Bride to a Brigand Read online

  Without waiting for her answer he snapped his fingers and immediately, as if he was waiting to do so, a man came in carrying a bottle of wine with two glasses on a tray.

  He set it down in front of them and as he left the room Ileana could not help thinking he was behaving exactly as a trained servant in the Palace would have done.

  Since the General obviously expected it, Ileana sat down on one of the chairs and because it was very hot in the tent, pushed her fur cap a little further off her forehead.

  It was quite obvious that her pretence of being a boy could not be maintained.

  The General, she thought, was looking at her searchingly, in a manner that she felt was somehow impertinent, before he seated himself at the table beside her and poured out the wine.

  Because she was in fact very thirsty and, to tell the truth, more nervous than she expected to be, she sipped from the glass and found that the wine was delicious with a bouquet she did not remember having tasted before.

  Then because it was in her mind she said,

  “It seems that somebody was watching me climb Mount Bela. If so he was very skilfully concealed.”

  She thought the General smiled slightly and she added,

  “There were eagles hovering overhead which led me to believe there were no lookouts.”

  “That is a simple trick!”

  “A trick?”

  “An eagle will always hover where there is a lamb or some other small animal in sight.”

  “That is clever!” Ileana exclaimed. “It would put many people off their guard.”

  As she spoke she was thinking it was the sort of thing that the Zokālan Army should know and was quite certain that the Generals were in complete ignorance of such a ruse.

  Then quickly, as if she must explain away her presence, Ileana said,

  “I often climb Bela. It is something I greatly enjoy and I certainly did not expect to be more or less arrested on my own mountain!”

  She had decided it would be a good idea to put him on the defensive from the start.

  Then she had the uncomfortable feeling that the General was aware of what she was intending and the way he sat back in his chair told her he was very much at his ease.

  After a moment he said,

  “You are very much more beautiful near to than at a distance!”

  “You have seen me before?”

  “Of course!”

  “What do you mean – of course?” Ileana asked. “I have not left Zokāla for over two years.”

  Again he smiled as if her reply was somewhat ridiculous and she asked,

  “Are you telling me that you have been in my country?”

  “I was there only a short time ago.”

  “If that is true, then why was I not informed of it?”

  “There was no reason why you should be. I did not come, as you might say, as myself, but incognito.”

  There was something in the way he spoke that made Ileana stiffen.

  Then, as she thought of the guns that were drawn up outside, she said,

  “Are you telling me that you were – spying on Zokāla?”

  “That is an unattractive way of putting it,” the General replied. “I was, in fact, trying to find out how well Zokāla is ruled and how efficient her defences are.”

  Ileana put down her glass and sat upright in her chair.

  “Why should you be so interested?”

  The question was sharp and she knew as she spoke that it was of vital importance.

  For a moment the General made no reply.

  Then after a pause he said,

  “What I learnt on my visit or, if you prefer, on my investigation, was that Zokāla is extremely vulnerable and that any country that is interested in conquering her could do so very easily!”

  He spoke slowly and clearly and the intonation in his voice did not change from the pleasant tone in which he had spoken ever since her arrival.

  Nevertheless Ileana felt her heart contract and, after a pregnant silence, she said almost in a whisper,

  “Is that what you – intend to – do?”

  As she spoke, her eyes met the General’s and there was a strange expression in his that she did not understand.

  At the same time she thought that, although he was undoubtedly very handsome, there was a ruthlessness about his face that made him seem very different from other men.

  It certainly produced an air of authority, which obviously matched his position.

  She thought too there was something hard, almost cruel, in the lines of his mouth and the squareness of his chin and the idea came to her that he was like an eagle hovering over Zokāla waiting to strike.

  “The answer to that question,” he replied, “lies with you.”

  “With me? How is that possible?”

  The General rose to his feet.

  “I have something to show you,” he said.

  He walked towards the entrance of the tent and because there was nothing else Ileana could do, she followed him.

  For a moment the blazing sunshine seemed to blind her eyes and it was difficult to see clearly.

  Then she saw that Olav was standing to one side, an anxious expression on his face and beside him were the men who had brought them down from the mountain.

  Without apology the General walked towards them, said something that she could not hear, then returned to her side.

  As they walked on, she was aware that Olav and the other men had turned away and she thought perhaps her guide was to be entertained and given something to drink, as she had been.

  Then the General began to walk quickly towards what she thought looked like a Parade Ground.

  She saw then that she had been right in thinking it was stacked on either side with guns, vehicles drawn by horses and hundreds of boxes which she was sure contained ammunition.

  The men sitting about were like those she had already seen, rifles on their shoulders, long knives and pistols in their belts.

  They all seemed to be tall, broad-shouldered and unusually strong.

