The figure stepped out of the shadows and Reuben recognized Ayla's lovely, dirty face. She was frowning down at him.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” she asked. “You look like you've seen a ghost.”

Reuben breathed in a heavy sigh of relief, and let his hand drop from his belt at which, of course, no sword hung.

“Err... nothing. You just startled me, that's all.” He looked around the room, which was dark, except for a candle Ayla had probably brought with her, standing on the table, too far away for its light to quite reach him. Looking back at her, he smiled, suggestively. “I'm just not used to waking up in the middle of the night and finding a beautiful girl in my room,” he lied smoothly.

Ayla's face changed color. Reuben thought she might be blushing at the compliment, though under all the mud it was difficult to tell.

“I... I'm sorry, Reuben. I suppose I should have let you sleep. It's just, I was so excited, I simply had to come and tell you, I couldn't wait! We won! We actually won!”

Reuben's brow creased.

“Won? Won what?”

“Why, the battle of course.”

“The what?”

*~*~**~*~*

Even in the semi-darkness, Ayla could see Reuben's eyes go wide.

“Battle? Ayla, what do you mean, battle? There was no battle!”

“Yes, there was. Just now, down at the bridge.”

“Just now, during the night? Do you mean to say there was a battle and I slept through it?”

He seemed to be affronted by the idea, as if it were his personal responsibility to be awake and ready for each and every violent altercation.

Ayla found it hard to suppress a smile. “Apparently.”

“Tell me what happened!” he demanded.

“Well, as I said, we won,” she replied, a warm, proud glow spreading through her.

“I would like to hear it in a little more detail if you don't mind,” he said between clenched teeth.

Nothing would have suited Ayla better. It was the middle of the night, and she was hungry, dirty, and exhausted, but she didn't want to eat, she didn't want to wash, and she most certainly didn't want to sleep. She was much too excited for that.

She, Ayla, a seventeen-year-old girl, had won a battle against an experienced mercenary commander. She could hardly believe it herself, and all she wanted to do was share the news with everybody who wanted to hear it. Reuben seemed eager enough.

Quickly, she took a seat next to Reuben on his bedstead and began.

“You see, it was like this: we came down to the bridge and at first we thought there was nobody there, but then we realized that the entire enemy army was actually right in front of us.”

Raising an eyebrow, Reuben cut her off. “Really? And how exactly did you manage to overlook it, at first?”

“It was dark, stupid! And don't interrupt.”

“My apologies, Milady. Please carry on.”

“So, they noticed we had spotted them and lit their torches and charged. They were like a swarm of locusts. There were so many, it was unbelievable!”

“How many, exactly?”

Airily, she waved a hand. What did these details matter? Why didn't he let her get on with the story?

“I don't know! And I said don't interrupt!”

“Sorry.”

“You should be. We stood there on the barricade and there were only about twenty of us, and hundreds of them out there, bloodthirsty and armed to the teeth; they really wanted to kill us!”

“I would imagine so. They're enemy soldiers.”

Ayla waved a threatening finger at him. “Will you stop interrupting? Where was I...?”

“They wanted to kill you.”

“Ah, yes! I could see the reinforcements were still a long way off, and I shouted for them to hurry up, for everybody to rally and defend the bridge! The first minutes were terrible! Only twenty of us and hundreds of them out there...!”

“Yes, you mentioned that before.”

“Then help started arriving, and things improved a little. But we were still hard pressed to defend ourselves.”

Reuben narrowed his eyes at her. “You keep saying 'we.' Did you actually grab a sword and try to help out?”

Ayla's jaw dropped. “Of course not! What do you think of me? I'm a lady!”

“Yes, and you look very ladylike at the moment.”

Was he trying to be funny? Ayla flushed and looked at her torn and muddy nightgown. “I was bandaging people,” she said, haughtily. “That is all, you may rest assured.”

“Good. Now go on. What happened next?”

“Well, we fought on for some time. The enemy attacked again and again. I was pretty busy with caring for the wounded soldiers, so I didn't see exactly why and how, but we beat the enemy and they retreated.”

There was a pause. Ayla was smiling, waiting for applause. Yet Reuben was equally silent. He seemed to be waiting for more.

Finally, he apparently realized that her story was finished. “Just like that?” he asked. “They retreated, just like that?”

“Yes.”

*~*~**~*~*

Reuben nodded slowly. Captain Linhart must be a good commander. He had heard of similar feats before—a small army at a pass or some other narrow point overwhelming and turning back an infinitely larger force through pure persistence. No doubt Sir Luca, the fiend, would attack again. But this time, it seemed, he had lost.

But no. Something was not quite right with this picture.

“They attacked the bridge?” Reuben asked, trying to find a clue to what was bothering him. “They attacked just like the first time?”

“Yes.”

He frowned, deep in thought. “That's odd.”

Ayla stared at him, incredulity written all over her pretty, mud-streaked face. “Odd? What do you mean, odd? They're here to attack us, aren't they? I would have said terrible, atrocious, villainous, but not odd.”

“No, I don't mean it's odd that they attacked you. I mean it's odd that they attacked the bridge. They already tried that strategy once, and it failed. It is odd that they should try the same strategy again. From what you have told me of this Sir Luca, I would have judged him to be a better commander.”

“Perhaps he's not as clever as he thinks he is.”

“Perhaps...” Reuben's voice didn't sound convinced, even to himself. Frustrated, he stared at the opposite wall. Something, there was something wrong...

Then, suddenly, Reuben saw it. His eyes widened and his breathing hitched. Oh no. Could it be? No, no, no...!

*~*~**~*~*

In a heartbeat, the whole atmosphere in the room changed. Ayla felt it: where before there had been the triumph of victory, which, though marred by loss, was sweet and joyous, there now was an undefinable dread.

