Page 96 of Arrows and Gems
“I’m clean,” Laurent replied.
“That’s what happens when you spend the whole fight in a tree,” Helena groused. She pulled off her cloak and knelt down to wash the back. “I’ll need a little help.”
“Margit, why didn’t you say something?” Abandoning his forehead, Cap turned to her and probed the wound with gentle fingers. She jerked away with a hiss.
“Heavens, Cap, that hurts! Who taught you wound care? Rouge?”
A half smile curved his mouth. “I had basic training in the guard, but she did add to it.”
“I thought she worked in the kitchens.”
Shrugging, he pulled a small cloth from his satchel and dipped it in the stream. “Her father works in the castle infirmary.”
Lifting the torn edge of her bodice, he dabbed at the slice from the mounted guard. Helena gritted her teeth and tried to wash her cloak without soaking the entire thing.
“You’ll have to wear that to hide this,” Cap said with a distracted air. “Do you think you can mend it before we return?”
“It will show, but I wasn’t wearing my cloak earlier. I doubt anyone will notice the change.” Helena scrubbed out a little more blood. Good enough. “Tucker, can you hand me my satchel?”
Somehow, Cap applied a basic bandage to her back despite her clothes. His hand trailed across her uninjured shoulder as he withdrew. “Alanna might have to sew you up later.”
“As long as I can still shoot, it will be fine.” Knotting off her thread, she cut it with her teeth and stowed the needle. “Now it’s your turn.”
He sat back on his heels. “I’m fine.”
“Cap, you can’t open your right eye.” She reached for the medical supplies. “That cut must hurt.”
“I don’t—”
Grabbing his scruffy chin, she huffed, “You helped me. Let me return the favor.”
Behind her, she heard Tucker snickering. Laurent shuffledhis feet, but beyond offering to carry some of Tucker’s purloined goods, he was silent.
Cap sighed and settled forward onto his knees. “If you must.”
“Of course I must.”
Dampening the cloth, she carefully swiped at the blood on his face. She brushed away a stuck lock of hair, smoothing it past his cheek. “We could tie some of this back, even if it isn’t long enough to reach the nape of your neck.”
His left eye closed before he opened both, watching her with a strange expression. “That would look odd.”
“But it would be hidden under your hood.” Helena finished cleaning the cut and began spreading salve over it. It wasn’t deep, but with the amount it bled, she should add another layer. Not just over the cut itself, but on the skin around it. And it needed to be rubbed in.
“Margit,” he said softly. She looked down at him. “Aren’t you finished yet? We need to get back to the village before the guards catch up.”
“Right.” She forced her hand away from his face and snapped the lid back on the tin of salve. “Almost done.”
While she stowed the remaining supplies, he stood and offered his hand. She didn’t need it. He knew she didn’t.
But he wasn’t trying to rescue her.
Grabbing her cloak and the satchel in one hand, she let him pull her up with the other. The skin on his fingers was rough, calloused from years of swordplay and archery. And it was warm, despite the slight chill in the air as evening approached.
“We should go,” he murmured. But he didn’t let go.
“Aber ich möchte hier bleiben,” she replied, grinning as she squeezed his hand and stepped away. His eyebrows twitched toward each other, but he shouldered his pack and started walkingtoward the village.
But I want to stay here, she’d told him. And she meant it.
