The Rebels of Cordovia (7 page)

Andrew cleared his throat and explained. “As
soon as Rupert took over as king, he sent out a decree that no one
could have muskets in their homes. If our homes were searched and
one was found, the father was imprisoned. That frightened most
everyone.”

“Why not swords?” asked Daniel.

“After much contention, he finally allowed us to
keep our swords. He realized it was more of a sport than anything
and it was upsetting the people too much. Besides, sword fighting
draws an audience. It’s a real skill.”

Daniel nodded. “So that answers my question why
I saw the port covered with soldiers, checking our baggage. They
said no one was allowed weapons that were not approved by the
king.”

Robin interrupted as she said, “We’ve given our
opinions how to end this revolt. Now it’s your turn. What do you
think our plan should be? We’ve already riled the king and he’s got
soldiers in every village now. He’s mad.”

Daniel tapped his fingers against the table in
thought while everyone waited in silence.

Robin had not said much during the meeting. She
had allowed her father to say it all. In fact, all she could do was
stare at Daniel and wonder why her heart fluttered every time he
glanced at her and smiled. She wondered if it was because she had
such great admiration for him and because he was a good leader and
believed as she did. Or it could have been for the exact reason her
father had said as they walked to the meeting that morning.

Andrew had turned to her and noticed she had
fixed her hair extra nice and wore one of her favorite dresses to
the meeting. He had commented on it and said, “You like him, don’t
you?”

When she blushed, he laughed. “Nope. I was
wrong. You have finally fallen in love. It’s about time, young
lady. I was getting quite worried about you. You’ve been just too
picky about who courts you.”

“No! I’m not in love,” said Robin as she shook
her head in denial. “I’ve only seen him three times. We don’t know
one another that well.”

Andrew laughed and said, “That’s all it
takes.”

“What?”

He grinned. “The first time I met your mother I
couldn’t take my eyes off her. We talked for hours about many
subjects. She even laughed at my ridiculous jokes and I thought she
was so adorable. That was it. I knew I had lost my heart. By the
third visit, I knew she would be mine forever.” He nodded. “Yup.
You’re in love and you don’t even know it.”

Robin blinked and pushed the memory from her
mind as she looked at Daniel. Was her father right? She had never
been kissed like Daniel had kissed her. It had created feelings
inside her that were new to her. When he glanced at her and smiled,
her heart fluttered once again.

He then turned to the men and said, “I’ve got an
idea. We need to prove that the king murdered Edmund. So we need to
find the missing servant who attended to him and have her tell the
people what kind of man Rupert really is. If we can convince her to
testify against him, then the people will join forces with us and
take out Rupert.”

Andrew nodded. “That’s a good idea. But there’s
one problem.”

“What’s that?” asked Daniel.

“Well, if we take this servant from town to town
to talk to the people, then the soldiers will get wind of it and
scatter them and then grab our witness. They’ll probably arrest
whoever is disturbing the peace, too. It won’t work.”

Daniel smiled with confidence. “That’s why we
won’t speak to small groups. The soldiers can disrupt us and arrest
whoever attends. So we’ll have a large group, so large that they
can’t arrest anyone.”

Merek interjected, “So large that when we
convince the people of Rupert’s wicked ways, they will all storm
the Palace along with us. Then we’ll put in our own judges as King
Edmund had wanted. It will be the choice of the people.”

“I like it,” said Andrew.

Daniel looked at Robin and said, “A lot of
people are blinded to what kind of person he really is, especially
the wealthy. A lot of my father’s friends believe he is a just man.
They think Rupert is a great leader because he is so eloquent when
he speaks.”

“Eloquent?” asked Robin with disbelief.

“Oh yes,” said Andrew. “He’s very persuasive.
Because he has a charismatic way of speaking, no one suspects the
true character of this man. When he outlawed muskets, everyone
cheered. They said there would be no more shootings and the law
could be in better control.”

Robin nodded. “That’s right. The law is in
control now.”

