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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

But even as they whispered those hopes, Roger was already dead. Their fears simply had to catch up with reality. He lay gutted in his own blood, two stories above, murdered by two petty thieves whose vision extended as far as I want this, so give it to me.

The castle had been nearly deserted for the supply runs. Still, there were a dozen or so leftover Guardsmen swarming the dining hall, incensed in bloodlust—in the middle of their mob were the two murderers. But William didn’t know who they were or what had happened, and he called on the men to stop, of all awful things. If he’d known then whose blood soaked their shirts, he might have killed them both on the spot himself. He might have let the crowd take them and rip their limbs from their bodies and throw their heads from the battlements.

But he hadn’t. He’d raised his blade and demanded explanation, and the men obeyed. He recognized the thieves. The boy was the same arrogant cutpurse who came upon him and Robin in the Sherwood a month ago, and the girl had started the skirmish at Locksley Castle. She’d been all iron then, but now she was crying, wailing, from the bottom of her soul. The Guardsmen were calling them murderers, and William defended them, by God, he defended them. Because he still believed in peace then, back when the world made sense.

It was FitzSimon, the big furry quartermaster, who eased his way through the crowd and gently pushed William’s sword down.

“It’s de Lacy,” the Scot whispered, his whiskers prickling William’s face. “They killed de Lacy.”

THERE WAS NOISE IN the woods to his left, stirring William from his heavy thoughts. He lowered to the ground. Two deer broke and skipped away, but William waited another minute to be certain he was the one that spooked them. Once he was convinced, he moved again, cautiously, low and quickly, toward the rubble that once was Robin’s life.

Thieves Den. The grisly possibilities of what awaited him clouded William’s mind. Either Robin was waiting for him here, or his body would be hanging over its entrance. The outlaws could be watching him even now, ready to shower William with arrows before remembering to threaten him first. Thanks to Lady Marion Fitzwalter, he knew that Robin had fortunately left the outlaws before the assassination. But they could have easily tracked him here, and there seemed to be no level of violence they were unwilling to cross.