Outplayed

by Hayley Osborn

  The commotion grew louder the closer I got. The child, a boy of about twelve, was crying. There was an older woman with him, probably his mother, pleading for his life. I watched from behind a tree at the side of the trail. Two soldiers, their burgundy and gold cloaks tickling the leafy floor of the forest, stood with their backs to me. One had his sword drawn, while the other was trying to lay the struggling child’s hand across an overturned log. Behind the boy, the woman screamed. “No! Please don’t. I’ll do anything, just please don’t take his hand!”

  The child bucked and kicked while the soldier fought to hold him.

  “Elton’s the only one in our family who can work. My husband died. We’ll starve if you take his hand.” Tears rolled down her face and I sensed her hopelessness. She had no way to fight the soldiers. There were two of them and just one of her, and even if she knew how to use a weapon, they were stronger. There really wasn’t anything she could do for her boy.

  Branches rattled beside me and Rob stepped onto the trail. His hood was high, his sword hidden beneath his cloak. And the bow I rarely ever saw him without, was nowhere to be seen. “What’s going on here?” He stopped behind the soldier in charge.

  I smiled. This was the Rob I knew. The one who could put every bit of authority there had ever been into just four words.

  The soldiers turned to face him, and my smile disappeared. I took a step back.

  Gisborne.

  Rob was looking at Gisborne.

  FIFTEEN

  I reached over my shoulder for an arrow from my quiver. I’d kill the bastard now. My hand came away empty. I’d left so quickly when Rob woke me in the cave this morning that my bow was lying beside my mattress, where I’d left it last night. All I had with me was my dagger.

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but this child attempted to purchase wheat using stolen gold.” Gisborne’s sneering voice sent a shiver up my spine. I’d heard his laughter so many times in my dreams these past months, last night included, that it was like putting the dreams on replay.

  Rob’s shoulders stiffened at the sound of Gisborne’s voice. I could almost see him calculating whether he could unsheathe his sword before Gisborne, who was already holding his, cut Rob to pieces.

  With his arms relaxed at his sides, Rob said, “Is that true, boy?”

  Elton shook his head, hard and fast. “No! I never stole a thing in my life!”

  Rob nodded to the guards. “Says he didn’t. You should let him go.”

  “He didn’t!” cried the boy’s mother, one hand on her son as if she could pull him away from the soldier. “He’s not a thief!”

  “Ha!” Gisborne’s focus was so wholly on the child that he must not have recognized Rob’s voice. I gripped my dagger tighter just in case Gisborne suddenly realized. “He’d say anything to save his hand!”

  Rob inclined his head, perhaps letting Gisborne think he agreed.

  “I didn’t lie! Or steal!” cried Elton. “It was given to me.”

  My heart dropped. I knew where Elton’s gold had come from.

  Me. Us. They mustn’t have melted it down like we told them to.

  I wished I hadn’t come searching for the crying child. I was about to witness the consequences of not heeding Gisborne’s warnings.

  Yet, Rob wasn’t ready to give up. “It’s a little harsh to take his hand, don’t you think? He’s only a boy. And he says he didn’t do it.” He aimed his question at the other soldier. Probably safer than looking at Gisborne, even with his hood up.

  Gisborne whirled on him. “Do you really think I’m that stupid? The child has in his possession gold with Lord Herman’s crest stamped into it. Lord Herman was robbed right here in the forest earlier this week.” Gisborne glared at Rob as if to say, you make the connection.

  I wondered if Rob realized this was the gold his friends had stolen. Probably.

  Rob laughed. It sounded harsh and not like Rob at all. “You think a scrawny boy could force Lord Herman to hand over all his gold? Surely you underestimate the power of a man protecting his fortune.”

  “The boy has the gold in his possession. That’s all I need to know.” Gisborne turned away. Conversation over. “Hold the boy’s arm against the log,” he demanded of the other soldier while he readied his sword.

  Elton’s mother screamed. She was long since past the point of making any sense. Tears streamed down her face and my heart broke for her.

  I flexed my grip on my dagger, focusing on the point between Gisborne’s shoulder blades. I would run out and stab Gisborne before I let him take the boy’s hand.

