CHAPTER 40
Helena
Helena took a delicate sip of tea before setting her cup back on the saucer. Her hands practically shook with the effort of restraining herself to ladylike movements, especially after months on her own and then with Cap and his band.
“I am sure you understand why I am reluctant to be seen by your prisoners, Valentin.” She gave him a tight smile. “They were kind to me, and they might not take my defection very well.”
He nodded sagely and set his own teacup back on his desk. His eyes were perfectly alert, even though the sun had only been up for an hour and he had still been awake in the middle of the night. Did the man ever sleep?
“I would prefer to avoid a ruckus.” Folding his hands in his lap, he fixed her with a compassionate gaze. “It must be difficult to consider how they treated you.”
Helena forced her fake smile to brighten. “I do not blame the men and women in your prison; they only did as Le Capuchon instructed. But I have fond memories of my time with them. Even if it wasn’t real.” She swallowed. “I would prefer they not think ill of me.”
“Of course,” he said, understanding in every line of his face. “Again, I apologize for the treatment that you received in my kingdom. My failure to bring Le Capuchon to justice has led to more suffering for you, Your Highness.”
“Please, call me Helena,” she murmured demurely. She didn’t know General Valentin well enough to read him accurately, but he seemed as pleased by the offer as anyone else.
Except Tobias. But someone on a first-name basis with her brother and lacking any semblance of ambition was unlikely to care about such trivial things.
The General stood. “I shall see to the arrangements. Will you accompany me?”
“Actually,” she said, taking another careful sip, “I would like to remain here a little longer and finish my tea, if you do not mind.”
She let a tiny smirk lift one corner of her mouth. Turning docile too quickly might seem suspicious. “After all, you wouldn’t want me to make a sudden dash for freedom, steal one of your horses, and ride away to warn Le Capuchon of all your secret plans to capture him.”
General Valentin’s lips twitched. “No, I wouldn’t. Very well, you may finish your tea. But I will leave one of my men outside the door, just in case you get any ideas.”
He winked, but Helena wasn’t foolish enough to believe that he meant it completely in jest. Men didn’t reach his position without a sensible head on their shoulders.
Besides, now that her own head wasn’t so fuzzy, she could recall what she hadn’t the night before.
She knew what his men had been doing the last few months.
As for Cap – even if the General was correct that Jean-haut wanted the Ralnoran princess on Prince Raphael’s side, he could be wrong about the reason.
After all, they only had the testimony of the prince, his personal guard, and his best friend to prove the prince’s innocence.
Not very convincing witnesses against a respected general.
Once she was alone, Helena stood, carrying her saucer in one hand and the teacup in the other.
She strolled casually about the office, examining the walls as if politely interested in General Valentin’s décor.
When she passed behind his desk, she set her teacup back on the saucer and let her right hand drift down to carefully tug on the desk drawers.
To her disappointment, they were locked.
A cursory inspection of the desktop revealed nothing more interesting than hastily scrawled notes about his new captives.
Wandering to the wall, she peered curiously at the painting that the General had studied during her interrogation.
A middle-aged man with black hair and a beautiful auburn-haired woman sat in thrones.
Behind them stood two teenage boys and a teenage girl, all with the same auburn hair as their mother.
She’d never met the Amitian royal family, but even without their crowns, the man’s resemblance to her Aunt Chloe identified them.
She studied the painting for a few minutes. The artist had painted King Antoine with the kind expression Helena had imagined based on the stories she had been told. She wished she could have met him.
Queen Valerie was beautiful, but Helena was less excited about meeting her. Everything she’d heard suggested that she and the queen would not suit well.
Moving on, she studied the other faces that she had heard about but never seen.
Prince Cedric, the youngest, looked shy.
Princess Daphne had a mischievous tilt to her mouth that made Helena wish to meet her.
And the last, Prince Raphael. The young man that General Valentin claimed had murdered his own father.
He didn’t look like a murderer. But then, neither did the General.
The prince’s serious eyes stared back at her from the painting.
Did he have friends to keep him company wherever Jean-haut and Cap had sent him to hide?
Was he locked away in a tower, safe from the General but miserable and alone, separated from his family and friends immediately after learning of his father’s death?
