The Robber Knight's Love (The Robber Knight Saga #2)(78)

What could he do? Isenbard was gone forever.

The guards rose. One of them stepped towards Lady Ayla, uncomfortably twisting his leather cap in his hands.

“Um…Milady? The scouts from the wall are back with their reports. Do you want to receive them?”

A small whimper escaped Ayla's throat.

“Get out,” Reuben said in a rough whisper, “before I throw you out.”

The guard paled and stumbled backwards towards the door.

“Captain Linhart will hear the reports,” continued Reuben. “I will attend to him later. And maybe to you, too.”

“Yes, Sir! I mean no, Sir! Please, I…” Finally deciding that shutting up was the wisest policy, the guard turned and ran. The three others followed at his heels.

Reuben breathed a deep sigh. Now, only the two of them remained in the silent chapel. Or the three of them, if you counted the corpse.

Again, a small whimper came from Ayla’s direction. Reuben's eyes had never left her while talking to the guard. She had begun to shake slightly. For a moment, Reuben wondered if she was going to collapse. But then she took a small, shaky step away from the wall. And another one. And another one.

She continued like this, crossing the small room as though it was a kingdom the size of France, England, and Scotland put together until she finally stood before the litter, staring down at the form of her fallen protector. Still, a curious tremor was going through her body, as if she were crumbling to pieces.

Maybe she was, inside.

That was the moment when Reuben finally knew what to do. He stepped up beside Ayla, drawing her into his arms. She went willingly, collapsing against his chest, silent tears running down her cheeks. Reuben just stood there and held her, not trying to speak idle words, not trying to stop her from crying. He knew she had cause to cry.

Only now did he realize how mighty a warrior he had thrown onto a dung heap a few days ago. He might have been old, and he might have been neither as strong nor as fast as Reuben, but he had been there and discovered danger when he, Reuben, had not.

He had been the directing force behind the entire castle defense, the only one standing between Ayla and annihilation.

Now someone else had to take up the standard. Taking one hand from Ayla's shoulders, Reuben flexed his fingers and observed the way the red metal glistened in the sunlight with a grim smile. He knew just the man for the job.

By Satan’s hairy ass, he swore to himself. I will wreak vengeance on our enemies for this! It may take weeks, it may take months, but this is one vow I will not break!





Secret in the Dark

Reuben stepped out of the keep door into the sunlight and came face to face with Captain Linhart. The soldier was standing at the bottom of the steps, staring up at him with a searching gaze in his eyes.

“Ah, Captain.” Reuben nodded.

“Where is Lady Ayla?” the Captain asked somewhat belligerently.

“She’s taking a moment to be alone with Sir Isenbard, Captain.”

“Is she, now?”

“Yes. I had to leave her. There is something important I have to check. But before I go—tell me what the patrols on the wall say.”

Reuben's tone of voice left no doubt that this was a command. He studied Linhart carefully—the man who commanded Ayla's troops now. The man who still did not and could never know who he, Reuben, really was. Would this man bow to his authority, or would he have to make him?

The Captain hesitated for a long moment. Then he said, “All reports are negative. There were no further attempts to storm the castle last night. No breaches of the wall anywhere.”

Reuben's muscles relaxed. Slowly, his hand, which had been drifting toward the hilt of his sword, started to move the other way again.

Listening, he turned his head from side to side.

“And the clanking and moaning has stopped, too.”

“Apparently.” Linhart hesitated once again. “Do you know why they stopped?” he inquired. “If they tried this again, they could probably wear us down completely and storm the castle.”

Again, with a grim smile on his face, Reuben nodded. “Yes. But you see, the point is not whether they could, the point is whether their commander can convince his men of that fact. He tried his plan, and it failed, and men died in the attempt. It takes a very good soldier to attempt a second time a plan which has failed once already. And these are not good soldiers. These are hired cutthroats. They will look for something else to try. But make no mistake—whatever it is, they will find a way.”

The Captain nodded. “I see. It seems you know what you are talking about.”

Reuben knew it was as much a question as a statement.

“No,” he said. “I do not only know what I'm talking about. I know what I'm doing.”

“And what will you do next?”

Reuben considered for a moment whether to punch the man for his nosy, interfering questions or simply stab him in the gut. But then…he did seem a capable Captain. Such men were not to be wasted.

“Now,” he said, the threat unmistakable in his voice, “I'm going somewhere to check on something I've been wondering about for a couple of days. That's all you need to know.”

In a second he was down the stairs and past Linhart.

“That wouldn't have anything to do with a certain change in the patrol duties of the guards, would it?” Linhart called after him. “A change that said, from now on, three guards have to always patrol together. For some strange reason, nobody was willing to tell me who had given that particular order.”