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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

She crawled back to the bed, finding comfort in the tiny space between it and the stone. There, with the fear still raging through her body and her limbs quivering, Arable let go. Hot tears poured out, but she did not wail, or lose herself. Instead it all flowed out of her. Whatever had been scratching at her skin flushed out her eyes and onto the floor to disappear, and more than her face felt the warmth of being washed clean. Silently. She didn’t whimper or heave. The tears just came, and streamed, and left, and then there was nothing left but Arable, sitting on the floor by a meaningless bed. She had thought there was nothing else for her to do, but she had been wrong. She had thought she was so overwhelmed by it all.

But no. Not so overwhelmed.

Not ever overwhelmed.

Never overwhelmed.

Liberated.

Because literally anything she chose to do now would be better than doing nothing.

And there, on the ground, casting a long oval shadow dripping halfway across the room, directly in the middle of the still gaping doorway, was the one opportunity she’d been hoping for. Arable picked her fucking self off the ground, held her head high and walked out of the room, determined, only slowing to swing her hand down and pick up the ring of keys Gisbourne had lost in the darkness.

FIFTY-ONE

JOHN LITTLE

SHERWOOD FOREST, JUST OUTSIDE BERNESDALE

JOHN’S BOYS RAN ABOUT, each one faster than the last, springing over fallen limbs and back upon themselves. Robin had them playing at chase, claiming it wasn’t just a children’s game.

“Knowing how to run, how to dodge, how to tire a pursuer, that may save their lives. And besides, it’s fun.” Robin smiled, on account of him being Robin. And the others enjoyed their time of it, somehow forgetting come morning they would be on the road to Nottingham, to do as dangerous a thing as ever they’d done.

Every now and then one of the boys would look at John, thinking to tag him into the game. He’d be an easy target but they never picked him, choosing to turn and run at another instead. Ten of them here, hand-picked by Robin from those that volunteered. They’d left the bulk of the group behind in one of their camps deeper in the Sherwood, that the ten of them might sneak into the Sheriff’s funeral. To rescue Will and Elena from the gallows they’d earned, and Marion against a wedding she hadn’t. Ten against too many.

The Delaney brothers had prepared this small camp, just barely away from the village of Bernesdale at the southern spear of the Sherwood. They’d used it as a halfway point to Nottingham, exchanging messages with Prince John, their ticket to getting into the castle safely. If he could be trusted.