“I have nothing to hide. I certainly have done nothing wrong, so I do not mind speaking freely here and now.”
“As you say. Then will you kindly tell us what happened at the warehouse on Schlachthous Strasse?”
“I was attacked and taken forcibly from the Marktplatz of Hagenheim on the first day of May, 1415, by a man named Michael and another man.”
She told them in as few words as possible all that had happened to her, forcing herself to speak about those horrifying, painful events in a monotone, determined to state only the facts as if she felt nothing.
Some of the men on the town council did not look at her, others were expressionless, while others wore looks of concentration. They asked her a few questions, and then they turned toward each other, saying a few quiet words and motioning with their hands.
The leader finally addressed her. “Thank you, Lady Kirstyn. Now we will bring out the man and woman who were captured when you were freed.”
Kirstyn turned on her heel to walk the short distance back to her father, but as soon as she did, her gaze met Aladdin’s.
Part of her wanted to run to him and let him wrap her in his arms. But she remembered Grethel’s words—and Aladdin’s guilty, remorseful expression—and she felt the painful rush all over again.
Kirstyn pretended not to see him and instead stood by her father’s side, flanked by several of his mightiest knights. One of the men nearby, probably a clerk of some kind at the Rathous, fetched a small chair and brought it to her. She thanked him and sat down, holding her chin up as they escorted Michael into the room.
Aladdin’s heart ached as he listened to Kirstyn tell her story.
His precious Kirstyn. This never should have happened to her. She had been so innocent and sweet when he left Hagenheim, and now her mind was filled with painful memories of the cruelties done to her. The ache changed to a stabbing pain when she refused to acknowledge him. Now he had also hurt her with his inconstancy. He should have listened to his spirit, which had told him all along that she was still alive. He should have had more faith.
He had to win Kirstyn’s favor again. He simply had to. The thought that she might not forgive him was unbearable.
Michael clomped into the room with chains on his ankles and rope around his wrists. How does it feel? Aladdin burned to confront the man himself, to be on the town council so that he could make Michael feel small, the way he had done to Kirstyn.
The council leader asked him, “Did you forcibly seize and carry away this woman, Lady Kirstyn, from Hagenheim?”
Michael stood straight and tall, as if proud of himself instead of ashamed.
“I did carry away this woman.” He turned and pointed at Kirstyn, and Aladdin wanted to punch his smug face. “But I only kidnapped her because that man asked me to.”
Michael turned and pointed straight at Aladdin.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Kirstyn watched as Michael pointed to Aladdin. Aladdin’s face went slack, then hardened as his jaw flexed.
“That is a lie.” Aladdin raised his voice above the crowd.
Kirstyn’s mind raced. What Michael said made her sick to her stomach. But why would Aladdin have told Michael to kidnap her? It must surely be one of Michael’s cruel lies.
“Explain yourself,” the town councilman said in a stern voice.
“It is simple. Aladdin of Hagenheim was in love with Kirstyn, the Duke of Hagenheim’s daughter. He thought if he could have her kidnapped, then rescue her after a long time of captivity, she—and her father—would be so grateful to him, her father would allow her to marry him.”
“That is not true.” Aladdin’s face paled. “Kirstyn, you mustn’t believe him! I would never do such a thing.”
A loud murmur swept through the room. Kirstyn’s knees went weak. Surely it wasn’t true. But what if it was?
“And while I was away doing his bidding,” Michael went on, “Aladdin was here, endearing himself to my father and stealing my inheritance.”
She suddenly felt light-headed, her vision spinning. Father placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Her forehead burned as darkness closed in around her.
She pulled on her father’s arm. He leaned down to her. She whispered, “I don’t feel well. I need to go.”
He put his arm around her and helped her up. She walked toward the door of the town hall while leaning on her father. Her vision was clearing, and she glanced at Aladdin.
He turned to look at her at the same moment. His angry expression changed to one of pleading just before he was blocked from her view by the crowd.
