The Robber Knight's Secret

15. Nice Mice

The next morning, Ayla was just finished dressing, when there came a knock from the door. Ayla looked at her friend Dilli and her other maids, whom she shared the room with while the castle was under siege.

"Are any of you expecting someone?" she asked.

"Lord, no, Milady!" Dilli shook her head so her brown locks flew in all directions. "We would never presume to invite someone to your chambers!"

"Well, let's see who it is, then. Enter!"

The door opened and a soldier stuck his head in through the crack.

"Forgive me for disturbing you, Milady, but Sir Reuben asked me to enquire whether you would be so kind to join him on the outer east wall—if you can spare the time, of course."

"Really?" Ayla raised an eyebrow. "Those were Sir Reuben's exact words?"

"Um... no, Milady." The soldier cleared his throat, his face reddening. "His exact words were, um... 'Tell her ladyship to get her bonny behind up here, right away', Milady."

"I see. That does sound more like Sir Reuben. Lead on, soldier. Dilli, can you come with me? I don't know what Reuben wants me for, but I might need you."

Reuben awaited them on the wall, striding up and down like a caged tiger—if there were such a thing as red, metal-clad tigers that is—and glaring off into the distance. The minute he caught sight of them, he pointed at Dilli.

"What did you bring her for?" he growled.

"In case you managed to get yourself shot again," Ayla retorted. "So there would be someone to hold your hand while I patched you up."

Reuben told her, in very graphic words, what he would do to anyone who would try to hold even his little finger, let alone his hand. Dilli blanched and retreated a few steps.

"You seem to be in fine fettle this morning," Ayla remarked.

"Yes, well, I didn't get a lot of work done yesterday. Somebody interrupted me just as I was about to start on the important parts."

The glare Reuben directed at Ayla was impressive, but she had gotten used to it by now. In return, she just smiled at him. "I'd say I'm sorry to hear that, but I usually don't lie."

"And," Reuben continued as if he hadn't heard her interruption, "as if that weren't enough, now the Margrave has presented me with that!"

Violently, he stabbed his armored fist over the crenels, towards the distant eastern riverbank. Following his outstretched arm with her eyes, Ayla searched the bank for any possible threat. Yet she couldn't see anything except the enemy camp with its high palisades and fluttering black banners. It looked threatening enough, but what could a camp do to harm them?

"I thought they would need a while to recover after yesterday's little showdown," Reuben growled. "I thought that we had at least a couple of days. But no, that would have been too easy. Of course, the Margrave would manage to entrench himself on the eastern bank in just one night, the brain-boiled son of a..."

He began uttering a series on profanities which, under normal circumstances, would have made Ayla stuff her ears in abject horror. But she was too deep in thought to care right now. She couldn't for the life of her fathom why the enemy camp provoked such an extreme reaction in Reuben. It was just a camp, after all. Yet the fire she saw burning in his eyes told her that it was more—much more. And that knowledge sent a chill of fear through her.