Page 31 of The Robber Knight
Stupid, stupid,stupid, he admonished himself. He shouldn't be relaxing.He wasn't safe here. He didn't even have a sword in his hand, whichmore or less equaled his conception of being safe. Why was hefeeling like this?
“I'm going to apply the ointment directly toyour wounds now,” Ayla said. “It'll probably hurt very much. Moreeven than when I pushed the arrows out. Do you think you can holdstill?”
That was why. The girl was so hilarious! Howcould one not be relaxed?
“I think I'll manage,” he replied, tryingvery hard not to laugh.
She caught on to his mood, though, and hereyes narrowed. “Very well.”
She wasn't very gentle in applying the smellystuff to his wounds. A few bits and pieces of skin came off. Reubenlooked down at his chest curiously and wondered if this should hurtvery much. Probably it should. What a strange world he was livingin, sometimes. So different from anybody else's.
“Does it hurt very much?” she asked sweetly,rubbing it in in the most literal sense.
“Not at all,” he replied. “You have a mostgentle touch, Milady.”
She pressed harder. “Do I?”
“Oh yes. The hands of a true healer.”
“Well,” she said, her eyes burning with bluefire, “I'm very glad you think so. Time to wrap this up.” With aswift motion, she grabbed another linen from the table. “And you.Can you sit up?”
Reuben sat in response.
“Raise your arms.”
“Why?” he asked, suspiciously.
“Because I will need to wrap this around yourchest to stop you from bleeding,” she replied, holding up thecloth. “And I don't think you would want me to tie your arms toyour sides in the process. Although, now that you've mentioned it,”she added, her lips twitching, “that might not be such a badidea.”
Reuben raised his arms without deeming ananswer necessary. That absolved him from explaining why exactly hehad hesitated: namely because, normally, when someone asked him toraise his arms, it was because they wanted to take himprisoner.
He was abruptly pulled from his thoughts whenAyla leant forward and suddenly their bodies were very, very closeand... her arms were around him. This shouldn't have surprised him.It was only logical. She needed to reach around him to wrap thebandage around his chest. Once. Twice. Regretfully, he noticed thatthe linen bandage was nearly at an end. The girl reached around hima third and final time—and this time her hold lasted slightlylonger.
Reuben felt his arms drop and reach forwardto take the ends of the bandage from her. “Shall I help you withthat?”
Somehow his hands didn't end up on thebandage, but on her shoulders.
“Err... I... Yes, please do. I mean, do ityourself!”
Quickly, she drew back and turned away. Butnot quickly enough. He had seen the rosy hue of her cheeks, andinvoluntarily grinned at the sight.
Jumping to her feet, she quickly went to thedoor and, without turning, said: “I have to go now. There'simportant business I must attend to.”
“I'm sure,” he said in an amused voice. “Ican imagine that a lady such as you has many important tasks beforeher every day. When you take a break from combing your hair andplucking your eyebrows, do come and visit me. It's sure to beboring alone here.”
She threw a scathing look over her shoulder.“Are you sure I didn't hurt youatall?”
“Nope,” Reuben replied, jovially.
“What a pity. Well, I will try my best tovisit and put that right. If I can't manage it, I can always sendBurchard.”
With that threat hanging in the room sherushed out, leaving Reuben behind grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Wobbling Bulwark[31]
The impudent scoundrel! Fuming, Ayla marched downthe corridor away from the chamber where that saucy, villainous,brain-boiled bastard lay in peace, probably contemplating how bestto get his “compensation” out of her, while she had to get outthere and face the Margrave von Falkenstein. Plucking eyebrowsindeed! What did he know about her and the tasks ahead of her?Nothing!
Yet what had aggravated her the most wasn'tthe fact that he seemed to radiate arrogance, nor that he had daredto order her servants about in her own castle, nor even the factthat he obviously thought of her as a brainless hen.
