Page 120 of Arrows and Gems
“But theycancome off,” Rouge sighed, dropping his wrist. “Maybe with the right enchantment…but I don’t know where to start.”
He turned back to Cap. “Margit claimed to have business in the capital. She may have gone there instead of wandering the mountains looking for us.”
It was poor comfort. Her stone had run out of magic, so Rouge couldn’t track her. But regardless of Margit’s location, his course was the same. There were others depending on him for help.
He still had to enter Laurier for the first time in over a year. And he might not survive it.
“I’ve heard that brute force can undo these,” Rouge mused, studying the silver bracelets. “I expect it will take more than what I have in a single day, though.”
“What do you plan to do, then?”
Rouge hummed a bit, staring at the ground before hefting a fist-sized rock. “I don’t think the size matters for the amount it can hold, but I’d rather not risk it.”
A look of intense concentration crossed her face as she squeezed the rock, filling it with her magic. “Can you store it like that?” Cap asked curiously. “I thought it needed a purpose.”
Rouge ignored him, so Jean-haut answered instead. “Neither of us has done it before but, theoretically, it’s possible.”
“So she might be wasting her magic?” Cap’s forehead wrinkled.
“She might.” Jean-haut shrugged. “But whatever she doesn’t use today will be ‘wasted’ anyway. This is our best chance of regaining my magic before the cuffs run out of theirs.”
“When will that be?”
Jean-haut shrugged again. “No clue. It depends on how strong the General thinks I am and how long he plans to keep me. And how long it’s been since the cuffs arrived from Castellia.”
“Will that affect how much magic is needed to remove them?”
The forester looked at his sister, but she was still focused on the stone. “I don’t know. It might.”
Cap gazed into the canopy as he considered this information. “In that case, she should store as much as she can. We’ll wait until the last possible moment to try it.”
“And when will that be?” Jean-haut asked, raising an eyebrow.
Cap let his gaze wander to the northeast. Sneaking in wasn’t how he’d pictured going home. But the more time that passed, the less likely it seemed that he would ever return otherwise.
“I’m not sure,” he finally admitted. “I suppose it depends on what we find when we reach the city.”
“Marielle, for one,” Jean-haut replied somberly. “I hope. I sent her a letter asking her to meet us in Laurier.”
Cap huffed in irritation. “Why would you involve her in this? I don’t want her to get hurt.”
“And you think I do?” Jean-haut snorted. “She’s already involved, Cap. Margit might be in General Valentin’s custody. What happens if he recognizes her as the woman they picked up last fall?”
“Who asked to be taken to Marielle.” Cap ran a hand down his face. “And now she’s with me again.”
“Even if they didn’t catch Margit, the General would be a fool not to suspect Marielle. Why do you think Princess Chloe was tied up in that land dispute for so long after the king’s death? You know as well as I do that it should have taken a week at most.” The forester jabbed a finger at him. “Instead, she was stuck at the country estate foreight months. General Valentin knew the king’s sister would oppose him, so he kept her and her family out of the way while he consolidated his power. It took a month and a half for his accusations to reach them. He kept them in the dark on purpose.”
“Marielle never told me that,” Cap said quietly. His gaze drifted. “Why did she keep that from me?”
His friend sighed. “I imagine she thought you had enough to deal with. She didn’t want you to worry about something you couldn’t change.”
“I still wish she’d told me.” He gripped the shaft of one of his arrows, tempering his frustration so he didn’t snap it. “I neverwould have asked her to help us if I’d known.”
“Maybe that’s why she didn’t,” Jean-haut said with a slight smile.
It was quite possible. “Still,” he protested, “that’s no reason to bring her to the capital. She’ll be more visible, not to mention within the General’s reach.”
“She’ll also be better positioned to find the information we need,” Jean-haut argued. Playing with one of the bracelets, he looked away and added, “And I have something to ask her that is best done in person.”
