CHAPTER 29
Helena
It might be inaccurate since he’d left her with the main group only that day, but Cap’s response still lifted the corners of her mouth as Helena tromped over to the fire. How could a single word make her feel so many things?
She rubbed her ankle, then set to work on the bread. A day of rest would have been nice, but they couldn’t risk it. Not when someone might want the messenger’s satchel back.
And after hearing about Cap’s day… The intel she’d stolen was worth another day of walking. He and his band had taken her in. She might return to Ralnor someday, but in the meantime, his battle was hers.
She smirked. And so was his quiver of arrows.
The snow increased during the night. Cap didn’t want to linger, so they packed up the next morning as planned.
Helena’s ankle ached from the weather and from hiking through the drifts, but she didn’t complain.
Cap was counting on her to be their rearguard.
She would have preferred her old place next to him, but the compliment to her skill pleased her.
The next several days were a blur as they traveled deeper into the mountain range. Finally, they were surrounded by enough rock and steep slopes that Cap felt safe letting them rest while Jean-haut and Rouge spent their magic developing a new system of communication.
Helena sank gratefully onto a log and set the packet of salt on Jean-haut’s latest table. It was so much easier to mix dough on a table than on her lap.
Cap sat next to her and pulled a whetstone from his satchel. “I plan to hunt tomorrow; we need to stock up on food that will travel.”
She nodded and poured a little more water into the flour. “Dried meat will last longer than our bread. I’ve heard of a bread sailors take on their ships, but Rouge doesn’t know how to make it.”
A tiny curve lifted one side of his lips as he began sharpening a knife. “Amitié is landlocked. And hardtack isn’t standard fare in a castle anyway.”
“No, I suppose not.” She eyed the baby smile, wondering how she could make it larger. The one he’d given her a few days earlier had been exquisite. And she still hadn’t made him laugh.
He focused on his blade, and she returned to her bread. His elbow kept bumping her as he ran the knife over the stone in swift, smooth strokes.
“This seems dangerous,” she casually commented. “It would be a little too easy to knock that into your other hand. And holding a bow would be difficult with your hand covered in bandages.”
Pausing, he turned to examine her. “You are correct,” he said after a moment. He scooted sideways. “My apologies.”
For some reason, she’d lost progress on his smile.
“Is the hunting good in this area?” Helena sliced off a piece of dough and rolled it into a ball. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, but he didn’t look up from his work.
“I don’t know. Not many people wander back this far, but it is the middle of winter.” He set down the whetstone and inspected his blade. “We’ll set traps if we need to.”
They fell into silence again. Tucker plopped onto a log across from them. “Do you need me to join the hunt, Cap? I’ve been practicing my archery, and I’m getting a lot better.”
Cap glanced up. “You have to be patient to hunt.”
The boy’s eyes turned pleading. “Aw, come on, Cap. I’m patient when you put me on sentry duty!”
“You spend the whole time climbing trees.”
“Patrolling!” Tucker protested. “I can’t keep watch from a stationary point. And being in the trees gives me a better angle. Because…I’m higher up.”
The skin next to Cap’s eyes crinkled. “If Adrien is willing to take you, you may join his group.”
Pumping his fist, Tucker popped back to his feet. “Thanks, Cap! I’ll go ask him right now.”
“I didn’t realize that Adrien hunts,” Helena mused as Tucker dashed off.
“He doesn’t. But he keeps an eye on the younger boys sometimes when they want to explore the woods.” Cap checked the blade one more time and put the knife back in its sheath. “They watch for animals and try to shoot one, and he makes sure they don’t accidentally shoot each other.”
“So he babysits?”
His mouth tugged up. “More or less.”
Pulling out an arrow, he returned to sharpening. Helena flattened her last ball of dough and grabbed the bag of flour to start another batch. “I’ve seen the others leave in groups, but you usually hunt on your own, don’t you?”
“Yes.” He moved on to the next arrow. “It was my escape, before. I simply maintained the habit.”
Cap finished the arrows and held out his hand. Helena’s eyebrows pulled together. Picking up a ball of dough, she set it in his palm.
His lips twitched as his hazel eyes danced. “Thank you. But I don’t think I can sharpen this.”
She tilted her head. “Then what are—No.” Her hand dropped protectively to her quiver. “I’m not giving these to you. You might not give them back.”
“I promise to return them when I’m finished.”
“And if you never finish?” she shot back.
Instead of replying, he set down the dough and the whetstone. Keeping his eyes trained on hers, he unbuckled one of his belts and offered it to her.
Helena grinned and reached for it, but he pulled it back. “A trade. Mine for yours.”
