Sherwood (25 page)

Harlow shook her head,
incredulously at first. “Delivering a meal. What is going on
here?”

Parker sighed and looked
over here silently. He offered a smile. “Nothing to worry yourself
with, dearest.”

Harlow, until that moment,
avoided Enders eyes. They were defeated, his lip bleeding at one
end, his head hanging low, hair hanging over his eyes. Her heart
ached at how handsome he'd been and how badly he was
treated.

It made Harlow want to
scream and cry. She felt her stomach churn and her eyes burn with
anger.

“
Dearest?”
Enders croaked out, his voice gruff and tired. “What a pretty girl
you have there, Parker.”

Parker's eyes grew intense
with anger, but before he could say anything Harlow jumped into the
conversation.

“
Where are
you taking him?” Harlow asked, a little too quickly.

Parker raised an eyebrow at
her. “King Wesley wishes to see him at the feast, to enjoy in the
capture of a notorious outlaw.” Parker's voice kept quiet and
absolute as he spoke. “Do not concern yourself with this man,
dear.”

Harlow kept quiet for only
a moment. “I would, Parker. It's simply that he hasn't eaten yet,
and in order to be good entertainment for the king, he must be well
fed and in exemplary condition.”

Parker nodded, standing
silently. “I see.” He paused, looking at Enders on his left, then
turning to Harlow again. “Will it please you to see him
eat?”

Harlow was about to answer,
but held her tongue. “It would please me to do as I've been
instructed. The cook is in charge of keeping this man alive and
healthy. If this man runs into any health problems, the cook with
be blamed, and thus I will be at fault. Let me not be responsible
for the death and malnourished nature of this man.”

Parker's eyes softened and
looked to the man on the other side of Enders. They exchanged words
in a silent conversation.

Parker nodded. “I will have
him eat.”

Harlow smiled a small,
grateful smile, as Parker stepped forward and took the tray from
her hands, feeling the gentle touch of her skin as he did
so.

He offered a smile as he
turned away from her and lead Enders and his fellow soldier back
down the corridor. Before Parker completely disappeared, taking
Enders with him and away from her, he turned back and offered one
more smile. “Now, go back to the cook, and not worry yourself with
matters of these prisoners.”

Harlow nodded. She felt her
teeth grind together in distress and disdain. Anger grew from her
stomach and spread to her chest. She felt her cheeks burn red, but
due to the dark lighting it couldn't be noticed.

“
As you say,
dearest.”

It was the most malicious
and sarcastic tone she'd ever mustered in her life.

Harlow turned as Parker
entered the dark corridor, and ran up the stairs, and out of
Enders' prison behind her.

*~*~*

Harlow marched out of the
staircase and walked the darkened and dimmed halls toward her
living quarters.

It was a crowded room, with
the same gray walls as the rest of the castle. It was only tidy due
to the cleanly nature of her fellow maids and servants. She noticed
the floor was sparkled shade of marble and the walls had been rid
of their occasional mold.

She paid no mind to the
cleaner room and crossed the quarters quickly, finding the room
completely abandoned. She closed the door quietly behind her and
strode across the room to the thick, red curtains, hanging loosely
from the wall.

With every step she took,
she felt the rumble of music below her feet; she felt the sound of
chatter and voices reach into her soul from the floor below. It
made her skin crawl to think that Enders was down there, being
taunted before King Wesley.

She took hold of the thick
curtains and examined the dark color in her fingers, the fabric
being a symbol of oppression to her, becoming something she hated
more than she could describe.

Harlow, the outlaw's
victim, was in a good place. She was going to marry a prestigious,
young, and wealthy military commander.

But,
Harlow,
The
Outlaw
, was dying
inside.

It had been to long that
she'd started leading this double life. It had been to long since
she felt the warmth of the sun on her skin. It had been over a
month since she'd seen the sun, and it was started to drive her
insane.

The more she thought about
the situation she was in, the more her anger built up inside of
her. She felt her body tremble at the injustice of the situation.
She felt her cheeks burn red with total rage, and in one cascading
moment of total bliss, she threw open the curtains of the window
and immediately felt the warmth she so longed for.

The first few moments that
the curtains were opened, she stood in front of the window,
enjoying the sunlight touch her skin, her eyes closed and her body
soaking in all the vitamins she could in the short period of
time.

Only a few seconds passed
before Harlow opened her eyes to look out over the horizon, seeing
the most serene and peaceful thing she'd ever witnessed. The hills
and rising mountain ridge made her wonder how she ever made it this
long without seeing the nature she so longed for, although she had
to squint gently in order to see the greenery clearly.

It took her only a moment
to see a small, moving body in the trees off to her far right, just
a few yards in front of the kitchen entrance to the castle. At
first, she thought it might be one of the kings soldiers, but just
as the thought came, it was gone. She spotted the greenery and the
leather armor of the men.

It was then that the men
spotted her as well, mistaking her for a moment for one of the
servants, but it was obvious that they recognized her, from the
sudden increase of men emerging from the bushes.

Several men stood on the
bank, staring out to her, raising their palms to her, almost
saluting her, to show her that they recognized her.

Harlow let her jaw drop,
let her stomach clench in excitement and exhaustion. She felt
absolute joy in seeing the men there.

She raised her hand above
her head and rested her trembling hand on the glass window that sat
before her. She rose her other hand to her mouth and felt herself
shake in relief.

It was then, as tears
almost came over the brim of her eyes, that she realized this was
it.

