by Davis, Lia;
“Robin, wait, you’re bleeding. Let’s take care of that first.”
The pain wasn’t noticeable until she pointed it out. My sleeve has a good amount of blood on it. She gently pulls my shirt down revealing a two inch long gash on my shoulder. An inch lower and it would have been imbedded in me. I try not to think about the fact that Marion just tried to hurt me, after all he didn’t know who the hooded man was.
She cleans and wraps the wound quickly, I don’t let her take the time to stitch it. I want to get as far away from him as possible.
“Come on, Scarlet, let’s put this nightmare behind us.”
Chapter Eleven
“I knew one of these days you would get hurt. I had a bad feeling about this trip. Next time listen to your mother, we have intuition about these things.”
I glumly stare into the fire as my mom stitches up my wound. I guess I won’t be wearing any off the shoulder dresses any time soon. I chuckle at my own joke, poor farmers don’t get to wear fancy dresses.
There’s a quiet knock on the door before it opens revealing a nervous looking Joan. “Robin, if you are up for it, I was wondering if you and I could take a short ride together?”
“Of course she can’t, I just now put the last stitch in.”
Joan’s pleading eyes silently beg me to come along.
“It’s all right, Mother, if we walk the horses it won’t be too jarring. I’ll be back in a bit to help make dinner.” She reluctantly nods and accepts my kiss on her cheek.
Joan helps me onto my horse and takes off into the forest. As soon as my house is out of sight, I question her. “What’s with all the secrecy?”
“I haven’t seen you in days, I can’t hang out with my best friend?”
I know she’s lying but to what end I can’t figure out. I’ll play her game for now.
It doesn’t take long before we reach the pond where she and I like to swim. I yank on the reins as soon as we hit the clearing. I throw an exasperated look to Joan, who is once again staring at her hands trying not to look at me. Standing near a pair of horses with the king’s emblem on their blankets is Colin and Marion. He has the right idea by looking contrite. In the back of my mind I wonder what happened to the carriage and where they got the castle horses from. Distracted by his pleading eyes, I forget about my question.
I can turn around and take off, looking like a coward, or I can straighten my spine and meet Marion head on. Choosing the latter, I slide off gracefully and tie the horses to a tree. Colin is already next to Joan, holding her hands and whispering quietly. I don’t want to intrude on their tryst so I walk stiffly to the water’s edge.
At first he says nothing, just picks up a few stones and skips them along the top. With a heavy sigh, he breaks the silence. “I was a fool. My father trusted John so I automatically did as well. Everything you said the other night is true. I have been a coward and hiding away. I think I didn’t want to go out because I didn’t want to talk to people and have them ask about my father. I lost my mother when I was two. I can’t bear the thought of losing him as well. I think I was happy hiding in my protective bubble.”
His speech is moving, he is saying everything right, but that stubborn streak of mine keeps me from turning to him.
“Robin, please…” I groan in pain and pull away when his hand lands on my shoulder to turn me toward him. “Are you hurt? I didn’t mean to cause you harm.”
In a panic, my eyes fly to Joan, who knows the truth. “No, it’s fine, I got a small cut this morning when I was chopping some firewood. It’s nothing to worry about.”
His strong hands grab mine and flip them over. His thumbs rub each of my callouses gently. It is as mortifying as it is sensual.
“You have to chop your own firewood because of John, don’t you?” He leans down and softly kisses each palm. Sweet lord, I am melting. “I took your advice, Colin and I have been travelling all over the kingdom visiting different villages. I’m appalled by all that I have seen and how bad it has gotten for everyone. I have a few trusted advisors in the castle, I’m going to work with them to take control from my uncle.”
Fear grips my heart, “You can’t do that, he is dangerous. Now that you know what is happening maybe you can keep going out into the villages for visits. If he see’s you taking an interest, he’ll be forced to back off. Please don’t risk your safety because of a few petty words I said.”
“Even if you were the only person he was harming, I would still fight him, but there are thousands of people suffering because of him. It’s my duty as the future king of this land to protect you and as God is my witness, I will.”
Without thought of propriety or consequences, I reach up and kiss him. I put everything into that kiss, every bit of anger, frustration, and sadness I have had for the last few years, and feel it slowly being replaced with love and kindness.
His tongue tentatively strokes against mine and I can’t help stiffening for a second, I didn’t expect it to happen. This is my first true kiss and it is so much more than I expected.
He grabs the back of my neck, pulling me tighter against him, the taste of him drugging me, making me itch for something, but I don’t know what it is.
A throat clearing is all it takes for Marion to remember himself and pull back. Still holding my neck, he rests his forehead to mine. I’m pleased to hear him panting as hard as I am.
“Your Highness, it’s time to go.” He nods to Colin and looks back at me.
“Please say you will see me again?”
The burning in my shoulder brings me crashing back to Earth. “To what end? We can’t be together, and I won’t be a kept woman. Why should we torture ourselves?”
“Give me time to think. We will figure this out, just don’t give up on us yet.” His lips gently meet mine again for a quick kiss before he effortlessly mounts his horse and takes off.
