The Captive Maiden (24 page)

That seemed to soothe him. His brow lifted and he gave her a good long gaze that made her wonder if he would like to kiss her as much as she would like to kiss him. But no … they didn’t have time for such thoughts. He would surely scold her for them.

Abruptly, the knife sliced through the last fiber of the rope. His hands were free.

Her heart beat faster. What would Ruexner do if he caught them trying to escape? Would he kill them? He would at least beat Valten again.

“What are you doing?”

Gisela’s heart leaped painfully inside her.

She turned with a jerk while hiding the knife in the leaves. Ruexner came toward them with his sword drawn.

His two men roused themselves and were soon on their feet, arming themselves with swords.

Gisela froze. Valten’s right hand, positioned beside her, was as tense and hard as steel. What could they do, armed only with a knife, against three men armed with swords? Best to pretend that Valten was still bound.

“You have a knife. I saw it. Throw it down to me,” Ruexner ordered, slowly advancing toward her.

Gisela glanced at Valten. He gave a barely perceptible nod.

She threw the knife on the ground. “His hands were bound too tightly.” She wasn’t about to apologize to him. “You beast. I insist you loosen his bonds.”

“I believe you already loosened them for him.” Ruexner sneered, showing the chipped tooth on top and a missing tooth on the bottom. “How kind of you. Now stand up, both of you. Lew.” He turned to his henchman. “Pick up that knife and tie his hands again.”

Lew looked at him strangely, but after a slight hesitation he picked up the knife and moved toward them. Gisela helped Valten to his feet.

Ruexner threw Lew another rope.

“Not so tight this time,” Gisela ordered.

Lew moved toward him with the rope. Valten lifted his hands toward the guard. When he did, Lew jumped back, as though expecting Valten to attack him. But Valten just stared.

Gisela moved back in front of Valten to look at his hands. The left wrist was protected by the splint on his broken hand, which reached past his wrist. But his right wrist was bloody and raw from the rough rope. She sucked in an anguished breath at the sight of it.

“Tie him up again, now.” Ruexner sounded like he was running out of patience.

“No!” Gisela glared at Ruexner and pulled Valten’s arms around in front of her as she pressed her back against his chest. “You are purposely hurting him in any way you can.”

“I suppose you would like to tie it yourself?” Ruexner’s smile suddenly vanished. “Do you think me a fool?”

“No, but there’s no reason to tie the rope so tight. He’ll lose his hand.”

Valten cleared his throat just above her head. It occurred to her that he might be embarrassed at the way she was defending him. But she was only trying to save him from pain and permanent injuries.

But he would appreciate her interference if Ruexner actually listened to her. She hoped.

Ruexner snatched the rope out of Lew’s hands. He waited for Gisela to step aside, but she refused.

“I won’t let you hurt him.” She tugged Valten’s arms tighter around her, careful not to touch his broken hand or his bloody wrist.

She felt Valten shrug. “What can I say? Women are softhearted creatures.”

He was pretending to be amused.

Ruexner’s face twisted when he looked at Valten over her head, then he stared down at her a long time before saying, “I will allow you to first wrap a cloth around his wrist.”

Gisela watched as the villain cut a piece off the end of Valten’s bandage and handed it to her. She took it from him and wrapped it gently around Valten’s raw wrist.

“Now step aside, and I will not tie the rope so tight.” He smiled through clenched teeth.

She wasn’t sure she should believe him, but she hardly had a choice. She moved as Ruexner asked but watched closely as he tied the rope. The man did indeed seem to be making it looser this time.
Thank you, God.

Ruexner finished tying the rope and stepped away from Valten.

“You see? I am not a beast.”

He took a step toward Gisela, and she took a step back.

“I don’t wish to hurt you. But I also can’t have you trying to escape. You must tell me where you got the knife.”

Gisela involuntarily glanced at Valten, then back to Ruexner. She said nothing.

“Where did you get it? Do you have any other weapons hidden on your person? Must I search you?”

“No!” Gisela took another step back, then perceived his two henchmen hovering just behind her. “I don’t have any weapons. I was at a ball.” She had the urge to call the man a number of unflattering names, including
lack-wit
and
jackal-pate.
“What would I be doing with a weapon at a ball, where I’d planned to dance all night?”

“She got the dagger from me.” Valten looked almost bored, as if the answer should be obvious. “But that was the only weapon I had.”

“Search him,” Ruexner ordered.

The other two men cautiously approached Valten. Even
with his hands tied, he looked dangerous. But Valten stood still while the two men searched him for weapons. They made him sit down, and they took off his boots and looked inside them, but found no more weapons. After all, he’d been at a ball too.

They allowed Gisela to help Valten put his boots back on.

“Since you have both obviously had enough rest,” Ruexner said with false cheer, “we shall get back on our horses and continue on our journey.”

Gisela felt as if she’d hardly taken more than a two-minute nap, but she clamped her lips together and walked to the horses. Ruexner’s men held Valten’s reins and the lead rope while he mounted his horse. Then Ruexner mounted and pulled Gisela up in front of him while one of his men lifted her by her waist.

God,
let this nightmare come to an end soon.

Chapter
21

They rode the rest of the day, but stopped at
Gisela’s request to rest the horses. Valten knew better than anyone else that Gisela truly was concerned about the horses. He was only surprised that Ruexner would listen to her.

