Page 55 of With You Here
Peter had informed them that the officials in Zurich, mainly the reformer Zwingli, wished for the Anabaptiststo return to the city. But Zwingli had previously used the rack as torture to force recantations on those bent to a more radical reform than he preached.
Many opposed to infant baptism had fled. Some to Waldshut, others to Schaffhausen, and still others to unknown places. In the depths of night, the small band beneath the castle had decided to make their way to Waldshut. Anabaptist leaders Balthasar Hubmaier and Wilhelm Reublin had fled to that city, and though their favor with Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was uncertain, a return to Zurich carried the certainty of torture and death.
The door to her bed chamber opened, and an unfamiliar girl stood on the threshold. “Your presence is requested, princess.”
Christyne rose and followed the girl, pausing near the brazier. “I thank thee, Hette. For all you have done.” She did not wait for a reply but hastened after the messenger girl.
Christyne was not surprised when she was escorted into the chambers that Clare had been given. That lady stood at the window, her back to the room. Donned in her wedding finery, she looked radiant. She turned, her face serene. If not for the tightness at her temple, the small tick along her jaw, Christyne would be unaware anything troubled the woman.
Indeed, how could the day not bring trouble? In a short time, Clare would be bound to a man for whom she held little affection. One with as many years as her sire, and who held not the same beliefs as she. Though not bent to cruelty, neither was he easily swayed. Her future was both certain and uncertain.
Clare ran a hand down her velvet gown. The deep blue appeared royal upon her slim shoulders and caused her eyes to shine wide in her pale face. “All is ready?”
“I pray 'tis so.” Christyne stared beyond her father’s future bride to the carved opening in the wall, shutters unbound, allowing the outdoors in. From this height and the distance she stood from the window, the only view her eyes beheld was that of the trees as they grew upon the slope of the hill. Below her, though…
Did Peter and Nikolaus make preparations? Had Hette returned to the kitchens to gather what vittles she could?
They had but a small window of time to make their escape. While the wedding guests and castle folk were busy attending the ceremony or making ready for the feast thereafter, the Brethren needed to slip out unseen, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and those who would seek their end.
“I have thought much throughout the night.” Clare’s voice wavered.
What maiden did not on the eve of her wedding? Though mayhap some with less trepidation than this lady. Christyne wished she could offer a small comfort. “In the measure of a man, he is not entirely found wanting, my father. He can be persuaded to reason, and already I have seen the care he has for you.”
“You mistake me. I have not been pondering my own future, but yours.”
“Mine?”
“By receiving baptism, you have professed your faith. Unless you disavow that action, I fear what will become of you.”
Her heartbeat quickened. “No more than you.”
“Yea, much more. For I am now under your father’s protection, and as you say, his measure has merit. Alas, you are also beyond your time to be given in marriage. And there is one who seeks your hand.”
Dread breathed its hot breath down her spine, causing her body to convulse. “Herzog Kampff.”
Clare’s brows rose. “You know?”
She lifted her chin. “And have refused.”
“Such men do not retreat. They are as dogs with a bone.” Clare’s shoulders sagged. “Though I had hoped to have you near me, to be a sister more than a daughter, a friend when I will have need of one, you must go.”
How could she? Her absence would not go unnoticed, and then all the lives they had fought so hard to preserve would be forfeit.
Clare leveled her gaze on Christyne, steel in her eyes. “You must. For if he has you, he will tear you limb from limb.”
Surely it would not come to that. “My father has given the duke his answer.”
“Which I overheard him reconsidering yestereve.” Though Clare had stayed beside the window throughout their exchange, she now rushed forward and gripped Christyne’s hands, the strength therein surprising.
“After the ceremony and before the merrymaking, you must slip out. Nikolaus will be waiting for you in the courtyard, for his presence is expected within the castle walls.”
Christyne turned her head, her eyes tracking the length of the room, then the vista from the window. She had ever called Heidelbraum her home and had never thought to flee from its borders.
What would her life be like if she left? Always on the run, one step in front of those who wished to kill her? Gone the authority of her title and the ease such prestige brought. But she had laid down such an existence when she received the water over her head. Had taken up the cross when she chose the eternal over the temporal.
Ethereal blue eyes and swatches of raven hair flashed across her mind. She had witnessed destiny within the depths of his gaze. Mayhap their lives were linked more than she had previously considered. Who would have thought a princess’s and a scholar’s fates would so intimately entangle?
A soft knock sounded on the door before the same girl appeared again. “'Tis time.”
