“G-G-Gerhard!” she stuttered, speaking to the ceiling, suddenly wanting to know what had just happened, where she was, and where she was going.
“Shush!” he demanded. “Keep quiet, sweeting,” he replied earnestly. “Keep quiet.”
She had no trouble doing that. She was mostly invested in making sure her fingers and toes regained blood flow. Every part of her body felt sore down to the bone and being wrapped in the warm, dry blanket was heavenly.
She wasn’t sure if they stopped at all during the night. She kept drifting into a deep sleep, despite the wobbling of the wagon and the screeching of the wheels beneath her. It was hard to believe that Gerhard could drive the cart through the night without any rest at all, but she woke up when the wagon finally came to a stop, and when it did, a dull light lit up the canvas overhead.
She heard the sound of a sigh and then Gerhard jumped up on the back of the wagon and, picking up a second blanket, slowly lay down next to her. He ended up lying on the pig’s tail, which was apparently a big insult to the little beast, because it squealed, got up, and danced angrily about before settling down between them.
Susanna watched him as he looked down at the pig for a second, surely deciding whether or not to boot the presumptuous animal out of the wagon altogether. He twisted his lips and then looked up, meeting her eyes. She suddenly felt so full of emotion that it seemed just as hard to breathe now as it had in the icy cold water. She didn’t even know what to say or how to start asking what had just happened and why he had saved her from the water.
He reached over and put his hand on her cheek. “I am so sorry, sweeting. I know yesterday was hell for you, and I’m completely responsible for putting you through it. I can’t even imagine all the humiliation you felt, and I did not want to be the one to have done that all to you… but it was a necessary evil.”
Her eyes narrowed and she sat up on her elbow. “Necessary evil? They threw horse dung at me, Gerhard! How could you possibly imagine how that made me feel? You can’t possibly have any idea! You took my kingdom and my family and my life, and then you decided to go ahead and take my pride as well,” she snapped, her face heating with rage as she recalled her humiliation.
He pulled himself up on his elbow as well, and she noticed that he was dressed in a tunic complete with a hood. He looked like a beer merchant, not like the commander of an army. “Susanna, calm yourself. It’s over now, and you have to understand that it was all for show. I think the world of you. I did all that for your happiness!”
She snorted. “Oh, yes. I could tell. I’m ecstatic. And the falling into the river? Was that also the plan?”
He shrugged and did look slightly sheepish. “Yes, but I was there to fish you out before you hit the waterfall.”
She flopped back down onto the boards under her with a thump, unable to believe this.
“Susanna, I want you for my own,” he assured her, but not in a gentle manner. His tone was deep and exasperated, tired. “This was the only way I could make that happen! You had to be put in a position where you would appear certain to have died but in which your party wouldn’t expect to find a body. That river claims several victims every year, and rarely is anyone found!” He took a deep breath, and then reached again for her face. She shrunk away from him in protest. “Come,” he cooed, “let’s not quarrel.”
“Let’s not. You nearly murdered me to help me as a friend,” she huffed sarcastically, covering her weary eyes with her fingers.
“Susanna—I have done all this to be your husband. This is the price we had to pay!” he argued.
She felt like someone had just dropped her down a very deep hole, and her mind went completely blank for a long moment before she unlaced her fingers from over her eyes, one by one. She slowly turned her head to look at him. “To be my husband?” she repeated, incredulous.
He clenched his jaw, but otherwise did not respond. His eyes looked into hers, stubbornly, as if egging her on to argue with that.
“You can’t be my husband. I haven’t consented to that!” she reminded.
His bottom lip dropped open. “I don’t care if you consent or not! I already took your maidenhead, Susanna! You are mine! You gave yourself to me willingly, which is a lot more than can be said for a lot of your subjects still within the walls of your castle. Men are drawing straws for some of them. You are with a man who at least cares about your happiness—one who’s put himself at risk of treason to save your life already!” He rolled over, as if that finished the conversation. “You can’t possibly be that picky. No woman could,” he finally said, after closing his eyes as if he meant to drop into a deep sleep.
She narrowed her eyes to slits and stared at him. “You cannot force me to marry you. You were horrible to me, and you let everyone you know be even worse! I will never forgive you for that.”
He looked up toward the ceiling, “Yes, you will forgive me. I have given you everything you ever wanted. Life, freedom.” He turned his head slightly toward her and looked at her. “Don’t you understand, Susanna? The Princess of Hohenzollern died in the river, never to be recovered. You’re only Susanna, now. Susanna is a bride of Hohenzollern that I have claimed as mine—as is my right—and she will be going home with me.”
She had never felt a sensation like this before. On one hand, she had beenso frightened for nearly a year that she would end up being executed by the year’s end, and in Gerhard’s estimation, she no longer had to dread that end. She might be able to live to an old age after all, which is something she had never quite believed before. The possibilities which presented themselves as a result of having that many years at her disposal were almost overwhelming.
Yet to say he was extremely presumptuous was a gigantic understatement after she had spent all of yesterday feeling like he had reached into her chest and pulled her heart out. She would have marched out of the wagon right away if she wasn’t completely nude. As it was, she felt trapped.
“You need to rest more, Susanna. You were restless all evening. You will feel better,” he promised, reaching out for her.
“Don’t touch me,” she muttered angrily, pulling her piglet to her chest and scooting away from him the few inches that she could. Their bodies were tightly nestled between towering boxes on each side.
He didn’t listen to her. Even as she squirmed away, he moved closer to her until he rolled onto his side, pulled out his arm, wrapped it around her, and pulled her against his chest. “Be still.”
“Let me go!” she muttered angrily.
“I’m not letting you go, Susanna. Ever. Now be still, or I will chastise you. I’m exhausted and out of good humor to deal with your stubbornness, as sweet as you look to me with fire in your eyes.” His lip curled into an impudent grin, as if he knew full well that she wanted to slap his face and walk right out of the wagon. She squirmed against him and he locked his arm even tighter around her body.
The piglet, apparently feeling too squished for comfort, then took his turn betraying her. He moved from where he was creating space between them and then laid behind Gerhard’s head, as if having decided to warm him. Gerhard opened his eyes just to turn his head and glare at the pig as if he didn’t approve of the act of favoritism, but then hooked his leg around her. “Stop squirming,” he told her sleepily.
She did, but only because she was too weak from the fright last night to fight against him. Soon she would make him sorry. He just didn’t know how frightened he should be yet!
