Page 11 of The Robber Knight's Love
Clash of Arms[18]
Ha! Reuben was immensely pleased with himself.Leisurely, he flipped open his visor and took a deep breath of thesweet-smelling air. It was a really nice day. He smiled to himselfas he rode along, towing the girl's horse behind him. What arobbery!
The girl had really been funny, especiallythe way she had stared accusingly up at him after he had pluckedher off her horse, as if she expected him to ravish her at anymoment. She had honestly thought he had let his hands wander onpurpose!
He chuckled lightly. As if a thin little slipof a girl, or any woman for that matter, could interest him! Womenonly cost money, caused trouble, and possessed no more brains orbravery than a rabbit.
Though now that he thought about it... He hadto admit that the girl hadn't seemed frightened when he hadrevealed his intentions, not even when he had held the sword to herthroat. She seemed to have more guts than the usual specimen of hersex.
On the other hand, she seemed underdevelopedin the brain department. Not being afraid when a sword was pressedagainst her throat was a pretty good indication of that.
All the girl seemed to have felt was anger.Reuben had robbed enough people to appreciate the unique reaction.It got a bit tedious over the years when everybody just handed youtheir money without protest. The girl had been fun. Her accusingexpression had almost made him want to slap her on the rear, justto see if she would try to stab or strangle him.
He smiled to himself again, for no particularreason. Yes, that would have been amusing. And she had actually hadthe gall to threaten him with death! As if she would ever be in aposition to havehislife inherhands.
At a place where the path widened a littlebit, he stopped and went to the girl's horse. This was always thepart of being a robber knight he enjoyed the most: reaping hisrewards. Appreciatively, he felt the bulging saddlebags and reachedfor the clasp.
“So,” he muttered to himself, “let's see whatriches or delicacies this fine lady has stored in hersaddlebags.”
He opened the first saddlebag, reachedinside, and felt something heavy and lumpy. Ah, this was sure to bea purse, full of gold! He pulled it out and blinked at the smallsack of corn he was holding in his hand.
Huh?
Was everything all right with his eyes?
Quickly, he reached into the saddlebag againand unearthed the following, in this order:
A second sack of corn
One hammer
Two little barrels filled with pickles
One rusted old horseshoe
Three dirty wooden bowls
One ugly little leather doll.
Sir Reuben stared at the leather doll forsome time, although it was no very pleasing sight. She (or he, orit, it was hard to tell) had a painted face that looked like shewas being pinched in the butt and didn't like it.
Whatkind of girl would be riding around the woods withthisin her saddlebags? Reuben was reconsideringhis assessment of the wench. Maybe he should consider himselffortunate to have got away from her with his life. He had heardthat witches[19]used dolls in their evilceremonies. And who but a witch or a madwoman would be ridingthrough the forest with such a load? Who knew what she was capableof?
Best to get as far away from her as possible,as fast as possible. Closing his visor, he sprang back into thesaddle and brought his horse to a brisk trot that the animal couldkeep up over long distances.
His thoughts kept drifting back to the girl.Was she after him now, bent on exacting revenge? Well, if she was,he would face her as bravely as he had faced anything in the past.Mad or not mad, witch or no witch, he was not someone to be beatenby a girl!
Reuben’s musings were interrupted when heheard noises. However, they didn't come from behind, they came fromfurther up the path. And they weren't the kind of noises heexpected, either. He heard the sound of marching feet.
He didn't slow down or try to hide, though.He never slowed down foranybody.Ever.
The noise kept getting louder and louder.After a few minutes, Reuben entered a large, circular clearing. Alesser man might have waited, might have stayed on the easilydefensible forest path. But he was not one to be deterred from hispath by anything. Besides, why should those men be bothered by him?The clearing would only make it easier to pass them.
Acontingent of armed men came into view at the other end of theclearing and spread out. As soon as they spotted Reuben, thecommander gave a sign to his men. They stopped and gripped theirspears and guisarmes[20]more tightly at the sight ofan approaching knight. Yet as soon as they saw that he was alone,they relaxed again.
Behind his visor, a derisive smile the mencould not see flitted across Sir Reuben Rachwild's face. If theyhad known him, they would not have relaxed.
“Halt!” the commander shouted. “Halt in thename of the Margrave Markus von Falkenstein.”
