Robyn Hood: Fight For Freedom (5 page)

Little John led me through the dance floor, stopping when we were next to an open balcony door that was on the outer perimeter of the room. We could talk in relative privacy and fake dancing without bothering the other dancers.

“Lady Mary, is it?” Little John asked.

“Yes,” I crisply replied. “And what is your name, sir?”
I asked with faked cheer.

“You know my name, Robyn,” Little John hissed.

“You seem to have mistaken me for someone else, kind sir,” I said, my voice turning cold.

Little John snapped his head back, as though I had physically slapped him. “Robyn, I-I’m sorry,” he stammered.

“For what?” I spat. “For running an unfair contest? For demanding to take my place? For driving me out of Sherwood?”

“I didn’t mean—I’m sorry,” Little John pleaded.

“Of course you are,” I agreed. “I hope you’ll be very happy as the new leader of the Merry Men. Good luck, you’ll need it.”

“What?” Little John startled. “Robyn, you have to come back with us!”

“I don’t have to do
anything
,” I harshly laughed.

Little John stared at
me from behind his mask, dismay oozing past the black edges.

“Here, allow me,” said a second unmistakable voice.

Will Scarlet didn’t give Little John an option. He swept in, cutting in between the two of us. He took my hand and elegantly twirled me in a swinging motion that was far more careful than Lord Maxine’s.

“Robyn,” Will greeted as Little John backed off.

“Scarlet,” I replied.

“I must admit, you outdid yourself. Marian told me she had a hard time believing it was you. Really, the courts of
Prince John
were the last place I would have expected you to go to. Very cunning,” Will Scarlet praised, circling around me for the dance.

“Oh, I learned from the best,” I said with a clear smile.

Will Scarlet did not cringe or stumble as Little John had. “That may be so,” he agreed. “Crafty is aptly named, after all.”

I rolled my eyes
.

“N
ow that all the little parties and feasts are done, you’ll come back,” he stated more than asked.

I snorted. “Not in your lifetime, Will Scarlet,” I said, stepping to the side to continue our awkward dance.

“You’re our leader, Robyn. You know we’ll never survive without you,” Will said, his blue eyes practically stabbing me.

“You previously made it very clear, Scarlet, that my leadership was no longer necessary. Little John will be an excellent replacement, I assure you.”

“You’re wrong Robyn. We need you. Our camp has fallen into shambles. The Merry Men went wild when we discovered you left. Nearly half of the company wanted to storm Nottingham to search for you. It was all Little John and I could do to keep them calm. Of course Much and Will Stutely wouldn’t help us, they won’t help anyone but you.”

“I see, so I am a necessary crank in the mechanics of the Merry Men? How thoughtful of you to invite me to return to such warmth. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to refuse,” I scoffed.

“That’s not it Robyn. Why can’t you see that we lov—,” Will Scarlet started before I cut him off.

“You are sorely mistaken, Scarlet, i
f you think you can butter me into returning. As far as I’m concerned you made your voice on who should be the new leader
quite
clear. Good luck, Will Scarlet. I hope you can free the King,” I said before disengaging my hand from his and walking away.

I headed for Maxine, vaguely registeri
ng that George was shouting in the Sheriff’s ear as I stalked away from Scarlet.

“Robyn, wait,” Will Scarlet hissed, grabbing my wrist.

Just as he wrenched me around the Sheriff shouted. “Guards, seize those two! They are outlaws of England!”

“Seize them!” Prince John echoed, gripping his skinny little neck with jewel covered fingers.

For one wild second I thought he meant me. My heart stopped and I froze. It was only when the guards quickly surrounded Little John, who was two feet behind Will Scarlet that I realized I was being overlooked.

“It’s Little John and Will Scarlet!” a soldier shouted, stepping forward to rip
the identical, black masks off my men’s faces.

Several women shrieked, Marian cursed like a sailor, and the music halted with an abrupt screech. The dancers fled the dance floor, watching the soldiers with wide eyes.

Will Scarlet looked wild. His blue eyes swam with panic and he shifted his weight, as though to leap in front of me and shield me. He still held my wrist in his hand.

“Step away from the lady, sir,” George gravely ordered, pushing his way through the crowd until he popped out near us.

Will Scarlet did not move a muscle, but transferred his gaze to George.

George carefully walked past the guards and hissed at Will. “I know Lady
Gamwell is your cousin, Scarlet. If you have any remaining care for her or your family name you will give in without a fuss.”

Will Scarlet slowly slid his searing blue eyes back to my face. He stared at me for a second before a smile cracked across his face. He leaned in until his lips touched my ear and whispered.

“They need you Robyn. I don’t regret coming here, not if it means you’ll return to Sherwood. You’re our hope Robyn. We need you. We love you,” he uttered before pulling back, his cheek grazing mine. I blushed a brilliant red hue when he gently kissed the corner of my mouth before stepping back.

“Lead the way,
wishful sheriff,” Will Scarlet laughed in a careless manner, flicking his hand through the air while a soldier removed Will’s sword from his side.

George twisted and stalked off, Will Scarlet trailing behind him with an armed escort. One solder held a silver sword pressed to Will’s back, pricking him between his shoulder blades. Little John followed
, his arms held behind his back by two soldiers, but he gave a long, studious look as he passed by. His eyes flicked back and forth between Scarlet and me before he was hauled out of the room.

