Chapters (76)
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- PROLOGUE
- PART I
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- PART II
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- PART III
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- INTERLUDE
- PART IV
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- INTERLUDE
- PART V
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- PART VI
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- INTERLUDE
- PART VII
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- PART VIII
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- EPILOGUE
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Newsletter Sign-up
This was a real question, an actual and honest inquiry made from a living breathing human being, who very much wanted the answer to be yes. “Do we look like a bear?” was not the sort of thing one ever expects to be asked in life. If Robin hadn’t been shot in the leg by some damned archer half the world away, he would be currently answering questions about troop placement and siege weaponry. Instead he was left staring at the curious combination of John Little’s massive body and young Much’s tiny one, sitting atop John’s shoulders, with his arms reaching upward and his fingers curled into what were likely supposed to be claws. A brown sheep’s hide was draped over Much’s head, and rather than stating that the entire thing was ridiculous Robin was forced to admit that they did, regrettably, look like a bear.
“I told you!” John triumphed, squeezing Much’s legs, and lumbered off to his position making sounds that were not bearlike at all, as they were in fact just the words stomp stomp stomp repeated with each step.
And worse than the eager robbery victims, worse than the growing monotony of making easy coin, and worse than the two-headed non-bear, was the fact that Robin was actually enjoying himself.
“I will admit this,” he cocked his head to Marion, “they are not who I expected.”
She raised an eyebrow that spoke volumes, and he even knew how she’d phrase it before she asked. “Not the gang of brazen scofflaws you thought they’d be?”
“No, they’re exactly the gang of brazen scofflaws I thought they’d be,” he returned with a straight face. “But everyone else. The villagers, for instance. Did you see yesterday, outside Keeton, I gave a man a shilling and he asked if I could break it into a dozen pence instead? That he could give out to his friends.”
“I did see that.” She tilted her head back at him, every inch of her smug smile saying I told you so. “You want them to be greedy, don’t you? You want them to be mean and greedy and lazy, so you can say you were right.”
“I do like being right,” he considered. “I am usually very good at it.”
“Well I’m sorry they disappointed you by not disappointing you. They just can’t win, can they?”