  Rob clearly had a similar idea. With a ringing that split the early morning birdsong, he drew his sword and in one motion, brought it down on the arm of the soldier holding the boy. The soldier screamed and dropped to the leaf-covered ground, blood spurting from his wound.

  “Run.” Rob spoke calmly to the boy before turning to block the blow already coming from Gisborne.

  As he turned, his hood fell back. For a split second, I thought Gisborne’s surprise at seeing his brother might have been enough to give Rob the advantage, but Gisborne didn’t waver. If anything, his blows came harder. Faster. “Well, well,” he said, breathing heavily. “If it isn’t my big brother. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

  Rob was a good swordsman, well above average. Gisborne was his match or better in every way. Probably because he’d benefited from training Rob hadn’t had after he was cast out into the forest to die. But anger and hatred were powerful motivators driving Rob’s every move. Each blow by one was blocked by the other.

  They circled each other, using the moment to catch their breath. “You’re going to die today.” Gisborne sneered.

  “One of us will, but it won’t be me.” Rob bounced on his toes, circling Gisborne.

  I checked the image from my dreams. Could this be the place I kept seeing? The time of day was right, possibly a fraction earlier than I’d imagined but close enough. But the rest, no. Not possible. The place in my dreams was open, on a slight hill, not on a flat trail surrounded by trees. And he never died by a sword. It was always an arrow in his back.

  It didn’t make me feel any better. I’d begun to wonder if the location didn’t matter. Based on what I was currently seeing, that was potentially true.

  Gisborne swung at Rob, the clash of their blades making my ears ring.

  My mind raced and I wished I’d never heard that boy crying. I wished I’d never brought Rob this close to Gisborne.

  Rob stumbled, the trail a mess of holes and rutted ground beneath his feet. He regained his footing immediately, but Gisborne pounced, hitting Rob with three fast swings and knocking the sword from his hand. It fell on the dirt with a soft thud.

  This was bad. I flexed my hand on my dagger. I needed to do something; I just wasn’t sure how much damage I could do with such a small weapon.

  Rob scrambled for his sword, but Gisborne was quicker, kicking it along the trail and raising his sword.

  I pushed through the bracken and yelled at the top of my voice. “Stop.” He would not kill Rob. I refused to let him. I’d seen it too many times these past months to sit back and watch it happen when I could do something about it.

  Maud’s face still affected Gisborne. He turned to me and his expression softened for just a moment. Then he caught himself. His shoulders stiffened and he jeered. “I won’t fall for that again.” He turned his back and brought his sword down hard and fast. Rob scrambled away, backwards on hands and feet, but not fast enough. Gisborne’s sword sliced into his thigh.

  Never until the day I die, will I forget the scream that ripped from Rob’s lips. It almost split me in two. And it lit an anger inside me like I’d never felt before. An anger that made my hands shake and my breath tremble from my lips. Anger that refused to allow Gisborne the final say, no matter what. Anger that turned from molten lava into something cold and hard.

  Gisborne raised his sword a
gain.

  “Gisborne.” This time, I spoke softly the way Tabitha had suggested, trying to sound as much like Maud as possible. I had few options to get him away from Rob, especially without my bow, but I would use those I had to the very best of my ability. Rob was always calm when he dealt with Gisborne. I was going to be the same. “Gisborne, it’s me. Maud.”

  Mid-swing, Gisborne stopped. “No. Maud would never live out here in the forest. She’d never go with him.” He spat the final word and raised his sword again. But I knew I had him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stopped.

  “It really is me. How can I prove it to you?”

  Gisborne stalled. He wanted me to be her, his voice saying one thing, his actions another. “You can’t. I know it wasn’t you at the tournament. Eliza explained.”

  “Did she also explain that after I caught the two of you together, after I scratched her face, she followed me into the forest then had her witch of a sister send me away? Did she tell you she banished me to another place where I barely survived?”

  Gisborne turned, his eyes wary. She had told him that. Whether he believed or not was a different story, but his eyebrows lifted to hear the same from me.