Valten kept his eye on Ruexner and Gisela. Ruexner’s allowing Gisela to talk him into sparing the horses was a sign that he might have a soft spot in his black heart for her — a soft spot Valten could well understand. She was beautiful, strong, capable, and brave, sweet and compassionate; how could any man not fall in love with her?

It was unfortunate their earlier escape attempt had failed. Not only were Ruexner and his men more watchful, Valten had lost his only weapon when Ruexner took his dagger. But Gisela had done her best. It chafed to have her see him at Ruexner’s mercy, tied up and vulnerable. But that didn’t matter so much. Her safety was what mattered.

God,
let me not show weakness in front of her. But more importantly, keep her safe.

And even though he knew she had only been trying to save him from a beating that morning, it galled him to hear her offer to marry Ruexner. Didn’t she understand how her saying such a thing would eat at him?

Women were strange creatures. But he already knew this,
having so many sisters. His father had admitted as much to him one day, but had added that when he found the right woman, she would be worth any confusion she would cause him.

He was right. Gisela was worth it. Even her strangeness somehow endeared her to him. The way she looked at him sometimes, especially when they had danced together, made him feel like a king. And the way she’d put her arms around him to keep Ruexner from hitting him was imprinted on his memory.

But if Ruexner had wanted to cause him to suffer, he’d found the perfect tactic. Thinking of Gisela being forced to marry Ruexner made Valten physically ill and filled him with thoughts of the justice he’d like to bring down on Ruexner’s head.

As twilight descended, Ruexner stopped to make camp again. One of Ruexner’s men had stolen a mince pie and bread rolls stuffed with cabbage from a house at the edge of a village they had passed. They ate the fresh food along with their dried fruit, jerky, and nuts. As before, Gisela made sure to give food and drink to Valten, since their captors would not.

Just as Valten had hoped, Ruexner forced Gisela and Valten to once again lie down in the middle with the three men surrounding them. Ruexner made Malbert stand guard, since he’d had the most sleep that morning. He kept his hand on his sword hilt and his eyes on Valten and Gisela.

“Are you well?” Gisela whispered as soon as Ruexner began to snore.

“Yes.”

“Your eye is swollen.”

“I am well. Are you?” He could see her face but faintly in the moonlight filtering through the trees. She looked tired.

“I am.”

“Get some sleep.”

“Do you have a plan to escape?”

Her question took him aback. “I have no weapon, you have
no horse, and my hands are tied. I’m not familiar with this place, and we have only seen one village. No, I have no plan.” It hurt his pride to admit that.

“If the men all fall asleep, perhaps we could sneak away on foot. Or we could take Sieger and another horse and get away.”

The guard was eyeing them suspiciously, probably trying to hear what they were saying.

“I don’t want to endanger you. For the moment, I think it’s better to be patient.” If only they’d been able to get away earlier. But with no weapon or way to cut themselves free now, it seemed impossible.

“But if the guard falls asleep, perhaps I could steal his sword.” Gisela’s soft voice vibrated with excitement.

“No. If he falls asleep, tell me, and I’ll steal the sword.”

“It’s best to let me do it. They won’t harm me, but if he wakes up and sees you coming toward him, he will kill you.”

“You don’t know that they won’t harm you, and he won’t know who is coming at him in the dark and might kill you by mistake. No, I won’t have you putting yourself in danger.”

“Silence!” The guard spoke in a harsh whisper, stepping toward them and holding up his sword menacingly. “Go to sleep, both of you.”

Gisela had an obstinate look on her face, reminding Valten of his sister Margaretha when she was angry or determined to get her way. But she was looking at Valten, not at the guard.

Ach, but she was stubborn. He was only trying to protect her. But once again, in spite of his frustration, he admired her bravery and determination. And he surprised himself by realizing … he even liked arguing with her.

They both lay still, and he couldn’t quite tell if her eyes were open or closed. His own eyelids were beginning to feel so heavy he could barely keep them open. He wouldn’t have to worry about her. She was probably already asleep and would sleep all night.

“Good night, Valten,” she whispered.

His eyes popped open as irritation warred with admiration again. “Good night, Gisela.”

Gisela found herself waking up to Ruexner relieving Malbert of guard duty.

Valten’s eyes were open. He’d probably been awakened by Ruexner too. But as she watched, he closed his eyes. He must be exhausted. How she wished they had been able to escape yesterday. Perhaps now they would be safe in the keeping of his men, and Valten could get the sleep he needed. But it was comforting, too, that he was a light sleeper and had awakened when the guard changed. He wanted to keep her safe; such a sweet sentiment, but likely to get him killed. He believed his men would rescue them after Ruexner brought them to his castle, but how could he be sure? Ruexner would kill Valten rather than let his men take him.

And since she couldn’t bear to see Ruexner hurt Valten anymore, she would do whatever she could to escape.

Surely God would not allow Irma and Evfemia — and Rainhilda too — to get away with their cruel trick. By selling her to Ruexner, then helping him kidnap her, they had certainly satisfied their desire to hurt her.

Gisela awoke again when the sun was already above the horizon and Ruexner’s men were milling about the camp, packing up to leave. Valten was nowhere to be seen.

She sat up quickly and looked around. Had he escaped? Had he left her there? She should be glad he had gotten away. Hadn’t she told Valten to find his men, to leave her if needed? After all, there was no need in him getting himself killed if he could help it. But still, the thought of him leaving her behind felt like a sack of flour on her chest.