by Shea, K. M.
“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 hiked 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. Soldiers 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 caught 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.”
“Thank you George, I can never repay you,” I said, knowing that George was pulling strings to grant me an exit.
“It’s the least I could do,” George said, handing me up into the carriage.
“So you’ve mended the fence with Lady Marian I take it?” Maxine asked, squinting up at me as I entered the carriage, carefully sat down on the plush red seats, and stuck my head out of a window.
“Yes, how did you know?” I smiled.
“Her family coat of arms sort of gave it away,” Maxine said, staring at the beautiful, gold coat of arms that was painted on either side of the carriage. It worked almost as well as a trumpeter or herald to announce that I was riding in Marian’s carriage.
“I am leaving Crafty behind. My soldiers will bring him with instead,” I said before taking a breath and managing to squeeze a few tears out of my eyes. “Thank you all so much. Your friendship will be irreplaceable in my heart.”
“I hope you can visit again sometime,” George sadly smiled.
“Good bye Lady Mary,” Maxine said, elegantly bowing.
“Good bye!” I called as the carriage started to roll away.
Elizabeth waved once, an elegant gesture, before wiping her eyes with a handkerchief offered to her by Edward. (If those two were not engaged by the end of the year I would eat my hat.)
I waved until the carriage rounded a corner and my friends fell out of sight. I leaned back into my seat as the carriage picked up speed. The two bays pulling it dashed forward, their hooves clattering against the cobblestone.
Within minutes we were out of the inner sanction of the castle and out in the open air markets and shops. The horses thundered down the streets, neighing as the coachman called to them.
We were but a short distance from the city gate when the coachman shouted and the coach was pulled into a sharp halt, right on cue.
The coachmen yelled angrily, and I heard male voices offer several apologies.
I slid to the opposite side of the carriage and threw the door open. The carriage was nested along the side of the road, inches away from the stone walls of two shops. Directly in between the shops was a small alley, which my door swung into. I flew out of the carriage as a girl, wearing the same hunter green colored dress as I, hustled into the carriage. It was one of Marian’s ladies in waiting.
I turned out of the alley and made a sharp left turn, bounding into a tailor’s shop. Marian was waiting for me inside.
“Took you long enough,” she hissed, tossing me my usual Robin Hood uniform.
“Sorry,” I panted, running past the tailor and his wife before I skid into their dressing room. “Thank you,” I tossed over my shoulder before slamming the door shut.
The store belonged to Robert’s—an ex-tailor and one of my Merry Men, the one who taught me the fancy stitches—brother. They were Robin Hood sympathizers and had offered their store for my use.
I quickly shed my dress and threw on my clothes. I was pulling on a boot as I hopped out of the dressing room.
“Robyn!” a Merry Man, it was Tom, cried. I looked up as I flexed my foot before hurriedly walking over to Marian.
“Hello Tom, it’s good to see you,” I smiled, patting his back as I passed him.
He, and the two other Merry Men who were with him, were dressed as farmers. They had been the ones to stop the carriage, crashing a cart of vegetables direct
ly in front of it. They were the only Merry Men in Nottingham besides Will and John. They had come with my second in commands and stayed with Robert’s brother when Little John and Will Scarlet attended the ball. It was the only way they weren’t caught as well.
“Hello Lobb, Ryan,” I greeted the other two men as Marian twitched a tan cape over my shoulders. I fastened it at the collar, making sure it covered my whole body before Marian slammed a helmet on my head, one that shadowed my face and covered my nose.
“Perfect. You’re tall enough to be a man. Everyone will assume you’re my guard. Mother has been sending those knightly lap dogs with me everywhere anyway. It’s no secret that I support Robin Hood, they’ll think you’re my escort to keep me from running off,” Marian said, wrenching the helmet so it was straight on my head. My trademark hat with the peasant feather was already on my head, my hair pinned up beneath it. The feather stabbed my head, shoved down by the helmet.
“Ouch,” I muttered, the crown of my skull stinging. “Tom, Lobb, Ryan, you know what to do?” I asked.
