The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson Page A

will murder me where I stand
.
    Finally, she turned to him. That disturbing half smile, more frightening than her menacing grin, was on her face again as she took a step toward him. “You have come here to spy on me, haven’t you?”
    Had he? No. He had come to rescue Sophie.
    “No, Your Grace. Of course not.”
    She took another step. He forced himself not to back away from her.
    “Who are you?”
    “I am Gabe, Your Grace.”
    “Perhaps you think you know who Sophie is. Who told you?”
    She stepped closer.
    “Told me what, Your Grace?”
    “That she is Duke Baldewin’s only daughter.”
    The back of his neck tingled. If she was telling him this, she must have decided to kill him. “Everyone knows Duke Baldewin’s daughter is dead. Sophie is only a scullery maid.”
    “Oh no,” Duchess Ermengard crooned in a silky, low voice as she slowly walked toward him. “She is Sophia Breitenbach, daughter of Baldewin Breitenbach, Duke of Hohendorf, and the fairest beauty in the Holy Roman Empire. Is she not?” She stopped only two feet in front of him, her white teeth glowing between her unnaturally red lips.
    It was no good to lie. Besides, if he was going to die, he wanted to be right with God.
    “Sophie is very beautiful, it is true.”
    “The
most
beautiful. Admit it!” Her voice rose in both pitch and intensity. “You think she’s more beautiful than I am!”
    Her eyes were two glowing green orbs. Her expression was one of outraged discovery.
    “And you are no lowly peasant.” Her voice lowered once again and her eyes narrowed. “I do believe Duke Wilhelm had a son … a son named Gabehart. But Gabehart was not betrothed to a duke’s daughter. No, no. As I recall, his older brother, Valten, was to marry Duke Baldewin’s only child. So which one are you? Are you Valten, assuming your brother’s name? Or are you actually stupid enough to be Gabehart?”
    Her evil catlike eyes seemed to bore into his soul, like a wild animal surveying her prey. Gabe shuddered.
    “And if you are Gabehart, why did not Valten, Sophie’s betrothed, come to rescue her?”
    Gabe cast about in his mind for a strategy, a way of escape from this room and this woman. But the windows were shut and bolted. He could possibly unbolt one and jump out the window, if he took everyone by complete surprise, although he was so high in her tower room he’d probably break something when he hit the ground. The only other option was to physically overpower her, which also appeared to be a gamble. For now, he would tell the truth in an effort to keep her from becoming enraged again. The moment she called for her guards, his lot was hopeless.
    “I am Gabehart, second son of Duke Wilhelm of Hagenheim. You are right, Your Grace. I was wrong to try to fool you. Valten couldn’t come because of a broken leg. But I am here only to see if what an old woman said was true. About Sophie.” As he spoke, he tried to think of a way to overpower her. She was almost close enough that he could grab her. But perhaps it wouldn’t be necessary. Perhaps she would let him leave.
    She stepped around him, getting between him and the door leading to the corridor.
    Duchess Ermengard opened the door while keeping her eyes on Gabe. She screamed, “Guards!”
    Gabe ran toward the window, but before he could even get it unbolted, guards rushed into the room, the sharp swish of their swords being drawn from their scabbards, their boots pounding on the flagstone floor. He struggled with the rusty bolt, and just as he shoved it free and threw open the window, two burly men grabbed Gabe’s shoulder. They threw him to the floor. He hit the flagstone with the side of his face. As the darkness started closing in on him, the last thing he heard was a crazed, high-pitched cackling.
    When she saw that Gabe was unconscious, Duchess Ermengard pointed a finger at the closest guard. “Get Lorencz.”
    As she waited, she envisioned ways she could dispose of the foolhardy boy laid out