My heart stopped in my chest as I watched my two best men, my Little John, my Scarlet, walk out of the room, most likely to the dungeons, and certainly to their death.

I took two steps forward and opened my mouth, as though to cry out. Marian caught me by the wrist.

I spun around to face her, looking stricken. She shook her head. “You can’t. You’ll destroy everything they’ve worked for. They’re sacrificing themselves,
Lady Mary
, for your sake,” Marian said.

I ripped my arm out of her grip and backed up, my mind reeling.

The crowd whispered and gossiped, a variable storm of lowered voices as Little John and Will Scarlet were paraded out of the room.

Maxine, Elizabeth, and Edward materialized at my side.

“Lady Mary, are you alright?” Edward asked in a concerned voice.

“We saw what happened, how
horrible
,” Elizabeth whispered in a soothing voice.

“Would you like me to escort you back to your room?” Maxine quietly asked, gently grasping one of my elbows.

Marian faded into the mass of people that flooded the dance floor.

“Lady Mary?”

“Mary,”

“I’m fine,” I blurted, backing away from my friends. “I’m fine,” I repeated. “I just need to go—,” I managed to choke out before pushing my way through the crowd, hurrying through the hall.

“Lady Mary!”

“Mary, wait!”

I ignored my friends’ calls and skid into the main hallway. I rushed down the hallway, taking several sharp turns before I skid onto an open balcony. I was only one floor above the ground level.

I didn’t check for observers, I just hike
d up my skirts and jumped the railing. I landed with a dull thunk and straightened up before hurrying through the small courtyard. First thing was first. I would get Crafty and head to Sherwood Forest. I could muster up a small group of men and be back by dawn to infiltrate Nottingham. I couldn’t leave Little John and Will Scarlet to die. I couldn’t.

The air started to resonate with the sound of dozens of ringing church bells. Soldie
rs shouted across walkways, and the castle jumped to life.

I was almost to the stable when a great force knocked me off my feet, tackling me to the ground.

“Got… you…,” Marian huffed, rolling off my back as she wheezed.

“Marian?” I groaned, blinking to clear the stars from my vision.

“Evening,” she greeted.

“What did you do that for?” I moaned, wincing as I
pushed myself off the ground.

“You… wouldn’t…. stop,” she heaved, still catching her breath. “Too… fast.”

“Of course,” I irritably snapped. “I have to get moving. I need to act quickly and get to Sherwood For—,”

“It’s no good,” Marian interrupted, finally regaining her wind.

“What?”

“It’s no good. Didn’t you hear the bells? The Sheriff has ordered for
all Nottingham to lock up. All of the gates are up, there’s no way in or out. He’s trapping us like rats. We’re on our own for this round,” Marian said. “The castle won’t open until after Little John and Will Scarlet hang tomorrow morning.”

“How do you know?” I asked with numb lips.

“If you had stayed an extra five moments you would have heard him announce it,” Marian snorted as she stood up. Her green dress was smeared with grim. “You really shouldn’t go dashing around like that you know. Not only does it make you look suspicious, it’s incredibly hard to try and catch up to you.”

I pushed myself into a standing position, ignoring my spoiled dress. “I have to save them Marian. I can’t let them die,” I
said, my voice breaking.

“Don’t get your petticoats in a knot. I never said we wouldn’t save them,” Marian clucked. “But we need a plan, and I just happen to have one,” Marian grinned, sliding her rabbit skin quiver off her shoulders. She removed the three arrows, turned the quiver upside down
, and violently shook it. Clothes fell out of the quiver. Lincoln green clothes.

“What did you have in mind?” I asked, fingering the material.

Marian wolfishly smiled. “You’re going to love it,” she promised.

I didn’t, for the record.

The following morning, when the sun barely rose over the horizon, I stood outside the castle keep with a fretting Lady Elizabeth, a grave Lord Maxine, and a quiet Lord Edward.

“Are you sure you won’t stay any longer?” Maxine asked, pinning me with his sad, brown cow eyes.

“I can’t,” I said, fussing with the hunter green, velvet material of my dress.
“With Will hanging today there were soon be a scandal, and I can’t bear the thought of watching it. I must go comfort my aunt,” I said. Under Marian’s direction I was playing the “mourning relative” card because of my supposed connection to Will Scarlet.

“I wish you would stay. I’ll miss you,”
Elizabeth said before hugging me on an impulse. I was touched; she clearly was regretting that I really was leaving her.

“
I wish you well. But Lady Mary… if any were to think badly of you because of this… situation, they would truly be fools,” Edward sincerely said.

I smiled the trio
who had become my friends over such a short amount of time. “Thank you. Thank you ever so much,” I said. “But I really feel that I should leave,” I said, backing towards the giant carriage behind me. It was Marian’s.

George Comwell exited the stables in a quick walk. “I’m glad I caug
ht you,” he said, approaching the carriage with a sad smile. He stopped a short distance away from me and said in a quiet voice. “I am sorry about this, Mary. But he has broken the law. It’s necessary.”

I nodded. “I understand,” I said, even though in my
heart I wanted to bash George’s face in.

George tried to give
me a smile before he offered me his hand. I took it and we strolled over to Marian’s carriage. “I’ve already sent word of your arrival to the main gate. After a quick search they’ll let you out.”