Marian reached out and put a hand on his arm.
“Old friend, I know this seems like an incredible risk, foolish to even attempt. I can’t explain what I’m feeling. I just know that this is our chance to end it. I don’t know how it will all play out. We haven’t the numbers to fight them.” She peered at him. Both of their faces were awash with emotion. “This is it, and if we let this moment pass all will be lost.”
“Then God save us all,” Friar Tuck said slowly.
“God protect us all.” Chastity nodded. “Right, you get ready for the festival. I’ll go see how many others might have the ears of the soldiers. The more we try to turn, the better our chances.”
“I’ll get the men ready, make sure we have all the weapons we can carry,” Friar Tuck said. “And I’ll try to find disguises for us.”
“Us?” Marian asked.
“You don’t think you’re going in there alone, do you?” Tuck asked. “No, if this is it, then all of us go.”
“All of us go,” she echoed in a whisper. Marian nodded slowly, turned, and surveyed the camp. “God be with us.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Chastity didn’t know how far she’d walked in the last two days but she was convinced it had been more than she’d ever walked in her life. She’d visited five manors where Henry’s soldiers were staying and had been fortunate enough to find a sympathetic ear in each place.
She had one last place to visit before returning to Sherwood—a place she thought would have been torn down after Will confessed to being the Hood. His father, though, had been the first to pledge fealty to John, so they had spared the manor.
Her chest constricted as she approached. She loved him still and every night prayed that God would let her join him one day in heaven. Tears burned in her eyes, and she dashed them away.
She had met the cook once, a frightful old hag of a woman, and didn’t fancy trading words with her. There had to be a servant who would help, though—someone who would want to avenge Will Scarlett.
Nevertheless, she approached the manor cautiously. Will’s family were still nobility, if somewhat lesser than the Longstrides to whom they were kin. In the garden by the kitchen door she spotted a young servant girl, probably only a year younger than Chastity herself, and pretty enough to turn any soldier’s head. Most likely the girl could convince a lot of men of anything she chose.
Chastity hailed her and the girl straightened, a look of trepidation on her face.
“Who are you?” she asked when Chastity drew near.
Chastity took a deep breath. “I was friend to Will Scarlett.”
The girl paled. “Then you’re not welcome here,” she said. “You should go.”
“Is this not his home?”
“It was, until he got himself mixed up and killed.”
Chastity stepped closer and dropped her voice. “He fought to free all of us from the evil that has seized the land since King Richard set sail. There are those of us willing to carry on. I’m looking for someone—”
“You’ll find no one here willing to fight, or risk their life.”
Chastity forced herself not to hit the other girl, but loathed her cowardice. “I’m not asking for fighters. I’m asking that the good soldiers who have come here be told the truth of what they’re being asked to do,” she said, keeping her voice low. “So they know they are fighting against God, are given a chance to reconsider.”
If possible, the girl turned even more pale. “I won’t be talking to any of those men.”
“Are you afraid of them?” Chastity asked. “Has any of them harmed you, or anyone else here?”
“Not yet, thank God,” the girl replied, “but I’ll not give them any cause to.”
Chastity nodded but continued to try. “I’m just asking you to plant a seed,” she said. “To speak truth.”
“Truth puts you at the end of a hangman’s noose.”
Before anything more could be said, the cook came storming out of the kitchen.
“We’ve all had enough trouble rained down on our heads because that whelp chose to mix with the wrong sorts and got himself killed,” she said loudly. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave right now before I send for the Sheriff.”
Rage tore through Chastity. With every bone in her body she wanted to strike both the women who stood in front of her.
“Will was a hero and you owe him everything,” she whispered fiercely before forcing herself to turn away. It would gain her nothing to get into a fight right now. All it would do was draw unwanted attention.
As she walked away she took a deep breath, reminding herself that they were afraid. She had seen it in their eyes. Even if they had cared there was no way they’d act, for fear of retribution. She shouldn’t blame them—yet she did. Will had died for the likes of them, and they didn’t deserve his sacrifice.
She made it to the road and paused for a moment. There was nowhere left to go. At least, nowhere safe. It was time to return to Sherwood, even if her failure here galled her bitterly. She just prayed that the men on this land wouldn’t be the difference between winning and losing.
There was a light step behind her and she spun, fearing that she hadn’t left fast enough. An older woman stood there, her face lined with grief. Chastity had never seen her at the castle before, but her features were familiar nonetheless. The woman stared at her through haunted eyes.
“Are you... is your name Chastity?” she asked.
“Yes,” Chastity answered cautiously.
“I received a letter just a couple of days before... it was from my boy,” she said, and tears began to sparkle in her eyes. “It said that things were becoming worse, dangerous. He told me that if something should happen to him, that I should welcome a girl named Chastity into my home. I waited, but you did not come and I was beginning to fear...” She stopped, her lips trembling for a moment and then continued. “I am Will’s mother, Mary. Are you the Chastity that he loved?”
“Yes,” Chastity whispered.
