Page 44 of The Robber Knight
“Satan's hairy ass!” he growled. “If I onlyknew what's going on down there!”
From his observation point he could see Aylarunning out of the castle towards the new arrivals and for amoment, just for a moment, he thought he felt a twinge in hischest.
*~*~**~*~*
“Sir Isenbard! Sir Isenbard is here!”
The shouts echoed all around Ayla as shemarched down the road towards the gray-haired rider. For a moment,Ayla felt pain at the thought that, normally, she would be ridingon Eleanor to meet her father's old friend. She missed her horseterribly, and the thought of Eleanor wandering through the forestalone, or worse, in the hands of the Margrave's men, sent shiversdown her back.
But the joy of her people and her own reliefat seeing Sir Isenbard soon drove away those feelings. He was old,yes, but he had brought thirty men with him, and the way he heldhimself, stiff and unbendable like a stubborn old oak, made onething clear: this was still very much a man to be reckonedwith.
She went up to him and took the reins of hishorse.
“Uncle Ironbeard,” she said, looking up athim and smiling at the use of her childhood nickname for the oldman. “I'm terribly glad you're here!” She hugged his iron-clad leg,only just managing to keep her voice steady. “You don't know howglad. We need you.”
“Greetings, Milady.” Isenbard nodded. If onelooked very closely, one could see the left corner of his mouthlifting slightly—Sir Isenbard's equivalent of a hug lasting threefull minutes and tears of joy at a reunion of friends. “What's thematter? Your man said only to come quickly. Other than that, thefellow wasn't very coherent. You should get a man with moresense.”
“That's why I sent for you, Uncle,” she said,still smiling, though she could feel her eyes beginning towater.
“Watch what you're doing, girl! No crying,you'll get my armor rusty!” Sir Isenbard growled in what wasprobably an affectionate way.
“We wouldn't want that now, would we?” Aylastepped back, sadness seeping into her voice. “Seeing as you'regoing to need it.”
Though it hardly seemed possible, suddenlythe old man's face was ten times as hard as before.
“Need my armor? What for?”
“For defending your liege lord,” Ayla said,drawing herself up to her full height and meeting Isenbard'ssearching gaze. “Sir Isenbard, I call upon you to fulfill your oathof fealty.”
Understanding flashed back and forth betweenthem. Now she was no longer the girl he considered the closestthing he had to a daughter. Now she was his mistress, with herpeople gathering behind her, watching. And she needed him tospeak.
With astounding grace for a man of his age,Isenbard slid out of the saddle. Then he knelt in the dirt beforeAyla and said, in a deep voice that carried all the way up to thecastle and beyond: “As I have pledged, so I hold. My sword and mylife, all that I am and will ever be, is yours!”
As the people behind her cheered, Aylasmiled.
*~*~**~*~*
So hewasherbetrothed! Grimly, Reuben stared down at the smiling Ayla. Even uphere at the castle window, he had heard every word the old knighthad spoken. And she was smiling, as that grandfather pledgedhimself to her! What kind of woman could be happy to give herselfto a man thrice her age? He probably was a powerful noble, and shelusted for men with power and influence, like all the other womenhe had ever known—greedy, worthless creatures! The quicker he wasout of here and on the road again, the better!
Though, for some reason, he suddenly felt theurge to test his dueling skills against that stone-faced, oldpervert...
Worse than the VillageScarecrow
Accompanied by a cheering crowd of villagers, SirIsenbard, his men, Burchard, and Ayla made their way up to thecastle.
“I trust you will see to it that SirIsenbard's men receive appropriate quarters, Burchard?” Ayla saidto her steward.
“Yes, Milady.”
“Then do it, and we will meet later todiscuss everything. I have to go and have a look at Reubennow.”
“Reuben?” If Isenbard hadn't already had somany wrinkles on his forehead, one might have detected a frownthere. “Who is Reuben?”
“Ayla found a wounded bird in the woods shehad to take care of until he can fly again,” Burchard grunted,rolling his eyes. “You know how she gets.”
“You mean charitable and caring?” Ayla askedsweetly. “Yes, I do get like that. You should try it sometime.”
The steward pulled a face. “Actually, I meantfoolish and reckless. We shouldn't be harboring any stranger in thecastle now that we are about to be besieged! It is dangerous. Wedon't know anything about who he is or, more importantly, whom heserves.”
