Page 113 of The Robber Knight's Love
There were only a few petals left. Should shecount how many? No, that wasn't how it worked.
“He—”
“Hey!” At the sound of the squeaky littlevoice directly behind her, Ayla flinched and dropped what remainedof the apple blossom. Turning, she saw Fye standing there, lookingup at her expectantly. “You look kind of silly, just standing here,doing nothing. Are you going to stand there all day or are yougoing to come play with me?”
Ayla blinked. Was it part of the duties of acastle lady to play with children? Well, the child certainly seemedto think so.
“Err... well...”
“You know, it's silly to waste your time likethis.”
Ayla looked down at the blossom on theground. Fye had stepped on it, and it was reduced to mush.
“You're probably right,” she sighed. “We'lljust have to wait and see. Let's go play. How's Sir Reubendoing?”
“Great! He has just decapitated one of hisworst enemies! It was reaaallly bloody.”
“Um... that's good. I suppose. Let's go andsee if we can find any more enemies for him, shall we?”
“Yes, please!”
*~*~**~*~*
Ayla had hoped fervently that when the littlegirl spoke of blood, she was only speaking figuratively. Her hopeswere not dashed—they were just playing, after all. So instead ofblood, Fye used mud.
When Ayla could finally escape the clutchesof the little girl, she needed two hours to get moderately clean.And when that was accomplished, Sir Rudolfus appeared, havingcompleted his inventory of the castle supplies. Ayla was rathersurprised that while not possessing a sharp sword, or indeed anysword, the young knight did possess an extraordinarily sharp mind.When not intimidated by too many people, he became quiteloquacious, giving advice on which food would persist the longest,how to protect it against rats and other vermin, and how best toration supplies.
“How do you know all this?” Aylainquired.
“Well, fighting has never been a particulartalent of mine,” he admitted with a lopsided grin, his big earsturning an even darker red than usual.
“Yes, I've noticed.”
“So I had to find something else to occupy mytime. Learning how to manage my father's estate seemed the obviouschoice. We had a lousy steward—until I got rid of him.”
“You? You got rid of somebody?”
The young man shrugged self-consciously.“Well, as I said, he was lousy at his job. I owed it to my fatherand our vassals.”
Ayla looked intently at the young man, seeinghim with different eyes this time. Suddenly, he didn't appear quiteas ridiculous as before. “If you continue like this, you might verywell turn out to be the most useful knight in the entire castle,”she said, giving him a smile.
He blushed furiously. “Do you really thinkso?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I don't,” he said in a low voice,staring down at the floor. “We can ration all we want—in the end itwill come down to steel against steel. And I won't be any help toyou there.”
His words, all too true, sent a shiver downAyla's back. But she refused to be haunted by fear all the time,here, in her castle, her own home.
Having concluded her business with Rudolfusand presided over dinner in the great hall, she turned in for thenight, grateful that all her troubles, regardless of what theywere, would wait until morning.
*~*~**~*~*
She was ripped from her sleep and at firstdidn't understand where she was or what was happening. It wascompletely dark around her, and in the distance she could hearshouts and the sound of metal on metal. What was going on?
“Dilli! What is the matter?”
Her maid did not answer. But had it not beenshe who had woken her? Had it been the noise outside? But what wasthe noise?
