by Sara Ansted
Evey turned on him. "Your own father would arrest you?"
"Well, I don't really know that, but I could easily picture him doing it. That was enough to convince me it was risky. So I wrote a short note telling him I was okay, and I left it on his desk. Then I decided that I might as well ride with you, so I came here to wait."
"You don't know where I live. You might have missed me."
Isaiah made a face. "Oh, just admit it. I beat you fair and square."
She grunted.
"So, how did it go?" he asked brightly.
"With my uncle? Good, surprisingly. He gave me this."
She unsheathed the sword and passed it to Isaiah.
He looked up at her. "This was your dad's, wasn't it?"
"Yeah."
"He was a knight."
Evey nodded. "My uncle wanted me to take a bit of dad with me, although his first reaction was to chain my up somewhere in the castle."
"Castle?" Isaiah slowed his horse just a bit. "Your dad was a landed knight?"
"Hardly." She waved her hand dismissively. "Well, I mean, yes he was knighted, and yeah, there's a little land, but nothing worth mentioning. The castle is nothing but a pile of stones. As for money..."
She laughed. Isaiah didn't laugh back, though.
"Maybe, but a lord is a lord. That makes you a lady," he pointed out.
She shrugged. "'Lady' isn't a word that will ever describe me."
"Eh. Not in the traditional sense, maybe. It's still a title, though. Your ancestors weren't commoners. Besides, there are different types of ladies."
She took the sword back. "Right. The dull kind and the boring kind."
Isaiah did laugh that time. "And the stubborn kind."
A slight grin fought its way on to her face.
"Forget it. I'm not lady."
"If you insist, my lady."
She raised her eyebrow. "Anyway, my uncle finally gave in. He said he was proud of me, even if he didn't like the danger."
"He sounds like a good guy."
"I guess he is. He's got his heart in the right place, but he, at least, is no knight. And he's overly obsessed with rules and tradition. Like when I told him the whole story, he got all worried that I was gonna run away with... I mean, you know, that you and I were..."
Unconsciously, both of them sped up the pace a little, and they rode in uncomfortable silence before Evey cleared her throat.
"Anyway..." she started, not quite knowing what to say.
"Your uncle," he supplied, and she took the offer.
"Yes. Sometimes he's too stiff for me, but underneath it all he's a good man. He had the patience to raise me, didn't he?"
Isaiah laughed heartily, and the awkwardness vanished.
"I can only imagine what that had to be like," he replied in his best teasing voice.
"No kidding. I don't think I really appreciate him like I should."
For the rest of the day they rode together, talking about any number of random things, though both of them conveniently avoided mention their prospective weddings. They also avoided Robin Hood. With every step they took, Evey felt the weight of the future drawing closer around them, and she wanted to put it off as long as she could. She was honestly scared, although she would never admit it to anyone.
About halfway through the next day, they finally reached the tiny meadow. An hour later Will showed up, riding the oldest horse Evey had ever seen. Compared to him, Hobbes was just a colt. John showed up last, which wasn't surprising. He came on foot and carried something large across his shoulders.
"What have you got there, Big John?" Will asked.
"What's it look like?"
"A stag."
"Yeah, well that's what I got."
He dropped the stag on the ground and started preparing it for the spit.
"You do realize it's illegal to hunt deer this close to the royal castle?" Will told him, assuming his very matter of fact tone. "They're the king's personal property."
"It don't matter now, do it?. We're already outlaws."
Will gave him a nod. "I suppose you've got a point there, Big John."
"Don't call me Big John," he said firmly, fixing Will with a stern glare.
"Why?"
"Just don't."
"A big strapping fellow like you?" Will made a studious face. "Why would you have a problem with being known as "Big John"? Unless you're not so big after all. Maybe you're just a coward under all that muscle, eh?"
John didn't answer. He just built the fire up so his game would fit over it.
"No answer? Then I'm right. In that case, maybe I should call you Little John instead," Will prodded with a smirk.
John froze. For a second he seemed to be deciding which of Will's appendages he was going to tear off. After a moment, he grabbed a huge limb from the stack of wood. On the way to the fire, John grabbed hold of each end and snapped it in half with terrifying ease, all the while looking purposefully at Will.
Will paled, and he quickly became interested in poking a burning log with a thin branch. Once he was busy, John stopped staring at him went back to the deer. Isaiah took advantage of the brief moment of silence.
"Why aren't you wearing the mask, John?"
"Itches my face."
"An itchy face is better than a noose. Put it on."
"Why do we need them in the woods like this?" Will interjected. "No one will see us here."
Isaiah lowered his tone. "You'd be surprised. Just wear it."
Soon the deer was roasting, and the four of them gathered in a circle. Each waited for someone else to broach the uncomfortable subject of creating future plans. Evey got the distinct feeling that none of them had the remotest idea where to go next. She didn't either, but she cleared her throat and broke the silence.
"Well, our goal is to reach the king. How should we do it?"
"Dunno," John muttered. "I've already put in my plan."
