Fairy Tale Romance Collection

  Something soft and warm pressed against his midsection. He blinked. Gisela wrapped her arms around him, getting between him and Ruexner.

  “No! I won’t let you hurt him!” She held on until Ruexner grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

  Ruexner stared at her. “Why should I stop? I intend to kill him … eventually.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Let him go, please.”

  “Why should I?” Ruexner’s cold black eyes glinted.

  “If you will let him go, I-I will marry you.”

  Ruexner rubbed his bearded chin. “You’ll marry me anyway.”

  “No, I won’t. Not if you keep hurting this man.”

  “You’ll have no choice. I’ll find a priest who will marry us against your will.”

  She faced him defiantly, but there was fear in her eyes.

  “But I will take your offer into consideration.” He rubbed his chin again.

  “So you agree not to hurt him anymore?”

  “Perhaps … for now.”

  Chapter

  20

  The men’s eyelids drooped. Gisela was exhausted but too tense to sleep, and was still trembling after watching Ruexner and his men beat and kick Valten mercilessly. Her whole body ached and sand seemed to have lodged inside her lids, scraping her eyes every time she blinked. When Ruexner announced they would make camp, she nearly fainted with relief.

  They ordered Valten to sit in the center of the open space, then they tied his ankles together. Gisela sat down beside him, although not too close, hoping they wouldn’t order her to move.

  Ruexner started walking toward her, and she noticed bloodstains on his shirt, under his armpits, and down his sides, obviously from the wounds he’d received from the sword fight with Valten in the tournament. The blood was dry, so someone must have bandaged the wounds, or they had stopped bleeding. It was a shame the injuries didn’t seem to be slowing him down.

  Ruexner handed her a flask. Then he muttered something to the other two men and stalked into the woods, probably to relieve himself.

  Gisela uncorked the flask and sniffed; it was water. She moved to Valten and held it up. He placed his bound hands over hers and drank. When he finished, she put the flask to her own lips and swallowed the water, with Ruexner’s two men watching her. She hadn’t drunk much in the last two days, and the water felt good going down her parched throat.

  Ruexner came back and let one of the other men head into the woods. Ruexner glared at Gisela, then went to rummage through his saddlebag. He came and handed her some dried meat and an apple. He looked at Valten for a moment and then turned and walked to where Valten’s horse was tied. He rummaged through Valten’s saddlebag and found some dried fruit and nuts and gave some to his men.

  When Ruexner’s head was turned, Gisela shared the food with Valten.

  No one spoke as they ate and then stretched out on the ground. Ruexner threw a blanket in Gisela’s direction, and she got up to retrieve it. Gisela folded the blanket, and she and Valten used it as a pillow as they lay facing each other.

  Would Ruexner and his men keep watch? Or would they all fall asleep? If they did, she was sure she and Valten could escape. But Ruexner didn’t lie down. He only propped his back against a tree and watched them while whittling a piece of wood with a knife. Almost immediately, his two men started snoring, but Ruexner looked wide awake.

  The next thing Gisela knew, she was blinking her eyes open and the sun was high overhead. Had she actually been asleep?

  Valten’s eyes were also open. She turned her head to follow his gaze. Ruexner’s head was lolled onto his shoulder and his eyes were closed. The other two men were still snoring.

  Valten whispered, “In my left boot is a dagger.”

  Gisela sat up, looking over her shoulder at Ruexner. He still looked asleep. She crawled as quietly as she could to Valten’s feet and slipped her hand inside his shoe, felt the hard handle of the dagger, and drew it out. She immediately went to work sawing through the rope around his ankles. It took longer than she thought. Valten kept his eyes on Ruexner while she worked.

  Suddenly, she broke through the rope and his feet were freed. She crawled back toward Valten’s head, holding the knife, and started trying to cut the rope around his hands. The hemp made a soft squeaking sound as she sawed through the tough fibers.

  “Wait.” Valten’s hoarse warning made her cease and look at Ruexner. He was moving. Any moment he might open his eyes and see her kneeling in front of Valten’s hands. She dropped the knife on the ground and held her hand over it to hide it. Ruexner mumbled a bit and rubbed his face. Gisela quickly lay down, only now she was close to Valten, and they were lying face to face. She turned her head so she could better see Ruexner, who was still rubbing his cheek.

