Ayla had been in agony, terrified she would be taken to the Margrave, terrified she would become a slave to her worst enemy, terrified she would never see Reuben again—and then he dropped on her head. That had been quite the shock, to say the least.

Well, he hadn't actually dropped on her head. He had just dropped from God only knew where out of the sky, and ripped her from the clutches of that stinking monster. For a moment, she had been in his arms and everything had been all right—and the next moment, he had the effrontery to squash her against a wall and call her a silly girl! She would have very much liked to stab him in that moment—if she hadn't been so terribly afraid for him.

And then...

Then it had all gotten a bit confusing. Mostly because she wasn't used to being tossed through the air like some jugglers ball. How dare he? How dare that villain treat a lady in this manner? She landed on something that said “Umpf!” and then suddenly was surrounded by armed men and couldn't see Reuben anymore.

Was he all right? Was he alive? Oh Lord, she prayed, her head still spinning like a spindle, Lord, please let him be alive! Please! He may be a villain, and a rogue, and a terrible sinner, but please let him live anyway!

Some of the soldiers around her rushed forward, and she heard a voice. His voice. He was alive!

“Back! This one is mine! Mine I say! Back with you!”

What was going on?

As the soldiers around her slowly retreated, she saw a sight that made the marrow freeze in her bones. Most of the mercenaries were lying dead on the ground—but one was still very much alive. With a gigantic sword in Hand, the beefy monster that had held his knife to her throat stood in the middle of the courtyard.

And directly opposite him stood Reuben. Totally alone.

Ayla's mouth went dry.

“No! Reuben, don't be a fool!”

She tried to rush forward, but Hands grasped her arms, holding her back. She yelled at them to let her go, that he was about to get hurt, and couldn't they see that she had to do something to prevent this, but the hands only tightened their grip.

“Reuben, don't do this,” she cried. “Not alone! Why do this alone?”

It was so stupid, so unnecessary, so... typically male! For heaven's sake, there were two dozen soldiers around! But instead of helping him, they were holding her back, to allow Reuben to go through with his grand heroic act! Didn't they have any brains in their helmeted heads?

In a swift motion, Reuben picked up one of the swords that were strewn among the corpses. It was by no means as large as the one the mercenary had in his hand. Another surge of fear rose up inside Ayla’s chest. She had never actually seen Reuben fight before. Well, she had, out of the corner of her eye seen him attack her abductors, but she was being forcibly dragged away at the time, with a knife held to her throat—not the best conditions for exact scrutiny.

Was Reuben actually any good at fighting?

But it was too late for such questions. In that moment, Reuben loosed a battlecry that shook the very foundations of the castle, and charged the mercenary head on. His first blow reassured Ayla on one point: Yes, Reuben could fight. Reuben could fight better than any knight she had ever seen.

The mercenary had hardly time enough to bring up the giant sword and deflect the first blow. Sparks ignited in the night as the two blades connected. With a gyrating movement, Reuben somehow took control of his enemy’s sword and swirled it into the opposite direction from that which the mercenary intended. The fat monster was still trying to regain control of his sword when Reuben rammed into him and catapulted him twenty feet or so through the air. With an unhealthy crash, the mercenary slammed onto the cobblestones.

“Get up,” Reuben said in a voice that was liquid contempt.

Ayla was so surprised by his words that she stopped struggling against the grip of her guards. Reuben conforming to the knight's code of honor? Everybody knew that a knight couldn't strike a man who was not on his feet, but Ayla would never have suspected that Reuben might stick to this code, particularly now.

Then she saw the gleam in Reuben's eyes and suddenly knew that there was a different reason for his words. Reuben was planning something. But what? Why didn't he just kill the monster, if he could?

The mercenary was already back on his feet. He was astonishingly quick for such a bulky man. He stood there, staring at Reuben with narrowed eyes.

“You're no castle guard,” he growled. His stance had slightly changed. He held the sword different than before, more firmly, somehow. “Not the usual sort of riffraff.”