Unwanted. Abandoned. Alone.
Perhaps Helena could continue the hunt for his sake as well.
~
Helena spent much of the next three days ingratiating herself to the General. Feigning interest in a man a decade and a half her senior whom she suspected of murder made her skin crawl, but she needed him to warm up to her. How else would she gain access to his papers or free her friends?
On the final morning of their journey, General Valentin offered his arm to her as they left the outpost. She took it but kept her hood up as they passed the line of wagons.
“Is it a long day of riding today?” Helena asked delicately. She’d been trying to appear demure, as if her earlier behavior had been a byproduct of fear and adrenaline. “I’m not used to this much riding, and my muscles are so stiff.”
The General raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you travel to Amitié on horseback?”
“Yes, but I didn’t make the trip in three days,” she laughed. Only couriered messages moved that fast. “I had been riding for three or four weeks when your men rescued me from Le Capuchon.”
“Indeed?” His other eyebrow joined the first. “I thought you were an accomplished horsewoman. I expected you to make that trip in a week and a half at most.”
She hadn’t counted on that tidbit reaching Amitié. Making her grin conspiratorial, she leaned in and said, “I may like to ride fast, but that doesn’t mean that I like to ride long.”
“I see.” He nodded in understanding. “Then you need not fear, Helena. We should reach Laurier mid-afternoon. I am certain that Lord Luther will be eagerly awaiting your arrival.”
She couldn’t help her scowl at the mention of her unwanted suitor. “Yes. Luther.”
General Valentin’s forehead wrinkled. “You do not seem eager to be reunited with him. Is he an unwelcome visitor in Amitié?”
She hesitated. If the General escorted Luther to the border, her brother might replace him.
And Axel had the authority to haul her home.
“It is not so much that he is unwelcome,” she said carefully, weighing her words.
“He simply has unfounded hopes for the future. And I have struggled to make him understand that.”
“I see,” he said again, studying the ground in front of them.
As they stopped next to her horse, he met her eyes.
“Would you be willing to accept my help?” His smile turned self-deprecating.
“I know an old man isn’t every young woman’s dream, but it might discourage Lord Luther.
If you don’t mind the arrogance of the suggestion or the subterfuge of the pretense. ”
She choked. “You wish to pretend that there is something between us? But who would believe that?” Never mind the way she’d been acting the last few days.
“Anyone who heard,” he breathed softly, leaning closer.
Helena leaned back a bit, her eyes darting nervously to the guards surrounding them.
“After all, you’re a beautiful young woman.
And you displayed great bravery when Le Capuchon and his band kidnapped you.
No one would doubt that a man such as myself had fallen in love with you.
The only question would be whether you cared for me as well. ”
It would dissuade Luther. And even if the General knew it was only an act, it might give her the access she needed for both of her motives in visiting Laurier.
Steeling herself, she lifted a hand and ran her fingers lightly down his arm. It was incredibly awkward. Perhaps if she pretended Cap...
Except that Cap didn’t really want her. He was using her position, just like everyone else.
Unwanted. Abandoned—
No. Something inside her stiffened. Cap might not want her, but her time in the forest had fixed her perspective.
Her family loved her. They had not abandoned her.
And she had the chance to free Prince Raphael from his exile in whichever estate or kingdom he had taken refuge.
She could help Cap, Jean-haut, Rouge, and the others from their band of outlaws return home.
That was worth a little more effort on her part.
Straightening, she forced a coy smile onto her face and made her fingers lightly grip the General’s hand, just as she would have if he were Cap. Tilting her head, she replied, “You sell yourself short when you call yourself old.”
“As do you, when you let one man’s rejection make you believe you are unlovable.” He brushed some loose hairs behind her ear, pulling that side of her hood back.
“Margit?”
The startled exclamation made her freeze. She closed her eyes, wondering if she could simply climb on her horse and pretend to be someone else. But a struggle broke out, and then one of the guards uttered a threat.
She spun around before things got out of hand. “Tucker, be still.”
The teenager’s jaw dropped. “It is you! But what are you...” His voice trailed off, his face scrunching in confusion. “Why is the General treating you like his lady? And why are you letting him?”
