The Robber Knight's Secret

24. Tied up in Knots

Reuben moved the moment the cask had left the sling. While everyone else was still staring towards the heavens, following the projectile's fiery flight path with dark fascination, he marched forward, towards the trebuchet. Theoderich, who had been watching the cask along with all the others, he simply grabbed by the neck and lifted from the ground, carrying him along like a puppet.

In seconds, Reuben had crossed the ground to the trebuchet, and before its mighty arm could swing down again, had ducked under the complex net of pullies and ropes into the belly of the dreaded war machine.

"What the—" he heard a voice out of the darkness in front of him. It took his eyes just a few seconds to get used to the dim lighting, then he saw him: the man standing beside the trebuchet's central axis. It was a simple soldier.

How fascinating, Reuben thought. All those protective walls, and yet they leave this most vital of posts to be manned by a simpleton. A Mistake, my dear Margrave.

The soldier seemed to have recognized the crest on Reuben's stolen armor, by now. Hurriedly, he dropped to one knee and lowered his head. "Sir Ernolf! At your service, Sir. To what do I owe the honor of your presence?"

"Oh, it's nothing much," Reuben told him, drawing his sword. "I just have a little matter to attend to, here." His arm slashed through the air, and he decapitated the soldier with one neat blow. It had really been very nice of the man to kneel down and make things easier. "Unfortunately for you, that matter necessitates your death."

The headless corpse slumped to one side, spilling blood on the ground. It didn't offer any comments in reply.

Reuben kicked the head out of the way and sat down, leaning against one of the wooden supports. Then he noticed Theoderich standing in a corner, looking rather green in the face.

"Come on." Reuben patted the ground beside him. "Take a seat. It will take some time for the men in the treadmills to rewind the trebuchet. So we have to wait, for now, and there's no reason why we shouldn't make ourselves comfortable."

The boy looked as if he might consider the severed head next to the spot Reuben had indicated sufficient reason, but then he took a deep breath and sat down anyway. Reuben was actually slightly impressed.

For a moment, he considered whether he should use the time they had to wait to instruct the lad in the fine art of decapitation using a real life—or rather real dead—example, but then decided not to. Right now, his mission had priority, and in any case, he could always decapitate someone else later.

Hearing a squeaking noise, Reuben looked up. The treadmills on either side of them had just begun to turn. Luckily, they were sealed off from the little compartment in which Reuben and his squire were sitting with a severed head for company. The men in the treadmills had no idea of the bloody spectacle that had unfolded only a few feet away from them.

"Watch." Reuben pointed to the axis, which had slowly begun to turn. The rope that lay in coils on the floor was being pulled up to the axis, winding around it like a snake. Above them, they heard more creaking and groaning that easily drowned out the sound of the treadmills.

"What's that?" Theoderich whispered.

"The throwing arm being pulled back into the firing position, goldilocks. That's the sound of compact death in a coil."

"Um... so what do we do, Milord?"

"Wait."

"Err... until?"

"Until I say so, goldilocks. Now shut up."

"Yes, Milord."

Reuben leaned his head back against the rough wooden wall of the trebuchet and let his eyes drift closed—almost. One eye he kept half-open, and that one was trained directly on the axis and the ever-growing coil of rope around it. Quite a while would pass before the rope would be wound up again. The trebuchet wasn't exactly a rapid-fire weapon. Beside him, he could hear Theoderich's even breathing. It sounded like the lad had fallen asleep.