Aladdin’s heart sank as he watched Kirstyn leave. O God, don’t let her believe this lie! She already thought him faithless and deceitful, as well she should. But he was certainly not guilty of this.
When the town council and their guards were able to shush everyone into silence, the head of the council asked, “Do you have any proof of this accusation?”
Michael said, “Aladdin did not want to put anything in writing that could be used against him, but perhaps my old partner, Rutgher, is still in the dungeon in Hagenheim. He will tell the truth about the matter. He was there when Aladdin approached us both.”
Aladdin’s breath came fast, heat boiling inside him. If he said Michael was lying and his accusation was absurd, his protestations would only make him seem guilty.
Aladdin forced himself to listen to the proceedings.
The town council addressed one of Duke Wilhelm’s guards. “Where is this partner in the crime of kidnapping Lady Kirstyn?”
“He was released a month ago—after he cooperated and told us everything he knew. Duke Wilhelm doesn’t normally keep prisoners long term. He forbade Rutgher from ever setting foot in Hagenheim again. We don’t know where he is.”
Wouldn’t the town council see through Michael’s lies? That this was only a desperate attempt to blame someone else? Surely they wouldn’t believe him. But when Aladdin looked around, sidelong glances of suspicion were aimed at him by the townsmen.
The council spoke amongst themselves.
Should Aladdin stay and see how this hearing would go? Or should he run out and find Kirstyn? If she believed Michael’s lies, how could he change her mind? It was his word against Michael’s. And the seed of doubt had been planted in the minds of everyone here.
With dread hanging over him, he watched as they dismissed Michael and brought in Anna.
She seemed sad and defeated, her voice low and her head even lower. She told her version of the kidnapping, but she glossed over what Michael had done and failed to mention her role in luring Kirstyn into the dark alley where the kidnappers were waiting for her.
“Was anyone else involved in seizing and holding Lady Kirstyn captive besides you, Michael, and Rutgher?” one of the councilmen asked. “Perhaps someone who hired Michael to kidnap the duke’s daughter?”
Anna looked confused. “No.”
Aladdin breathed a relieved sigh. It was not solid proof that he was not involved, but it certainly cast doubt on Michael’s accusation.
What would the town council do with Anna? Aladdin was appalled that she would participate in kidnapping Kirstyn and keeping her tied up against her will. But she might be willing to repent and renounce her loyalty to Michael. Still, what she had done would be difficult to forgive.
Perhaps it was Herr Kaufmann he should be worried about. When Aladdin looked back at him, he had such a pained look on his face. And even though the town council would probably want to question him, Aladdin left to go to the warehouse and fetch a guard to take care of Herr Kaufmann and make sure he made it safely home.
Kirstyn let her father take her to the Salty Boar Inn, where he secured a room for them as well as space for his knights and guards to sleep. Then they sat down to a meal in the main room downstairs.
“My men will tell us what was said at the hearing.”
“Father”—she still held on to his arm—“I don’t believe Aladdin had anything to do with t
he kidnapping. Michael invented that to shift the blame off himself.”
“How can you be sure?”
Kirstyn sat up. “Surely you can’t believe Aladdin capable of such a thing.”
“Is that the only reason you don’t think he did it? Because you don’t think him capable of it?”
“No. Michael is so cruel, he would have thrown that at me at some point if it were true. If Aladdin promised him money to let him rescue me, he surely wouldn’t have let him keep me for so long, and besides that, Michael would not have been trying to sell me. Also, there is another reason.”
Kirstyn hesitated, her heart weighed down with pain as she remembered Grethel’s face as she spoke the words that had so hurt her that morning.
“What is it?”
“If Aladdin had hired Michael to kidnap me in some desperate scheme to get me to marry him, he would not have asked Herr Kaufmann’s daughter to marry him.”
Father raised his brows.