She took a step closer, holding her palms out. “Tucker, this isn’t—”
“What about Cap?” he asked, his wounded eyes looking more betrayed than she had felt when the General told her that Cap knew her secret. “Was that all a game to you? Because it wasn’t one to him! Cap never—”
“Tucker, hush!” Helena hissed. It would be harder to free them if General Valentin knew how attached she was. It might cause him to doubt her loyalties.
Worse, if he believed Tucker, he might try to set a trap for the notorious bandit. And she didn’t want to be his bait.
She was the cat.
A hand settled on her waist. “I see one of your friends has taken offense to us, Darling,” the General said as he smoothly tucked her into his side. She wanted to shove him away, but she resisted. Tucker was hurt now, but he would understand once she managed to set him free.
“Are you the reason we’re here?” Tucker accused. The muscles around his jaw stood out. “Did you tell the General how to find us, Margit?”
Helena opened her mouth to refute it, but the General spoke first. “It’s all right, young man; you needn’t call her by that name any longer. She is aware that you and your cowardly leader know her true identity.”
“What?” The teenager’s head jerked back, and his eyes darted between Helena and the General. “Mari—but Jean-haut said—”
The General’s eyebrows pulled down. “Le Capuchon left you in the dark?” Brightening, he gestured to Helena. “Then allow me to introduce you to Princess Helena of Ralnor, my lovely bride-to-be.”
Her head slowly pivoted toward the General. “Excuse me?” she managed. He was taking things a little too far. And in front of Tucker and her other friends, no less!
He gave her an apologetic smile. “I know we planned to hold off on the announcement, but I thought your friends would like to know so they may wish you well. You don’t mind, do you? I’m sure Le Capuchon won’t.”
She doubted that was his true motive.
“Are you really a princess?” Tucker asked in a hushed voice. He didn’t look awed. More incensed. “Is that why you’re working with the General? Is that why you tried to shoot Cap?”
“I wasn’t trying to hit him,” Helena protested in exasperation. She thought they were past that misunderstanding. “I was only trying to see his face.”
“So you could tell him.” Tucker’s eyes hardened. “Cap was right from the start. Have you told the General all you know, then?”
Shame burned Helena’s cheeks. She hadn’t told the General anything, not even a description of Cap’s face. But in her moment of deepest despair, right after the General revealed his truth to her, she might have given up Cap’s name had she known it.
“How about you, young man?” General Valentin said, turning a kind smile on Tucker. “You know what awaits you in Laurier.”
Tucker gulped and his voice shook, but he met General Valentin’s eyes steadily. “Le Capuchon is the only name he ever gave me. But even if I knew another, I wouldn’t give it to you.” He glared at Helena. “Nor you. Cap deserves better than someone who would sell him out for her own safety.”
His words stung, but Helena held her tongue.
She could do more good by letting them both draw the wrong conclusions than by correcting Tucker where the General could overhear.
There were more important things than ensuring a fifteen-year-old thought well of her.
Or other people that she would likely never see again.
Her gaze caught on Adrien. He looked disappointed, and that nearly undid her. But she’d rather he live believing she was a traitor than die knowing that she cared.
“Not even going to answer?” Tucker challenged.
She blew a stray hair out of her face. “What would you like me to say, Tucker? I can’t help it if you imagined a relationship where there was none. And you ignored whether he is good enough for me.” She sniffed. “An outlaw and a princess? Do you really see that combination working?”
Her heart cracked as she said the words, but she hid the pain. This was necessary to save her friends. To help both Cap and the lonely prince he served, even if Cap had never wanted more than her assistance.
Something inside her rebelled, arguing that the tenderness in Cap’s eyes had been too real, regardless of his goals when he saved her. But it didn’t matter. Now that her secret was out, she couldn’t marry an Amitian guard and live in obscurity. And he would never leave his prince.
So she might as well tell the lie. The truth would only make things worse.
Tucker’s jaw dropped, but Helena lifted her chin and spun away before he could reply. She ignored the General’s attempt to help her mount; he already knew that she was skilled with horses, so there was no point trying to act like a princess.
And she didn’t want him to see her fighting the tears.