  Suddenly, Ruexner jerked himself upright, his eyes popping open.

  Gisela closed her eyes, feigning sleep. Her heart was pounding, making it hard to keep her breathing under control. As much as she wanted to know what Ruexner was doing, she kept her eyes closed.

  She heard faint rustling sounds coming from his direction. Then the crunching of leaves, then more rustling. Someone mumbled something that sounded like, “Your turn.”

  Gisela dared open her eyes just a bit. One of Ruexner’s men was walking over to where Ruexner had been sitting and Ruexner was now lying down. Gisela waited, trying not to move. Soon, their guard’s head drifted to the side, and he started snoring again.

  Gisela waited. She wanted to make sure Ruexner was asleep. When she couldn’t wait any longer, she turned to face Valten. His gray-green eyes were staring right at her. How could he look so handsome with a bruised eye and dried blood at his temple? She sat up on her knees and he held his hands out to her as she took up the dagger again and started sawing the thick rope. How tight it was on his wrists! His fingers were purple. She was desperate to get the cruel twine off him, but she didn’t seem to be making much progress.

  “You are very brave,” Valten whispered.

  She stopped, only for a moment, to look into his eyes. The admiration in them made her heart grow and press against her chest. She kept sawing even harder, but trying not to cut his arm or fingers in the process.

  “But don’t tell Ruexner you will marry him. Because you won’t.” His jaw seemed to have turned to stone and the soft expression disappeared.

  His words made a warmth come over her neck and travel up to her head that had more to do with anger than his handsome face.

  “I said that so he would stop beating you,” she huffed. “Would you rather I let him pound you to death?”

  She kept working on cutting through the rope instead of looking him in the eye.

  “You won’t have to marry him,” he continued, as if she hadn’t said anything, “because I will rescue you.”

  The determination in his voice sent more warmth through her. “I couldn’t bear to see him hit you again. But I would never marry him. I would get away from him somehow.” She couldn’t help adding mischievously, “Maybe I will rescue you.”

  He made a growling noise in his throat, and she was hard-pressed to keep from laughing. Her amusement at least took her mind off how horrible she felt seeing him get beaten. After all, it was only happening because she had been foolish enough to get herself captured by that despicable Ruexner. Earlier, when they’d stopped to face their pursuers, how elated she had been to find that Valten had actually come himself to rescue her! Immediately afterward, she’d felt horribly guilty, since he was certain to get hurt, or killed. She should have prayed for him to stay away, to let his men rescue her.

  The rope was so tight that her sawing at it was causing it to chafe his skin. She became afraid his wrists would bleed. “I’m so sorry I’m hurting you.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Keep cutting.”

  He shifted his weight a bit, and Gisela paused to get a better grip on the knife.

  “My men have orders from me not to follow us. They will gather the rest of our men a
nd come to Ruexner’s castle in Bruchen, which is where Ruexner is taking us. But we can avoid any of them getting killed if we can escape.”

  “I am afraid Ruexner will kill you before we ever reach his castle.”

  “No. He’s jealous and cruel and wants to humiliate me. But he has some kind of plan for when we reach his castle. He’ll keep me alive until then.”

  She could feel the intensity of his gaze on her. She stopped and looked up at him.

  “He’s already hurt you.” She had a sudden thought and grabbed his arm, squeezing to ensure that he was listening. “Promise me that if you get a chance to escape without me, you will do it. He won’t kill me. Go find your men and come back for me.”

  His eyelids and brows lowered. “You don’t know me very well or you wouldn’t say such a thing. I won’t leave you.”

  He was angry. How could he be angry with her for wanting him to be safe?

  Frustrating man. At the same time, hadn’t he performed enough feats of skill and strength and bravery in the tournament to inspire her belief that he could save her? If anybody could, it was Valten.

  She whispered, “Even with a broken hand, you are the knight I’d most want and trust to rescue me — and I know you can do it. You are the boldest, bravest, most noble knight in the Holy Roman Empire.”

  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 Gis
ela 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.”