“So we’ve got our plan ready to go,” Andrew said
soberly. “We’re now on a quest to find Edmund’s servant. I think we
should have our most trustworthy men searching for her because if
any of the rebels slip and mention what we’re doing, then it could
get back to the king and he would thwart our efforts. He’ll even go
looking for her, as well.”

“Where shall we begin?” asked Merek.

“With our friends and neighbors,” said Daniel.
“We need to talk to them and find out if they knew the servants of
the king. If they have no knowledge of them, then we should ask
them if they know anyone who might.”

“But that’s not all,” said Robin with
determination. “We need to find the king’s Legionnaires. They’re
the ones that will give us the strength to fight against
Rupert.”

Everyone was in agreement. So the search was
on.

Since Andrew was going back to the Bakery,
Daniel asked if he could walk Robin home. She was elated and
accepted his offer. She noticed that he was dressed extra nice
today… not in his rebel’s clothes. Not that he didn’t look good in
them. In fact, he looked great… just like a rogue. But today, he
was dressed different. Today he wore a fancy Cravat at his neck, a
long sleeved white shirt, a green sleeveless waistcoat, and tan
breeches that came to his knees with white knee socks. He was as
handsome as ever.

As they slowly headed down the road, Daniel
asked, “Are there any more like you at home?”

She laughed. “I have four older sisters. They’re
married and have kids of their own.”

“Do they know how to fence and shoot an arrow
like you?” Daniel asked with a grin.

Robin laughed. “Papa tried teaching them but
they weren’t interested. They had other interests. But when Papa
took me aside and began teaching me, it seemed so natural. When he
saw how much I loved it, he taught me more of the difficult moves
in sword fighting. We also practiced archery every day. He once
told me that I would one day use my skills to defend Cordovia and
he wanted to prepare me. When I heard about the rebel groups in
other villages, I told Papa that I wanted to get a rebel group
together in Charlottesville and he encouraged me.” She smiled. “It
didn’t take long until I found other young men and women who
believed as I did.”

Daniel laughed. “You amaze me.” As they turned
into the walkway of her home, he stopped beside a large oak tree
and asked, “By the way, whose idea was it to wear a mask?”

“Papa’s. He didn’t want anyone to recognize
me.”

“Good idea. I like your leggings. Was that his
idea, too?”

She nodded. “I used to wear trousers but it was
too loose fitting. I couldn’t jump on my horse quick enough. Papa
also thought it would be easier to fence if I wore tights.”

Daniel chuckled.

“What?” Robin asked when she noticed the humor
in his eyes.

“You don’t want to know.”

She smiled. “Of course, I do.”

“Don’t take offense, all right?”

She nodded.

“Well, I didn’t really take notice of your
clothes until I found out you were a woman. Then it didn’t take
much to notice your leggings. In other words, it was quite
distracting.”

Robin blushed. “I can’t believe you said that.”
She shook her head as she said, “You shouldn’t have noticed. That’s
not proper.”

He laughed. “Everything I do isn’t considered
proper. Here I am, an aristocrat’s son, acting like a rebel. And
how about the woods? What did I do? I kissed a lovely maiden.” He
threw his hands in the air. “I’m just a rebel. A rogue! You can’t
reform me.”

Robin knew she should be shocked, but for some
reason she enjoyed his teasing.

Daniel smiled and said, “I promise, Robin Marie,
that I will try harder to act like a gentleman. After all, that’s
how my father raised me.”

“Thank you,” she said earnestly.

He tried to hide a smile playing at the corners
of his mouth but it was hard. He chuckled as he took her hand and
gave it a squeeze. “See you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes, I thought we could visit your neighbors
together. I don’t want you going out alone with so many soldiers
about.”

Daniel smiled, turned around, and sauntered down
the road. He was feeling lighter on his feet than ever before.
Robin Marie made him feel exhilarated and alive.

The following day, Daniel picked up Robin and
they visited all her friends and neighbors. She introduced Daniel
as a distant relative who was visiting. They asked him where he was
from and then he asked them what it was like to live in Cordovia.
That soon led to King Rupert and the reaction was always the same.
They would frown and groan, giving him the message that they were
not happy with their king. That gave Daniel the opportunity to ask
what it was like when King Edmund ruled. Those who were in their
forties did not remember much because they were in their teens at
the time but whatever they remembered was positive. Those in their
fifties and sixties would smile and reminisce.