This was the rescue attempt
she so longed for.

*~*~*

Harlow strode toward the
Kitchen area, where she was supposed to be on duty. She was almost
skipping as she hurried to her place. She didn't know what she was
going to do, but she knew that she had to do something.

She had to get Enders out
to the outlaws somehow.

“
Where have
you been?!” The cook exclaimed, marching toward her and shoving
food into her hands. “Take these out to the tables for the
guests!”

Harlow nodded, taking the
plates and disappearing back through the door.

She walked into the
ballroom, King Wesley sitting high on his throne at the end of the
room, the guests dancing and chatting with each others. The women
flirted and batted their eyes while the men bowed low and took
hands to dance. The room was illuminated only by torches that hung
high and low all over the walls. The normally gray walls were
decorated with large maroon and black curtains, which felt eerie
and terrifying.

The room was warm only due
to the immense amount of torches hanging on the walls, illuminating
everything from the faces of guests to the ceiling up
high.

She scanned the room
quickly. This time, through the moving and dancing bodies, she saw
Enders, beaten and bleeding. He was dirty, wearing his same
clothing he wore the evening of his capture. His clothing was torn
in several places, although it held onto him just fine, albeit
loosely.

He lost several pounds and
would have looked sickly if not for his muscular physique. It
wasn't anything that some good nutrition couldn't fix. She saw his
head bowed down, his hands chained to a pillar on his right
side.

Although he was tired, he
was forced to stand, while two guards stood on his sides and the
king sat very close by.

Harlow turned away from the
sight, unable to the rage building in the pit of her stomach. She
knitted her eyebrows together and half-staggered, half-walked to
the feast table and slammed the food down before moving out of the
ballroom and into the kitchen again. She watched in a daze as the
cook moved swiftly around the room.

The Cook looked up while
Harlow stood in a surprise. “Oh Harlow, dear, take more plates to
the guest tables.”

Harlow nodded, coming back
to reality for a moment. She took the plates from the counter top
and walked back into the ballroom she didn't want to be
in.

She took several steps into
the ballroom before the first scream rang out in the dim
lighting.

Harlow immediately dropped
the plates, turning around and scanning the area behind
her.

The archway was dark and
dim. The lighting was, as it always had been, barely
visible.

It must have only been five
seconds, but as silence filled the room, along with terror and
stress, one word rang out in the absolute darkness, that struck
fear into all the guests' hearts.

Except Harlow's.

“
Outlaws!”

She didn't recognize the
voice, but she didn't care. She stared intently into the darkness,
seeing the moment that an arrow came whizzing out of the archway
and into the ballroom, implanting itself into a pillar near King
Wesley's throne.

It was in that second that
total chaos ensued.

Harlow turned from the
archway in just enough time to see Enders being taken away by two
soldiers, being directed by the king himself.

They took him through a
stone doorway on the opposite end of the room. Harlow recognized
the room as the king's Ballroom Quarters. He was undoubtedly a fan
of theatrics and would lie in wait until all his guests had arrived
to make his grand appearance from that room. She'd never been in it
and had no idea what it looked like, but she knew that's where she
had to go and extract Enders from.

Harlow had never seen it
before, but she'd heard rumors and stories of the place.

Harlow saw the outlaws
emerge from the stone archway, bringing life and color into the
ballroom, their green and brown clad bodies seeming to illuminate
the gray walls.

She listened to the
screaming of women, although no women were touched.

She witnessed the men
battling with rushing soldiers and armor clad men enlisted in King
Wesley's army. She, oddly, had the faintest worry about Parker,
hoping he'd survive the surprise attack.

She immediately pushed the
thought away, searching the faces of the outlaws.

Leading the men was Reggie,
who was yelling orders and taking the front lines with brute force.
She smiled at him, although he didn't see her. She felt proud that
he'd come so far.

'
His wife will be
proud,'
She thought to
herself, taking steps backward, toward the direction the men had
taken Enders.

It was then that her father
rushed in behind Reggie.

He broke through the front
line men, yelling out orders and fighting armor clad men. “Check
every inch of this place while we can!” He raised he sword and hit
a soldier in his gut, pushing him back and forcing him down. He
raised his sword high and plummeted the metal through the man's
chest, blood coming up like a fountain of red water.

Harlow stared in horror as
she watched her father kill a man, although she was certain he'd
killed many men.

Harrison McBride pulled his
sword back and looked around the room. “Squads four and six,” He
bellowed, “search the perimeter as much as you can! Fall back if
your lives become threatened!”

Harlow wanted to run to him
and cry at the same time, but she felt frozen.

He seemed healthier and
livelier. She couldn't believe her own eyes for the several seconds
she stared. His hair had been gray, but his body was more fit and
his voice sounded more absolute. Harlow wondered if maybe outlawry
was simply in his blood.

Then, in the midst of
moving bodies and raging wars, her father turned and scanned the
room, his eyes landing right on hers. She saw his eyes light up and
his body start to move toward her. Harlow wanted to hug him, but
she couldn't waste her time. Enders could be executed at any
moment.

Quickly, she came back to
reality, her face turned serious and she held up her hand to stop
him. She took several steps backward, feeling the cold, stone walls
behind her. She hadn't realized how close to the wall she was.
Harlow turned around and saw the door off to her right. She shoved
her body into the door, trying to push it open, but the locks
wouldn't give. She should have known better. It wouldn't be that
easy.