that evening i went to visit flavia. she seemed very thoughtful,and as i was leaving , she placed a ring on my finger . l was wearing the king's ring, but i took off my rassendyll family ring and gave it to her.
wear this for me always, i said. she kissed the ring . and replied seriously, i'll wear it until the day i die.
And then I had to leave her . I had already told the marshal that if anything happened to the king , he must take flavia to strelsau , tell the people that duke Michael had killed the king-and that flavia was their queen I knew this could be my last day alive.
ตอนที่ 12 the prisoner and the king
We needed bad weather , but it was fine, clear night. At midnight sapt
, fritz , and their men left and rode quietly through the woods towards the castle. if everything went well, they would get there at a quarter to two and wait for johann to open the front door. if johann did not open the door, fritz would come round to the other side of the castle to find me . if l was not there,then I was dead-and the king,too! Sapt and his men would go back to tarlenheim house and return with the marshal and more men to get into the castle.
So,half an hour later,I too left taarlenheim . I took a shorter way than sapt and when I reached the moat,i
Hid my horse in the trees, tied my rope round a strong tree and let
myself down into the water. Slowly , I began to swim along under the castle walls . just after a quarter to one , I came to the pipe and waited quietly in its shadow.
Light was coming from duke michael’s window opposite me across the moat, and I could see into the room.