The Captive Maiden (21 page)

“Yes, my lord!” The boy ran off.

“She was standing over there” — he nodded at the other side of the room — “talking to Margaretha a few minutes ago. Now they’re both gone.”

Father pointed at the guard. “Get three trusted men and have them scour the castle for Margaretha and Gisela.”

“Yes, your grace.” The guard barely took time to nod before hurrying off.

“Let’s check the west door.” Father headed toward the door Gisela had been standing near the last time Valten had seen her. Valten walked briskly by his father’s side, then broke into a run. The guard moved aside to let him pass.

Holding the door open, he looked around. His father came up beside him.

“These torches on the wall should be lighted.”

“There’s something on the floor over there.” His father pointed several feet down the corridor.

Valten walked over and picked it up. The guard came back with a lighted torch. “It’s a shoe.” A woman’s shoe of white leather. A surge of energy went through Valten. “I think it’s Gisela’s.”

“My lord, I have your sword.” His squire’s voice broke through the haze of rage that had settled in his head. He brushed
past his father, took the sword and scabbard, and fastened them around his waist as he walked.

“Ruexner will pay dearly for this,” Valten promised, speaking to no one in particular, but imagining he had the fiend’s neck between his hands. If he dared hurt Gisela …

He started running down the corridor that led outside.

Chapter
18

Gisela struggled to stay conscious, but the
cloth bag was clinging to her nose. She managed to get a hand free and pulled the cloth away from her nose so she could breathe.

The man dragged her feet along the ground. She’d lost both her shoes by now—Ava’s beautiful shoes — and the man was holding her around her shoulders, his hand tight over her mouthlips, his other hand gripping her arm.

She struggled but he only gripped her tighter. She tried to drive her elbow into his side, but the way he was holding her, her elbow couldn’t reach.

It was useless. He was much stronger than she was. Her only chance would be to get turned around so she could knee him where it would really hurt, or punch him in the throat.

Behind them she heard men’s voices. She tried to make as much noise as she could, but with being hoarse, and the cloth bag and the man’s hand firmly clamped over her mouth, the sound was so muffled she doubted they heard her.

Her captor dragged her over rocks. She lifted her feet completely off the ground, hoping to slow him down by forcing him to carry all her weight. But he seemed to move faster, not slower.

She pulled at the man’s hand, trying to dislodge it so she could scream, but in response he dug his fingers harder into her
cheeks, until the pain was almost unbearable and she was afraid he would break her jawbone.

She stopped clawing at his hand and settled for holding the bag away from her nose so she could breathe.

If only she could get away. If only God would send Valten. If only he would come in time!

They seemed to be moving from dirt to cobblestones, and then she was being lifted. A second set of hands grabbed her. She was transferred from one man to another, and for one brief moment, the hand let go of her mouth. She tried to scream, but her scream was muffled and hoarse. The second man’s hand clamped over her mouth, and she was lifted up onto what felt like a horse’s back. Someone was holding on to her, and the horse started forward, throwing her back against the rider. Other horses started moving at the same time and the same speed, their hooves clopping loudly on the cobblestone street.

Gisela clung to the pommel of the saddle, finding it hard to balance herself when she couldn’t see anything. They must be riding through Hagenheim. She tried to think of something she could do to stop the horse, to get away. She struggled and twisted but the man only held her tighter. Finally, she could think of nothing else to try.

Valten and his men, including some of his father’s best knights and trackers, rode through Hagenheim like the devil was at their heels, speeding through the dark, deserted streets. They headed for the east gate, which led outside the city by the southeast road. When they talked to the guard, Valten found he had guessed correctly; three horses carrying three men and a woman, who was sitting in front of one of the men, had ridden out just a few minutes before.

“What did the woman look like?” Valten yelled the words louder than necessary.

“I couldn’t see her face. There was something covering her head, I don’t know what. It was dark. But her dress was pale blue and glowed in the moonlight.”

Valten and his men urged their horses forward, through the gate and past the city wall. Ruexner was likely taking Gisela to his castle several days’ ride to the south. The men spread out to try to track which direction they went, while Valten and three of his best knights headed south.

They rode hard and fast for an hour, and then Valten caught a glimpse of them ahead. Ruexner was riding double, which meant his horse couldn’t go quite as fast. Valten would soon be upon him, and when more of Valten’s guards caught up to them, Ruexner would be outnumbered.

But could he afford to engage Ruexner and his men in a fight? Gisela might get hurt. And Ruexner wasn’t above threatening to kill her to keep Valten away.

Valten slowed his horse and motioned for his men to gather around. In a low voice, he said, “We will stay just behind Ruexner and his men, and when they stop to make camp, we will sneak in and attack, snatching Gisela away to safety. But for this to work, we can’t let Ruexner know we are so close behind him.”

