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
They stared at each other. The sun had gone down. Their breath turned to steam, alternating clouds that pulsed through the room like a heartbeat. William couldn’t believe what he was forced to say.
“Robin, if you choose to join them, I can’t … I won’t be able to protect you.”
Robin stood still, and William was terrified of what his answer would mean. He could hear his own blood pounding in his ears. He squinted to keep his eyes dry.
Please don’t do this.
“What’s the price of your peace, William?” Robin’s voice was tiny and hurt. “Would you kill me for it?”
How the hell did it get this far? What had happened to him in the last month? Good God. William’s heart could have dropped out of his chest. Am I in danger?
The question hung heavy in the air. “Would you kill me for it?”
William was chilled by his own response. “Would you make me?”
Robin shook his head. His body was in shadow. “Give me more time.”
“I can’t. Your charge is to return to King Richard.”
“I disagree.”
Such a simple phrase, but it was insubordination on the light side, treason on the heavy. Just like his father. “Are you leaving your post?” William had to speak fiercer to keep his voice from trembling. “Are you deserting your king?”
Robin met him in fury. “Are you?”
And then there was nothing left to say. He couldn’t convince Robin. He couldn’t force him to leave, not without violence. William’s mind was drawn to remember the knife he concealed in the dirt outside.
“Out of respect,” William forced himself to say, “I’ll let you go. But if I ever see you again…”
“Don’t be silly.” Robin backed up, into pitch black. “You won’t see me coming.”
Then, elaborately and deeply, he bowed to William, his face glancing a streak of moonlight as he dipped. “King William, Sheriff of Nottingham.”
“King Robin,” William choked.
But Robin clicked his teeth as shadows devoured his features.
“Robin Hood.”
And then he was gone.
PART VI
THE DAMNED CONSEQUENCES
THIRTY-NINE
MARION FITZWALTER
THE OAK CAMP
THE TUNE WAS SLOW and sad. Slow, because Tuck could barely pluck out the notes with his swollen, broken arm. Sad, because that’s all they knew.
Now is the knight gone on his way,
The game he thought, full good.
And when he looked on Bernesdale,
He walked on, Robin Hood.
And when he thought on Bernesdale,
On Scarlet, Much, and John,
He blessed them for the best company
That e’er he had come.
“Take thy bow in hand,” sang Robin,
“Late Much shall be with thee,
And so shall William Scarlet,
Let no man die for me.”