CHAPTER 48
Helena
His heart would be preferable, but Helena didn’t want to deal with the consequences if the General was too slow. So she aimed for his shoulder.
But he didn’t know that.
Her release spurred a flurry of activity.
Raphael dropped as if his feet had been kicked out from under him.
The guards shoving through the crowd toward Jean-haut yelled and moved faster.
Rouge slammed a rock against the silver bracelets on her brother’s wrists.
General Valentin’s eyes widened as his lips moved, hand fumbling in his pocket.
And then just as she’d hoped, her arrow blew off course.
“Looks like you have the wind gryphon after all!” she yelled.
The entire courtyard became a mass of confusion as people began shouting and shoving.
Some pushed toward the front where the General stood, some struggled to reach the gate that would let them escape to the city.
The guards were divided as well, some defending the General while others turned on the man who had lied to them.
“Did it work?” Rouge asked in a hurried voice.
Shaking his head, her brother blocked an incoming strike with his staff. “Either it didn’t work at all, or it only weakened them. I still can’t reach my magic.”
“Of course it didn’t,” Rouge growled, drawing her sword. “That would have been too easy. Flames or stone?”
“Neither,” he replied grimly. “There are still too many townspeople.”
Ignoring them, Helena began fighting toward the gallows. The maid she’d met at General Valentin’s house was doing the same, but her daggers were more convincing.
Helena whipped an arrow across the face of a guard before he could bring his sword into position. Crying out, he grabbed his face with one hand but swung his sword at her with the other.
She threw herself backward, tossing her head to reveal her chestnut braid and the scared expression under her hood. He paused just long enough for her to ram her shoulder into his stomach before sliding sideways through a gap in the morass.
By the time Helena reached the gallows, Raphael and General Valentin had disappeared. There had been fewer gusts of wind than she expected. But was the General leery of using it in front of the people, or had he fled?
She dashed up the gallows steps, scanning the crowd from the higher angle. When she found her targets, her breath caught in her throat.
General Valentin had the captive members of Cap’s band pressed against the castle wall.
In front of them stood a line of guards with drawn swords, ready to carry out the planned executions.
Raphael looked terrible with his half-shaven face and a new cut dripping blood into his left eye.
He struggled against the two guards holding his arms, but his hands were still tied behind his back.
His eyes were focused on the General’s maid, who was gripped by another pair of guards, one of which had a bloody nose.
Based on his glare, Helena suspected it had been caused by the back of the maid’s head.
But now she stood still, no doubt because a third guard held a sword a few inches from her throat.
Helena didn’t know what the General was saying to Raphael. But she saw no reason to wait and find out.
Bringing up her bow, she sent an arrow toward the guard threatening the maid. It had barely struck him before she had another arrow on the string. But that one missed its mark.
A strong wind swirled around General Valentin, Raphael, and the maid. “It’s hopeless, Helena,” the General yelled across the distance. “You may as well give up before you hurt one of your friends.”
She ignored him, shooting one arrow after another. Each was knocked aside by the unnatural wind. The General, apparently annoyed by her persistence, jerked a hand at one of his men.
The guard looked hesitant, but he jogged behind a mini battle and headed for Helena. He needn’t have worried; she wasn’t going to transfer her attention from the General unless he gave the order to attack her friends.
But she only needed a few more shots…
Smiling, she took her time aiming her final arrow. General Valentin should vary his wind a little more if he truly wished to stop her.
From the corner of her eye, she saw the guard charging up the steps, sword raised. But she only took a slow breath, held it for a moment, and released the bowstring.