  They stared at her with curiosity and she thought too there was a glint in their eyes that told her they were not deceived by her severe riding coat into thinking that she was a boy.

  The General did not speak – he only paused occasionally in front of some special gun or another instrument of war that she did not always recognise.

  It was as if he was determined she should notice everything.

  They came to where the guns were still being manoeuvred up and down and the first thing Ileana thought was that fine horses were drawing them.

  As if she had spoken, the General said,

  “I was quite certain they would please you!”

  “They are magnificent!” Ileana enthused.

  “And very strong,” he added. “They have to be for the work they do.”

  It was then that Ileana looked at the guns and could see that they were larger with longer barrels than any the Zokālan Army possessed.

  Again the General did not speak, but walked on and she saw that on either side of a river which ran down the centre of the valley, very low at this time of the year, there were dozens of horses as fine as those pulling the guns.

  As if she could not help herself, she exclaimed,

  “Where can you have found such magnificent animals and so many of them?”

  “I brought the mares over from Arabia some years ago,” the General explained.

  “So they are Arab horses!”

  “As I am sure you know, the fastest in the world!” he said quietly. “But there are also other breeds that I think you will appreciate.”

  “Do show them to me,” Ileana asked him.

  “I have already given orders for them to be brought in for you to see later on,” the General replied, “but first, having shown you some of the material I have assembled here, I want to talk to you – and the easiest way is to return to my tent.”

  He spoke as if there was no point in her protest
ing or having any feelings of her own about it.

  Turning, he started to walk back the way they had come, this time indicating and occasionally stopping to look at guns massed on the other side of the ground directly under the mountain over which she had come into the valley.

  What she saw frightened her.

  She was well aware without it being put into words that the General, if he wished, could take over the rest of Zokāla as easily as he had taken over the valley.

  Everywhere she looked she could see his men, his guns, his vehicles and his horses.

  Looking straight ahead beyond the tents, she could see that the approach to the valley, which was about a mile and a half away and had always been kept isolated, seemed to have changed.

  She had the idea that the General had widened the pass that led to Zokāla from the South, so that it would be easier for himself and his followers to enter this part of the country.

  Once again Ileana felt furious that her Army had no idea that they were here, although they could not have moved in without taking at least two or three days to do so.

  There was, however, no point in saying so to the General and she began to think of all the scathing remarks she would make to the Zokāla Generals when she returned to the Palace.

  She would also call an emergency meeting of the Council tonight, however late it might be.

  She knew that there was every reason to think they were in a dangerous position even though she had never imagined that such a thing could happen.

  They walked back again into the tent and as they did so Ileana said,

  “I have enjoyed your hospitality, General, but you will understand that I would not wish to be late returning home in case anybody should start worrying about me. Even with Olav as a guide, the mountain can be somewhat treacherous as soon as the sun goes down.”

  “I am aware of that,” the General replied, “and as it is already growing late you will, of course, stay here as my guest.”

  “It is very kind of you, but I am afraid it is impossible!”

  “That is a word I do not understand and is not in my vocabulary,” the General said. “If you wish to return, then, of course, I will send you back, but first I have a proposition that I want you to consider carefully.”

  Ileana smiled.

  “Of course, General! I am only too willing to listen to anything you propose. At the same time you will understand that I don’t wish people to be perturbed by my absence.”

  The General did not reply.

  He had not sat down as she had, but had remained standing.

  Now, when he sat on the edge of his desk facing her, she thought again he was very much at his ease and self-assured.

  The desk was one that she knew Officers carried with them when they were travelling and which could be divided into three parts for packing and then joined together on arrival.

  There was also an Officer’s chest-of-drawers in the tent with the corners reinforced with brass to make it stronger. On the floor was a beautiful Persian carpet that she was sure was very valuable.

  It struck her that if this was the way the General lived, then he certainly made himself comfortable.

  Then he began to speak and she concentrated on what he was saying.

  “When I came to Zokāla recently,” he said, “I was quite frankly shocked at the condition of the Army.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Ileana asked sharply.

  “The guns are out of date, the training as obsolete as the rifles and the only thing that can be commended is the horsemanship of the Cavalry.”

  The General spoke so scathingly that Ileana felt her temper rising.

  “That may be your opinion, General,” she replied, “but we are a peaceful nation and our neighbours are friendly towards us.”

  “Who told you that?” the General asked. “Your Foreign Secretary? He should have been retired years ago!”

  This was something that Ileana had thought herself, but had not seen fit to say so and she felt extremely annoyed to have this stranger criticising what she perceived of as ‘her Government’.

