Page 19 of Arrows and Gems
Even as Helena snorted at this unnecessarily supportive-of-an-outlaw response, she remembered Erwan’s comments and the injured guards. If he wasn’t an excellent archer, he had amazing luck.
“Looking back, I suppose I could have found a better way to see his face,” she allowed, not willing to admit that she’d been showing off.
“Did you see it?”
Marielle sounded hesitant, her eyes darting over and then away. One finger tapped her arm as she awaited Helena’s response.
“No,” Helena slowly replied, watching her cousin. “He reacted too quickly.”
“That’s too bad.” The younger woman let out a sigh, but it sounded relieved. “General Valentin has been trying to catch him for months, you know.”
“Yes, I know.”
After another deep breath, Marielle turned back and set her hands on her hips. “Now for the rest of it: why didn’t I know you were coming? How did you get here?”
It was Helena’s turn to look away. “On a horse.”
“And your escort? Because I won’t believe that Le Capuchon killed your guards. Nor that Uncle Steffan sent you with men who would abandon you.”
Shrugging her uninjured shoulder, Helena strolled away a few paces and ran her hand over a side table. “Who said Papa sent me with anyone?”
“Helena.” Marielle let out a heavy sigh and rubbed her forehead with one hand. “Please do not tell me that you gave my footman your middle name because your family doesn’t know that you’re here.”
They didn’t, and she was sure they were secretly relieved by her absence. But she couldn’t tell her cousin that, so she scoffed. “I’m twenty-six years old, Marielle. I don’t need my parents’ permission to leave home.”
“Don’t need—” Sighing, Marielle dropped into a nearby armchair. She shot Helena an exasperated look. “You’re a princess. The rules are different for you! Even if you weren’t second in line for the throne—”
“Third,” Helena corrected, strolling to the next piece of furniture. “Amadeus is second.”
Marielle blinked. “Oh. With everything going on here, I’d forgotten that Axel finally has a son.” The fact only derailed her for a moment. “Regardless, you’re still too high in the succession to be gallivanting about the countryside on your own. What if someone were to find out and hold you for ransom?”
“Why do you think I didn’t give Le Capuchon my name?”
“Not the point.”
Helena turned her back to her cousin, debating her nextmove. When she heard the soft scrape of wood, she spun to see Marielle pulling a sheet of paper from a drawer. “What are you doing?”
“Writing a letter to your brother,” her cousin replied without looking up. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you like, but I have to let him know you’re here.”
“No!” Darting across the room, Helena snatched the paper from her cousin’s hand. “If he knows where I am, he’ll drag me back. I won’t go back.”
Marielle stared up at her, her mouth hanging open. “But—you have to go back eventually!”
“No sooner than I can help it,” Helena grumbled, crumpling the sheet of paper into a ball. Memories of the night she left battered her mind, fueling her tight grip.
She didn’t want to relive it. She certainly didn’t want to speak of it.
But taking one piece of paper wouldn’t stop Marielle from writing later. If she wanted to keep her anonymity, she had to convince her cousin to let her.
Taking a shuddering breath, she corralled her emotions and focused on a spot to the right of Marielle’s face. “In Ralnor, the council can require an heir to marry if said heir is still single on his or her twenty-fifth birthday. They have decreed that I must choose a husband by the end of the year, or they will choose one for me.”
Marielle’s expression softened. “I’m sorry to hear that, Helena. But staying here won’t solve that problem.”
“Of the two main competitors, the more tolerable one is in love with my best friend.” Gritting her teeth, Helena forced her eyes a little closer to her cousin. She could say it. She had to, or she would never convince Marielle to not write the letter. “The other is only interested in my title. He tried to kiss me after I had made my distaste perfectly clear. He seemed to think hisamorous behavior would win me over.”
Marielle didn’t say anything, but her eyes flitted away.
“That was the night I left.”