They nodded. “Our disguises are in the corner. Thaddeus, that’s Robert’s brother, just filled an order for Nottingham livery uniforms. Lucky for us there’s a few extra. I’ll get into the stables and get Crafty and some additional horses ready. Lobb and Ryan will take care of the gate,” Tom said.
“See? They know the plan. Come on, we’re leaving,” Marian said, shoving two long packages in my arms before storming out of the store.
I bowed to Robert’s relatives. “Thank you again. We will compensate you for your troubles,” I said.
Thaddeus waved a hand. “It is no problem at all. It’s an honor,” he insisted.
I settled for smiling as a reply before I bolted out of the shop, hustling after Marian. “Am I your soldier or delivery boy?” I asked, shifting the packages in my arms.
“It’s the same position,” Marian flippantly shrugged.
“You’re a terrible person,” I said as Marian led me through the winding streets, heading for Nottingham Square.
A crowd had already formed along the platform that held the gallows. Two ropes ominously swung in the breeze. I swallowed as I stared at the terrible sight.
Marian whistled between her teeth. “They’re awfully anxious to get them dead and buried,” she noted.
A couple villagers eagerly awaited Little John and Will Scarlet’s arrival, but over half of the crowd seemed somber and dissatisfied.
“Come on. We need the height advantage,” Marian said, abruptly pulling away from the crowd. I followed her up, out of the depths of the square. A gilded, golden chair was being set up in a roped off area, most likely for Prince John.
Marian led me into the castle wall, charging blindly up a winding staircase. We popped out on top of the castle wall. Soldiers closely guarded the area, walking up and down the walls like watchdogs. None of them tried to stop Marian as she plowed through their careful formations. I hastily followed her.
She took a second staircase down, this one was pressed snug against the side of the castle wall and did not go in it at all. It stopped halfway down, opening up into shallow walkway that was just above the castle square. Strings of flags criss-crossed over our heads, and lords and ladies began to gather around the chair meant for Prince John.
“Are you ready?” Marian asked, waving to her parents, who were seated in chairs on the ground.
“Yes,” I said with a steadiness I did not feel.
Marian chuckled. “Nervous?”
“Of course. But this isn’t a simple robbing job. Their lives are on the line. I won’t fail,” I vowed.
“I believe it,” Marian said, turning to smile at me while running a finger across the bridge of her aquiline nose.
George swept onto the scene and climbed the platform to inspect the gallows. I straightened, the packages in my arms nearly toppling over. If George was here the Sheriff wouldn’t be far behind.
Sure enough, minutes later trumpets sounded and the Royal carriage pulled into the town square. Prince John exited it, and the Sheriff dismounted the horse he had ridden behind the carriage. The two made it through the crowd with their excessively large squad of soldiers. The prince seated himself in his seat, the Sheriff standing at his side.
The crowd shifted and murmured to each other, and I carefully set the packages down before I stood.
The Sheriff coughed once before baaing away in his sheep-like voice. “My liege, Prince John, you are here to witness the death of John Little, also known as Little John, and William Gamwell, who was the Earl of Maxfield before his title fell from the family, who now goes by the name of Will Scarlet. Both men are traitors to the crown and to England, and serve the cutthroat outlaw, Robin Hood.”
The Prince cleared his voice before shouting, “Bring out the prisoners!” His voice broke halfway through the command.
Four trumpets sounded, and the crowd started to yell. Some screamed insults, others cheered. Eventually twelve soldiers broke into view. Will and John were held in the center, blindfolded and bound.
I squatted down and carefully ripped open the packages, discreetly pushing back the layers and layers of cloth. I smiled when I unfolded the last layer of material, revealing a beautiful longbow, a quiver, and my horn. I stood and kicked the cloth back over the weapons, staring down at the castle square with a blank face when Little John and Will Scarlet passed beneath us.
They looked like sheep being led to the slaughter.