“Oh my god! You just kissed the freaking prince!” Joan’s excitement is contagious, I forget my worries for a minute and squeal with her like seventeen-year-old girls should.
“Don’t look so innocent, I saw a fair bit of kissing between you and Colin as well.”
“I know, he’s lovely, isn’t he?” Her sigh of contentment is a beautiful sound. I am happy for my friend, no one would think twice of her marrying a guard.
“It’s getting late and I promised to help with dinner. Let’s go home.”
Chapter Twelve
Before my house comes into view, I can sense something is amiss. I can hear a lot of men's voices and people crying. Joan and I exchange glances before taking off at a full gallop. The sheriff’s men are everywhere, but it’s too early in the month for taxes. Dread fills me at the possibilities.
One of the guards catches my reins as I jump off and run inside the house. Sitting in front of the fire crying is my mother. The sheriff is sitting at the table with my costume, bow and arrows strewn across it.
“I knew you would foul up eventually. All these months I’ve been chasing you and you got caught because you got cocky.”
Not being an idiot, I stay silent and walk over to my mother. The sheriff picks up one of the arrows and studies it.
“Imagine my surprise when the prince returns to the castle and tells me he was accosted by bandits. In anger, he threw the arrows that were lodged in his carriage at my feet and demanded to know what I was going to do about his people getting robbed. I filled him in on all of the atrocities you have been committing all these months. I wish you could have seen his outrage.”
I hold my mother tight in my arms and continue staring daggers at him.
“Something about the arrows struck me as familiar. Did you know that every archer’s arrows are unique? Some people carve little symbols in them, some have a unique way of tying the arrow head on. I was in complete shock when I remembered where I had seen these before. They perfectly matched the arrow that had won the archery competition. I finally had a name, Robin Hood was my thief and he admitted he lived in Sherwood Forest.
It only took searching a few houses for my men to find you and your men’s gear. The odd part is there are no men in this area capable of the things you have been doing.”
He throws my costume at me. “I am arresting you on crimes against the crown. Put on your uniform, let the people see the criminal being brought to justice.”
“You have no proof that any of this belongs to me.”
He grabs me by the arm, dragging me outside. To my horror, I see most of my group already shackled. Scarlet’s head is held high, she is not showing any fear. Relief floods my body as I see Joan missing, she must have eluded them.
“You all made a mistake this morning, you tried to rob the prince.” Fear and surprise ripple across their faces. “He was excited to tell me he injured one of the criminals, he is sure he wounded one in the left shoulder with an arrow.”
The sheriff nods his head and each girl’s dress is pulled down to reveal their smooth, uninjured shoulders.
“I guess that leaves you, my dear.” Out of desperation I thrash, trying to get away. His men easily hold me still while he rips my dress, revealing a bloody bandage. With an evil smirk he rips the bandage off, revealing my wound. “While I’m sure you have a perfectly good excuse for how you became injured, suffice it to say I don’t care. You can save it for the judge.” He looks back at his men, “Round them up, we’ll be back in a minute.”
Dragging me back inside, he pushes me toward the clothes I had let fall to the ground.
“Put on your disguise, I want everyone to see me bring in the criminal that has been plaguing our roads.” That damn stubborn streak again causes me to spit on his boots. “Put on the disguise and come quietly or I will arrest all of your families for harboring criminals to the crown.”
He knows exactly what to say to get my compliance. I stomp behind the screen and change quickly.
“Yes, there he is, the man who thinks he is the village hero. But wait, you are missing something.” He grabs the facial hair off the table and sticks it to my face. “Ah yes, I can’t wait for the prince to find out the girl he danced with at the ball is the thief who also bested him at his own competition.”
Marion’s face flashes in my mind, he is going to be devastated by my betrayal. He’s quickly learning no one in his life can be trusted. With one last hug, I push my sobbing mother away. “It’s okay, I’ll be back before you know it.”
He isn’t going to break me. I stiffen my spine and walk out with my head held high. Family members and children have gathered, grandparents holding back children who want their mothers. They take one look at me in full garb and instantly straighten up. They remember what we are fighting for and why we can’t show fear to these heathens.
I’m chained next to Scarlet as we’re loaded into carriages. Her face is etched in stone but I feel her trembling next to me. It takes six carts to get us all in. I couldn’t be prouder of my girls, I never saw another tear the entire drive to the prison.
The sheriff obviously wants to brag, he takes our caravan through the heart of the city and takes the long way around to our destination. People are gathering on the streets, their looks of utter confusion quickly replaced by shock and outrage when they see me in my garb. These people know who we are and what we represent. He thinks he is garnering support against us but the opposite is true. They have seen just as much heartbreak and starvation as we have.
Once the carts are stopped, the sheriff gleefully pulls me down first and chains me to a hook next to the prison entrance. His motive is two fold, he gets to continue parading me to anyone who passes by and I am forced to look at every woman as she is brought in.
Now that they see the jail, it is becoming more real and many are silently crying. I want to join them, I want them to know I am just as scared, but that wouldn’t make me a very good leader. Finally, when the last woman is inside, the sheriff returns to me.
“Did you really think you could elude me forever? Women are the weaker sex, it was a matter of time before I conquered you. Now I look forward to breaking you.”