“I only just heard about it this morning. Grethel was angry that Aladdin and I . . . were spending so much time together, and he admitted it was true—that he had promised to marry Grethel.” She wasn’t ready to tell her father that they had been tenderly embracing each other and probably appeared to be kissing.
Father stared at the scarred wooden table in front of them. “Does it bother you that he wanted to marry Grethel?”
“I felt so hurt.”
“Did he promise to marry you? Did you have an agreement?”
Kirstyn shook her head. “No.”
“Did he say he loved you or wanted to marry you?”
“No, but . . . I thought he loved me.” Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he only cared about her as a friend.
“Do you love him?”
Kirstyn huffed out a breath and crossed her arms over her chest in an effort to rid herself of the tears that were threatening. “Perhaps I do, but even if I didn’t, and even if he only loves me as a friend, how could he decide to marry someone else so quickly after thinking I’d been killed? I thought I meant more to him than that.”
She also thought her father wouldn’t give up searching for her so quickly, but she wasn’t ready to confront him with that. She might end up telling him that she’d always felt as if she wasn’t as important to him as her siblings were, and then she’d be sobbing in this inn in front of a lot of strangers.
“Do you have reason to think he has decided not to marry Grethel, now that he knows you are alive?”
Did she? There was the fact that he never mentioned being in love with Grethel. Also, the way he held her and looked at her. “Perhaps, but . . . he had not told Grethel he no longer wanted to marry her, apparently. And she was upset.”
Her father said nothing for a few moments. “It sounds like Aladdin was hoping neither of you would discover the truth. That surprises me. I’ve never known him to deceive anyone.”
“I always thought Aladdin was perfect.”
“No one is perfect.”
She knew that, of course. Perhaps she had been unfair to Aladdin. She knew how hard he pushed himself to learn and do everything better, working harder than anyone else. She’d thought she was the most important person in the world to him, that he would never hurt her. Still . . . she wasn’t sure what to feel anymore.
“We can either stay here and sort all this out with Aladdin, or we can go home right away. Your mother will not rest until she sees you are well.”
Kirstyn hesitated. “I want to see Mother, but I want to talk to Aladdin first.”
Father was silent. Finally he said, “Then we shall wait until you are ready. If we leave before the town council is ready to turn Michael over to me, I can return to bring him back to Hagenheim to be executed.”
Kirstyn nodded. She pushed the thought of Michael’s execution from her mind. Her father would never allow Michael to go free after what he had done. But her stomach sank at the prospect of leaving Aladdin, her last sight of him with that pleading, sad look. Hopefully she would see him tonight and he would apologize for not telling her of his betrothal to Grethel—though, in all fairness, he had never spoken to Kirstyn about love or marriage.
She didn’t want to leave Aladdin, but during her long ordeal she had yearned for her mother’s voice telling her all would be well. She had imagined her pain at thinking her daughter was dead, and she couldn’t bear to delay her return to Mother. She didn’t like to draw out her mother’s pain and worry for even an hour more than necessary.
After sending a guard to stay with Herr Kaufmann, Aladdin sat down to tend to some business that had been neglected the last few days since Kirstyn had escaped from Michael. The books were in a tangle, the numbers not updated. One of the assistants had miscalculated, but Aladdin had nearly finished straightening it out when two men entered and approached him. They were Lüneburg soldiers.
“Aladdin, the councilmen have sent us to fetch you. They have some questions.”
He stood and went with them. As he walked, his head suddenly free of business, his thoughts turned again to Kirstyn.
O God, let this not take long. He needed to find her and explain himself to her. Surely she would believe him.
Once at the Rathous he stood before the town council. Everyone else had gone, including the prisoners, Michael and Anna, who were taken back to their cells.
“What have you to say?” Herr Ackermann asked him. Every one of the councilmen pinned him with an intense stare.
“Surely you don’t believe the accusation of a lawless man like Michael? I am innocent. He is only trying to deflect blame from himself. I have never had any contact with Michael Kaufmann. None whatsoever. I never would have subjected the woman I love to such an ordeal.”