“No, I'm not,” Reuben confirmed, advancing towards him. His head was lowered like that of a bull preparing for a charge, his long black hair, glistening in the rain, was fluttering behind him as shiny, dark flags of death.

The eyes of the mercenary narrowed even more—then suddenly went wide.

“You're the one,” he whispered. “The one who broke into our camp and stole our commander's armor.”

“Not quite.” In a swift ark Reuben brought down his sword. The mercenary jumped to the side, Reuben changed direction, and the two swords met with a clang. This time, the beefy man held his position. “I was just taking back what is mine.”

“Taking back what is yours? I don't understand what you’re babbling bout!”

“I wouldn't expect you to.” Reuben shrugged. “But then, it doesn't matter whether you do, because you'll be dead in a few minutes.”

The mercenary’s face hardened. Reuben loosed another blow at him, which the mercenary evaded by jumping back.

“You? You think you're going to kill me?”

“Oh yes. It will be my pleasure.”

“Bah! I've killed more knights than I can count, you stripling![1] How old are you, twenty? Twenty-one? I'm not about to be beaten by a green boy like you!”

“You mistake my color,” Reuben said, darkly and struck again. And again, the mercenary deflected the blow, although he was forced to step back. With the hand that wasn’t gripping his sword, Reuben lovingly caressed the crimson of his armor. “I don't like green. I prefer wearing red. The blood doesn't show as easily.”

“Ha! Do you think you can frighten me?”

Reuben nodded. “Yes, actually, I do believe I can.”

“No dice!”

Ayla was disturbed by how confident the mercenary was sounding. And she had to admit Reuben wasn't making a very good show of himself. At first it had seemed as though he would crush the man—but now he seemed almost timid. Or holding back. But... why should he hold back?

“You think so, do you?” Reuben asked, almost kindly.

The mercenary spat at his feet.

“Maybe with a couple of your cronies over there. But since your knight's honor won't permit you to let them help, I'll show you what I am capable of.”

“Oh, it is not my honor as a knight that prevents me from letting them help,” Reuben assured him softly. “I just don't want to share the pleasure of killing you.”

The way he said those words... It sent a shiver down Ayla's spine. Even the mercenary looked uneasy for a moment. Then he grinned again.

“You talk and talk, but don't do anything,” he growled contemptuously.

“On the contrary,” said Reuben. “I have brought you to where I want you. Open the gates!”

The last three words were shouted as a command. Ayla's eyes widened. Only now did she realize that Reuben's carefully aimed attacks had taken him and the mercenary across the courtyard right to the inner gates. Hearing Reuben's command, the guards, though they could not have the slightest idea who this fellow in the red armor was, didn't hesitate. The look of him alone was enough to instill the wish for obedience in any man with a sense of self-preservation.

“What the...” The mercenary turned, trying to see where the strange creaking noises came from that rang through the night as the gates swung open.

With another deafening bellow, Reuben lowered his head and charged at his foe's unprotected back. He rammed into the mercenary and flung him through the air, right through the opening gates and out onto the outer courtyard.

Ayla felt the grips on her arm loosen in surprise. She rushed forward, and before her guards could grab hold of her again, she was through the gate and in the outer section of the castle. There, the mercenary was just climbing to his feet again, cursing. Reuben advanced on him.

“What the hell was that supposed to be?” the mercenary yelled. “Do you want to fight or butt heads with me?”

“You have comrades out there, watching for your return, yes?” Reuben asked.

“Of course! And?”

“I want them to see this. I want them to remember what happens to anybody who dares to enter this castle uninvited.”

Then he loosed his third and final battlecry, and charged again. And this time he did not hold back, did not rein in his wroth. In a furious storm of blows he drove the mercenary backwards, down the sloping courtyard towards the outer wall. The man tried to evade, to duck to the side, but someone with his bulk was no match for Reuben's easy, deadly grace. He was slowly being driven towards one of the towers.