She returned Reuben's wide-eyed gaze and saw fear and anger boiling there.

“Tell me what you said again,” he demanded.

“What I said? That Luca isn't as clever as he thinks he is?”

“Not that! What you said when you saw your twenty men weren't enough to defend the bridge!”

“I...” Ayla floundered for a moment. “You mean... you mean that I called for everybody to come help defend the bridge?”

Reuben paled and a low growl escaped his throat.

“I don't understand. What's so bad about everybody coming to help?”

His gray eyes were intense—full of anger, fear, and... pity as they looked at her.

“Don't you see, Ayla?” he said. “Everybody. Everybody—including the river patrols.”

It took a moment for the meaning of his words to sink in. When it did, a cold hand gripped Ayla and froze her in place. She was speechless. Paralyzed. Not able to move or think. God, what had she done?

“Luca must have planned this all along,” she heard Reuben's voice as if from very far away. “The surprise attack at night, bringing nearly all his forces to bear down on you at once—it was just a distraction. As we speak, dozens of his men are probably just climbing out of the boats they have crossed the unprotected river in.”

“Yes.” Was that her talking? No, she couldn’t be talking. She was speechless, after all. It had to be someone else, using her mouth. This felt so unreal...

“Ayla!”

“W-what?”

“Ayla, pull yourself together!”

Ayla's head swam. The mere idea that while she was calmly sitting in this room talking to Reuben, the Margrave's men might be advancing towards the village, bent on destroying anything in their path... no, not might be. Were. They were across, they were coming, because of her foolishness. This couldn't be happening.

“Go! Ayla, go!”

Somebody grabbed her by the arm and pushed. Blinking, she stared down at the man before her. Oh yes. Reuben. He was here. What did he want from her?

“Go!” he snarled again. “Go now!”

Somehow, she managed to find her voice. “W-what do you mean, go?”

“Go, ride out there! There might still be time! If the Margrave's men landed far enough from the bridge and the village so as not to attract attention, they might need some time to march there. Ride out and warn your people! Bring everybody back with you to the castle. You've had them prepare for an emergency retreat, haven't you?”

“Yes... I ... but...”

“No buts! You have to go, now!”

Ayla could see that he was right about everything. She had to leave and bring everyone to safety. Well, almost everything. There was something that had to be done before she went.

The realization pierced her more painfully than any pain in her life ever had. This was it. The end.

She swallowed, hard.

“Yes,” she said. “I must ride. But there's one thing that must happen first.”

“What?”

“You must leave.”

“What?” Reuben looked completely taken aback. It was such a funny expression, his wild, black hair sticking out in all directions, his gray eyes wide open, that Ayla would have laughed—if she hadn't felt so terribly heartbroken.

“Don't you see,” she choked out, moisture beginning to brim her eyes. “It's your last chance! If the enemy has really crossed the river, we will soon be surrounded—then the true siege will begin! No one will get in and... and no one will get out. This is your last chance to escape.”

Reuben's face was impassive. “I thought I was too ill to travel, that it would kill me, even more surely than staying here would.”

“You were, Reuben. You were too ill. But you've made an amazing recovery over the last couple of days. You can manage a short horse ride, I'm sure. I'll help you down to the stables, you can pick any horse you want. Just ride fast, and make sure these filthy villains don't catch you. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you.”

Slowly, his face still not showing any emotion, Reuben reached up and cupped her face with his right hand. She felt as though she might splinter into a thousand painful pieces.

“They won't catch me, Ayla.”

Oh. So he was a good rider. That was good, wasn't it? She wanted him to ride away quickly, didn't she? She wanted him to be safe. Yes, she definitely wanted that.

“Because,” Reuben added, not taking his eyes or his hand off her face, “I am not leaving.”

What?

“But you must! You must leave!”

“Telling me what to do now, Milady?” He cocked an eyebrow. “You forget, I'm not one of your vassals, you can't order me about as you please.”

“I... I don't mean that you have to go because I said so,” Ayla said, trying without much success to suppress the swell of joy in her heart. “I mean you have to go for your own safety.”

“Well, I give a devil's pisspot about my safety,” Reuben said, with a grin that very nearly made her laugh. What was the matter with her? Enemy soldiers were marching up towards her castle and she was happy because a man had decided to stay here?

Then again, the man in question was Reuben.

“Why, for heaven's sake?” she demanded, half desperate, half ecstatic. “Why would you want to stay?”

He shrugged, but then fixed her with a very determined, very intimate gaze. “I just think there are things here worth staying for. Unfinished business.”

Ayla's heart jumped with hope and anticipation. “Like what?” she whispered.

Reuben's grin turned mischievous. “Like my compensation, for instance. I still haven't received a penny for all my lost wares. I can't go without my compensation, now, can I?” Cocking his head, he threw her an innocent look.

Ayla didn't know whether she wanted to kiss or kill him in that moment.

Finally, she leaned closer, grasped his collar and with his face barely two inches away from hers, breathed:

“I have to go save my people now. When I get back, we'll see about your compensation.”

God! What had possessed her to say that? She was not even sure what his words had meant—and even less sure what he would make of her response. Oh dear Lord...

“Ayla?”

She blinked, interrupted in the middle of her thought—and thankful for it. She had to go! She had to ride, or her people would be lost. But she was so close to his beautiful face, and it was so easy to get lost in his gray eyes...

“Y-yes, Reuben?”

“I love you.”

For a moment, Ayla thought that time stood still—or maybe just her heart did. Had she really just heard that? Three little words that turned her world on its head? No, she couldn't think, couldn't indulge. Not now. She had to ride!

Impulsively, she threw her arms around Reuben and hugged him close. “Thanks!”

Then she was on her feet and out the door in a flash. She had to ride! A horse! A kingdom for a horse!