Page 136 of Arrows and Gems
“You’re already holding a shield,” the General sneered. “You would have to drop it to attack, and my men will strike as soon as you do.”
“Throw down your weapons!” Rafe yelled. “If you surrender, no harm will come to you.”
A few swords clattered to the ground, but General Valentin raised his voice as well. “Don’t listen to him! He cannot hold the shield forever.” Lowering his voice, he muttered, “Such pitiful lies. Even if you could do more, you wouldn’t.”
Rafe dropped his head. He didn’t want to continue, but General Valentin was right. Hecouldn’thold the shield forever. If he wanted to protect his people and his kingdom, there was no other way.
Looking up, he whispered, “Your research wasn’t thorough enough.Évacuer lentement.”
He loved the old languages for their own sake, but his own had an added benefit. Commanding the wind gryphon in Old Amitian was more potent. It gave him more control, and after ten years of training with it, he already had far more than the General.
Rafe saw the moment his enemy realized the truth. The General opened his mouth to argue, then froze, his eyes widening. All around them, men grasped their throats as they fought for breath in the thinning air.
“Drop your weapons,” Rafe commanded again. He could feel the strain of holding two enchantments, but he could hold out longer than they could. He prayed desperately that it wouldn’t be necessary.
As more swords clattered to the ground, a different magic prickled at his senses. His head whipped around, seeking the magic-user. But then the fallen blades began scraping their wayacross the stones. A few daggers slid jerkily from sheaths before dropping to the ground and skittering away.
The heavens bless Rouge for solving that problem. He just hoped she was still conscious when she finished.
As soon as the weapons were clear, Rafe puffed out a relieved breath. “Relâchez.”
While the guards were busy gasping in air, Rafe snatched the rope that had previously bound his wrists and grabbed the General’s arms. Before he could fasten it, it wrapped itself tightly around the General’s wrists and tied itself into a complex knot.
As the brush of magic disappeared, Rafe swung toward the place where he’d last seen Jean-haut. “Show off,” he called out in amusement.
He couldn’t see his friend, but he could hear the forester’s deep voice. “I couldn’t let you have all the fun. Besides, my magic needed to stretch after so long in chains.”
General Valentin’s eyes narrowed as the short man pushed his way between two people. “You shouldn’t be able to access your magic. I cuffed you myself!”
The forester swaggered up to them with his sister leaning on his shoulder. “People are always underestimating me because of my height. It’s a critical failing on their part.”
Once the guards were all secured, Rafe turned to the woman he’d almost lost that morning. “Helena,” he began, straightening his shoulders and debating how to finish. He was free now, but she was still bound by her council. “Are you—”
She’d been hanging back, but now she took two swift steps forward and slapped him across the shaven side of his face. The conversations near them dropped off, but Rafe simply raised his eyebrows.
“I have never seen anything so foolish!” she fumed. “Would you stop trying to rescue me?”
“You mean when I shielded you from that guard?” he returned lightly. “If you wish to discuss foolish behavior...”
Her cheeks reddened, but it might have been irritation. “I stopped the General, didn’t I?Youtossed me through a locked door so you could face a madman with a powerful enchanted object all by yourself. And by the time we found you, you were being led to the gallows so that you could take the blame for General Valentin’s crimes?Whatwere you thinking?”
Instead of meeting her anger in kind, he stepped forward, lowering his voice so that only she could hear. “That the woman I love was going to die because of me. And there is no world in which I would stand by and let that happen, no matter how she feels about being rescued.”
Her green eyes softened. “You love me?” she asked shyly, setting a careful hand on his chest and not quite looking at him, nothing like her usual brash, confident self.
He loved her just as well for letting him see her vulnerability as he did when she was fiery or playful or responding in anger to hide her pain.
Which only made it harder to say the words that had to come next. “I do.” He swallowed and covered her hand with his. “Which is why I’m sending you home as soon as I finish here.”
CHAPTER 50
Helena
For ten entire seconds, Helena simply stared at him, certain she’d heard wrong. “What?” she finally gasped.
Rafe placed a hand on her lower back and tried to lead her away from the crowd. But Helena fought him. Her heart was breaking, but she would not be escorted to a private location to spare him the embarrassment.
“Whatever you want to say to me, you can say it out here,Your Highness,” she growled.
