The Robber Knight's Love (The Robber Knight Saga #2)(18)

“Yes, I know that.”

“And so I did, Milady, so I did three times every day. But, you see…he never took them inside. When I came to bring the next meal, the last one was still standing in front of the door.”

A tingle ran down Ayla's spine.

“Is that so?” she said, trying desperately to keep her voice calm. “Well, that is a strange circumstance. Let's go and have a look.”

Dilli had to almost run to keep up with Ayla on their way to the guest chamber. But when they arrived, her mistress didn't seem very eager to enter. For some reason, she just stood there and didn't do anything.

“Um…Milady?” Dilli inquired after a minute had gone by.

Ayla shook herself. Taking a breath, she raised a hand to knock. Then she thought, What's the matter with me? It's my castle, after all, pushed open the door, and stepped inside.

The room was empty.

No Reuben.

No nobody.

No nothing.

“Strange.” Dilli stepped forward, lifted the corner of the mattress, and took a peep, as if she expected the mountain of a man to be hiding underneath. “He isn't here. Where could he have disappeared to?”

Ayla tried to speak but couldn't. The room was empty. No Reuben anymore.

“Maybe he went to the kitchen to get a cup of milk?” Dilli speculated. Then she frowned. “But no, I think the guards outside would have mentioned that to us. By the way, Milady, why are there guards outside? Is there anything worth guarding here?”

Ayla tried again and, this time, succeeded in getting her dry tongue to move.

“Dilli? Will you leave me alone for a couple of minutes?” she asked. Her voice sounded strange in her own ears.

“Err…of course, Milady.”

On tiptoes, the maid left the room and closed the door behind her.

Slowly, as if in a trance, Ayla walked to the window. Unlike many of the arrow slits in the castle, this one was wide enough for a man to slip through, if he wished to fall to his death. Leaning out, she looked down the wall. No sign of anything. From far away, she felt the reverberations of a wave of relief. Then, another possibility struck her. She walked over to the garderobe, opened the doors, and there it was: from the wooden hanger, where dresses and coats were suspended in an orderly manner, also hung a thick rope, which led down into the darkness, providing an escape out of the keep.

How had he gotten from there over the outer walls, out of the castle?

Ayla didn't know, and she didn't have the energy to wonder. She did, however, have no doubt that he had managed it. Whatever one might say of his morals or manners, his abilities were certainly not to be underestimated.

She slumped against the wall beside the garderobe and tried to keep the awful truth at bay. But it wouldn't be denied. It was too evident.

He was gone.

He had finally fled and abandoned her. This was the proof. He didn't love her. He had left her alone to face her worst enemy.

But then…

Ayla frowned. Something didn't quite fit. If she was nothing to him, why did he not go before, when the Margrave's men hadn't yet surrounded the castle? Why had he only left now, when it was so much more difficult and dangerous? A terrible possibility slowly wormed its way into her mind.

Had he really had feelings for her, and had she driven him away with her accusations?

Not that her accusations hadn't been justified. But that didn't lessen the pain of losing him in the slightest. Only now, when it was too late, did she realize the depth of her feelings for this insolent rogue. Her rogue. Her robber knight.

No, hers no longer. Never really hers, in truth. He might have been, could have been, but she had driven him away, and that was the end of it.

Still, she hoped against hope that he would make it through the siege fortifications and the lines of Falkenstein's soldiers. Even if she couldn't have him, she wanted him to live. To be happy. Somewhere. With someone.

The last thought slipped into her mind almost before she had noticed, and it sent an ache through her that was almost too painful to bear. To think of him with another woman was impossible. It made her want to bury herself in her bed and never wake up again. She couldn't think of it. So Ayla dashed the tears from her eyes and resolved, instead, only to think of siege tactics and food rationing for the rest of her probably very short life. Much more reasonable things than love, anyway.

Her heart feeling frozen and dead, Ayla turned to leave when she spotted the chessboard on the only table in the room. She halted in mid-step. Strange—someone had taken the trouble to remove all the figures but one. Squinting, Ayla looked closer and saw that it was a solitary knight.

The figure was carved into the shape of a horse.

A single horse, all alone, away from everything it knew, far away, waiting to be reunited with its friends…oh no! Dread shattered the coating of frost around Ayla's heart from one moment to the next. No, no, no! He couldn't possibly be so stupid as to try and do what she thought he was going to do, could he? No, no, please no!





Surprise, Surprise

Sir Luca DeLombardi woke up and noticed that there was the blade of a knife pressed to his throat.

“I could kill you now,” a low and powerful voice growled into his ear, “but that wouldn't be any fun at all.”

Sir Luca couldn't help but agree with the voice. In fact, there wasn't anything he would have considered less fun.