She pivoted her legs to the side to reveal a small swollen cask, stained red at its mouth.

“You bring a message from William,” Robin repeated, unmoving, his voice low. It was still another ten days until November’s full moon, when he and William had planned on regrouping at Locksley to make their way back to the war. “I’ll take it.”

“He did not write it, for fear of the other thieves finding it and turning on you. He trusts me with the message, and begs you to trust me with your response as well.”

Robin scrutinized the woman. Her jaw was taut, her teeth clenched. Her hands lay at a comfortable position on her lap but her fingers gripped each other with intensity.

“Are you alright?”

“I don’t do this sort of thing often and I’m hoping not to vomit on you.”

That put Robin remarkably at ease. “Alright. What’s the message?”

“Two words. Back down.”

Of all the words in the world, Robin had none of them.

“William says that, as usual, you’re too good at what you do. He says there are ramifications to your actions you can’t possibly know about, and he needs you to ease off on everything. He says your half is done, but he can’t finish his half until you stop it.”

“This was his idea!” Robin gaped. “William was the one who wanted me to stay and teach them all a little discretion.”

“And now he’s asking you, as a friend, to stop it.” She curled half her face into an uncomfortable fist. A quick glance out the window revealed Tuck chasing after John Little, putting on a show of trying to reclaim his arm from a giggling Much. “And if you don’t mind my saying so, is this really your definition of discretion?”

There was simply no way of watching the display outside and answering, Yes.

“You must have stolen enough by now,” she continued, “to let you lay low. The Sheriff needs a symbolic victory over your Robin Hood, or else he faces an all-out revolt. William asked me to remind you that you came to fix things peacefully, not this. He says it’s his turn to be in the crown now.”

That was all Robin needed to know. William had the advantage of seeing the entire battlefield, so Robin trusted him to make the right call.

“You may have started with the right intentions, but the jewelry, the ladies, the … showmanship of it all?”

Robin laughed. There was something distinctly humbling about a pretty woman detailing exactly how unimpressive he was.

“That isn’t part of William’s message, by the way, this is me saying that.”

“I know.”