The Robber Knight's Love

67. Embarrassing House-Building

Time passed quickly as all the castle inhabitants kept themselves busy. One of the most pressing tasks was the final disposal of over five-hundred bodies of slain enemy soldiers. Under Reuben's orders, the castle guards had had to carry them out of the castle to a distant, arid piece of land first thing after the battle. But there were so many of them that this task alone had taken days to accomplish. By that time, the air around the corpses was unsavory to say the least, or, as Reuben preferred to express it, "Like a fart out of hell!"

At first, Ayla had wanted to give all of them a Christian burial.

"Have you lost your mind?" Reuben roared at her.

They were assembled in the great hall, with by now free of village refugees. Not all of the castle's commanders were there. Burchard, Captain Linhart, Reuben, and Sir Waldar were all gathered around Ayla, but Sir Rudophus was still happily employed stockpiling and counting sacks of grain.

"As much as I hate to admit it, for once I have to agree with Sir Reuben." Burchard made a face that clearly showed it caused him physical pain to say this. His mustache was bristling like an angry hedgehog.

"You don't even know if they are Christian," Reuben pointed out.

"That's the point," insisted Ayla. "If they are, they should not be denied the chance of heavenly forgiveness and entrance into heaven. And if they're not... it can't hurt."

The four men in the room shared a look. Apparently, it was not only Reuben and Burchard who were in agreement over this issue. Ayla stamped her foot, feeling her temper rise.

"What's the matter?" she demanded.

"Well..." Captain Linhart began, "It is just that they are murderers and pillagers. I doubt very much that they will repent posthumously, and have a shot at heaven."

"You don't know that!" Ayla's tone was defensive. "They might very well. There's good in everybody somewhere, you know. No matter what kind of life they've led before, people can repent and gain forgiveness."

She glanced at Reuben. The others missed it, but he apparently noticed her quick look in his direction, and rolled his eyes.

"All right," he growled. "I conceded that they might be Christian. But how about this reason for not doing it: giving them a Christian burial would mean digging five-hundred individual graves. By that time, all that will be left of the corpses will be mush and bones. Stinking mush and bones, covered with flies!"

"We should still do it," Ayla insisted, stubbornly.

The debate between the mistress of the castle and her vassals remained at this impasse for several days. In the end, Reuben resolved it by creeping out of the castle one night, emptying a barrel of pitch over the bodies and setting it ablaze.

Ayla wasn't very pleased with his actions and remonstrated with him in no uncertain terms. When the castle towers had stopped shaking, Reuben remarked how happy he was that she had enlarged her vocabulary of obscenities. Some of the terms she used had undoubtedly originated with him, and he was very proud of his pupil.

Thus, peaceful times went by in Luntberg castle. The leaves, only tinged with a spot of red and yellow here and there, really began to take on the colors of autumn. With the permission of Ayla, who as the castle mistress held all the wood-rights of Luntberg, people began going out into the forest, to cut wood for the rebuilding of the village.

She was more than happy to grant this small help to her people, when she herself could do little else. They had to hurry if they wanted to rebuild their homes before winter came. Ayla was sure they would have started earlier than they did, if Reuben hadn't stubbornly insisted they should hold off the rebuilding effort.