These arrogant outlaws didn’t know the meaning of combat, nor the rules of a sword. To draw steel was to sanction its use. Both he and William had kept their blades sheathed until now, a promise of safety. But the skirmish had escalated to riot, and if Robin needed to take a life to save others then he would. In a single graceful move he and William rolled around each other, each blade kissing out. Robin disarmed Elena with a well-practiced flick, and William but twisted his blade into the head of a Guardsman’s halberd and it leapt from its owner’s hands. The captain and his guards regrouped on one side of the room, while the outlaws retreated to the fire.

But Will Scarlet leaned in to make a move, and Robin swept to meet him. Different story when you don’t take me by surprise, boy. Robin’s instincts begged for revenge. He deflected the thrust and slipped his sword’s tip beneath Scarlet’s knives in riposte, that he might slice him across—

Marion stood behind Will, her every feature a flash of horror

A look he had only seen on her once before

Exactly once

It stayed his blade.

“Stand down, damn it!” William ordered the room, his weapon saying the same thing in a language none could misinterpret.

Robin blinked away the moment, the touch of violence he’d almost satiated. It was different than the war, against nameless foreign enemies. Here, in his home, in his father’s home, in his brother’s home. These thieves on his land had nearly turned the ruins of his family into a butchery. They never should have come here.

The damned consequences of it all.

Captain Gisbourne, sucking the blood out of the bite wound in his hand, finally called for his men to retreat. His squire led the way, his white cloak receding from the doorway. Gisbourne buried his injured hand into an armpit. “This isn’t over.”

“Get your men out of here!” William shouted, taking a step toward them as if to give chase.

Gisbourne, to his credit, lingered last. He seemed interested in saying some last bitter thing, but eventually, wisely, just stepped back in the shadows. Their footsteps clattered down the hallway, and nobody moved until they heard the horses start to ride off.

THE THIEVES TENDED TO their wounds, muttering derogatory slurs at the departed Guardsmen. They had no idea how lucky they were to still be alive, how much restraint and mercy they had received. In all honesty, Robin wished the captain had arrested them, as it would have neatly ended the very problem he had come to solve. Instead, their days left alive could now be counted on a single hand, and there was no guessing what damage they’d do on their way out of the world.