The Robber Knight's Love (The Robber Knight Saga #2)(177)
Love
Love. Real love. It was an amazing feeling. It made Reuben forget the world around him. It made him think of one thing, and one thing only: her. He didn’t notice when the servants served him his meat overcooked. He didn’t realize when it rained or when the sun shone. He didn’t notice that a few days later, the Emperor left the city on urgent business. He thought only of her.
Salvatrice.
“Salvatrice,” he sighed, leaning against the window of his chambers, gazing out over the city. “Salvatrice! Her mere name is like honey on my lips!”
“Um…yes, Sir,” said the servant standing in the corner.
“Her eyes are like emeralds, and her hair is like ebony! There is no beauty like her in the whole wide world.”
“I’m sure there isn’t, Sir. Now…do wish to inform me why you called me here?”
“If only there were some way to let her know how much I love her!”
The servant cleared his throat. “You could simply tell her, Sir.”
Reuben ignored him. “Oh, Salvatrice,” he sighed. “Salvatrice…how will you ever know of my longing for you!”
“Or you could send me to tell her,” the servant suggested. “That might not be very romantic, but quite fast. I’m quick on my feet and could be at her door in about two minutes.”
Reuben didn’t seem to hear.
“Salvatrice…oh, how I pine for you!”
Thus, Reuben spent hours in plentiful pining, and the hours turned into days. Reuben only awoke from his love-induced stupor when he heard the sounds of the town criers from outside the Palace.
“What are they saying?” he demanded of the servant who was busy brushing his boots right now.
“I don’t know, Sir Reuben.”
“It sounds like they’re announcing…but no! That would be too good to be true!” Leaning closer to the window, Reuben cupped a hand around his ear. “It…can’t be! It can’t!”
A grin spread over his face, and moments later he was rushing out of the room, jumping down the stairs three steps at a time. He only needed to stick his head out of the gate to know that yes, indeed, it was true! This was truly happening!
“…joust will be held on the day after tomorrow!” the town crier was just proclaiming. “On the following day, a great melee will test the knights’ skill in battle!”
~~*~~*
The news spread like wildfire through the city of Palermo: there was going to be another tournament! Nobody had any idea why there would be one so soon after the last one. Most people attributed the announcement to the financial success of the last tournament and the new champion’s popularity with the ladies, though some voiced the opinion that now that the city had so dutifully celebrated the Emperor’s arrival, it only followed logically that it should also celebrate its being rid of him again.
Reuben didn’t care why the tournament was being held. He only cared about one thing: the chance it would give him to prove his love to Lady Salvatrice! For how else could a noble knight show a lady his devotion if not by beating the best knights in Sicily into a bloody pulp? Surely, every woman would instantly recognize such a sign of devotion for what it was: a declaration of undying love.
He had already been trying other ways to reveal his feelings: he had spent hours in his room composing a love ballad to the fair maiden. Yet he wasn’t having much luck with rhyming. He had rhymed “love” with “dove,” and that was quite all right for a courtly ballad, but the only rhyme for “kiss” he had been able to find so far was “pi—
Well, it wasn’t a word you could use in a love ballad.
Reuben was desperate for the day of the tournament to arrive, especially since he had begun to suspect that he was not the only one vying for Lady Salvatrice’s affections. There was a host of young fools mooning after her, and Lord d’Altavilla was hovering around the lady like an old bat around its favorite bell in the belfry. Reuben wished he could simply challenge the slimy snake to a duel to the death and be done with it. But he feared that cutting off somebody’s head because they were in love with a lady might not be entirely compatible with the knightly ideals of temperance and restraint.
He’d just have to wait until the tournament. Then he could cut off heads as much as he wanted.
~~*~~*
“This is intolerable!”
“Yes, Milord.”
“He looks at her as if he’s undressing her with his eyes! That green boy doesn’t even deserve to walk on the same ground as her, let alone look at her!”
“As you say, Milord.”
The servant watched cautiously as Lord d’Altavilla strode up and down, throwing glares like lightning bolts right and left. They were alone in the Lord’s chambers, to the servant’s considerable relief. If anybody had heard the curses issuing from Lord d’Altavilla’s mouth whenever he mentioned a certain knight from Limburg, it would have caused a court scandal.
Whirling to face him, His Lordship pointed a finger at the servant, who shrank back against the wall. “And do you know what’s worst of all?”
“N-no, Milord.”
“She encourages him!”
“No! Surely not.”
“She does! The other day, I saw her accepting a rose he had picked for her. When I confronted her about it, she said she was being polite, and that no one could ever take my place. Bah!”