"Which one? The gathering people and storming the castle plan?" Will answered dryly. "Yeah, that's not going to be useful."
"Have a better idea?" John shot back.
"Not yet. But whatever I come up with will be better than that."
"Guys!" Isaiah shouted. "Fighting won't help. But Will is right. To siege a castle like that we'd need thousands, and most of them would die. We can't justify it, even if we could get the numbers. Somehow, we need to persuade the king to our side. Forcing him won't work. He's got to be truly convinced that we're right."
"How?" John asked.
"I don't know, yet. I'm going to meet our castle insider tomorrow morning. If we can't think of anything before then, I'll pick his brain on it."
"Is there any way that we can just sneak in dressed as servants, or something?" Evey suggested.
"That might be our best option."
Evey started to ask something else, but a high pitched scream suddenly rang through the forest. All four of them stared in the direction of the sound. Evey was halfway to standing. Isaiah gripped his sword. Will already had his bow in hand.
A scream like that was definitely not good.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Another loud yell came through the trees, stirring them all to action. Evey strung her bow and waved at the others to stay a little way behind her. She dashed through the woods as quickly as she dared. Quietly she edged her way to the tree line, where she hid in a small patch of new saplings.
Her breath caught in her throat. About twenty yards away, several mounted knights led two long lines of peasants in chains. Another soldier walked behind the prisoners, prodding them with the blunt end of his axe. A woman lay at his feet.
She had once been chained with the others, but for whatever reason, the men had beaten her and left her to bleed to death on the ground. As Evey watched, the rear guard callously stepped over her and kept the other prisoners moving.
A moment later Evey ran back to the others and gave a f
ew commands. They immediately followed her to the edge of the road.
"At this close range, an arrow can usually get through the chain armor, but don't risk it. Aim for the gaps. Make it quick," she whispered, as they settled into place.
There were five soldiers altogether. They slowly came into sight, but Evey didn't give the signal to fire until the last man was in clear range. She took a deep breath, aimed carefully, and let the arrow fly. Before the first one hit, she had another on its way toward a mounted knight.
In a matter of seconds the knights were down, all wounded in the arm or leg. A minute later, they sat tied and gagged. Evey and Isaiah freed each peasant, two of whom were sent to help the woman down the road.
The freed farmers sat huddled together, looking more than a little scared.
"How is she?" Evey asked when the two others returned.
They shook their heads sadly. Evey clenched her fists, then turned to the group and spoke a little more fiercely than she meant to.
"Why are you being dragged to the castle? What did you do?"
"Pardon me, m'lady, but I haven't done anything," one man said, and the others all nodded in agreement.
Isaiah stepped up behind Evey. "You have no idea why you're prisoners?"
"Yes, m'lord. That's the truth."
"So they're just arresting people because they can?"
Most of them shrugged, as though this were normal. Evey looked meaningfully at Isaiah.
They had to ask very specific questions in order to piece it all together. After several minutes of interrogation, they finally discovered that the people were all simple farmers. Every one of them had been arrested while going about their daily business.
Three had been out hunting for game birds. Five were working in the fields. The rest were doing various other chores: Milking a goat, tending a crying child, hanging laundry. The only common thread in their abduction was that each of them wore a small homemade bow around their shoulders.
Evey looked at some of those bows, which she found with the soldiers' gear. A person would have to be blind not to see that they were all rather shabby. None were military grade, and certainly none would be good for more than shooting a pheasant. If even that. No sensible man would have ordered these people brought in as a threat to the country.
It took a great deal of calm breathing and focused energy to keep herself from going off on one of her tirades. So as not to scare the already uncertain farmers, Evey knelt in front of them and tried to smile.
"I promise, we're not going to hurt you. Do you know how many times they've come and captured people like this? When did it start?"
A large, but gentle-looking man answered her. "It's been over a week, m'lord, m'lady. They started near the same time as Robin's big rescue at the castle."
"And how many have they taken?" Isaiah asked.
"Ten or fifteen before now. Maybe more from other villages. Who's to say, m'lord? And m'lady."
"Please don't call me 'my lady'. Just Marion," Evey said.
"You really are the Marion?" the same man asked in wonder.
"The Marion?"
An older woman piped in. "Robin Hood's lady, of course. The one he saved from the gallows. It's a great love story."
"Oh." She didn't know exactly how to reply to that. She glanced at Isaiah, whose cheeks had turned bright red. "I didn't know that anyone knew me."
The first man nodded his head a little. "Everyone knows you, m'lady."
"Marion."
"Yes, of course. Marion," he corrected. "But everyone knows how Robin swooped in and single handedly fought the king's guards to save his true love."
"Do they?"
"Oh, yes!" answered another farmer. This time it was a young girl, no older than Evey herself. "It was so romantic."
Isaiah cleared his throat and gruffly excused himself.
"That's Robin, isn't it Lady Marion?" the young lady asked with a fawning expression.
