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Chapters (76)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. PART I
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EIGHT
  14. NINE
  15. PART II
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. PART III
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. INTERLUDE
  35. PART IV
  36. TWENTY-SEVEN
  37. TWENTY-EIGHT
  38. TWENTY-NINE
  39. THIRTY
  40. THIRTY-ONE
  41. THIRTY-TWO
  42. THIRTY-THREE
  43. THIRTY-FOUR
  44. INTERLUDE
  45. PART V
  46. THIRTY-FIVE
  47. THIRTY-SIX
  48. THIRTY-SEVEN
  49. THIRTY-EIGHT
  50. PART VI
  51. THIRTY-NINE
  52. FORTY
  53. FORTY-ONE
  54. FORTY-TWO
  55. FORTY-THREE
  56. FORTY-FOUR
  57. FORTY-FIVE
  58. INTERLUDE
  59. PART VII
  60. FORTY-SIX
  61. FORTY-SEVEN
  62. FORTY-EIGHT
  63. FORTY-NINE
  64. FIFTY
  65. FIFTY-ONE
  66. FIFTY-TWO
  67. PART VIII
  68. FIFTY-THREE
  69. FIFTY-FOUR
  70. FIFTY-FIVE
  71. FIFTY-SIX
  72. EPILOGUE
  73. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  74. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  75. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  76. Newsletter Sign-up

“They’re here because of me. I convinced your father to open his doors, I convinced these people Locksley was a safe place for them.” She had been trying to help. It was her sister’s death that first led her to the comfort of helping others in need. It drew her from her melancholy, it brought purpose to the life she rudely still had. Over the years, her family’s status shined a light on the things she touched, bringing attention to her causes. At court she had become well known as a voice of dissent, so much so that she sometimes felt her involvement in a situation actually hurt it. If she was its champion, some assumed, then it must be another unfixable charity case.

She liked to think she changed minds. Even when she was overruled or ignored, she hoped to have a cumulative effect, over time. She was a river, slowly eroding centuries of selfishness. As a woman, she was not so crippled as the other lords that acted only for their own betterment. It was, in fact, one of the reasons they suffered to listen to her. Unmarried, she had dangled a potential betrothal into her family’s influence during many a negotiation, just to open the door a little.

Even at that, she had found no victories. Some mockingly compared her to Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost causes. The terrible truth was she enjoyed the reputation. She liked being the troublemaker, the underdog, anything that upset the way things were. It reminded her of Vivian.

“All the coin in the world won’t matter if they don’t believe they have a future, Robin. They need to believe they can win. And I need you to believe it, too.”

“Alright,” Robin whispered, adding no jokes or bitterness. He didn’t need to say any more than that.

These people were on her. She needed a victory.

WHEN THE GUARDSMAN AWOKE it was accompanied by a gasp of pain and vomit, followed by a wheezing sound that bubbled in his throat. They rushed to clean his face and offer water. Tuck brought a cup of stew that had been simmering, but failed to find a chance to give it to him. Over half an hour he roused, wild-eyed and jumpy, though Marion did her best to speak calmly and explain what had happened. Twice he lunged and tried to run, only to stumble and hurt himself in the process. Despite its connotations, Marion allowed Will and Arthur to bind his legs and feet together, for his protection. They enjoyed the task a bit more obviously than she would have preferred.