The Robber Knight's Protege

49 - Thatchers and Snacks

Reuben had left his armor at the tournament grounds so Xander could wear it, but he didn't need red iron to stand tall as the the Robber Knight. Even decked out in Xander's old, beat-up suit of armor, he was a sight to behold.

And Fye was still the little girl who loved that chopping off heads was as easy as breathing for him.

Why did he want Xander to take his place? He could have taken the duke in the arena. she thought as she watched him leap onto the low, slanted roof of the house just across the street from Lady Salvatrice's home. He moved as if he had never had a serious injury and as if Xander's armor were a part of his body rather than a weight that most men wouldn't even be able to walk in.

Fye waited on the ground and scanned the area. The gates in front of Salvatrice's house were shut, so there was no way for her to see how many men were inside. She knew only that two armored men stood outside. They might have been knights or hired soldiers, but either way, they looked mean.

Her heart beat pounded in her ears. This was her first real mission as a knight. It wasn't a tournament. It wasn't some silly bet. It was Kaylin's life and the fate of Luntberg that hung in the balance.

And Fye loved every second of it.

"What are you doing?" Fye snapped out of her contemplations at the shrill voice. A woman in a raggedy dress stared at her, hands on her hips and a frown on her bulbous-nosed face. "Is he... is that man on our roof!"

"He is," Fye said. "How observant of you. Don't you know a thatcher when you see one?"

"He's wearing armor. And so are you. What—"

"All thatchers wear armor nowadays. To protect us in case we fall, of course. Don't you know anything, woman?" Please be as stupid as you look.

The woman stalked toward Fye, suspicion in her beady eyes. And there was hair between her eyebrows. Fye used to have only one eyebrow—until her mother had forced her to start plucking because apparently it was fashionable to have two eyebrows. Maybe this woman didn't know that.

"When did women start working as thatchers?"

"Oh, quite recently. Around the time they started wearing armor. You know, I find your eyebrows very interesting. They—"

The woman passed out as Reuben landed behind Fye with an impressive thud. She glanced across the street to see if the guards had noticed. Thankfully, a stack of barrels in the alleyway next to the Eyebrow Woman's house gave them some cover.

"I counted a dozen in the courtyard," Reuben said. "There might be more in the house. But Kaylin is in the courtyard." He grinned. "It looks like she's telling them about my fondness for dismembering my enemies. That girl has potential."

"So... what do we do, sir? If we just barge in there, they could easily kill her." And we don't have a lot of time. If we don't make it back by the time Xander's match against the duke starts, he's going to have to lose—and Luntberg won't be ours anymore.

His smirk widened to a full-on grin. "They're not going to kill her."

"But... I don't understand."

"She's here because the duke wants to win the tournament. But if I'm here fighting them, I obviously can't be preparing to lose to him. Therefore, the mere fact that I'm here and not at the tournament grounds means that the duke has what he wants."

"But there's still enough time for you to get back—"

"Tournament schedules change. Maybe my match with the duke got moved up. Hmm... I'll need to take off my armor for this."