Page 17 of The Robber Knight's Love
With some difficulty, Ayla looked away fromthe stranger's face and pressed her ear against his chest.
Try to ignore that it issticky with blood, she told herself.Get a grip! You have a head on your shoulders, so useit!
“He's still breathing,” she announced withobvious relief in her voice. “He is alive, but barely.”Straightening, she demanded: “We must get him to the castle, rightnow.”
“What, just the two of us?” Burchard raised abushy eyebrow. “Forgive me, Milady, but how are we going toaccomplish that? The fellow is pretty big.”
It was true. The young man was tall, probablysix foot seven inches.
Ayla smiled. “Ah, but we are not alone.”Turning to the brush, she called: “Come out! I know you're hidingout there somewhere! We need you out here.”
A few moments elapsed. Nothing happened.
“The Margrave's men are long gone, by theway,” she added.
With rather sheepish expressions on theirfaces, six castle guards emerged from the underbrush.
“We're going to make a stretcher. You andyou,” she ordered, pointing to two of them, “go find two solid andstraight branches for me in the forest.”
They ran off hurriedly, obviously eager toprove their loyalty, as long as it involved hacking at trees ratherthan well-trained soldiers. Ayla supposed she couldn't blame them.There hadn't been a conflict in this part of the Empire fordecades. Her father's guards were more accustomed to taking a napbeside the gate than to fighting. Still, that didn't mean she wouldcondone such lax behavior in the future.
Quickly, she went searching among the fallenenemy soldiers for a piece of cloth that would suit her purpose.All she found in the end was a banner bearing the escutcheon of thehouse of Falkenstein. Smiling at the irony, she returned with it tothe injured young man, just as the two soldiers approached with onesuitable branch each.
“Tiethis banner around each of the branches,” she ordered. “Then youlift him on the litter[23]and be careful to put him onhis side so the arrows won't be twisted or broken. Each of youtakes one end of the litter. The others scout ahead to make surethere aren't any surprises waiting for us on the way back to thecastle. Report back to me immediately if you see something out ofthe ordinary.”
The men obeyed her without question. Once thewounded stranger was lying on the makeshift litter, they lifted himup and made their way quickly and quietly back up the path towardsthe bridge, and away from the terrible field of death behindthem.
Ayla stayed by the young man's side, notknowing entirely why. Just before they went around a bend in thepath and the bloody clearing went out of sight, Ayla looked backwith an odd kind of longing.
Burchard, who marched right beside her like aprotective bear father beside his cub, noticed her look back andasked her what was wrong.
“I just wish I knew who managed to fell thatmany of the Margrave's men.”
“Do you?”
“Of course! Such people would be valuableallies indeed in our current predicament. Don't you?”
Burchard grunted. “Not particularly, no.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because, as strange as it may sound, thereare more powerful, evil, and dangerous things walking this landthan the Margrave von Falkenstein. Didn't you see what was done tothe men back there?”
Ayla took a long, steadying breath so thatshe could answer in a more or less calm voice: “Not in any greatdetail, no. I must confess that I didn't look that closely.”
Burchard's face grew even grimmer than usual,if that was possible. “I'm glad you didn't. They were... mutilated.In a very vicious, but precise and deadly way. Some were stabbedthrough the heart, others had their sword-arms or headsmissing.”
Ayla smiled wryly. “Is that so unusual inwar?”
Burchardremained deadly serious. “Not technically, no. But only when noneof the warriors are wearing heavy armor. A blow so powerful as topierce chain mail,[24]sever the bone and fleshbehind it and the second layer of chain mail at the back of thebody...” The old steward shuddered. “It is not... usual.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“It is not... human.”
Ayla frowned. “Burchard, I may not havelooked closely, but I looked closely enough. The wounds on thesoldiers back in the clearing—those were sword wounds. Wild animalsdon't wield swords, only humans do.”
“Yes, I know.”