His hand slides down my cheek to my neck, then all the way down my arm. I shudder at his touch, he will lose body parts if he thinks he can break me in that way. I’m freed from the hook and pulled inside. As I pass each cell, I see my friends stuffed in. He wants us as uncomfortable as possible.
I’m led to a cell at the end and I’m surprised it's empty. I guess he doesn’t want me talking to anyone. Without a backward glance, he tosses me in and heads through a door. A few minutes later, the first lady is taken into the room. I watch for hours as each one is taken in there then after a short span of time, returned to their cells. Most are crying but none look physically harmed. Scarlet nods to me as she is dragged past my cell. On her return trip, she looks like she has aged five years. What is happening in there?
Finally, a guard comes for me. The door leads down a short hallway and into a large chamber. The sheriff is sitting behind a desk with papers strewn all over. The guard pushes me onto the solitary chair in the room facing the desk and chains me to hooks sticking out of the ground.
“I must say, you surprise me. I have worked with many men over the years and I have rarely seen loyalty quite like I saw today. I offered everyone of those women their freedom if they would testify that you coerced them into helping you. Even the ones that I know have children stayed silent. I offered to bring their husbands home. Maybe a few days in here will change their minds.”
“What bothers you more, the fact that a woman had outsmarted you for over a year or that I was in your grasp at that competition and you had no idea?” His eyes bulged, his face turning a grotesque shade of purple.
It was stupid, I know, but I couldn’t stop if I wanted to. How dare he use these women’s families against them, doesn’t he understand they are the whole reason we are doing this?
I should have expected it but I still wasn’t prepared for the jarring pain ringing through my head and neck when his hand connected with my cheek. All the practice in the world couldn’t prepare me for a real hit.
“Get her out of here, feed the others scraps but give her nothing.”
As soon as I’m freed, my hand clutches my face. My eye feels like it is going to pop out of its socket. Looking down, I avoid making eye contact with my friends as I’m returned to my cell. After a few hushed whispers then dead silence, it’s obvious they saw me and know I am hurt.
Curling into a ball on the rag they pass as a blanket, I silently cry myself to sleep for the first time in a long time I feel real fear again and want my mom to hold me and sing till I feel better.
Chapter Thirteen
I jolt awake when a guard slaps a metal pan down on the floor of my cell. Pain stabs through my left eye, it has completely swollen shut while I slept. Rolling over, I drag the plate toward me. If he thinks he’ll break me by giving me very little food, he is sadly mistaken. We lived off this and less for months and can do it again.
With the first bite of bread, I’m forced to spit it out. My jaw is tender and too sore to let me chew. Desperate for some substance, I pull the softer middle piece out, soak it in the stale water of the cup he left and let it slide down my throat. It’s disgusting but all I can manage.
After I’ve relieved myself in the pot, a guard calls me to the door of my cell. “Put your hands through the bars.” Unsure what he’s going to do, I comply.
He shackles my wrists again and I can’t pull my arms back in, so I’m forced to stand against the door. Soon I realize why. Once again, every lady is paraded past me and back in for questioning. I see the horror on their faces, I’m guessing my face is quite the sight to see.
He’s smart, make them afraid of what he will do next. Scarlet is sent through last. I managed to hold my emotions in check till I looked into her eyes. The tears poured out of my open eye, sadly they barely came out of the other.
She’s in there longer than the rest, and when they finally drag her back she lunges at my door and wraps her arms around my
body through the bars. “Tell us what to do. He says he’ll hurt you again if we don’t cooperate. Please, we don’t know what to do.”
“Get away, let go.” The guard grabs a handful of her hair and drags her back.
As her hand slides out of mine, I whisper, “Stay strong and I will, too.”
She nods as tears escape down her face, she knows I am too stubborn to give in. Now it’s a matter of seeing how long I can last.
The guard returns and takes the chains off. Once the door is open, he leads me back to the room, back to that chair facing the monster.
“Ah, good morning, Miss Hood. You look a little worse for wear, how about we end all of this? Admit you have been robbing the gentry and forcing these women to be your accomplices.”
“I will gladly admit that if it means you will release all of them immediately.”
Obviously he hadn’t thought through his words carefully. He realizes he almost offered to set free all his leverage against me. My breath catches as he stands and comes toward me. His fingers lightly trace my bruised face before burying his fingers in my hair and yanking backward. His face inches from mine, I stare straight between his eyes, I don’t want to look at the evil inside them.
“I don’t think you have learned any lessons yet, I don’t think any of them have either. Maybe a few more days of this before anything is decided.” I try not to show my anger. We are commoners, he could keep us here forever and no one would be the wiser.
The door to the chamber is swung wide startling us both. Colin stomps inside with a patrol of liveried guards following behind. The sheriff quickly lets go and moves to lean casually against his desk.
“Can I help you?”
“Prince Marion sent us. He heard you apprehended the men who tried to rob us. He asked me to identify them.” He makes his way in front of me and eyes filled with hatred stare back at me. I can just imagine the prince’s face when he reports back to him. He reaches up and pulls the remaining facial hair off, I forgot it was on there.