It took them half an hour to return to the camp, moving briskly, saying little. Despite the wet air the forest was dry, there was more brown than orange on the ground and the trees had begun to transform into naked spears that offered little protection. He could spy the Oak Camp from a noticeably farther distance than even a week earlier, which meant that others could, too. He thought on Prince John, staring up at an exposed ribbon in the trees, positioning himself as if he knew precisely what he was looking at.

“We’ll have to break down the camp,” Robin said, just as he realized it. Alan reacted with appropriate shock. “We can’t stay here. We can’t take any more risks. Prince John found us.”

Alan struggled with it. “But he was just waiting on the road for us—”

“But he knew where to wait. Some of our people who left after Much … I’ll bet some of them have been talking.”

Alan gasped. “Who do you think it was?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Robin said. “If we can be found once, we can be found again.”

That’s what Robin would do, if he were trying to catch himself. And in so many ways, that’s exactly what was happening.

When they entered the clearing, Robin intended on gathering the group as quickly as possible, to explain the need for a hasty breakdown. He had no inclinations as to where they would go, but elsewhere was safer than here. If Marion had not returned by the morning, he wouldn’t be able to wait for her. A cold wind moved through him, as he wondered what exceptions he might allow himself in order to send her word of their movement.

The crowd was already gathered beneath the oak’s boughs, but Robin was too preoccupied to guess as to its cause. “Did you see Amon?” asked John Little.

“Amon? No,” Robin answered, then startled to look around the camp. If Sir Amon were here, then Marion was already back as well.

“Fack,” cursed David, nudged forward by the others. “Alright, Robin. I drew the short straw, as to who was going to break the news to you.”

A chill clamped over him. There was no way those words heralded anything good. “Break what news?”

Arthur swallowed. “Amon was here,” he said. “Came from Sheffield. Said that the Sheriff’s men … said they came for Marion last night.”

Robin’s muscles froze. Everyone in the world became a stone for him to shatter.

“He says they took her to Nottingham. Says we shouldn’t go after her.”

“They arrested her?”

“Worse. From what Amon described, sounds like the new sheriff aims to marry her.”