The Queen Of Arrows

Chapter 3 - Hunt in the Moonlight

"Quick, this way!"

Hastily, the young thief got to his feet and started moving again. Marian followed him without thinking about it. Not far from them, a narrow flight of steps led up to the battlements of the wall. There, too, life had come to the previously sleepy men who now blocked their escape routes from both sides.

"What now?" groaned Marian in panic, for she saw no way out. Panic fluttered in her chest like a bird flapping its wings wildly, sending tingling chills to her fingertips. She was extremely reluctant to rely on others.

"We jump," Hood meanwhile opened to her, already climbing the vast stone of the weir wall.

"Excuse me?" For a second, she could only stare at him open-mouthed. Because she was obviously too slow for him again, he reached for her again and tugged at the fabric of her cloak. Marian gave in, and thanks to his firm grip, it was frighteningly easy to climb onto the stones of the wall that separated them from the abyss below.

"Come on, do it! We don't have time!" urged Robin.

Marian, however, stared again at the seemingly endless depths below them, where the moon's light broke on the shallow ripples of the water in the moat.

"You can't be serious?" she gasped, staring at the numerous meters below them. Jumping? Was he entirely out of his mind?

"You might as well stop, get caught, and then get hanged!" the thief retorted, leaping fearlessly from the wall. Stunned, Marian stared briefly at the fluttering fabrics of the green cape and the striking red scarf.

If she was trapped here... she was screwed. The hiss of a passing arrow alerted her and took away any more seconds to think. Marian held her breath and forced herself to take the next step literally. Her boots crunched on the stone masonry as she took a great leap forward, gravity instantly pulling her down. It felt like her stomach was spinning on its axis before the ice-cold water crashed over her.

The brackish water of the moat was almost pitch black under the surface. Immediately, the cape and her waters became full, hindering her swimming and surfacing. Marian pedaled, wiping aside the now leaden-looking fabric, looking for the glimmer of torches or moonlight that could point her in the right direction. Straining to tread water, she rooted with her arms, trying to reach the surface - but the weight of the stolen gold and her cloak, which had become heavy, pulled her relentlessly deeper. Bubbles of air escaped her lips as she opened them out of reflex, and water washed into her mouth and lungs. Panicked, she kicked harder, then reached for the buckle of her cape - and at that moment, someone tugged her upwards by the fabric.

She felt the jolt that yanked her upwards, and then finally, she broke through the water's surface. Greedily she gasped for air but only got more water into her mouth through the cloth in front of her face. When strong hands pulled her onto the grass of the bank, she tore the damned thing down and inhaled and exhaled greedily. Coughing, she spat water - but again, Hood would not allow her a second to catch her breath.

"Come on!" he ordered, tugging at Marian's arm as she only staggered the first few steps. Behind them, the portcullis rattled, but it would be several minutes before the guards could open it again, giving them a valuable head start.

Lungs burning, she ran after Robin. The tall grass of the meadow rustled under their long strides as they fled cross-country towards Sherwood Forest under a hail of isolated arrows from overconfident archers. They dived into the forest's shadows and disappeared without a trace in the protective greenery.

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They ran until they were both breathless. Only then, when neither of them could take another step, did they allow themselves a moment to catch their breath. Panting, Marian leaned against the rough bark of a tree for a few moments and took deep, heavy breaths. Behind a row of taller thickets, she could make out the road cutting a small swathe through the forest.

"That was pretty close," Robin laughed gleefully as he pulled his hood off his head. The moonlight and the treetops cast a mixture of black and silver-white spots on cherry-brown hair, through which the thief's fingers were now running. He was utterly soaked, and water dripped over his boots as he pulled the red scarf from his nose.

"Close?! That was completely ludicrous!"

"We got away, didn't we?" the thief returned cheekily.

"Which is undoubtedly more luck than your wits!" Marian snorted as she wiped the strands from her face. The wind was tepid, but thanks to the wet clothes, it still made her shiver. "You ruined my whole plan! What were you thinking?!"

How could anyone be so careless? She had often heard that Robin Hood preferred a spectacular or even over-the-top performance - but this? Marian ruffled her hair and wondered why she, of all people, had to have such bad luck? Why did she have to meet him today of all days? "Because of you, I now have to see how to get back in."

"Why would you want to go back?"

Whatever Hood's aims, whether this was all an adventure for him, a game, or whatever: it wasn't for her, and because of his appearance, she was now up to her neck in trouble. She would have had no problem getting into one of the other windows, and no one would have noticed that she had been there. But now?

"None of your business!" she exclaimed and undid the clasp of her cloak, which fell to the floor with a loud splat. Wet strands hung in her face, curled by the water and clinging tightly to her skin. Marian saw from the corner of his eye how his posture changed as soon as he spotted the long red hair.

He just stared at her for a few heartbeats, brazenly eyeing her from head to toe.

"You are a woman!" the thief stated with mischievous surprise, and she rolled her eyes. So now he could suddenly become polite and switch to 'you'?

"So you are from the castle? A maid or a chambermaid, perhaps? What is your name? After our escape together, surely I deserve at least the name of my new acquaintance?" There was a strange expression on his features. The moonlight cast small, shadowy spots on his face between the leaves. She could not see through him and his intentions. Curiosity marked his words, but at the same time, a strange sound made her more alert.

"No," she replied curtly. Marian didn't know whether to be relieved, worried, or disappointed. He didn't seem to recognize her, fortunately. Of course, she had heard of him. The thief, who broke into customs offices like a ghost and didn't even stop at the church coffers. The fallen noble, who would not submit to the Regent and would rather become a thief than bend the knee. Robin of Locksley... her former fiancé; a long, long time ago.

'Concentrate!' she drove sternly at herself, trying to get her thoughts back to the here and now. "You thwarted my robbery, and all the guards are alerted because of you," she rumbled, wringing out her thick braid from which brown water splashed into the grass at her feet. "I don't owe you anything. Especially not a name."