The Czarevitch left after leaning the door up against the entrance.
Ellice poked into a trunk, pulling out several dresses.
Jobyna stared at the couch, thinking of the tiara and the tunic that had been there. They were gone! Where they were, was anyone's guess.
Draping a dress on the couch, Ellice took the cloth from the edge of the tub and squeezed it out in the cold water. Shivering, Jobyna stared at the tub, wanting to think only of today, not of past memories.
She was just about to pull the straps of her dress down when a movement from the bedroom caused her to freeze. The door swung around and she screamed uncontrollably.
Two men, wearing Chezkovian uniforms, leapt out. Jobyna recognized them, recalling their rank and names. One was a Hagen, a knight of Elliad's, and the other was Frewin the spy, the husband of Lora.
Hagen overpowered Jobyna as she turned towards the exit. His large gnarled hand wrapped around her mouth. Frewin grabbed Ellice, winding rope around her wrists then binding her securely to a chair.
"Not another peep!" Hagen growled, listening. There were no intruding sounds. He slid his hand slowly from Jobyna's mouth.
"Please! —Don't hurt Ellice!" Jobyna could think only of her friend. She hoped they were intending to leave her bound, not to kill her.
Frewin picked Ellice up together with the chair, shutting her in the bedroom.
Hagen wound a length of rope around Jobyna's wrists, saying, "We don't want to hurt anyone but we need your help to get us out'a here!" As Jobyna struggled against his efforts to secure the rope, he added, "Look! You'd better co-operate and we won't get rough."
Jobyna bowed her head and pulled on the rope again. Frewin brought his clenched fist up under her chin, causing her head to jerk backwards.
"I'm tired of being everyone's hostage!" Jobyna declared, feeling angry and helpless. She felt herself becoming breathless.
Frewin slapped her soundly, first one cheek then the other. "Just once more and it'll be over!"
Hagan snatched up one of the towels. Slitting it quickly in two, he sliced the end of it into two narrow strips. He wrapped the wide piece around her neck, using the narrow pieces to tie it. "What's this for?" she asked, light-headed. Her fears suddenly seemed far away.
"That's so we don't damage you before we have to!" Hagen's growl came to her ears once more. "And don't faint!" He exclaimed, knowing it was too late. He collected her in his arms, "Maybe it'll be easier like this."
Frewin unbolted the shutters. His darting eyes scanned the path then he swung himself over the ledge and dropped into the garden. As Hagen awkwardly lifted Jobyna down to him, she opened her eyes and began to struggle.
Frewin let her sprawl on the garden. He squatted down beside her and clenched his fists, "Look, girl! Are you goin' a make this easy or no?"
Hagen crouched down beside her as well, pleading, "Just get us out o' here and we will let you go! Aye?"
"How do you think you'll get past the gates?" Jobyna asked.
"Our men will join us when they see you, that's why we need you." Frewin said, then to Hagen, "I don't know why's we's talking to this dumb girl! Let's move it!"
Jobyna thought of the gates. It would be worthwhile, for Konrad's sake, for everyone, if the gates were opened, left abandoned. Her feeling of helplessness fled.
Hagen checked the path. Frewin dragged Jobyna to her feet. His fist was raised, ready to strike her.
"I'll cooperate... I'll help you..." she said, and was pulled towards the path.
Frewin walked in front, a sword in one hand and the other holding the rope tying their captive's hands. Hagen was close behind, his short dagger-like sword drawn; he constantly turned to check that no one was following.
The soldier whom Kenrik sent to the cottage apartment confronted the three. He drew his sword as Frewin sprang back to Jobyna's side. Hagen placed one arm about Jobyna's waist, the other hand held his sword with the razor-sharp blade pressing against the towel at her neck. "Back off, nice and slow and no one will get hurt!" Hagen told the soldier. "Drop the sword and back down towards the gates."
Frewin grabbed up the soldier's sword; he now had one in each hand. Others, who turned at the sound of the clatter, joined the soldier.
~~~~~
Kenrik sat on the corner of the small desk, in the first tower office, conferring with Moritz. They were exhausted from the work and strain of the sleepless night.
A soldier rushed up the steps to them, his face grim. Stiffening, he called, "Two creeps have got the princess! —They're right here, outside..."
Moritz ordered Kenrik, "Stay here, in the office."
When Moritz reached the bottom step, Hagen had pushed Jobyna through the open gates, under the portcullis clear into the barbican, then along the causeway. She was in full view of Elliad's men.
Frewin yelled at them, "Okay you lot! I'm Frewin! Remember me? And Hagen? We got Princess Jobyna, your passport to safety, so why don't you open the gates and let us through? We can all get away safely!"
