waiting in my quarters. A fine trap the two of you have concocted for me.”
“Ugh, don’t call him that.” Her expression twisted into one of disgust as she returned her arrow to its quiver. “As soon as I free the others, I’m running away to Castellia. I don’t have the patience to endure any more, even if that means I can’t prove your prince’s innocence.”
Cap raised an eyebrow. “My prince?”
Her disgust shifted to confusion. “Wait, your quarters? The barracks don’t seem like a smart place for an outlaw.”
He blinked at her. Hadn’t the General told her? “My quarters aren’t in the barracks.”
“Where else would a guard live? Except perhaps a house in the city, but then how are you in a trap?”
“I’m not a guard.” Watching her carefully, he said, “And you aren’t a noblewoman, are you,Princess Helena?”
