The Robber Knight's Protege

4 - Rainbow Face

"Do something about that," Sir Reuben ordered, gesturing at Fye's tattered dress. He looked her over, though he couldn't see much in the dark. The moon, though bright, didn't give him the illumination he needed to learn what he wanted to know. "Are you hurt?" he asked.

"No, sir."

He nodded.

"Are you hurt, sir?"

"No." He gestured at Xander, who was slumped on Titan. "Stop asking me that, you fluff-headed child. They only tortured him."

"Why, sir?"

Reuben had been thinking about that, about the reasons behind why Reynolds' men had taken them in the first place. He said, "Lord Reynolds doesn't have the manpower to take us on in a war—for now. I'm going to order a few lances of men to go to Sir Gregor's, though, just in case. But I'm not sure Reynolds even wants a war."

"Then he shouldn't have kidnapped you. What do you think he wants?"

"I think he wants us to think that he wants a war. He asked a lot of questions about our defenses across the fiefdom, but I think that was a distraction."

Fye frowned. "So...what are we going to do?"

"I'm going to recommend that we clobber him and his forces."

"But if you wanted to clobber him, you would have killed those men who were guarding the gate."

Reuben frowned. The girl knew him too well. Yes, there was a reason behind why he hadn't killed those men—and why he hadn't killed the dungeon guard. And the reason wasn't because Fye had asked him not to. "Like I said, I don't think he wants a war. And I doubt my wife would want me to start one—as much fun as that would be. I think that maybe..."

"Maybe what? You're about to say something brilliant. I can feel it."

Reuben grinned. "Everything I say is brilliant."

"Eh."

"Eh?" he echoed. "That's what you have to say to the man who taught you everything you know?"

"Not everything."

"But everything of use."

She nodded. "I suppose."

Reuben chuckled.

"But back to Lord Reynolds," Fye pressed. "What do you think he wants?"

"If I were a devious bastard—which I am—and I were in his position, I might..."

"You might what?"

"They didn't cause any permanent harm to Xander. They didn't cut off any limbs or do anything else that put his life in danger." Reuben frowned, mulling over the possibilities, finally settling on one that almost made sense. It might not make sense after he got some sleep, but for now it seemed reasonable. "I have a theory."

"What is it?"

He grinned at her. "I haven't seen you in months, and you expect me just to tell you? You missed weeks of training before I left on this little excursion. Did you have an embroidery project to finish or something?

Fye scratched her head. "About that..."

"Yes?"

"My mother found this boy—"

Reuben tensed. "A boy? Don't you dare tell me that she's married you off to some—"

"No! Gross. She tried. He took a lot of my time; he was more tenacious than a lot of the previous ones. Until I climbed a tree. He followed me. I pushed him. He broke his leg. He thought I was just playing hard to get!"