"Uh, yeah. But, do you know why they arrested you?" She hoped to turn the conversation away from the supposed love story. "I mean aside from owning bows? What reason would they have to assume that these bows are meant for sedition?"
Again, the first man replied. "What's 'sedition', M'lady?"
"To fight against the king."
His mouth formed an 'o'. "Well, I suppose they think that everyone with a bow is in with Robin Hood, if you know what I mean."
Several other farmers nodded.
"But you're not," Evey said. "There's no proof."
The man shrugged. "Forgive me for sayin' it, but it's been a powerful long time since proof made any difference."
Evey rubbed her eyes and sighed. "Well, we're working on a plan right now. We hope it will stop these beatings and arrests. I'm sorry about all of this."
"Don't be sorry M'la–, er, Marion," an older man wheezed through missing teeth. "There's not a one of us that wouldn't be proud to join Robin's band. If you'll have us."
Evey was quite surprised and pleased, but she shook her head.
"We would certainly love to have so many brave people like you. I'm sure each of you would do a valiant job." She wasn't very practiced at flattery, but she figured that these people weren't very practiced at receiving it either. "But you see, we couldn't possibly let you risk your lives. The best thing you can do is to keep on taking care of your families."
All of them frowned, and the few who had spoken looked as though they were going to protest.
"Although," she continued, as if trying to make a decision. "Well, there is one thing we need from you."
"Anything for you, Lady Marion. And for the brave Robin Hood," they said, almost together.
"Well, when you go home, we need you to spread the word about this. Tell everyone you know that Robin Hood rescued you, and that he fights against unfair treatment. Tell them that he fights for you. And warn people to be careful with their bows. We don't want anyone else getting arrested for no reason. Can you all do that for me?"
"Yes Lady Marion. Of course we will, Lady Marion."
She looked over at the road, and took in a deep breath. "Oh, and about that poor woman... Is she... does anybody know her?"
A small hand rose slowly from the back of the group. The girl had to be fourteen, at least, but she was so tiny. Despite her size, her eyes shone with a fierce light. Evey felt like she was looking at herself.
"She's my mother," the girl said with a hard and steady voice.
Evey's chest tightened, as though her own mother had just died before her eyes. For several seconds, she couldn't speak. She looked the girl in the eye, and a silent understanding passed between them.
Finally, she pointed to three of the largest men and said, "You lads, help her. Make sure she gets her mother home so they can bury her properly."
They all nodded.
Evey cleared her throat. "Now, we've got a whole stag here. It shouldn't be long before it's cooked, and we certainly can't eat it all ourselves. Eat as much as you want before you go."
The farmers nodded thankfully and moved together toward the roasting venison. Evey glanced at the young girl once more. Her eyes said 'thank you', though her mouth was still grimly set. Evey nodded. Then she sat off to the left, near Isaiah.
"What did they say?" he asked.
"There are more of them already in the dungeons." She ran a hand down the hilt of her dagger. "Almost a score of people in prison because of us. We're just making it worse."
"That's the part I knew already."
Evey couldn't muster the energy to glare. "See that girl over on the end?"
Isaiah nodded.
"The woman in the road was her mother."
Isaiah's entire body tensed.
"That's awful." He put a hand to Evey's shoulder. "She reminds me of you, a little."
Evey cracked a small smile. "Yeah."
She sat there in silence for a bit. Isaiah's nearness gave her courage, and
she needed it. She almost scooted a bit closer to him, but then she noticed the old woman. The one who had mentioned "the great love story" part of Robin's rescue. She watched the two of them with one of those knowing smiles that all grandmothers have.
Isaiah seemed to notice her too. He stiffened a little, but didn't outwardly acknowledge anything.
"What did they say about their capture?" he asked. "We need to know everything we can."
"There wasn't much else, except that they all wanted to join up with us. I told them it wouldn't be safe, and they seemed so disappointed that I asked them to go on an official mission for Robin Hood."
"You what!?"
"Don't worry." Evey grabbed his arm and pulled him back to his seat. "All I said was that they should spread the word about the arrests, tell people to be careful, and tell them Robin Hood was going to try to fix it. But I had to make it sound official. They were so dead set on helping us."
Isaiah pulled his knees close and rested his head on them. He looked completely worn out.
"Well, that's not so bad, I suppose."
Evey leaned closer to him and rested her hand on his bowed back. His muscles were knotted with tension.
After a while, she said, "It shouldn't have happened. We caused this."
"You make it sound like we personally arrested each of them," he said.
"Well..."
He tilted his head to look at her. "Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better."
"What is that supposed to mean? A girl lost her mother today because of us. That is not an acceptable option."
"I know." He lowered his head again. "I know. But we can't change that. The king and his men won't give in without throwing everything they can at us first. It's not going to be easy."
Evey sighed. "But are we really helping if these abuses are getting worse?"
"If we win in the end. If we don't give up."
"But we don't know what we're doing!"
"Quiet," he said calmly.
She lowered her voice. "Sorry, but it's true. We have no idea where to go from here. We can't justify sacrifices like this until we have... have something."
