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?”