The Robber Knight's Love (The Robber Knight Saga #2)(86)

~~*~~*

Ayla stared at Reuben's face intently. Something was going on. Reuben wasn't behaving normally. Well…of course he wasn't. After all, he was Reuben.

But he wasn't even behaving strangely in the usual way. He wasn't cursing, wasn't cutting people into pieces or making lecherous remarks. He just sat there, looking grim.

“Reuben? What is it?” She grabbed his hand. “Reuben, please. If you suspect another threat from Falkenstein or something, you must tell me.”

His lips twitched for a moment.

“No, not from Falkenstein, I'm afraid, Ayla.”

“I don't understand. What do you mean?”

“Ayla…I'm so sorry. The grappling hook could not have been thrown over the outer wall. It is too high.”

Ayla's confusion only increased. Was that all?

“So? If it couldn’t have been thrown, they used a catapult.” She frowned. Why was he bothering her with such trivialities?

“No, they did not.” He shook his head, his eyes burning as if besieging her for forgiveness. Forgiveness for what? “As I said, I went down there to examine the grappling hook. It's not the kind that can be thrown by a siege engine. It could not have been thrown or shot up from below.”

“And?”

“Ayla, don't you see?”

A cold shiver ran down Ayla's spine. Not from below… If not from below, then from where? There was only one possible answer.

“Reuben…what are you saying?”

But, even as she asked, she already knew the answer. She knew from the tortured expression in his eyes.

“Ayla, I'm sorry, I don't know any other way to say this…” He swallowed, once, hard. “There's a traitor in the castle.”





Terrible Truth

The man on the wall looked back and forth between his comrades right beside him and the slowly dispersing crowd down in the orchard beside the keep. Now was not the time to act. The old knight’s funeral was only just over. Everyone was still agitated, and all the other guards were doubly cautious because of Sir Isenbard's death. Now was not the time. Not yet.

But soon, an opportunity would present itself. And then the castle would fall.

Another guard strolled up the allure and nodded to him. “Seen anything suspicious?”

“No,” he answered. “Nothing at all. The night is quiet, and we are safe.”

~~*~~*

Ayla stared at Reuben, uncomprehending. Oh, she had understood the words he had said, all right. All of them were perfectly normal words. But together, in that order…?

There's a traitor in the castle.

It didn't make any sense. Surely her ears were playing tricks on her.

“What?” she asked. “What did you say?”

He must have meant something else than what it had sounded like. He must have.

“A traitor. In the castle,” Reuben repeated.

“But…I don't understand. A traitor to what?”

“A traitor to us, Ayla. A traitor who fastened that grappling hook from atop the wall and let down the rope to the mercenaries. A traitor who wants to hand you and everybody else in the castle over to the Margrave on a silver platter.”

Reuben's voice had turned grim at the end, and he spat on the ground. At any other time, Ayla would have reprimanded him sharply for that, but not now. Not with what he had just told her. There was room for nothing else in her head. Cold claws gripped her heart and squeezed painfully, making her whole body shudder.

“No! No, no, no! That cannot be! I refuse to believe it!”

Tears ran down Ayla's face. They weren't tears of grief now, as they had been during the funeral. They were tears of anger, and in her anger, she lashed out. Her fist slammed into Reuben’s chest.

“You! How dare you suggest such a thing? You of all people dare accuse another of lies and treachery?”

She could see the flash of anger in Reuben's eyes as her words hit, but at the moment, she didn't care. She wasn't going to let him do this. She wasn't going to let him slander the people who had sacrificed so much to protect her. She was not going to let him cast even the slightest shade of doubt on their loyalty!

Reuben swallowed. In his eyes, pain fought for control with his rage.

“How I dare?” he asked in a dangerously low voice. “Well, let's just say that I am an expert at treachery and lies. You yourself should know that all too well. So one might say I am the person best qualified to spot treachery.”

“Oh, an expert in treachery, are you?” Ayla shot to her feet. She was so furious, she needed to look down on him, not up to him! “Just because you have no honor doesn't mean the rest of us are traitors and criminals! My people are loyal and brave, every last one them! Do you hear me? Every last one!”

Reuben, too, shot to his feet. His steely gray eyes glinted threateningly. “Oh, really? Every last one? Even the one who sold you to the mercenaries?”

“Stop saying that! It isn't true!”

“It is. There's a traitor in the castle, and no matter how much you shout, that fact isn't going to change!”

Ayla felt moisture in her eyes. But she couldn't cry now. Not when she had to stand up for her people. Not when she had to fight for their honor. She couldn't believe Reuben was doing this to her, on this very night, when the earth over Isenbard’s grave was still fresh. She felt as though her heart was being ripped in two.