The Robber Knight's Love (The Robber Knight Saga #2)(124)
“Well,” Reuben observed, “that was interesting.” His raptor's gaze slid over the soldiers again, whose faces now were varying shades of red. “Is there anyone here who is brave enough to follow the example of our first volunteer? Anyone? Or are none of you as brave as a little girl?”
“Me! I volunteer!”
“Me, too! I'll do it!”
“Count me in!”
“I'll be there, of course I will!”
“Me, too!”
It wasn't very long before every last one of the soldiers had volunteered. Reuben, who had to work hard not to smirk, nodded gravely.
“Very well, then. We will, and we must, all stand together. You have volunteered. I hope you know what this means. It means that you will be fighting to your very last breath. It means that you will stand shoulder to shoulder, even if your leg is broken and your sword is gone. It means that you will never, ever give up the fight. Our survival now depends on that we all stand together. It depends on us now. All of us.”
~~*~~*
The echoes of Reuben’s challenge were ringing from the walls of the courtyard. The two men stood on the wall, facing each other, swords raised.
“Fight you? With pleasure!” The Italian’s voice was like silk-wrapped steel. “Before we begin, may I know whom I will have the pleasure of killing? You have caused me an inordinate amount of difficulty for a would-be knight appearing out of nowhere.”
“A would-be knight?” Reuben laughed, and it was the kind of laugh that sounded as though it came directly from the pits of hell. Sir Luca's swordarm twitched. “You have no idea who I am, do you?”
The castle itself seemed to hold its breath while Reuben relished the anticipation.
“I,” he finally said, a demonic grin pulling at the corners of his mouth, “am Sir Reuben Rachwild.”
And, for the first time ever, Ayla saw Sir Luca's tiny, black beetle eyes widen. He jumped back, hissing between his teeth.
“Tre volte maledetto scomunicato!”
“What?” Ayla turned to Burchard. “What did he say?”
The steward shook his head. “I don't speak Italian.”
Neither did Ayla. A few of the enemy soldiers did, though, obviously. Their faces had become as white as chalk, and they retreated as far away from Reuben as the narrow walkway allowed.
“That's right!” Reuben laughed bitterly. “Get away from me, lest hellfire burn you! The plague on you, and the pox, and hellhounds on your heels!”
The mercenaries twitched back, as if his words physically hurt them. Ayla couldn't understand.
Meanwhile, Sir Luca seemed to have regained part of his courage. He stepped forward again, a strange gleam in his eyes.
“It shall give me great pleasure to strike you down, devil!” the Italian hissed. “God Almighty will reward me.”
“No, he won't.” Reuben shook his head. “Because I'll cut your head off first.”
“That remains to be seen. Have at it! Now it’s just you and me, diabolo. Just you and me.”
“Yes.” Reuben nodded. “Just you and me.”
And then they charged.
Swords, Lies, and Shadows
The two knights’ swords met with a glitter of sparks. But before Reuben could lock their blades, Luca whirled to the side, evading the full power of his opponent.
Ayla thought a very bad word she would never have uttered aloud. No! She had hoped Luca would be foolish enough to meet Reuben head-on, and the Red Knight could bring his far superior strength to bear. Apparently, this was not going to happen. Instead, Luca attacked Reuben from the side and, when the Robber Knight's huge sword came swinging around, ducked out of the way.
Even Ayla could see after only moments that Luca was no novice at sword-fighting. He didn't have Reuben's strength, but he was sneaky and clever and was going to make the most of that advantage. With a few quick steps, he retreated towards one of the towers of the gatehouse, always just out of reach of Reuben’s sword, and took up a position next to one of the two doors.
“Coward!” Reuben growled, advancing towards him. “Stand and fight!”
Reuben had barely reached the other knight when Luca grabbed the doorknob beside him. Ayla, guessing what dastardly trick he was planning, opened her mouth—but it was too late. Luca had already flung upon the door, directly into Reuben's face.
“Boo!”
“Bastard!”
Protesting shouts went up from the watching crowd. The heavy oak rushed towards Reuben with enough force to knock a man senseless. But before it could hit home, Reuben's fist came up and smashed into it, reversing its course and slamming it shut with an almighty boom. Through the slit of his visor, he regarded Luca with blazing gray eyes.
“I think you have yet to learn something about me, Sir Luca,” he growled.
“Oh yes? And that is?”
“These tricks of yours, dirty tricks that would catch any ordinary, fair-fighting knight off his guard easily…”
Luca feinted to the left, then whirled around and struck at Reuben's other shoulder. Reuben's sword was already there, blocking the strike.
“…they won't work on me!”
Reuben whirled his blade around in a masterly move, tugging on Luca's blade so strongly it made the knight scream. The bad news: it wasn’t strong enough for the blade to fly out of his hand. The good news: it was strong enough for him to fly off his feet and to sail past Reuben, crashing onto the stone of the walkway. Quickly, he scrambled to his feet.