Page 129 of The Robber Knight
“This man,” she asked, her voice having lostall strength and now sounding strangely toneless, ringing in herears like an echo from far away, “how many arrows did he have inhis back?”
“How many arrows?” The red robber knight'ssurprise was evident. But no, not robber. Just red knight. He wasnot the robber knight. But someone else was. “You want to know howmany arrows we shoot our enemies with?”
“Yes, please,” she replied, her voice stillsounding strange in her own ears. She was somewhere else, onlylistening to the things this young woman on the wall was saying.She was in a place of terror and uncertainty, a place as thin as arazor's edge. She would fall off one side or the other, dependingon the answer of this man she hated.
“Three, I think. Though I would have to askmy men to check. Why? Would you prefer we used a different numberof missiles?”
He was probably trying to mock her, somerudimentary part of her brain noted. But her mind, her heart, herself, did not care. She had fallen off the edge—and not in theright direction, the one she had desperately hoped for.
It was so abominably obvious now.
Three.
Three arrows.
Three arrows in the back.
A man with three arrows in the back.
A man in red armor, threatening her, robbingher of her friend, her Eleanor.
The red robber knight.
Reuben.
Without deigning to glance at Sir Luca onemore time, she turned and began the descent down the wall.
“Milady! Lady Ayla!” Behind her, she heardthe red knight shouting, but she didn't care. He was a pretender.He was not her foremost enemy. That title belonged to another.
*~*~**~*~*
Seething with rage, hurt, and humiliation,Ayla stormed up the steps to Reuben's room. Questions whirled inher mind like a maelstrom:Why did he hurt melike this? What is his game? Does he have any real feelings for meat all?
She wanted to laugh at herself for the lastquestion. Or maybe punch herself. Or cry.
Feelings? Forme?
He probably had been using her this wholetime, trying to get what he wanted by smooth-talking her.
But then,said a very small and sad, but also hopeful voice in the back ofher mind,why did he help? Why didn't he leavewhen he could have?
The voice was soon silenced. Too heavy werethe hurt, the anger, the feeling of betrayal.
Ayla marched down the oh-so-familiar corridorand stopped in front of Reuben's door. All the questions in hermind had vanished now, had coalesced into a single, overriding,all-encompassing question: Was she going to do as she had vowed andhang Reuben from the highest tower of the castle?
Ayla stretched out her arm. Then, with allthe force her slender body could muster, she threw open the doorand entered the room.
THE END
of
THE ROBBER KNIGHT
The adventures of Reuben and Ayla will continue inthe second volume of the Robber Knight Saga,The Robber Knight’s Love.
Now follows an insight into Reuben’s mysteriouspast.
Sins of theSon
