The Robber Knight's Love (The Robber Knight Saga #2)(94)

There, Ayla was waiting.

~~*~~*

It was one of the larger dungeon cells. Yesterday, it had been dusty and unused, stacked full of odds and ends that had been lying around in the castle for years, just as the other cells. Today, it was spotless, all the junk thrown out. Spiderwebs and dust had vanished. The floor was freshly scrubbed. A bowl of water and a chamberpot waited in the corner. Manacles hung from an iron ring in the wall.

Burchard, Sir Waldar, Sir Rudolphus, Captain Linhart, and Reuben, together with a few of the most trusted guards, formed a sort of honor guard on both sides of the long room, holding torches aloft. But they were no honor guard, really. If anything, they were a guard of shame and betrayal.

The two soldiers who had the moaning man in their clutches marched between them, dragging him over the floor without being too careful about it. They marched right up to Lady Ayla, who stood waiting at the end of the two rows of men, and dumped him in front of her, on the floor.

“We did as you said, Milady,” one of the guards reported, his voice cold with rage. “We lay in wait for him at the gate, and he came. He was going to fling that gate wide open and let these accursed mercenaries in!”

He spat on the floor beside the man he had dragged inside. Ayla was gripped by a terrible sense of foreboding as she stared down at the sorry figure, who hadn't made a single attempt to move, but just lay there, shivering.

“Get up,” she whispered. “I want to see the face of the man who betrayed me.”

When no reaction came from the figure on the floor, one of the guards drew back his foot and kicked the man in the side.

“Show the lady your treacherous mug, you hell-hated worm!”

He drew back his foot to kick out again, but Ayla quickly held up a hand. “Enough! I will not have a prisoner mistreated in my castle!”

“Are you sure?” Reuben growled from beside her. “I know some pretty nice methods of mistreatment. You wouldn't have to watch, you could leave it all to me.”

“As much as I hate to agree with him,” Burchard growled, “he's right. This…creature deserves everything a torture chamber has to offer.”

Ayla didn't pay any attention to them. She could be angry with them later, or thank them for the offer, depending on her mood. At the moment, she really didn't know what to think or feel. This quivering mess in front of her was a traitor, a man who had willingly tried to sell her and all his friends to the Margrave. And yet, something in her held her back from letting the men around her vent their rage on him, as they obviously wanted to.

“Show me your face,” she ordered in a low voice. “You’re already a traitor, do you want to be a coward, too?”

Slowly, very slowly, the man on the floor did as she asked. He raised himself up on his hands and knees, and then raised his head until she could see his face clearly.

Ayla's mouth dropped open.





The Two Sides of a Traitor

“Greetings, Milady,” Hans the guard whispered, staring up at his mistress with dark, hollow eyes.

“You!”

“Aye. Me.”

A thunderstorm of twisted feelings was raging through Ayla. She had always liked Hans. He had been quiet and polite, even kind at times. Never particularly devoted to her, but steadfast enough. If asked a minute ago, before she saw his face here in the gloomy dungeon, she would have called him a good man. She would certainly not have called him a twisted snake of a traitor.

“Hans…”

She stared down at him, and he stared back unflinchingly. He had the gall to look into her eyes! He, who had betrayed them all! He’d had the gall to step up to her and tell her he was sorry Sir Isenbard died, when it was probably his fault all along! Ayla felt hot blood pound in her ears. If there were any justice in the world, this man’s eyeballs should shrivel and his hands drop off!

Enraged, she took a step forward, forgetting for the moment that she was a lady and violence was not what God had ordained for her. She raised her hand, wanting to slap the guard. No, not slap him—beat him until he hurt as much outside as she was hurting inside. But then she realized that was simply not possible, and her hand fell limply to her side.

“You betrayed us!” she said in a voice as cold as ice.

Hans nodded. “Yes.”

“You would have handed us all over to the Margrave!”

“Yes!”

“You are a despicable worm without a shred of honor!”

“Yes.”

What in the name of the Holy Virgin… It riled Ayla how he didn't bother to deny her charges, didn't even seem to feel guilty about them! Her cheeks heated, and she took another step towards him.

“I could have you executed for your treason!”

Hans nodded placidly. “I know.”

“Then why in God's name did you commit it?”

“Because,” Hans said, looking directly into her eyes without flinching, “I knew that if I didn't commit treason, me and my family were all going to be killed once the castle has fallen.”

There was a moment of heavy silence in the dungeon. The guards around Hans threw each other uneasy glances and shuffled around. Even Captain Linhart, Sir Waldar, and her other two vassals looked disturbed. Only Reuben remained completely unruffled, glaring at the traitorous guard on the floor with a force that, by all rights, should have incinerated him long ago.