Carried Away by Anna Markland Read Free Book Online Page A

love him. He’d frightened her. She thought he was going to sell her. “ Mein Gott , she would think me capable of that?”
    His friend Magnus rode up beside him and they surveyed the mighty host facing them. “What do you think of our chances, Dieter?”
    Glad to be distracted from his thoughts of Blythe, he shrugged. “Heinrich has a very strong force, infantry as well as cavalry. Spies tell us he has recruited Franconians, Alemannians, and Bavarians, as well as knights from Burgundy. If he stays true to form, he’ll send his dukes to fight the battle, and await the outcome of the conflict at a distance. We number far fewer but cunning and bravery may win the day for us.”
    Would he see Blythe again? What a fool to have left without telling her of his feelings.
    Magnus looked to his left and frowned. “What’s the command from Archbishop Frederick? There’s a group on the march?”
    Dieter rose up in the stirrups to get a better view. Lorraine’s forces were indeed galloping towards Heinrich’s army. “To throw the enemy off balance a little, he has instructed Duke Henry of Lorraine to rush against their flank.”
    Magnus struggled to control his skittish horse. “They’ll be slaughtered.”
    “Not if they retreat in time.”
    A cloud of dust soon gathered on the near horizon. “ Gut ! Duke Henry is retreating, and they are following him. His actions will have unnerved them somewhat. Now, for our part. Count Theodoric and Count Henry of Kessel will attack with us.”
    Amid a frightful din of trumpets, the opposing armies came together in a bone chilling clash of horses and armour. For a long time the struggle remained undecided. Screams and moans rent the air as heads rolled, severed body parts thudded to the ground and horses stumbled in the gory mud. Men grunted, sweated and bled. Cries of momentary victory were smothered by the onslaught of the next wave of aggressors.
    The muscles of Dieter’s sword arm were on fire. He was covered in mud and blood, none of it his own, Gott sei Dank . Somehow he and Magnus had managed to stay mounted and close to each other. In a brief pause he shouted breathlessly to Magnus. “The Archbishop must send in the Special Force soon, or the day is lost.”
    As he spoke a group of young men from Köln, specially chosen for their fighting skills, joined the fray, launching a slashing offensive in a wild berserker rage. Their wild cries sent chills skittering up and down Dieter’s spine.
    Magnus too shuddered, but breathed a sigh of relief. “They’ll either prevail or die trying.”
    As expected, the enemy fell back under the crazed onslaught.
    Dieter realized the critical importance of the next move. He rallied his men. “We must join Count Theodoric in a direct attack on the disordered enemy.”
    They cheered and followed him as he galloped into the melee. Though it seemed like hours later, they subjugated the dispirited enemy in a short time. Many of the Emperor’s knights were killed or taken prisoner. None of the leaders on the side of Köln were killed or captured except Count Henry of Kessel, a friend of Dieter’s, who fell under a horse’s hooves and perished.
    Dieter’s heroic leadership was later credited with tipping the precarious balance in favour of Köln’s forces. Heinrich had failed to capture the city. He abandoned the siege to return to Mainz and his infant Queen.
    ***
    Blythe wandered the halls and chambers of Dieter’s home, the three dogs her ever-present companions. “You miss him too, don’t you?” she said to Vormund, rubbing his ear. Löwe and Schnell nuzzled for her attention.
    She played with the idea of attempting an escape while he was gone. But where would she go? Was it possible to get to Tuitium? What would she find if she did make it there? She’d no love of the Emperor, whereas Count Dieter von Wolfenberg—did she want to escape?
    The dogs wouldn’t let me go!
    The servants were polite, but they also waited nervously for their