“And you are speaking of Lady Kirstyn?”
“Yes. We were good friends in Hagenheim since we were children.” He swallowed, praying she still returned his love—if not as a husband, then at least as a friend.
“Very well.” Herr Ackermann gave Aladdin a long, grave look. “You have a good reputation in Lüneburg for being a man of integrity—and that isn’t often said of a merchant. So without any evidence against you, we will not detain you longer, but I do want to warn you.” He paused. “Some people will give credence to Michael’s claims. And one of those people seems to be Herr Kaufmann.”
Aladdin’s breath caught in his throat. How could Herr Kaufmann believe Michael over Aladdin? Was it possible Herr Kaufmann had felt so much pain over Michael’s betrayals because he loved his son so much?
“Has Herr Kaufmann been to see his son? Has he spoken privately with him?”
Herr Ackermann sighed. “I didn’t think it could do any harm, so we allowed it. But his son always did have such power over him. They spoke for some time before the hearing began. Cedric Michael must have persuaded him, because now Herr Kaufmann is demanding that we release Michael and apprehend you.”
Again, the feeling of numbness in mind and heart and body washed over him like a bucket of cold water. Would this destroy everything he had worked for? Everything his heart had longed for?
“There is no evidence against you, so you are in no danger from us,” Herr Ackermann said, “but . . . I wanted to warn you.”
“Thank you.” Aladdin turned to leave. What would he do if Herr Kaufmann turned against him? How painful to think that the man who often called him “son” could believe him to be a liar capable of something so evil as kidnapping.
He stumbled out of the Rathous and onto the street. Was it his imagination, or were people looking at him differently? He refused to care. He had to talk to Kirstyn—and Herr Kaufmann.
The last time Duke Wilhelm and his men had been in Lüneburg they stayed at Herr Kaufmann’s house and stables, but would they have presumed on him this time? Aladdin quickened his step until he was near home. One glance at the quiet facade and he was fairly sure Duke Wilhelm and his men, and therefore Kirstyn, were not there.
He hesitated. Should he go inside or walk past and go in
search of Kirstyn and her father? Since Aladdin was here . . . he went inside.
Grethel froze in the entryway, staring at him, then coldly turned away.
“Guten Tag, Grethel,” he said anyway.
“My father doesn’t want to see you.” Her tone was cool and even.
His heart crashed against his chest. He did his best to ignore it. “Is he here?”
“He doesn’t want to see you.” She faced him and spoke more forcefully.
“Well, I want to see him.” Aladdin brushed past her in the narrow passageway. He stuck his head in the dining hall. No one was there. He searched through the ground floor but found only servants. Then he went upstairs, taking the steps two at a time.
Aladdin knocked on Herr Kaufmann’s chamber door.
“Who is it?”
“Aladdin. May I come in?” His stomach churned like a boiling cauldron as he waited for Herr Kaufmann to speak.
His mentor opened the door. His expression was one of embarrassment and almost fear, which caught Aladdin off guard.
“I suppose you have heard . . .”
“I heard you demanded the town council release Michael and imprison me, even though you must know I would never hire someone to abduct Lady Kirstyn.”
“Truthfully . . .” Herr Kaufmann let out a long sigh. “I cannot lie to you, Aladdin. I know you didn’t do that. But Michael threatened me. He said he had friends whom he had instructed to do terrible things to Grethel if I did not appear to support his claim. He told me I had to cut you off and cast you out.”
Aladdin thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Michael has no power to do such a thing. Duke Wilhelm surely plans to take him to Hagenheim and execute him as soon as the councilmen release him to the duke.”
Herr Kaufmann nodded. “Yes, I know. But I was afraid and I told the council . . . But you know. For a moment, I confess—just for a moment—I believed Michael. After all”—he pinned Aladdin with an accusatory lift of his brows—“I thought you would never hurt my daughter and deceive her.”
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