The Robber Knight's Love (The Robber Knight Saga #2)(155)
“You went out there? While the Margrave's men were already in the area? I explicitly forbade you to do any such thing! Ayla, that was…”
“I had a company of men with me,” she interrupted him. Reuben had to grin again. She apparently felt no need to mention that this group of men had been compelled to chase after her after she had ridden off on her own.
“Hm. I see. It was still dangerous.”
“Yes, father, but wars generally are.”
The voice of the count was even drier and more brittle than usual as he said, “I have noticed.”
“Well, on our way back, we found this man, bleeding and half-dead, with three arrows in his back, in a circle of dead enemy soldiers.”
Reuben had to admit, her omissions were increasingly amusing. This time, she had forgotten to tell her father how he, Reuben, had robbed her of all her belongings and left her in the forest, and also the fact that she had sworn to have him killed for it. Probably not the best things to mention when you were about to introduce a man to your father.
“Dead enemy soldiers? Who had killed them? He?”
“We didn't think so, back then, father. It seemed unlikely. He was only one man—unarmed and unarmored—and there were about forty of them.”
“Ha, unlikely indeed. So what happened to them if he didn't kill them?”
“Father…I said we didn't think he had killed them at the time. I didn't say that he had not actually done it.”
There was a pause.
Then Reuben heard the count's voice again, more serious now.
“Continue.”
“We brought the man back to the castle. I had to look after his wounds, or he would have died.”
In quick, concise words Ayla proceeded to explain how Reuben had told her he was a traveling merchant, and how she had looked after Reuben during his weeks of wound-induced fever. From her previous words, it was already pretty much evident that this was not yet the whole story, and the count remained silent, listening attentively. Almost as attentively as Reuben.
When Ayla told her father how Reuben had finally revealed his true identity to her—completely voluntarily and in a very moving scene which contained a lot of mushy dialogue that Reuben found extremely amusing—the silence of Ayla's father ended abruptly.
“What?” he yelled. “He lied? Concealed his identity from you, who only wished to help him? That is not the act of a knight! That is the act of a dastardly rogue!”
Reuben had to admit, Count Thomas was quite perceptive. He felt the urge to applaud.
“No, it wasn't!” Ayla protested. “He didn't know who we were or what he would be getting mixed up in.”
“It was the act of a devious devil and a coward, Ayla, and you know that. I won't hesitate to say it to his face.”
There was a moment of silence. Then, Ayla demanded, “So it was a coward who defeated forty of the Margrave's men on his own, Father, was it?”
Again, a moment of silence. When the count's voice replied, it sounded awkward. “Well…if you put it like that…”
“Wait to judge him until you hear the rest of the story,” Ayla said, and Reuben felt a thrill at the love in her voice. He only hoped the Count couldn't detect it as easily. “You will see he is a very different man from what you think he is.”
“Very well.” Apparently, her father had detected nothing unusual in his daughter’s tone. “Go on.”
And she did. She proceeded to recount the whole history of the siege to him, featuring a brave young knight in the main role who had risked his life to rescue her beloved horse, and then saved her from the evil clutches of her enemies more than once. Reuben was quite impressed. Up to that point, he'd had no idea how brave and noble he actually was.
When she came to the point where the mercenaries had sneaked into the castle and taken her hostage, there came a gagging sound from the other side of the door, and Ayla's story abruptly broke off.
“Father?” she cried. “Father, are you all right?” Reuben heard the soft patter of her feet on the stone floor, then a squeak, as she sank onto his bedstead beside him.
“I'm…fine,” said the voice of the count, slightly hoarse now. “You were taken hostage by the enemy?”
“Well…yes. But just a little bit.”
“I see. And why exactly did you not mention this to me at the time?”
“I didn't want to worry you.”
“That was so considerate of you, my dear daughter. Please, in the future, continue to place my level of anxiety over your well-being.”
“I never expected to hear sarcasm from you, Father.”
“Well, I never expected to hear that my daughter participates in pitched battles and nocturnal raids! I suppose we all have surprises in us somewhere.”
“Point taken.”
“So, dear daughter, please continue. Since you are still in one piece, I'm guessing your guards managed to free you from the clutches of your captors?”
“No. Reuben did.”
“Oh?” There was real surprise in the count's voice. “How did he manage that?”
“He climbed out of the window, down the wall, and jumped on the man who was holding me.”
“Hmm…” Now, the Count's voice sounded thoughtful. Reuben couldn't keep a self-satisfied grin from spreading over his face—nor did he want to. Grudgingly, Ayla's father admitted, “Sounds like a resourceful fellow, this Reuben.”