But it was possible Ruexner had already spotted them. So, thinking ahead, Valten said, “If I am captured trying to save Gisela, you must not follow us or try to rescue me, but ride on ahead of him to his castle. Hartmann here knows where it is. If Ruexner does capture me, he will take us to his castle” —
if he doesn’t kill me first
— “and you can join with the rest of Father’s men and storm the castle.”

The men nodded their agreement, even though a few of them grumbled at not being allowed to rescue him if he were caught. They quickly spurred their mounts forward and resumed the chase.

Valten’s blood boiled at the thought of Ruexner holding Gisela, of him taking her by force, dragging her away from underneath Valten’s nose, from his own home. Ruexner had violated every code of chivalry in existence. He’d behaved without honor and didn’t deserve to be called a knight of the Holy Roman Empire. Valten would make sure the king heard of Ruexner’s dastardly conduct. And if he hurt Gisela in any way … Valten clenched his fists. As many times as he’d fought and jousted and crossed swords with opponents, he’d never felt such a killing rage before, so strong it was a fire that pounded in his ears and filled his mind with vengeful images. At the same time, the thought of Gisela suffering at Ruexner’s hands sent ice water through his veins, along with a stab of guilt. If Gisela should suffer pain and distress at Ruexner’s hands, it would be his fault. Ruexner had only taken her because of his hatred for Valten.

God, I must save her. I must not fail.

Gisela sensed the horse beneath her getting tired. The poor, poor horses. They’d been riding for a while, and Ruexner had not let up or slowed from their gallop. At least, she assumed it was Ruexner holding her. He had only spoken once, when he removed his hand from her mouth and growled in her ear, “If you scream, I’ll put a gag in your mouth.”

A few minutes later, Gisela tore the hood off her face and threw it down. She expected him to punish her, but he didn’t do anything.

They were following a narrow road, and on either side of them was a dense forest. It was the middle of the night and there were no houses, no one around that she could call to for help.

Did Valten know Ruexner had taken her? Was it reasonable to hope he would come? But she couldn’t imagine he wouldn’t try to save her, if he knew she was in danger.

He was a knight. Even if he didn’t care as much for her as she did for him, she was sure he would still come. Valten was too honorable to let a young maiden be taken from his own castle and not go to rescue her. And he was sure to notice she was missing. She only hoped he didn’t think she had left of her own accord. But he had told his sister, Margaretha, “Gisela wants to dance,” so he knew she wanted to be with him. Surely it was obvious.
He will come for me.
But his hand was broken. He wasn’t supposed to be riding. Perhaps he would send his men after her, but her heart sank at the thought. Even a dozen soldiers couldn’t make her feel as safe as Valten could.

Since there was no escaping Ruexner’s iron grip around her stomach and his uncomfortably hard chest behind her, and since she’d probably be killed if she flung herself to the ground, she tried to relax and rest without falling asleep. She wanted to be ready if some opportunity to escape presented itself.

More time passed. The men around her kept looking to Ruexner, but he didn’t say anything. The horses slowed but still kept up a fairly brisk pace. Gisela couldn’t help worrying that the poor animals would collapse in exhaustion.

Eventually, Gisela closed her eyes, lulled by the rhythm of the horse’s pounding legs, and the night became an even more torturous experience. She was exhausted, but afraid to fall asleep. And when her head began to drift to one side or the other, or to tilt forward, she would jerk herself awake. Still, they rode on, the horse’s hooves pounding into the ground.
Poor horse.
He must rest soon or he would die.

The sky began to lighten and turn gray. Dawn was breaking, although it was still quite dark. When the sun started sending pink tendrils over the sky, her captor motioned with his hand and they turned their horses off the road, descending through a shallow ditch into a dense, wooded area. The horses were made to trot through the underbrush and trees. They moved rather
noisily as the tree branches swept over them, and as they passed through the undergrowth, twigs, and leaves.

“Are we going to make camp?” one of the men asked.

Ruexner motioned for him to stay quiet as the sound of horses’ hooves came from behind them, from the road they had just left.

Valten! He, or his guards, were following them, she was sure of it. Would they pass by without noticing that Ruexner had left the road?

The horses on the road stopped. Then came the muted sound of their hooves on the thick ground covering of leaves, and the slap of the branches from behind them. She could barely keep from crying out in joy and relief.

Ruexner kicked his horse into a run, dodging tree limbs and forcing the horse to jump over bushes. Gisela ducked her head as a branch slapped her. She wanted to scream out to Valten’s men, but that would probably only enrage Ruexner. They knew she was there and screaming would serve no purpose, at least for now.