Page 82 of Arrows and Gems
“Cap!” Tucker yelled. “You’re back!”
Ignoring the boy, Cap frantically searched the crowd until his eyes fell on a head of chestnut hair. His shoulders sagged in relief as he stumbled to a stop.
She was safe.
He hadn’t lost someone else.
His hands itched to confirm her presence, but he forced himself to turn away. She would still be there after he acknowledged the others. “Tucker. How was—”
“Cap!”
The cry was his only warning before Margit’s arms wrapped around his neck. He staggered back under the unexpected assault, but otherwise he was frozen.
Was their old game more than a game to her, too?
As his arms moved to enfold her, to keep her pressed against him, she pulled back. He left his forearms up, catching the delicate fire of her fingers as they drifted down his arms. But he didn’t stop them when they fell away. He’d offered her safety; he refused to become the man she had fled.
No matter how desperately he wanted her hands back.
“Sorry.” She folded her hands behind her back. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
Uncomfortable? Nothing could be further from the truth. But his tongue was bound by the words he couldn’t find, so he said nothing.
“That was quite the greeting, Margit,” Jean-haut teased as he strolled up. “I didn’t realize you had become so attached to our Cap that you can’t survive a day without him.”
The light from the fire reddened her cheeks as she turned away. “I was simply relieved to see him in one piece.”
“Did you think you wouldn’t?” Succumbing to the longing that hummed through him, Cap shifted forward and brushed his knuckles down her forearm. “We had an eventful day, but you couldn’t have known that.”
“Our day wasn’t boring either,” Rouge replied, stepping into the conversation. She looped an arm over Jean-haut’s shoulders. “I’m glad you made it back, little brother.”
“In stature only, little sister,” he shot back.
Cap took a step closer to Margit and turned to include thesiblings. The move put his shoulder mere inches from hers, but that hadn’t played into his decision. Much. “What complicated it?”
“Jean-haut didn’t consider our path when he chose this site.” Rouge glared at her brother. “The only way around the mountain was the road. We would have been caught if not for Margit.”
“Is that how you lost your token?” Cap leaned back, scanning her for injuries. “Are you all right?”
“She sprinted across the camp to attack you,” Rouge commented dryly “I think that’s sufficient proof of health.”
“I didn’t attack him,” Margit mumbled. She folded her arms across her chest. “It was only a hug.”
“A very exuberant hug,” Jean-haut grinned.
Cap nudged her with his elbow. “What happened on the road?”
Rouge sobered. “A mounted guard saw us. Margit impersonated you and persuaded him to leave.”
“Afterdropping his satchel,” Margit interjected. Her green eyes lit up. “He was a messenger. Wait until you see the information he was carrying!”
“Wait. No one was hurt?”Jean-haut demanded. Margit nodded.“Then why couldn’t I find your token? I thought you were dead!”
“That’s not what you said at the Cheval estate.” Cap raised an eyebrow at his friend.
Jean-haut opened his mouth, glanced at Margit, and said, “I needed you to keep moving this time.”
The fire in Cap’s blood cooled as he remembered that moment. “A wise choice,” he admitted. “But don’t make a habit of lying to me.”
