Page 57 of Arrows and Gems
The wind picked up. It teased her hood, tugging at the edges and blowing a few loose hairs across her face. Helena lifted a hand to brush them back, then froze. It wasn’t just air moving them.
It was the tingling sensation of magic.
She glanced around the camp, but no one else looked concerned. Was she imagining it?
Or maybe Cap’s band had a wind-user, and the rest of the group knew it. She suspected he had at least one magic-user based on the table in front of her, but many magic-users concealed their abilities from those they didn’t trust. They wouldn’t have told her yet.
The wind ebbed to a light breeze. Helena waited, sitting motionless as she monitored it. But she no longer felt the strange sensation, even when a gust blew the bag of salt off her lap.
Cap returned with the dishes she’d left by the stream, carefully setting the bag next to the table. Helena considered mentioning the strange wind to him, but he disappeared as soon as his hands were empty.
Understandable. But it made her just a little sad.
CHAPTER 21
Helena
Where did he keep the blasted arrows? He must have more than the quiver-full on his hip.
Rouge had given her a break, and Helena wanted to spend some quality time with her bow now that she had her bowstring. Unfortunately, Cap hadn’t given her arrows yet. And he thought she needed a day of rest after her first three arrows in weeks.
Helena disagreed.
It was difficult to be sneaky when hobbling about with a cane, so she didn’t try. Pretending she was simply wandering the camp, she eased her way closer to Cap. He was talking to Jean-haut and had his back to her. His cloak hung over the quiver, but his occasional gestures exposed it for a few moments at a time.
Jean-haut lifted a hand in greeting and gave her a broad smile. “Good morning, Margit. What are you up to?”
Cap stepped back, wordlessly including her in the conversation. His shaggy hair fluttered in the light breeze, but it was his hazel eyes that drew a smile from her.
“It’s so nice to see your face, Cap,” she teased. “Is this a concession? Or prevention?”
“Neither.” Reading him wasn’t much easier than before; he displayed about as much emotion as Tobias. “As I no longer believe you to be a liability, I have no more reason to hide.”
She smirked. “And I saw your face yesterday, so there would be no point anyway.”
“I’d like to hear the full story on that,” Jean-haut piped up. “Tucker made it sound like I missed some exciting details, but Cap hasn’t been very forthcoming.” He looked up at his friend expectantly.
“There’s nothing to tell,” Cap replied calmly. “She shot well enough to convince me of her story, she wanted to see my face, and she saw it.”
Helena kept her smile simple as she gauged the situation. She couldn’t sneak an arrow with both of them watching. She needed a distraction.
“It was that quick?” The short man laughed. “It sounds awfully dramatic for you to announce that you trust her and then whip off your hood.”
A hand on the arm had worked with a few guards, but Cap would probably bolt. Especially after yesterday.
“I never said I whipped off my hood orannouncedanything.” Cap’s head angled toward his friend. “I simply stated the important points of the story.”
“You need lessons on storytelling,” Jean-haut shot back. “If my version isn’t accurate, then give me one that is.”
Or perhaps her greeting had provided distraction enough.
Hopping a little closer, Helena waited for an opportune moment. She wasn’t sure if the two men were arguing or if this was a normal conversation for them, but either would do. As long as…
Cap put his hands on his waist, pulling his cloak to the side. Maintaining her amused expression and keeping her face pointed toward them as if listening, she inched her hand toward the quiver. Closer…closer…her fingers brushed the fletching of the closest arrow…
A large hand wrapped around her wrist. “We aren’tthieves, Margit. Nor should a lady be.”
“Are you sure it’s wise to hold me like that?” she replied, arching an eyebrow. “You do remember how that worked out the last time, don’t you?”