  “I’ve been trying to get back here ever since.” I held up my left hand, thanking my good luck and the stars that Maud had given me her engagement ring. And that Tabitha made me wear it. “I wouldn’t have this if I wasn’t your fiancé, would I?”

  He blinked and stepped toward me. “The ring? You still have it?” He shook his head. “She didn’t have it. The other…you.”

  I nodded, taking a careful step toward him. My heart hammered and my breath came in short, sharp bursts. I pulled my hand back under my cloak so Gisborne couldn’t see it shaking. Rob’s life relied on me getting this right.

  Rob groaned quietly on the ground, but I couldn’t look at him, not if I wanted Gisborne to believe me. And I needed him to believe. “That wasn’t me. You know that. But I’m back now. Of course, I have your ring. I’ve worn it every day for the past two years. It means everything to me.” My other hand gripped the little knife beneath my cloak, waiting for the right moment. “Will you please take me home?”

  Gisborne’s eyes jumped between my face and the place where his ring hid beneath my cloak. He held out his hand.

  I smiled, wide and long, needing him to think I was looking at the best sight I’d ever seen. When he nodded and smiled back, I knew I had him. Keeping my eyes locked with his, I whipped out my knife and aimed for the soft skin beneath his ribs. At the last second, he saw it and twisted away. Not fast enough, though. I drove the knife into his upper arm, twisting it as it went in. “That’s for hurting Rob.”

  “You little bitch!” he screamed, staggering as he glanced down at the knife sticking from his body. But it didn’t slow him down as much as I’d hoped. Or at all, actually. He drew back his sword and swung at me, grunting with the force. I dodged, and only the tip scratched my arm.

  Hatred lit his eyes. I’d fooled him again and this time, he wasn’t going to let me away with it. He advanced on me.

  “Run, Maryanne.” Rob’s voice was rough, weak. I needed him to hold on. I’d get us out of this. Exactly how, was yet to be decided.

  “It’s okay. I’ve got this.” I threw him a quick smile. Or at least something I hoped looked like a smile, because this wasn’t looking good. That quick glance at Rob had shown me blood running from the cut on his leg and soaking into the ground beneath him. I no longer had a weapon, and in another moment, Gisborne would be close enough to slash me with his sword.

  But with that glance, I also saw Rob’s sword lying where Gisborne had kicked it into the middle of the trail behind me. I dived for it, gripping the handle so tight my hands ached, and whirled around on Gisborne, the sword out in front of me. I put everything into that blow, hoping to connect. Gisborne saw it coming and danced out of the way with a smirk.

  “Now I’m certain you’re not Maud. She would never pick up a sword, let alone attempt to use one.” Gisborne shook his head in disgust.

  “Gisborne!” Rob’s voice was stronger than I expected, stronger than I’d thought possible from that glimpse at him a moment ago.

  Gisborne’s eyes flicked to Rob, looking away from me for the briefest of moments. It was all I needed. I raised Rob’s sword and brought it down toward Gisborne. I aimed for the place his neck and shoulder met, but Rob’s sword was heavy, and my aim was bad. It bit into Gisborne’s arm, just above the place I’d shoved my dagger into him.

  He screamed, dropping to his knees and clutching his bleeding arm, shouting expletives at me.

  I didn’t care. This was the opportunity we needed. I turned to Rob, expecting to see him on his feet based on the strength of his voice a moment ago. But no. He was lying on the ground where he’d fallen, eyes closed and breathing fast. It had cost him a lot to draw Gisborne’s attention from me. I wasn’t going to waste whatever time it had brought us.

  I dropped the sword and rushed to Rob, crouching beside him. “Rob. We have to go. Can you walk?” I glanced over my shoulder. The soldier Rob had injured was lying quietly on the ground, either dead or passed out from pain. Gisborne was clutching his wound with one hand while trying to use the other hand to get at something on his belt, probably first aid supplies. His injured arm wasn’t working properly, and he let out a growl, released his grip on the bleeding wound and used the other hand to pull out some bandages. We didn’t have much time. “Rob?”