Will’s mother threw her arms around her and held her close as they both sobbed. Anguish tore through her anew, but also a sense of what could only be called joy. He had truly loved her. Any doubt she’d had fled in an instant.
After a while Mary pulled away and with her hands she wiped the tears from Chastity’s cheeks, then her own.
“You are as lovely as he said you were,” she told her with a smile. “When this madness is over I will welcome you into my home as the widow of my son.”
“My lady, we were not married.”
“No, but if he lived you would have been.”
Fresh tears rolled down Chastity’s cheeks. “I’m not a noble born.”
“But you are noble wed,” Mary insisted. “And that makes you a noble. None will ever know from me that it’s not true,” she added with a hint of a smile. “For now, though, I fear it is not safe for you here.”
“Thank you,” Chastity said, marveling in the love she felt. “Your son was an amazing man.”
Mary bit her lip and glanced over her shoulder. “I want nothing more than to sit all day with you and tell stories of him, and learn everything about you. We don’t have that much time, though. What is it you need from me?”
Chastity took a deep breath. Asking a servant to help was one thing, asking Will’s mother was quite another.
“I came seeking help. We believe that many of the soldiers under Henry’s command might be God-fearing men who would think twice if they knew the hellspawn nature of the Sheriff, and that they were fighting against God.”
Mary nodded. “You need someone who can open their eyes to the truth.”
“Yes. I tried talking to the cook and a servant girl, but—”
Mary held up a hand. “Leave it to me. I will make them see the truth. I have lost everything to the evil that has taken our land. If I cannot sway them, then no one can.”
“I don’t want you to risk yourself.”
“My son risked
everything for this land and its people.” Mary shook her head. “If I honor him, how can I do any less?”
Chastity hugged her again and Mary pressed a cheek to hers. “We will see each other again,” Mary assured her. “Now that I’ve found my daughter, I will not lightly let go.”
“Thank you… Mother,” Chastity said, the endearment coming out of her more easily than she could have dreamed. Mary pulled away and kissed her forehead.
“Now go, quickly.”
“We need the men turned in three days’ time.”
“It will be done,” Mary said, resolve etched on her face.
Chastity nodded, words failing her. Mary turned and headed back to the manor. Chastity stood a moment, then turned and headed swiftly toward the safety of Sherwood. Over and over as she headed down the road she replayed all Mary’s words to her. They filled her with a warm glow. Her own mother had died when she was young and it would be nice to have someone to care for her in that way that she could care for back.
Tears stung her eyes as she kept walking, so preoccupied that when a shadow darted across the path in front of her it took her a moment to realize what she had just seen. She stumbled to a halt and her heart began to pound. Sweat began to pour off of her and her stomach twisted in knots. She yanked the dagger out of her bodice and stood, the bare blade in her hand. Her breath came in short, frightened gasps. She twisted her head from side to side, trying to see where it had gone.
It was one of the Sheriff’s pets. That it had to be was proved by the sickness that threatened to overwhelm her.
“God protect and defend me,” the words bubbled out of her.
She took a step forward, waiting for the thing to lunge at her from someplace. The forest was close. Those things could hide in the bushes and shrubs that lined the road, but they couldn’t enter the forest proper.
I can’t die. Not after everything that’s happened. Not like this, she thought.
She took another step, trying to measure the distance to Sherwood. It was too far. Even if she ran her fastest the creature would be on her before she’d made half the distance. She tried to swallow down the terror. Sweat rolled into her eyes, stinging them and momentarily blinding her. She blinked it away, took another step, then shrieked as something black and monstrous hurled itself at her from the brush at the side of the road.
Swinging her knife, she stabbed only fur even as pain exploded in her calf and she fell, the bottom of her dress shredded and blood seeping from deep scratch marks on her leg. The thing disappeared again.
Chastity forced herself up onto her feet. Before she could move the creature seemed to flow out onto the path ahead of her, its movements fluid, then it turned solid as it formed itself into something covered in fur and bristling with teeth. It stood between her and the forest, and opened its mouth in a silent snarl.
A sudden, piercing howl rose up from nearby and four streaks of gray flashed out of the forest, heading straight for them. Chastity gaped in shock as four wolves, lean from hunger, fell upon the Sheriff’s monstrous pet. It snapped in surprise as it turned to face its attackers.
Chastity seized the opportunity and ran toward the trees. She could hear growls and hissing sounds behind her as the wolves battled the monster. Her leg throbbed and blood rolled down it, but she kept running. As soon as she made it to safety she stopped and leaned against a trunk to catch her breath.
Then she turned and looked back. One wolf was down. The other three looked to be tearing the Sheriff’s hideous creature from limb to limb. A feeling of fierce joy surged through her as she watched them destroy it. Turning again, she began to make her way back to camp. She had to tell Marian everything that had happened.
They had more allies than they had thought.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Marian closed the ancient book, sighed, and leaned her head back against the hollow tree. She had prayed that something in its pages would help her in the coming battle, but there was nothing. All she had found were warnings, specifically about the dark power that could be wielded by a demon-human offspring.