Daniel listened as they talked about Edmund.
They told him how he cared about the people… how he would find out
who was in need and then send them food. Edmund had also taught the
people to watch over one another and care for the widows. Daniel
was impressed with everything he learned.

After a short visit, he finally asked, “By the
way, whatever happened to the servants of King Edmund?”

No one knew. Some thought they were still at the
palace. A few said they had heard the servants were living among
them in the villages but didn’t know anything beyond that.

Robin enjoyed the few days she spent with
Daniel. He had been so gentlemanly and only thought about her
comfort, whether she was getting tired or hungry. Some of the
people they visited lived a mile apart. As they walked from
neighbor to neighbor, they each talked about their different life
styles and childhood experiences. He told her the pranks he pulled
on his servants and she told him the pranks she pulled on her
sisters. He had joked with her off and on and made her laugh. She
never thought she could be so attracted to an aristocrat. Perhaps
it was the rogue in him that got her attention.

At the end of each day, they were exhausted.
When he walked her home on their last day together, Andrew invited
Daniel to stay and have supper with them.

Andrew looked across the table at Robin and
Daniel and told them what he had done at the Bakery. Since Robin
was visiting their neighbors and friends of the family, he decided
to talk to his customers at the Bakery.

Andrew laughed as he said, “I just acted like an
old man who just wanted to reminisce. It was easy to do since I use
a cane and have a scruffy old beard with a few gray hairs.”

Robin’s mother, Martha, laughed along with him
and rubbed his beard as she said, “I like your beard.” Then she
handed Andrew some stew and said, “So what did you reminisce
about?”

She was a short, attractive woman with dark hair
like Robin’s. She was in her late-forties and was known as one of
the best cooks in the neighborhood… probably because she was always
giving her neighbors food when someone was ill or if a father was
injured and couldn’t provide for his family.

“I talked about the past like old folks do,”
said Andrew. “But when I got to wondering whatever happened to the
servants of Edmund, they would shake their heads. No one knew a
thing.” He smiled. “Actually, I could have been talking to one of
the servants who didn’t want to reveal herself. But Merek got
lucky.”

“Merek?” asked Robin. “What happened?”

“He was out all day and finally came upon a
friend that mentioned his neighbor’s wife had been a servant of the
king. His friend said they were just talking about Edmund and how
he tried creating jobs for the people. Then the neighbor let it
slip how his wife had worked for the king.”

Andrew reached into his small purse that hung on
his belt, pulled out a slip of paper, and handed it to Daniel.
“That’s the name of the couple and where they live.”

Robin was sitting next to Daniel, so she leaned
toward him and looked at the paper in his hand. He turned his face
to hers and smiled. When his eyes lit up, she knew he was giving
her the message that he had enjoyed their day together. Robin also
knew he liked her a lot because of the way he had treated her all
week.

When Daniel leaned toward her and whispered in
her ear, a warm glow spread over her as she laughed. She touched
her warm cheeks as they flushed a rosy color and he grinned from
ear to ear.

This was the first time she had allowed any man
to become close to her. She had refused the men who wanted to court
her because they were not her type and didn’t have the strong
beliefs she did. But Daniel was different.

“No secrets at this table,” said Andrew with a
grin. “We want to laugh, too.”

Daniel smiled as he said, “I was just telling
your daughter that we should have a rematch at archery. She had
distracted me and it wasn’t fair.”

Andrew laughed. “That’s just part of the game,
son.”

“How about fencing?” suggested Martha with a
knowing smile. “She’s very good.”

Andrew nodded. “She’s beat me a couple times and
you know how good I am.”

Daniel shook his head. “I can only be humiliated
once a year. I don’t think I want to chance it again. If the word
got out, my men would never let me forget it.” He smiled. “Besides,
we men have a certain amount of pride. I have a reputation to
keep.”