The Sheriff was still baaing away, listing all of the wrongs my men had supposedly committed. “For robbing and attacking the persons of several lords, for plundering and stealing from the Royal carriage and assaulting His Royal Majesty, Prince John, for wrongfully disguising themselves and breaking into a party for Honored Persons….”
Will and John were led up the platform, kicked when they blindly stumbled on the stairs. Unable to watch, I cut my eyes over to Marian’s parents. Oddly, George and Maxine were standing next to them, talking to each other in lowered voices.
“Robyn,” Marian gently called, reaching out to squeeze my wrist.
“For assisting and serving the outlaw Robin Hood, for killing numerous deer belonging to the King…” the Sheriff droned on.
Marian continued, “It’s time for me to leave. I can’t be here when you shoot.”
I nodded. “Thank you Marian.”
“What are friends for,” she winked.
I moved to release her hand and began to head back to the bow and arrow.
“Ouch,” Marian said, “Hold on, my ring is caught on your sleeve.”
I turned back around. “I’ll get it. You’ll just make it worse,” I said, carefully sliding my hand in between the material of my shirt and her hand. I tugged on her ring, freeing my shirt.
“And for the destruction of several prison cells,” the Sheriff wryly continued. (Will and John must have played rough in the dungeons.) The soldiers slipped the nooses around Will and John’s necks.
Marian smiled at me, her blue eyes swimming with worry.
“It’ll be fine,” I promised.
“Oh Robyn,” Marian said, reaching out to quickly hug me before she scampered off, glancing back only once.
“I hear by sentence the rogues Will Gamwell and John Little… to DEATH!” the Sheriff shouted.
The crowd howled and cheered, their shouts rising to a volume I didn’t think possible.
I hastily swept up the quiver and the bow before and notching an arrow, training it on Little John.
I vaguely noted that Marian’s parents and George were watching me with horror. Maxine tipped his head, as though trying to figure out what was going on. He didn’t get it. He didn’t know what Marian’s parents and George already did. I was Robin Hood, and I was here to save my men.
George spun on his heels and shouted, waving his arms at the Sheriff, but the roar of the crowd drowned out his voice.
Instead one of the soldiers moved to pull the lever that would make the wooden
floor drop out beneath Will and John. I shot off one arrow, successfully snapping the rope hanging over John’s head. An instant later I shot a second arrow, which took care of Will’s noose, freeing both of my men right before the lever was pulled.
Little John and Scarlet fell straight through the opened hole in the platform. The crowd roared, but George had reached the Sheriff. Together they stared at me with shock.
“A Hood! A Hood! A Hood!” some of the villages began to chant.
I whipped off the helmet, praying my hair wouldn’t slide out of my pheasant feather cap, and pulled the cape off my shoulders. I lifted my ivory horn to my lips and blew once before I fixed my longbow on my back. I jumped and caught a string of flags. I sawed at the rope with the edge of an arrow and snapped it. I fixed my grip before leaping off the shallow walkway. I flew through the air, heading directly for the platform, which soldiers were starting to pile onto.
The Sheriff bellowed, but his bleating was covered up by the crowd, which was now mostly overpowering cheers.
I plowed at least three soldiers off the platform before I managed to skid to a stop. I released the string of banners and started whacking soldiers in the gut with my bow.
Will Scarlet popped out of the hole in the platform, standing on Little John’s soldiers.
“Robyn!” he shouted.
He helped Little John out before the duo started cracking heads.
The thundering of horses swept away the roar of the crowd, and in flew Tom with several dozen horses. The horses plowed through the crowd, rampaging and bowling over any who got in their way.
“I thought you said some horses, not a stable!” I shouted to my Merry Man as I pushed a soldier off the platform and into the panicked crowd.
“Not my fault!” Tom insisted. “It was your demon horse! Be grateful I managed to get him tacked up!”
“Little John, Will! We’re getting out of here!” I called, running to Crafty, who had reared onto his hind legs, planted his front legs on the platform, and was biting a soldier in the calf.
“Coming!” Little John cheerfully said, literately picking up a soldier and throwing him over his head.
