Page 73 of The Robber Knight
Ayla had asked herself ever since that day inthe forest why he had left her alive. Why not simply take her honoras he had taken her horse and then slit her throat, like any othercutthroat would have done?
Now she knew.
He was no ordinary villain.
He was her greatest enemy, and evil to thecore. He had wanted to humiliate her first, bring her to the cuspbetween life and death, only to return now, when she thoughtherself safe within her own lands, and show her she was safenowhere. Not from him. Not with such a force behind him.
“Look at me,” he seemed to be saying. “I heldyour life in my hands before—now I do so again. I can destroy youanywhere, at any moment of my choosing. You had better surrendernow and put that ring on your finger, while you still havefingers.”
The red knight rode up to the barricade andstopped only a few yards away from Ayla. Although she stood higherthan he, the crimson fiend seemed to be towering over her.
He raised a hand. “Greetings, Milady,” hesaid in a low and subtly menacing sing-song. “I am Sir LucaDeLombardi, commander of all the forces of his Grace, the mightyMargrave von Falkenstein.”
Ayla frowned. His voice was different fromhow she remembered it. This lilting accent hadn't been there thelast time she had met him, had it? She shook the thought off. Itwas unimportant.
“So glad you could join us, Sir Luca,” shesaid, managing to keep her voice from trembling. “And may I ask whythe mighty Margrave himself does not honor us with his presence? Ishe too afraid to face an honest woman? Does he think I might besthim on the field of battle, and is he cowering in a cornersomewhere?”
Sir Luca laughed. The movement rattled hisred armor. “The Margrave doesn't waste his valuable time on thelikes of you! You're far too unimportant for him to be botheredwith.”
“And yet he must think me to be ofconsiderable importance, seeing as he wants me as his wife,” Aylacountered, her face reddening.
The red knight snorted. “If you consider it asign of special importance to be the only one of his whores with agolden ring on her finger, then please go ahead and flatteryourself.”
From red, Ayla's face abruptly went to white.This wasn't just banter. The man meant every word he said.
“Enough of this,” he commanded. “I have notcome hither to bandy words with an ignorant wench. I am here todictate the terms of your surrender.”
Ayla swallowed. This was the moment she hadbeen gathering courage for. Licking her lips, she opened her mouthand said:
“No.”
The single word sounded weak and foolish,spoken to the giant warrior on his black horse.
“Excuse me?” he said, his voice still adeceptively sweet sing-song.
Ayla gritted her teeth. “I said no,” sherepeated, putting more strength and conviction into her voice. “Iwill never surrender. Never!”
Turning his head from left to right, the redknight observed the barricade she was standing on. “Yes, I surmisedas much when I saw this pitiful obstacle. And you really think thatwill hold me back? You, wench, are going to try and stop me and myarmy?”
“Yes!” She raised her head proudly. “I wouldrather die than hand over my land and my people.”
“Excellent.” Sir Luca clapped his hands andbowed as deeply as he could on horseback. “You have my thanks,Milady.”
She stared at him, open-mouthed, which madehim chuckle. “If you had any idea how stupid you look just now. Itis very entertaining.”
“W-why...?” she stammered.
“Why I would thank you for not surrendering?”She could almost see his glinting teeth as he grinned, even throughthe visor of his helmet. “You see, Milady, if you were to surrenderand give up your lands to the Margrave freely, then I would simplyhave to report back to him and take you along with me. The only bigevent to look forward to then would be your marriage, and frankly,I'm more interested in pig shit than in your matrimonialarrangements. Now that you’ve refused, however, I have somethingelse to look forward to—the sacking of your lands and castle. Atenth of the plunder will be mine to do with as I wish, and whoknows, maybe after the attack the two of us might even findourselves alone in a room together.”
Ayla's mouth was suddenly dry. “What do youmean?” she asked.
“You really have to ask that question? Why,surely it is obvious, Milady. I mean that war is a messy business,and no one is really interested in what happens to the losingparty. I mean that if we are alone in a room, a tenth of theplunder is not the only thing that will be mine to do with as Iwish. You would probably look a lot less stupid with your clothesoff.”
That was the point where Ayla snapped. Shewas afraid, and tired, and she missed Eleanor terribly, and this...abomination just sat there on his horse saying things to her thatwould make a tavern keeper blush. She didn't remember much of theconversation with the red knight after that, mostly because it'shard to pay attention while you're screaming yourself hoarse. Ittook her about half an hour to run out of steam.
Finally, the crimson fiend chuckled andnodded. “I see you've got some fire in you, you little blue-eyedstrumpet. It'll be fun taming you. And I don't think the Margravewould object. After all, he wants a woman, not a buckingbeast.”
Turning his horse, he galloped away, backtowards the camp. Over his shoulder he shouted: “Prepare yourself,Milady. Soon, a storm of steel will engulf your lands, that I vowto you, I, Sir Luca DeLombardi! And I always keep my promises!”
