Captivity Read Free Page B

that
would shadow me for the rest of my life, tainting Dominic and his
companions and the children, which made it impossible.
    “Please, Captain Reynaldo,” I said in an
obsequious, fawning voice. It made me sick all over again to hear
myself, but I was desperate and did not know any other way. “If you
spare my women, my husband will be generous. But if you harm them,
he will doubt your good faith. He will think you mean only to kill
us, and entrap him.”
    Dominic would suspect that anyway, no matter
what was done to the women, but I could shield my thoughts a little
now with my slight returning strength. If I could convince Reynaldo
not to harm the women, it might be a hopeful sign, that ransom, not
torture or murder, was the real as well as the professed goal.
    The bandit leader was smart, if unstable. His
intelligence was apparent in his every thought, along with the
insanity that growing up with his untrained gift, motherless among
outlaws, had inevitably produced. My words made sense to him, but
he must have his fun with me before giving in.
    “And the men?” Reynaldo asked. “What will
your lord husband think if we spare them?” He signaled to the
bandits who had been holding our guards down all this time, and
they increased the pressure on vulnerable throats. The guards
struggled, clawing at the booted feet and scrabbling on the ground
with frantic hands. “Won’t he think we are weak?”
    My mind, too, worked frantically to know what
answer would make any impression. Bad enough to get Wilmos, an
Aranyi man, killed by my misadventure. To cause the death of men
from another household, borrowed from a relatively poor young
neighbor, was unbearably disgraceful. Necessity inspired me. “He
will think you are very clever,” I said, “to take wife and children
without a fight. Margrave Aranyi will know not to attempt a rescue,
that he is up against a worthy opponent.” How I hated comparing
Dominic in any way to this crazy piece of filth. But it paid
off.
    Reynaldo was pleased with the suggestion. He
raised a hand in an imperious gesture, shouted a command. “Release
the guards.” His men muttered in protest, but Reynaldo was in no
mood for mutiny. He stalked over to the nearest man, pushed him off
balance so that he stumbled, releasing a guard, who rose only as
far as hands and knees, unable or afraid to stand. Reynaldo did
something with his crypta to the disobedient bandit and the
man yelped with pain. The other three quickly released their
prisoners. There were coughs and whooping sounds as the four guards
eased their bruised throats and drew in their first free
breaths.
    Reynaldo decided his men needed a warning.
“You saw what I did to the ‘Gravina,” he said. “That is nothing to
what I can do to any of you.” He stared at the bandit whom he had
pushed, and the man slunk away toward the forest. Reynaldo smiled.
“We will all have our reward, in time. Let them go, naked, back to
Margrave Aranyi. Let him see our power.” He paused, drinking in the
pleasure of anticipation. “We will have riches to buy all the women
we please, soon enough. And men, if you prefer.” He laughed,
kicking at a guard, a handsome young man who knelt in an
unconsciously suggestive pose in the road as he got his breath
back.
    The bandits were still restless, but too
afraid of their leader to disobey. Reynaldo stepped over to
Katrina. She and Isobel sat their horses quietly, close together,
heads down as if they were praying. “We’ll have a look at least,”
Reynaldo said. “Come on, bitch, undress yourself, or my men will
help you, but let’s have the clothes. My own Michaela will screech
like a banshee if I bring her nothing but mouths to feed.”
    He snapped his fingers and two men came over
and pulled Katrina and Isobel off their horses. Isobel cried out
with pain, holding one arm in the other, cradling what looked like
a broken wrist. She had fought Reynaldo before giving up Val to
him. The women undressed