Page 124 of The Robber Knight
With growing apprehension, she watched thebarricade being torn down. It was as if somebody were tearing herheart along with it. This had been the defense of her people for solong. Now it was gone. Yet her apprehension was about more thanjust that.
What could come over a bridge?
A second later, shadowy figures startedmoving across the cleared bridge. Not the same kind of blackfigures that she had seen by the waterside. These were larger, andmoving considerably faster.
Ayla understood just as Wecelo cried:“Riders! Riders approaching!”
“But we killed all their riders in the firstattack,” Ayla cried in panic.
“They must have had reinforcements! Ride,Milady, ride! They mustn't get you!”
“I can't just leave you!”
“He's right, Milady,” Linhart said, grimly.“Halt!” he called to his men, who obeyed immediately. The captain'sgrip on his spear tightened. “Turn!”
They all as one turned to face theapproaching enemy.
“Cancel that order!” Ayla shouted. “Continueup the path!”
“Milady—”
“Listen, Captain! If you stop here to providemy escape, you will all be slaughtered!” With a sweeping gestureAyla indicated the broad slope they stood on. “The area is much tooopen. The riders will set upon you from all sides and ride youdown. We will march up to there.” She pointed to a point where thepath became winding and narrow, with both its sides falling steep.“There you can make a stand, not before.”
“We might not make it in time.”
“You most certainly won't if you continue tostand here arguing about it with the liege lady you are sworn toobey!”
The soldiers looked back and forth betweenLinhart and her. The captain was glaring at Ayla, but she wasglaring back just as fiercely. She would not let that stubborn,loyal man put her life before everybody else's.
Finally, after three endless seconds, hebowed his head. “As you command, Milady.” He looked up again. “Men,continue to the narrows.”
They started moving again, marching evenfaster than before.
Would it be enough?
Ayla, no longer venturing ahead but stayingclose at Captain Linhart's side, threw a look over her shoulder.The dark riders were rapidly approaching.
Hard FallDown
The march up the mountain was one of the mostterrifying journeys in Ayla's life. The riders behind them couldhardly be made out as the night grew ever darker. She felt as ifinvisible devils were hunting all around and could strike out ofthe blackness at her at any moment. What if her soldiers didn'treach the narrows in time? What if the riders caught up withthem?
Or worse yet—what if the riders caught upwith the villagers?
The crowd of tired and frightened people,laden with possessions and including the young and old, didn't movehalf as fast as the two lances of disciplined soldiers underLinhart's command. Soon, Ayla and her escort had caught up withthem—and then could do nothing but slow down their own tempo andmarch behind them. They were not here to save their own lives, butto save these people.
Ayla was terrified to see how slow thesoldiers, hampered by the villagers, were now advancing up themountain. It seemed that a snail could have moved faster than them.And the riders were coming ever closer.
“Faster! You have to move faster” she yelled,trying to encourage the villagers. Then she realized that from awoman riding on a horse, such words were hardly encouraging.
“Here!” Jumping down from her steed next toan old man with a gray beard who barely managed to keep up, shepointed at the saddle. “Get up there.”
“Milady, I'll be fine! I...”
“Someone help me to get him up there!” Aylashouted, and the old man found himself being hoisted into the airby the strong arms of two woodcutters and deposited on the horse'sback, protesting all the while.
Ayla went through the crowd, searching, andonly when she had put two little children on the horse's backbehind the old man and the animal couldn't take any more did shestop and look over her shoulder again.
The shadowy riders were almost upon them!