Glynna’s child. Marian knew in her heart that the prophecies were about that creature. The more she read, the more she understood that no matter what happened to her, or any of the rest of them, the demon child had to be destroyed before he brought about the end of the world.
Tears of frustration slid down her cheeks. She wished that Robin was there. She needed his strength at that moment, more than she could say. She had asked God a hundred times why they had to be embroiled in this battle. He had never answered her.
All around her she could feel an increase in the energy of the creatures of the forest. They were becoming more active and could sense the trouble coming as well as she. They were unsettled, fearful, even angry. She had never dreamed that they understood as much as they did, and that their emotions so closely mirrored those of humans. Something new was stirring now. She felt the restlessness deep within her. It was time to get back to camp. Something was about to happen.
She just wished she knew what it was.
So she carefully replaced the book in its hiding place. It might not offer any answers for her now, but there were still many trials ahead—things that the book addressed. If they didn’t stop the bastard child, then the dark prophecies would come true.
* * *
Friar Tuck was on edge. It was more than just the impending battle, which he prayed wouldn’t see them all dead and England lost forever. It was more than his fears over Alan’s condition.
For the last couple of days he had felt a sense of evil in the camp, and he had been unable to pinpoint the source. He had performed every ritual he knew to banish dark things, but to no avail. After prayer and hateful fasting he had come to the belief that there was a traitor in their midst.
At first he thought one of their own might have been cursed or poisoned, like he had been when they had been attacked at the port. It didn’t feel like that, though, and no one behaved in a manner different from before.
This threat was something new, he was sure of it. Ever since his own experience, he had become more sensitive to the presence of evil. Had it not been for that, he probably wouldn’t have realized anything was wrong. Miraculously God had taken something meant for evil and turned it toward good.
A dozen new people had come to them over the last couple of weeks, most of them servants from the Locksley household. From what they revealed, when their master was killed the steward had given them each money and told them to flee. They had, but many had no idea where to go. It was hard these days to flee the reach of the Sheriff.
Tuck located the newcomers, one by one, and surreptitiously managed to sprinkle a precious bit of holy water on them. None had reacted, which ruled out possessions and spells. As a result the person he sought had to be, at the core, evil in and of itself.
He hadn’t shared his concerns with the lady Marian. She had busied herself practicing for the archery tournament, and she was quite good. Good enough perhaps to win the arrow. He just hoped the disguise he had prepared for her would be equally effective. He was loathe to reveal it, though, before he had found the traitor.
So he walked the camp, trying to find each of the newcomers.
Turn around.
He blinked, not sure if he’d heard a voice, or if the words were in his head. He turned and he found Haylan sitting by himself on a blanket. His heart went out to the boy who had lost so much, and he gave a heavy sigh. Finding the traitor would have to wait a few more minutes. He headed over and eased himself down onto the blanket.
“How are you?” he asked.
Haylan looked up, tears sparkling in his eyes.
“I’m angry,” he said.
Friar Tuck nodded. “When we lose someone we care about, it’s natural to be angry at some point. Angry that it happened, angry at the person who is gone, even angry at God. It’s all right, Haylan. It will pass.”
“I’m not angry at God or Audric.”
; “Then who are you angry at?” Tuck asked.
“Ean.”
“Ean?” Tuck said. “Your brother’s friend?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you angry with him?”
“If it wasn’t for him being so stupid, Audric wouldn’t have gotten killed.”
“How so?” Tuck asked.
“Ean and Audric got into a disagreement. Ean said that there was no such thing as fey, and Audric told him there was. Ean demanded that he prove it. Audric told him about some little purple flowers where the fey are supposed to live. He said he could catch one. Ean said he’d give him gold if he brought him one.” Haylan paused and clenched his jaw. “So, Audric went off to catch a fey for Ean, and he got killed instead.”
Friar Tuck licked his lips, which suddenly felt very dry.
“Let me get this right,” he said, his voice a bit hoarse. “Audric went to look for fey the day he was killed?”
The boy nodded.
“And he did so because Ean promised to give him gold?”
Haylan nodded again.
“How did Audric know Ean could keep his promise?” Friar Tuck asked.
Haylan hesitated. “It’s a secret,” he said. “Audric wasn’t supposed to tell, and he made me promise not to tell anyone else.”
The back of Friar Tuck’s neck began to itch. “Listen very carefully to me, Haylan. If Ean had something to do with Audric getting killed, and was after the fey, you need to tell me. It’s important.”
Still the boy hesitated. Friar Tuck sucked in his breath.
“Confession isn’t breaking a promise,” he told the boy.
Haylan thought about it for a moment and then arrived at a decision. “Ean says he can do magic,” he blurted out.
“Did he ever show Audric any of his magic?” Friar Tuck tried to remain still and keep his voice calm.
“No.”
Tuck needed to think. It might just have been one boy bragging to another, trying to impress or influence him or even just make friends. Children sometimes made up things, even dangerous, outrageous things. It didn’t necessarily mean anything.
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