CHAPTER 28
Cap
Afew snowflakes drifted through the trees, settling on Adrien’s cloak.
Cap was sure that more nestled in his hair, but he left his hood down.
They were deep enough in the mountains that he didn’t expect trouble, and he needed the physical space more than he needed warmth or safety.
Dusk was quickly approaching, but a mere quarter mile separated them from the new campsite.
Cap wanted to run up the steep incline and prove to himself that Margit was safe.
He wanted to root his feet to the feldspar and delay confirmation that he would never see her teasing smile again.
But Jean-haut kept moving, and Cap kept following. He might not like the answer, but he needed to know. One way or the other.
He saw the flickering orange light of the campfire before he heard the subdued murmurs. Dread of the reason for those murmurs tried to lock him in place, but his feet pulled him forward. They moved faster, passing Adrien and Jean-haut.
“Cap!” Tucker yelled. “You’re back!”
Ignoring the boy, Cap frantically searched the crowd until his eyes fell on a head of chestnut hair. His shoulders sagged in relief as he stumbled to a stop.
She was safe.
He hadn’t lost someone else.
His hands itched to confirm her presence, but he forced himself to turn away. She would still be there after he acknowledged the others. “Tucker. How was—”
“Cap!”
The cry was his only warning before Margit’s arms wrapped around his neck. He staggered back under the unexpected assault, but otherwise he was frozen.
Was their old game more than a game to her, too?
As his arms moved to enfold her, to keep her pressed against him, she pulled back. He left his forearms up, catching the delicate fire of her fingers as they drifted down his arms. But he didn’t stop them when they fell away. He’d offered her safety; he refused to become the man she had fled.
No matter how desperately he wanted her hands back.
“Sorry.” She folded her hands behind her back. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
Uncomfortable? Nothing could be further from the truth. But his tongue was bound by the words he couldn’t find, so he said nothing.
“That was quite the greeting, Margit,” Jean-haut teased as he strolled up. “I didn’t realize you had become so attached to our Cap that you can’t survive a day without him.”
The light from the fire reddened her cheeks as she turned away. “I was simply relieved to see him in one piece.”
“Did you think you wouldn’t?” Succumbing to the longing that hummed through him, Cap shifted forward and brushed his knuckles down her forearm. “We had an eventful day, but you couldn’t have known that.”
“Our day wasn’t boring either,” Rouge replied, stepping into the conversation. She looped an arm over Jean-haut’s shoulders. “I’m glad you made it back, little brother.”
“In stature only, little sister,” he shot back.
Cap took a step closer to Margit and turned to include the siblings. The move put his shoulder mere inches from hers, but that hadn’t played into his decision. Much. “What complicated it?”
“Jean-haut didn’t consider our path when he chose this site.” Rouge glared at her brother. “The only way around the mountain was the road. We would have been caught if not for Margit.”
“Is that how you lost your token?” Cap leaned back, scanning her for injuries. “Are you all right?”
“She sprinted across the camp to attack you,” Rouge commented dryly “I think that’s sufficient proof of health.”
“I didn’t attack him,” Margit mumbled. She folded her arms across her chest. “It was only a hug.”
“A very exuberant hug,” Jean-haut grinned.
Cap nudged her with his elbow. “What happened on the road?”
Rouge sobered. “A mounted guard saw us. Margit impersonated you and persuaded him to leave.”
“After dropping his satchel,” Margit interjected. Her green eyes lit up. “He was a messenger. Wait until you see the information he was carrying!”
“Wait. No one was hurt?” Jean-haut demanded. Margit nodded. “Then why couldn’t I find your token? I thought you were dead!”
“That’s not what you said at the Cheval estate.” Cap raised an eyebrow at his friend.
Jean-haut opened his mouth, glanced at Margit, and said, “I needed you to keep moving this time.”
The fire in Cap’s blood cooled as he remembered that moment. “A wise choice,” he admitted. “But don’t make a habit of lying to me.”
“Of course not. So, Margit’s token?” Jean-haut prompted.
“I burned it.”
The forester turned startled eyes to his sister. “Why would you do that? You know how long it takes to make one of those!”
“Because we skimmed the messenger’s papers,” Margit replied in a subdued voice. “The guards are interrogating families that might be sheltering Prince Raphael. The Chevals were on their list today, and we didn’t have another way to warn you.”
“Giving us heart attacks was warning us?” Jean-haut asked sardonically.
“Do you have a better suggestion?” Margit snapped, her eyes flashing. “You can send messages to us, but we can’t send them back. It was the only way I could think of to grab your attention.”
“Two-way communication would be helpful.” Cap nodded to the siblings. “It sounds as if we have much to discuss, and I have plans that would benefit from that enhancement. Is that something you can do?”
Jean-haut exchanged a look with his sister. “Perhaps, if we incorporate stone in a similar manner. I could send messages to Rouge with the wooden tokens, and she could send them back with the stones.”
“Could others use them?” Cap’s eyes drifted around the camp. “We may split into four or more groups, and I would like them all to be connected if possible.”
“Four?” Jean-haut’s eyes widened to saucers. “What would we do with so many?”
Cap smiled grimly. “Hassle the enemy. If a fight is what the General wants, a fight is what he’ll get.”
~
“I do hope you’re not planning to leave me behind again.”
Cap allowed himself a long look at the woman strolling next to him. A smile played around her lips, but she was trying to hide a limp.
“What would you do if I was?”
Margit’s eyes danced with teasing, but a hint of sincerity accompanied it. “Convince you of your error in judgment.”
“And how would you do that?”
Lightly bumping him with her shoulder, she grinned, “I do still have those arrows you gave me. I could challenge you to a contest. If I win, you let me come.”
He lost himself in her vibrant green eyes for a moment. Shaking himself, he replied, “And if you lose?”
Her lips twitched into a devious smirk. “Then I clearly need to come so you can look out for me.”
“And if I refuse?” He kept the smile from his face with great effort. “If I simply demand my arrows back?”
She took a step forward, taunting him with her nearness. “You would have to take them from me,” she replied in a low voice. “I’m not giving up my arrows without a fight.”
A slow smile curved his lips. “Maybe I will.”
“I thought you weren’t a thief.”
His fingers reached forward of their own accord and trailed across the back of her hand. Thief or not, he could think of something he’d like to steal. Soft, red, and inches from his own…
“Margit!” Rouge called. “We need to prepare more bread if we’re going to travel tomorrow.”
Cap blinked and took a step back. He had people to care for, tactics to consider, contingency plans to create. He didn’t have time to be distracted.
No matter how tantalizing the distraction.
“So? Are you taking me with you?”
Cap took in the mischievous tilt to her lip, the challenging lift of her eyebrow. He remembered the way he’d felt when he’d rescued her from Erwan, when Jean-haut told him her token was missing. Every time she’d tried to pull off his hood.
“Cap?”
He restrained his hand when it tried to reach for her again. But he couldn’t stop the warmth in his eyes.
“Always.”