  In an icy voice, which she could use very effectively when she wished, she countered,

  “It is very easy, General, to find fault. At the same time, as my father has been so ill for such a long time, I thought it would be a mistake to make too many changes.”

  “What you are saying is that you are waiting until he is dead, when you intend to take over the throne.”

  As this was true, it was with difficulty that Ileana prevented herself from gasping at him.

  Instead, still in the same cold voice, she managed to reply,

  “That, General, is my business!”

  “It also happens to be mine!”

  “Yours?”

  “Yes, mine!” he said quietly. “And this is where you have a choice.”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Then let me make it clear! It is impossible, as I know your Statesmen have told you, for you to govern Zokāla without a husband by your side.”

  His lips twisted in a somewhat cynical smile as he added,

  “I know you have had a great many applicants for the post, but have dismissed them all, for which I don’t blame you. Each one of them would have proved completely inadequate as the type of Ruler you require.”

  Now Ileana did gasp and she asked,

  “How can you possibly know all – this?”

  “It is not very difficult,” the General answered. “But because you have failed to give Zokāla what it so urgently needs – a King – that is why I am here!”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Your choice is simple,” the General said without moving. “You can either marry me and I will ensure the defence of Zokāla against her enemies or else I will take over the country!”

  Now Ileana gave a gasp that was perfectly audible before she said,

  “You must be mad!”

  “On the contrary, I am very sane and sensible.”

  “But we have no enemies and, although I admit that the Army needs a certain amount of modernisation, my soldiers would fight valiantly against any attempt on your part to conquer Zokāla.”

  She thought as she spoke her voice sounded very confident.

  Equally she knew what the General’s guns could do to her inadequately armed Army, which had never anticipated anything as formidable as the force that was already inside the country.

  As if what she was thinking showed in her green eyes, the General watching her said after a moment,

  “Exactly! It would be a bloody massacre unparalleled in the history of Zokāla!”

  “If you think that, then why should you contemplate anything so ghastly and so wicked?”

  “I have already given you an alternative. I will marry you and the menace that now threatens you will certainly not materialise for a very long time.”

  “What menace?”

  “You would know, if you had an effective intelligence service, that Hungary is being ordered by Austria to invade and take over Zokāla. In my opinion, it is only a question of months – perhaps only weeks – before that happens!”

  “I just don’t believe you!”

  “It is true! The Austrians are very ambitious.”

  Because of the calm way in which he spoke, what he was saying seemed more impressive and, Ileana thought, more frightening than if he had made it sound more dramatic.

  Now she thought about it, she had the sneaking feeling that he was right.

  Thinking back, she could remember the Hungarian Ambassador the last time they had met, had not seemed as friendly as usual.

  They had so much in common with their love of horses that affairs of State were often set aside and they talked of other subjects that most interested them both.

  But she recalled now that Count Roziliki had seemed ill at ease and much more formal than he usually was.

  She also thought, although it was something she could
not be sure about, that he did not meet her eyes and he certainly omitted to pay her the fulsome compliments she had come to expect from him.

  No Hungarian could ever resist telling her she was not only beautiful, but also the finest rider they had ever seen.

  She could not believe that the reason why the Count was so reticent was that she herself had changed.

  “You must be aware that Hungary has more interest in acquiring Zokāla than either Serbia or Rumania has,” the General said sharply, “and unless they are prevented from doing so, they will walk in with so little opposition that it does not bear even considering!”

  “Why should you think that?” Ileana asked.

  “Because at least half of the men in the Zokāla Army have Hungarian blood in them and to Hungarians the tie of blood means more perhaps than to any other country in Europe.”

  Even though this was true, it surprised Ileana that the General should be aware of it.

  At the same time, because of the relaxed way he was sitting on the edge of his desk and the calmness of his voice, she could hardly believe that what he was saying was as frightening as it sounded.

  She put down the glass she was holding in her hand and rose to her feet.

  “I have been listening most carefully to everything you have been saying to me,” she said, “and I think the best thing I can do is to think over what you have suggested and discuss it with my Prime Minister and the rest of the Cabinet. I will then let you have an answer as swiftly as possible, perhaps within twenty-four hours.”

  As she finished speaking, the General laughed and it was a harsh sound that had no humour in it.

  “I should be very foolish,” he replied, “if, now that I have you here, I let you go without your making any decision.”

  He saw by the expression on her face that she was wondering how she could answer that and he went on,

  “I had intended to bring you here either today or tomorrow and, when you left the Palace, my men were ready to ride out to intercept you.”

  Ileana stared at him wide-eyed as he went on,

  “Then to their surprise and mine, you decided to make things very easy by climbing the mountain!”

  Ileana drew in her breath.

  “Are you telling me,” she asked, “that you had intended to – kidnap me?”