The Fairest Beauty

 

Chapter 26

 

 

Sophie, Petra, and Roslind were washing clothes together behind the cottage. Birds were singing and the sun was shining warmly on their shoulders. Sophie and her two companions had risen early to make breakfast for everyone and had spent the time discussing the duchess and what had happened to her. The three of them spoke in hushed tones as they prepared the food. Petra told Sophie what had happened at the castle after Sophie had escaped — the duchess had locked herself in her chamber and screamed at anyone who tried to bring her food or clean her room.

 

But during breakfast, they threw off the pall that had fallen over them from talking about the duchess, and now they laughed as they talked and stirred the clothes in the large black pot over the outdoor fire pit. They took some out to cool and to scrub some more before hanging them on the line.

 

Petra lifted her head, as though to listen, and then Sophie heard it too. Was that thunder? But then Sophie realized it was not thunder, but horses’ hooves.

 

Gabe!

 

But as the sound drew nearer she realized it was a lot more than one or two horses. It sounded like a small army. She waited, her heart thumping inside her.

 

Bartel came out of his chapel to stand beside the women as the riders broke through the dense wood and headed toward them, horses snorting and shifting their feet as they came to a halt a few feet away.

 

Sophie immediately recognized Walther, and she knew. Gabe had not made it back before his father had come for her. She grabbed Petra’s arm for support.

 

“Good day to you,” Bartel said, calmly nodding at the men.

 

“Good day,” said a man with dark brown hair that was sprinkled with a small amount of gray. He sat straight and regal on his large black horse. From his familiar features, Sophie realized he must be Gabe’s father.

 

“I am Duke Wilhelm of Hagenheim, and these are my men. We come in search of Gabehart Gerstenberg and a young lady, called Sophie, who was with him. We were told they were being sheltered in the Cottage of the Seven.”

 

“Your Grace, you have come to the Cottage of the Seven. You are very welcome here,” Bartel said solemnly, then nodded his head at her. “This is Lady Sophia, daughter of Duke Baldewin. But your son, Lord Gabehart, is not here.”

 

“Not here?” Duke Wilhelm sounded annoyed. The duke fixed Bartel with a fierce gaze.

 

“No, Your Grace. He left for Gemeinhart Monastery several days ago and has not returned.”

 

Gabe’s father seemed to control himself with effort as he gripped his saddle horn. “What business did he have at Gemeinhart Monastery?”

 

“He —” Bartel looked at Sophie and hesitated.

 

“Yes?”

 

Bartel gave Sophie an apologetic look, then turned back to Duke Wilhelm. “He went there to find Duke Baldewin.”

 

Sophie felt her knees go weak, and she held tighter to Petra’s arm. Then she noticed all the blood had drained from Petra’s face and she was swaying slightly. Sophie steadied Petra as best she could while trying not to let her own knees buckle. Why hadn’t Gabe told her?

 

“Duke Baldewin is dead,” Duke Wilhelm said, but his tone sounded uncertain.

 

“He was alive, Your Grace, when I left the monastery seven years ago.”

 

Duke Wilhelm’s eyes conveyed calm acceptance as he nodded. Sophie thought she heard him murmur, “Praise God,” echoing her own thought.

 

The duke dismounted, and the young man behind him followed his lead. Duke Wilhelm stepped toward her and sank to one knee. He grasped her hand and said, “My Lady Sophia, I am honored.” He bowed over her hand, then abruptly stood and backed away.

 

The young man behind him immediately took his place in front of her. He also knelt before her and took her hand, and then he kissed it.

 

His voice was gruff and his expression seemed carved from stone, and the several small scars on his face were like careless nicks from the sculptor’s chisel. “Lady Sophia,” he said. “I am Valten, your betrothed.”

 

Gabe chafed at Duke Baldewin’s slowness. The man hadn’t been on a horse in fifteen years, but it seemed as though he would remember how to ride at some point on this supposed-to-be-two-days trip that threatened to stretch into a multiple-night journey. Gabe reminded himself, for the hundredth time since midday, that he couldn’t afford to lose his temper with Sophie’s father. He tried to distract himself with thoughts of how happy she would be to learn her father was alive and how she would react when he told her that her father had promised to help them to wed.

 

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