Hagen backed over to the wall with Jobyna in front of him. She was an easy target for both sides.
"How far do you think you'll get?" Moritz cried, stepping from the shadow. He knew his protests would serve to authenticate Frewin's story.
An arrow flew at Moritz and he leapt back. It smacked the wall at his side and clattered to the cobblestones. A nervous archer could send one like that at the princess!
Moritz shouted from the safety of the archway, "You'll need horses and a carriage! There are thousands of soldiers out there! The Chezkovian army will never let you through!"
Kenrik approached from behind Moritz, but the big bodyguard waved him back. "They'll never give them passage!" Kenrik hissed to Moritz, wondering as well how they could prevent the princess from being slain.
"I've an idea —just back me on it, Moritz— and we'll have the lot." Kenrik stepped forward to stand beside Moritz.
"Then get us the horses, and the carriage!" Hagen yelled.
"They still won't let you through!" Kenrik called, stepping out further, watching the battlements of the tower ahead.
Hagen moved uneasily, "Then if you can't help us to get through, we'll finish it here." His threatening was so earnest that Jobyna felt the pressure of the sword through the towel, and though she held her breath, she felt powerless to stop the light-headed feeling surging through her like an engulfing wave.
Kenrik glanced briefly her way, then stepped back, shouting, "Wait! Wait!"
Turning he called, "Moritz, bring the royal carriage, make sure it's empty!"
Kenrik knew an attempt to capture Hagan and Frewin would be a blood bath, for the captors, the captive, and the attackers. Nothing would be gained as far as the gates were concerned. Kenrik called from the archway, "How many horses do you need for the men on the towers?"
He waited while the message was relayed. The answer was twelve. Frewin ordered them to bring an extra two.
Kenrik told Moritz to bring fourteen horses.
"Hey! Pretty boy! Kenrik!" Hagen hollered.
The czarevitch stepped from the shadow. The arrows were no longer pointing from the keyholes. Kenrik stepped closer.
"Why don't you come along, too?" Hagen twisted Jobyna's arm viciously until she cried loudly from the pain.
Kenrik thought —I intend to!— But he answered, "Why should I?"
"So you'll be sure we'll let the pretty lady go." He twisted her arm harder and she went limp, causing him to drop the sword so as not to damage his hostage. He released his grip on Jobyna's arm, allowing her to slump to the cobblestones.
Frewin leapt over to her; one sword extended towards Kenrik and the other pointed at Jobyna. His stance was comical, like a court jester in the middle of a tragicomedy.
Kenrik saw that the point of one sword was dangerously close to Jobyna's face, but the eyes of this simple man were upon him, bright with the recognition of this new prize.
Feigning defeat, the czarevitch casually dropped his sheathed sword. With a deliberate, exaggerated action, he threw down his dagger. "You'll have a chance to get passed the troops if you take me, but with her alone, you'll all be cut into little pieces!"
Hagen retrieved Kenrik's sword, leaving Jobyna lying on the cobblestones. He held the sword at Kenrik's throat, walking around him, saying loudly, "We have the czar's son, the great Kenrik!"
"Mind you, Hagen, the troops will want to see that I'm alive and well," Kenrik said as he folded his arms. He was holding himself back, trying to veil the amusement in his eyes and the twitching of his mouth.
"Oh, I intend for you to be alive and well! My word, I do! What luck is on our side now!" He grinned and commanded, "Bring the girl!" The sound of horses' hooves came to their ears.
Kenrik obeyed, lifting Jobyna into his arms. He turned to see six matched horses pulling his royal carriage through the archway.
Hagen kept his sword pointed at Kenrik's throat. "Check the carriage, Frewin," he called and Frewin, with both swords extended awkwardly, pulled the door open. His amateur action caused Kenrik to smile. The sound of the gates opening came to their ears and they were rapidly joined by four of Elliad's men, all brandishing swords. One guard also carried a coil of rope.
"Put her in there, pretty boy! On the floor! Back down nice and easy-like, no tricks!" Hagen pointed his sword towards the carriage.
"The emirs and constables will have to see that I am with you, Hagen, or they won't let you through." Kenrik wanted to make this very clear or he knew they would be jumping from one cauldron into another. He placed Jobyna in the carriage on the plush red carpet. Wishing he could have moved forward on the plan formed in his mind, Kenrik felt the tip of the sword pressing on his back and decided to wait; he backed out of the carriage, slowly. One of the guards began to bind Kenrik's hands behind him, his arms to his sides, round and round with the rope. They pushed him up into the carriage and threw the rest of the rope in beside him. Frewin climbed in with Kenrik, still holding both swords in one hand.
