“How are they going?” There was a pile of bodies in the forest outside Bernesdale that answered the question. Many of them were good men who had come to defend Robin in the middle of the night. One of them died by Robin’s own hand, his mind lost to the bloodlust. Once this was over he would deal with those ramifications, but for now he forced it to a corner of his mind. And William wanted to know how things were going. He answered. “You’re killing people!”

“Robin, where are you?” William clapped his hands. “You’re not talking to an enemy, this is me, your friend, you remember that, don’t you? I know we had … heated words when last we saw each other, but that doesn’t change who we are. I know where your heart lies, I know you wanted to protect those people. But you’re not safe here. You come in here, waving a sword around … don’t you think you’ve taken this too far?”

The casual razing of a forest, the destruction of thousands of people’s homes, and William thought that trying to save lives was taking it too far. Robin could barely recognize his old friend. “I’m not the one who declared myself Sheriff.”

“I didn’t declare myself Sheriff.”

“That’s not what Arable says.”

“Arable—what?” William’s calm demeanor instantly gave way to a shocked panic. “What did she say to you?”

“Well, that got your attention. She told me all about the letter from Prince John. Maybe you remember it? The one stating Roger de Lacy was to be replaced by Lord Gisbourne? The one you told her to burn, while you forged documents to claim the seat for your own?” She had explained every step of William’s coup.

He responded without a hint of his previous levity. “There’s no proof.”

At that, Robin could laugh. “Arable didn’t burn it, William. She gave it to me.”

“She what? Arable, goddamn it, what have you done?” That affected him. William stood, hands out but with nothing to do. The trap was closing. He would have to give up, there was no other choice.

Robin pushed harder. “You are acting in direct opposition to an order from the prince, and you have disregarded the commands of King Richard himself. You have practically staged a rebellion by illegally taking control of Nottingham Castle!”

“Now wait just a moment. Robin—”

“Then you order the murder of my men on no grounds, you abduct Lady Marion and force a marriage upon her…”

“What?”

“… all in the name of order? In the name of peace?” Robin’s words came out faster than he could think them. “You sign an edict to raze the forest, to scare hundreds of people from their homes, as a joke? Families are fleeing in the middle of the night, this is safety to you? This is why you deserted the war, to seize power and terrorize the innocent?”

“Robin, slow down. Let me explain myself.”