The door stood open. With a particularly heavy blow, Reuben knocked the mercenary right through the narrow doorway into the dark interior of the tower, and jumped after him, screaming curses so vile they made Ayla's ears burn red.

What the heck was Reuben doing? Was he... no, that couldn’t be. It looked like he was trying to drive the mercenary back up the spiral staircase, onto the wall. But he couldn't be that reckless, could he?

I want them to see this. I want them to remember what happens to anybody who dares to enter this castle uninvited

Yes. He could.

The idiot! Was he possessed by little demons who had sucked the last bit of brain out of his head via the ears? Apart from the fact that the fighter on higher ground always had the advantage, there was also the problem that castle towers were designed in such a way that the party fighting from above always was in a better position, because they could more freely move their sword arm. Even Ayla, who had as much military experience as a bumblebee, knew that much. Who did Reuben think he was, to think he’d be able to drive an enemy with a superior weapon up an entire castle tower in the dark?

Five minutes later, Reuben appeared on top of the wall, driving back the mercenary along the allure with deadly ferocity. From what Ayla could see from down in the courtyard he wasn't even sweating. He drove his grim but still determined enemy back from the tower to a section of the wall clearly visible both from the courtyard and the valley outside. His blows increased in intensity and speed until he seemed to be not so much a man as a living sword, to which the knight was a mere appendix. Finally he caught his enemy's weapon behind the guard[2] and ripped it out of his grip.

The sword clattered to the ground—but that didn't mean the fight was over. The mercenary was still holding on to the flaming torch he had taken from the wall in the keep. Switching it to his right hand, he took a defensive stance, and once again spat at Reuben.

“You'll not best me, you brat!”

“Still not afraid?” asked Reuben mildly, as if he were talking about the weather.

“Of you? Never!”

Reuben smiled.

“We’ll see.”

And then, Reuben did something unbelievable. Something unimaginable. Something Ayla would never have believed, if she hadn’t seen it.

He dropped his sword.



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Greetings!

This author's note is especially for my far-flung fans in the farthest corners of the world (from where I am sitting, anyway).

The published Special Edition of 'The Robber Knight' has previously only been available via amazon, and was therefore not available in certain countries. Now, however, you can buy it via bookdepository.com, an online book-seller that delivers books for free almost world-wide, into more than 200 countries. I hope that news will bring joy to those readers from countries such as Croatia, Saudi-Arabia and India, who have contacted me about how to get the book.

The book should now also be available to order in traditional bookstores. The ISBN is: 1499251645

Thank you all very much for going out there and supporting me by buying and / or reviewing my book! Every penny or cent will go towards financing the special edition of volume 2 of the Robber Knight Saga, 'The Robber Knight's Love' :-)

After the Glossary, I've included an alphabetical list of the countries bookdepository.com delivers to. Hopefully, yours will be on there :-)

Farewell for now!

Sir Rob

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GLOSSARY:

Guard: This is a term for the part of a sword that seperates the blade from the hilt. Jutting out towards either side, it is very handy for protecting your hads from being cut to pieces.

Stripling: A young and inexperienced man. I think it was a great mistake to call Reuben that...

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ALPHABETICAL LIST OF BOOKDEPOSITRY.COM DELIVERY COUNTRIES:

A - Andorra, Antigua And Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria B - Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darrusalam, Bulgaria C - Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic D - Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic E - Estonia, El Salvador F - Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France G - Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadaloupe, Guam, Guatemala H - Hong Kong, Hungary I - Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy J - Jamaica, Japan, Jordan L - Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg M - Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Martinique, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro N - Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norway O - Oman P - Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico Q - Qatar R - Reunion, Romania, Russia S - Saint Helena, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre And Miquelon, Saint Vincent And The Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland T - Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad And Tobago, Turkey U - Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, US Virgin Islands V - Vanuatu, Vatican City, Vietnam