Hagen urged the horses through the gates, across the bridge and into the next causeway. Four soldiers brought the rest of the horses. Two standing by secured the gates behind them.
No sooner were they out of sight, than Moritz and Vincenz were laying out pitons and pulling rope coils from their chests.
Two of the six men on the next tower descended to parley, they looked in the carriage at Jobyna and Kenrik.
Chezkovian men had battered one gate down and were working on the middle portcullis, prising up the cobblestones.
"There are thousands of them! And I mean thousands!" a soldier exclaimed. They peered again at Kenrik, ordering Frewin to wake Jobyna.
She did not respond and Kenrik wondered if she had banged her head when she fell. He did not need to wonder for long. She sat up slowly, trembling, her green eyes grew wide as they took in Kenrik and his bonds. The czarevitch saw her bruised, swollen forehead, cheek, and chin, also her blackening arm. There was silence, except for the heavy pounding sound of Chezkovian men working under a mantelet, chipping persistently to release the portcullis.
"You'll have to put me at the front and announce to them that you have Czarevitch Kenrik," Kenrik said, "or they'll trample us all into the cobblestones!"
They glared at him and he knew they were dangerously desperate. He commanded, "Go and yell from the tower that you have captured the czarevitch!"
"Better still, take him up there with us!" a soldier said, reaching in, grabbing the rope binding Kenrik. "Her too," he told Frewin who pushed Jobyna from the carriage after Kenrik. They stared at her, the satin dress with the bloodstains, her bruises, and the uneven, fraying hemline of the silky gown. The soldier drew his dagger and cut the towel from her neck. Tying it to his spear, he motioned for the group to follow.
Up the circular steps Kenrik and Jobyna were pushed, pulled and shoved.
The Captain, Bodmin, waved the 'flag' back and forth, back and forth, out through the keyhole, until he heard a voice calling; "Do you surrender?"
This was the cue and he waved the other men to bring the captives. Cupping his hand, Bodmin yelled, not revealing himself. "We have the Czarevitch Kenrik and Princess Jobyna!"
The constable in charge on the ground waved his men to hold their fire. He did not believe the claim but his face changed quickly as he stepped backwards a few steps, placing himself at great risk so he could view the enemies at the top of the tower.
Jobyna looked over the battlements at the red and white uniforms below. Her eyes blurred and the red and white merged with the gray paving stones. The three towers in the middle were the lowest and she could not see past the walls and tower of the entry gates. Shutting her eyes made her head spin away from her body. When she opened them again, it was to focus upon Chezkovian soldiers who stood on the tower battlements ahead, pointing crossbows their way.
Kenrik stood beside Jobyna with Elliad's soldiers behind them.
Bodmin raised the spear as though to throw it and Kenrik hissed at him urgently, "Don't be such a fool! They're not even sure who I am yet! I could be any one of a hundred other men."
Bodmin kept the spear raised but he was listening to the czarevitch's plea.
"Elliad dressed up as the czar and fooled them! They probably think I'm some Frencolian in a Proburg uniform! Put the spear down and I'll talk to him!"
Bodmin conceded. He leaned the spear on the battlement, crouched down and waited for Kenrik to speak.
The czarevitch leaned over the battlements, yelling to the constable in German, "Constable Ulmar! I am Czarevitch Kenrik Theodor Kievik Vladkov. I know you well! You taught me to sword fight when I was six; you were twenty years old and had just been promoted a captain. You celebrate your birthday one day before mine. Your wife is named Maraline; you have five children and I can give you their names if you wish."
The constable waved his hands up and down at the men on the tower and they lowered the weapons. He turned to face Kenrik, asking, "What can we do to help you, Your Imperial Highness?"
Kenrik breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that it was his father's friend, Karl Ulmar, who was leading the men that day.
"Clear the way for us to come through! If you let these fourteen men leave in safety, they've promised to set Princess Jobyna and me free, once they are on their way!" Kenrik voiced the latter swiftly composed sentence, knowing the men had not planned anything as yet. They were all petrified, expecting to be killed at any moment. Such fears created a situation of grave danger for Jobyna and him.
"It will take time, Your Highness!" Ulmar called. "I'll have to come back to tell you when the way is clear."
Bodmin, who had taken leadership of these desperate men, leaned over to speak, in broken German, "Then be quick as you can! We have no patience up here! I want every Chek out of sight! If you've got anything to tell, come back and tell it yourself alone!"