  Rob nodded. “I’m fine.” His face was pale, but at least the blood wasn’t spurting from his wound. Gisborne had missed Rob’s artery. I took his good arm and put it over my shoulder, helping him off the ground.

  “Get back here!” Gisborne screamed, wrapping the bandage around his arm.

  I pulled Rob along the trail. Gisborne might not be able to use both arms, but he could run, and that was something we couldn’t do. Rob could barely walk. He dragged his injured leg behind him, grunting with each step.

  I glanced behind us again. Gisborne was attempting to tie off the bandage using one hand. “Come on.” I urged Rob forward with my arm around his waist, while I searched the ground for a rock. I’d use anything to keep us both alive.

  The trail turned, and Gisborne disappeared from view. I cast my hearing wide, listening for his footsteps as I tried not to think about how bad Rob’s wound might be. And what we’d need to do to keep him alive.

  Instead of Gisborne’s feet, horse’s hooves pounded on the trail behind us. “Here.” I dragged Rob into the bracken, pushing him to the ground. I picked up a stick and stood sentry, hidden behind a tree. I wasn’t dying here today. Not without a fight, at least.

  The horse slowed and came to a stop beside us. “Rob? Maryanne?” Tuck called into the undergrowth.

  “Tuck?” I let out a huge breath. I’d expected the rider to be a soldier.

  “Come out,” he called. “It’s only me. I took Gisborne’s horse. It was tied up farther along the trail.”

  “Rob’s hurt.” I stepped out from behind the tree so Tuck could see me.

  His lips shifted into a thin line. “I know. I heard him scream.”

  “And Gisborne’s not badly injured. He’ll be here in a moment, I imagine.” My grip was still tight around the stick.

  “He’s a little more injured than he was a moment ago.” Tuck climbed off the horse, his bow in one hand. “I hit him with an arrow on the way past. Just above the shoulder blade.”

  Now he mentioned it, Gisborne’s yells had changed. They were still angry and expletive-ridden, but pain-slurred as well.

  “Bad shot, Tuck,” murmured Rob, pulling himself to sitting. “Should have aimed for his heart.”

  “I did,” said Tuck. “But the noises you made earlier had me half scared out of my wits.”

  “Didn’t make any noises,” mumbled Rob, as we helped him to his feet. His breath came in shallow, fast gasps, and his skin was paler than I’d ever seen it.
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  “We need to stop the bleeding,” I said, hoping I’d hidden any fear from my voice. Rob’s pale color could be from blood loss or shock. Either way, we needed to attend to his injuries.

  Tuck made an affirmative sound in his throat. “We have to get away from here first, so Gisborne’s men can’t find us. Help me get him on the horse. I’ll take him to the apple grove near Mansfield. You go back to the cave, find John and Miller and meet us there.”

  “I don’t know where the grove is.” Panic rose inside of me at the thought of them leaving me alone in the forest with Gisborne nearby. Panic that made me want to curl into a ball and close my eyes.

  “John and Miller know. Just find them.” Tuck eyed the horse, probably considering the best way to heft Rob on its back.

  “I can’t,” I whispered. What if they’d heard Rob’s cry and gone searching for him, the way Tuck had? What if they’d followed Tuck to find the horse? What if they weren’t at Black Hole anymore? I couldn’t hide in the forest alone, not with Gisborne angry and searching. Not when they were riding off to safety without me.

  Tuck ducked out from under Rob’s arm, looking at me. “I’ll help him on from this side. You go around the other side of the horse in case he overbalances.”

  I stood still. They were leaving me alone, with Gisborne nearby.

  “Maryanne.” Rob adjusted his weight to his good leg and turned to look at me. “You can do this. If you don’t, John and Miller won’t know what happened to me. Or where we’ve gone.” His voice was slurring, and he wobbled on his feet.

  I shook my head. He had far too much faith in me. I could hide. But I couldn’t run through the forest to find the others.

  He ducked into my vision, something that must have been close to impossible with his injury. “Weren’t you the one just telling me to face my fears?”

  I had told him to do that, and look where it had gotten us. “You shouldn’t have listened.”