Page 129 of Arrows and Gems
She pursed her lips and fingered the arrows in her quiver. He’d never seen her do that before. “Then the General was correct.” She looked away. “You knew, and you only wanted me for my title.”
“You truly believe that?” He stepped closer. “You think Iwould have kept aprincessin the woods and taken her on raids? I would have returned you to Marielle as soon as the weather allowed, broken ankle or not.” He shook his head on a sigh. “Your father and brother will be furious with me when they find out.”
“Why would you care what the king and prince of a foreign kingdom think?” she scoffed. “It’s not like you were planning to marry me.”
He flared his nostrils, trying to calm his inner turmoil. “Not once I learned your name. If I’d known you were the Ralnoran princess, I would have kept my distance.”
She strode forward, fire blazing in her eyes. “Why?” she demanded, stopping a foot away from him. “Isn’t a princess good enough for you?”
“Isn’t an outlaw good enough foryou?” he retorted. “Not according to Tucker.”
Her eyebrows pulled together before she blew out a heavy breath. “You weren’t supposed to hear that. Tucker claimed there was something between usin front ofGeneral Valentin. I didn’t want him to think he could use me to lure you in.”
“Like he did, you mean?”
Margit—Princess Helena—scowled. “I didn’taskyou to rescue me.”
Cap took a step forward. “But you knew I would.”
“I hoped you wouldn’t.” Her voice was quiet, her green eyes soft now as she lifted them to his. “You would have been safer if you hadn’t.”
She was so close. So very, very close.
Fighting to keep his hands from reaching out to her, Cap took a deep breath and eased himself backward. It didn’t matter if she worried about him. It didn’t matter if she was alluring in the candlelight.
If it took his mind back to the last time they’d seen eachother.
The same memory must have occurred to her, because she followed him, eyes fixed on his before drifting down as she set her free hand on his shoulder. “But since you did come…I do believe the General interrupted something before. Unless youwereonly toying with me to gain my support for the prince?”
His right hand drifted forward to brush her arm. “I wasn’t.” He swallowed. “But we can’t.”
“And why not?” Her eyes flashed as they jumped back to his. “You were perfectly willing not that long ago.”
He was still willing. Much too willing. The fire in those green eyes beckoned him, but he restrained himself. “You’re as good as betrothed.”
“The General and I arenotbetrothed,” she scoffed.
“By your council,” Cap managed. “They want you to marry a Ralnoran nobleman.”
Rolling her eyes, she leaned into him and challenged, “I told you months ago that the council had required me to choose a husband. That didn’t stop you when you thought I was a noblewoman. Does it make such a difference that I’m a princess?”
“Yes,” he whispered. His hand twitched at his side. “I expected them to consider me an acceptable alternative for a noblewoman.”
“But not for a princess?” Helena stuffed her bow in its sheath, then ran her hand behind his neck. Did she know how hard it was to resist her? “The council didn’tactuallysay I have to marry a Ralnoran, or even a nobleman. They just want me to raise my children back home.” She smirked. “In truth, the only Amitian they can object to is Crown Prince Raphael.”
Finally relenting, he let his hand drift up to caress her face. “And that’s why,” he whispered, gazing at her sadly.
Her jaw dropped. Stepping back, she shoved him in the chest. “That’s not funny, Cap. You shouldn’t tease like that.”
To his dismay, he saw tears in her eyes. But it was a mirror of his own distress. “No, it isn’t funny. My life would be much simpler if I were almost anyone else.”
“But you’re—” Helena pulled his hood off, staring at his hair as if it could give her the answers she sought. “I saw a portrait in General Valentin’s office. All three royal children had auburn hair.”
“Rouge insisted I dye it. She said it would protect me from chance encounters when someone glimpsed my face.”
Her mouth flopped as if she was still struggling to assimilate this information. “But Erwan—Erwan recognized you.”
He shrugged. “Erwan has known me for years, and he’s good with faces.”
