Page 71 of Arrows and Gems
He didn’t look at her, but his hand slowly uncurled, his fingertips brushing her gloved palm as they slid past.
“Like finding our camp for tonight,” Jean-haut inserted. “We need to travel a little more east. It will put us almost in the foothills, but...”
Helena pulled her hand back and pretended to listen, but the forester’s words bounced off her ears. The memory of Cap’s fingers wouldn’t leave her be. When he accidentally caressed her palm, it felt like—
Like the first moment she touched the cane that Jean-haut made for her. While it still tingled from the use of his magic.
Why had it felt like that? She couldn’t be—She wasn’tattractedto Cap, was she?
Keeping her face down, she brought a handful of dried berries to her mouth and studied Cap out of the corner of her eye. She did like his broad shoulders. And his face was nice to look at as well. The scruffy beard was debatable, but she suspected he had a fine chin underneath.
But it was more than that. When all she knew was his beard, he’d been kind to her, despite his belief that she had come to spy on him for General Valentin. He’d helped her to feel truly accepted for the first time since she woke from her curse and discovered that Michael was married.
He’d made her feel—
Helena released her thoughts like an arrow from the string. If she kept down this track, she would only embarrass herself. Cap was kind to everyone; it was part of his adopting-strays personality. She shouldn’t read too much into it.
She resisted the urge to sneak another glance at him. He wasn’t a prince or nobleman, but she still wasn’t interested in more than friendship. Ex-royal guards could cause heartache too.
Cap adjusted his position, causing the back of his hand to brush her knee. Her eyes darted over to him, but he was looking at Jean-haut.
As if drawn by her eyes, Cap’s met hers. They locked gazes for a few moments before he returned his attention to the forester.
Helena forced her eyes away from his profile and picked the last pieces of food from her bowl. If there was anything in his hazel eyes, she couldn’t read it. And she wasn’t interested even if there was, she sternly reminded herself.
Too bad her heart wasn’t listening.
CHAPTER 25
Helena
Setting her knee on the rolled-up canvas, Helena grabbed a rope and began tying it up. They’d been at this camp for three days, but Cap was reluctant to stay in one spot too long. Five camps in two weeks was a lot, but it was better than the week of constant traveling before that.
“Do you need any help with that, Margit?” Alanna asked, strolling up to her. “Papa already finished packing our tent.”
Helena wound the rope under the sturdy fabric. “I should have it in a minute.” She paused to pull it tight. “But thank you for the offer.”
Holding the tension with one hand, she tucked it under itself and tied a simple knot. She tossed the tent onto the pile that she would be carrying and moved along to winding up the excess rope.
Tucker appeared next, holding her cane in his hand. Waggling it back and forth, he asked, “Aren’t you forgetting something? I found this next to the fire.”
“Not today, Tucker.” Helena grinned up at him from the ground. “The splint is off, and I am finished hobbling around. Jean-haut can return the cane to the forest if he wants.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Tucker laughed. He squatted down next to her and ran a piece of rope through his hand. “Did your caretaker give you permission to walk unaided?”
“Stop that!” Helena reprimanded, swatting him away. “Cap isn’t my caretaker. I don’t have to listen to him.”
A shadow fell across them. “If you won’t listen, perhaps I should leave you at the nearest village. I need followers I can trust.”
“You want yes-men?” she quipped. She wound the last bit of rope around her elbow, then sat back on her heels to take in the view. “I’m surprised you’ve put up with me this long.”
Cap held out a hand, and she deposited the coil of rope in it. “No wise leader wants yes-men.”
“Yet you would leave me behind if I fail to heed your every word?”
He looped the rope over his shoulder and offered his hand again. “No.”
And so ended the joke he’d begun. Eyeing his hand, Helena half-heartedly protested, “I don’t need to be rescued.”
