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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

He took a half step forward until his chest met the point of Robin’s sword. And he leaned. He pushed his weight onto its tip, forcing Robin to pull back a hair. William grabbed the sword with both hands and centered it on his chest. Once more he pushed forward, he winced briefly in pain but Robin instinctively pulled the sword away. He saw the blood, he saw the faces of the men he’d already killed this night, and suddenly his composure cracked to realize who he was threatening.

His sword dropped to his side. Robin’s entire body sagged with exhaustion, and the two stared at each other, utterly barren.

“I won’t kill you.” Robin had nothing of his own to call a voice. “But I won’t back down on this.”

William nodded, as if he expected the answer. Quietly, “Can you even tell me why? What are you even fighting for?”

“I’m fighting for the people.”

“No, you’re not. You’re fighting because you think it’s the noble thing to do. It’s the thing Robin Hood would do. You’re just trying to live up to some fantasy, so you can spew out worthless phrases such as ‘I’m fighting for the people.’”

The damned thing about William was that he was always right, he had perfected the art. “But that doesn’t make me wrong,” Robin said.

Maybe earlier, but not now. Now he was fighting for his father, he was fighting for Alan-a-Dale, he was fighting for Much. For Stabhappy. For his brother Edmond. He fought for Marion, for her sister. For Robin Hood, whoever the hell that was.

FIFTY-SIX

WILLIAM DE WENDENAL

NOTTINGHAM CASTLE

THE TWO MEN STARED at each other, both knowing their words had long failed them. If there was any solution left, it lay in the sword by Robin’s side. He would have to use it or give up, there was no middle ground. One of them would have to break, and there was too much at stake for it to be William. Of course it was tempting, to walk away from all this madness. He longed to travel with his old friend Robin again at the king’s side, where right and wrong were neatly delineated by the war’s front line.

But that was the very reason he was needed here, because he could think in terms of grey, surrounded by people who had never heard of it. Robin couldn’t see his proverbial forest from his trees. He had to back down.

They breathed each other’s air, one inhaling as the other exhaled, two halves of a pump that kept the room alive. Their eyes were locked and William searched desperately for any sign of understanding. The moment lasted a few seconds, then longer, ten, twenty. It was a comically long time for nobody to speak, but it told William what he needed to know.