“He’s not going to die on his own, and we’re not going to kill him,” he raised a finger for each fact they knew, “and he’s going to tell his gord chums all about us.”

“But we can decide,” she closed a fist around his third finger, “what he tells them.”

He considered it, then drew her hand down and kissed her knuckles. “Who cares if they know about us?”

“Who cares if they know about us?” she echoed, the truth of it hitting her at the same time. They never hid their existence as Red Lions back in Nottingham, they never thought that being discovered meant the end of it all. “Everyone’s worried that if a gord so much as looks our way, we’ll all instantly hang for it.”

“That’s just because they don’t know better,” Will continued the thought. “This is their first time breaking the law.”

“Exactly. The Guard never chased us out of Red Lion Square, even though they knew we were there. So why not?”

“We weren’t a big enough problem to them, not worth the hassle.”

“That’s only half of it.” Elena tugged his hair back. “We were also too dangerous for them to try. That’s the balance. Too small to be worth it, but too big to squash for fun. We could make it work out here, same as it worked in the city. Never being more trouble than we’re worth, we find a few corrupt gords and keep them fat and fucked … it can work. Same rules, bigger playground.”

“Well the first part is handled.” He scratched at his chin. “That Bassett fellow surely sees we’re not much trouble anymore, what with Robin’s plan.”

“But there’s nothing to stop him from marching his friends back here and arresting everyone.” Elena finished it. “So we handle the second part—we make sure he knows we’re dangerous, too.”

Will’s hand paused on her leg, thinking it through. “Robin wants us to make friends. Can’t remember the last time a gang got any stronger by giving all their coin out.”

“I know.”

He snorted softly. “What are we even doing, Lena?”

“I know.”

“Stealing from rich old ladies, and politicians? Only taking enough that the Sheriff doesn’t fight back? What’s the point of all this?”

“I know.”

“You know what, I want the Sheriff to know about us.” He sat up, moving his hands down to massage her foot. “I want him to fear us. We’ve been driven off our own lands for no reason, and Robin wants us to go out of our way to not make him angry now?” Will shook his head.

“Robin’s only here through the end of the month. After this settles down, we run things our own way. We need to show Bassett what that means.”

“I don’t see what everyone likes about him,” he whispered.

“Bassett?”