“What if I refuse?” Lunging forward, she snagged the belt just below his hand. He jerked it backward, but that only pulled her closer. She braced her hand against his chest. “Maybe I’ll just take it.”
His smile spread. “Now who’s the thief?”
She strained against him, trying to bring the quiver toward her. He simply lifted it higher, forcing her to pull down.
So she wrapped both hands around it and sagged sideways.
Cap’s free hand darted out and caught her waist before she slid off the log, but to her disappointment, the quiver didn’t budge.
“Not a very good thief, are you?” he chuckled.
Scowling up at him, she released her hold on the belt and crossed her arms. “Fine. I’ll take the trade.”
She was hiding a smile, though. A chuckle was progress.
His fingers dug into her side as he hauled her back upright. Up close, his smile was even better. And his eyes were as warm as his arm.
Helena blew a stray hair out of her face. “Smiles look good on you, Cap.”
“Stop flirting, you two.” Rouge’s voice was dry. “You both have work you should be doing.”
Helena scrunched her mouth in protest. “I’m not—”
Cap’s arm burned into her waist. She glanced back at him and cleared her throat. “We were simply having a disagreement.”
“And did you resolve it?” Rouge asked with a skeptical eyebrow.
As Helena straightened, Cap’s arm fell away. He picked up the whetstone and rolled it between his fingers, looking at it instead of Helena.
Conscious of their audience, she lifted her chin and pulled out her arrows. Offering them to him, she said loftily, “Since you insist, I will allow you to sharpen these for me.”
He looked at the arrows, then met her eyes. “Are we not trading quivers?”
Whispers that she shouldn’t trust anyone with her precious arrows filled her mind, but she ignored them.
Cap had never lied to her. And she’d never been betrayed as much as her wounded feelings had claimed.
Papa had been trying to protect both her and the kingdom from her curse.
Tobias had been clearly uninterested from the beginning; heavens, she’d pushed him to court Liesl!
Even Michael had made a reasonable choice to marry when he thought she was dead. And no matter how strained his marriage was, it wasn’t a betrayal to reject her in favor of his wife.
Luther... well, Luther was a piece of work. But Cap wasn’t like him.
“I trust you, Cap,” she said simply.
One corner of his mouth tugged up. Taking the arrows, he set to work.
“Margit.”
She looked over in surprise. “Yes?”
He canted his head, watching her with one eye while he honed the arrowhead. “Would you like to come with me tomorrow?”
“Hunting?”
He nodded. Helena stared at him with wide eyes. Even Rouge paused in the middle of laying a piece of dough on the cooking sheet. “But you always hunt alone.”
Shrugging, he replied, “Not always. Besides, I should make sure our second-best archer can pull her weight.”
“Second-best?” Helena spluttered. She wanted to be outraged, but the skin at the corners of his eyes was crinkled. Shaking a finger at him, she argued, “You’ve avoided a competition since I arrived. You can’t just declare yourself the best.”
“But I am.” He raised an eyebrow and returned his focus to his work. “What is your answer?”
“To who’s the best? I am.”
His lips twitched. “To hunting tomorrow.”
Not wanting to seem too eager, she sliced off another chunk of dough and rolled it between her cold hands.
The quiet sound of the arrowhead skimming across the whetstone beat out the time as she considered her response.
She didn’t want him to think she didn’t want to come.
But after Rouge’s comment, she was worried someone might think she was throwing her cap at… Cap.
A grin spread across her face as a brilliant idea struck her. Why not shift the focus? “Cap, are you asking me to walk with you?”
A loud scrape interrupted the steady whisk of the arrow. Cap froze, then slowly turned toward her. “No. I am merely offering to share my expertise with you and to give you an alternative to cooking.”
But his cheeks bore a light dusting of pink.
Helena stopped the pleased feeling before it spread. He might be embarrassed because of the suggestion itself, not because it was on target.
“Good. Then I’d be happy to.” Setting out the last of her dough, she stood and rinsed her hands in the water bucket. There was a flour handprint on Cap’s shirt, but she wasn’t going to tell him.
“Margit.” He picked up the arrows that he’d already finished. “Before you go.”
She let her bare fingers scrape across the palm of his glove as she collected them. His hand twitched in response.
“I’ll expect the rest when I return,” she said with a smirk.
His answering smile was all in his eyes. “You may be sure of it.”
Stuffing the arrows back in her quiver, Helena buried her pleasure and spun away to finish setting up her tent.
If he were a Ralnoran nobleman instead of an ex-Amitian guard, she would never have left home.