The Robber Knight's Love

The heavy oak door of your bedchamber slammed shut, the sound echoing in the sudden silence. Tears you had desperately tried to hold back now streamed freely down your face, hot and blurring your vision. You leaned against the cold stone wall, struggling to catch your breath. He knew. Reuben knew that you knew. The truth, stark and brutal, hung in the air between you moments ago. The man you had sheltered, cared for, and impossibly, fallen in love with, was the 'devil of a robber knight' who had stolen your mare and left you stranded. The words he had spoken, cold and devoid of the affection he'd shown only hours before, replayed in your mind. 'You...you...I never want to see you again in this world or the next, you miserable worm!' That's what you had shrieked, fueled by a rage born of deep hurt. Now, the anger was replaced by a hollow ache. You had to be strong. For your people. But the weight of betrayal felt crushing.