[WATTYS2023 - GERMAN WINNER/Most Engaging World] ** Marian, a thieving nobleman's daughter with too big a heart, meets Robin Hood, a daring thief with a huge ego. Will they be able to overcome pain, longing, and, finally the cruel Sheriff of Notting...
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Nottinghamshire - Sherwood Forest
Three Weeks Later
Marian tugged at the dark green fabric of her hood. The rough woolen material scratched her fingertips, which peeked out of the fingerless bow gloves. Her breath hitched against the cloth in front of her lips, which hid her face, leaving little more than her eyes visible beneath the guise.
With one hand on the trunk, the young maiden crouched on one of an oak's high branches, whose spurs leaned far over the road below. The dense foliage blurred her figure among rustling greenery - as did Robin's, who lurked in another tree on the opposite side.
Marian opened and closed her fingers around her bow, hoping to find an outlet for her tension. A narrow forest path wound through the dense Sherwood Forest a few yards below them. No more than a few paces wide, it offered just enough space for the car with the steering box. The last few days' rain had softened the ground, and watery puddles had formed in the hollows and potholes. In some places, the wind had broken down branches scattered on the road-perfect camouflage for the trap Robin and she had set.
Her palms still ached from digging the grooves that would doom the carriage. Marian's stomach was uneasy at the thought of dangering horses and riders. She could only hope her plan would work out exactly as she intended. After all, all the last raids had not been extraordinary successes. At least here in the forest, far away from the castle, they were taking less of a risk. Here, escape was much easier if something went wrong.
Marian did not like to consider this possibility, but for the first time, she doubted her plans a little and could not completely rule it out. If there was only one thing she had learned from their joint thefts, something could always go wrong. To think that everything would work out was arrogant and presumptuous - and Robin already filled those qualities to the brim. So at least one of them should remain sensible and realistic. Nervous and wild, her heart beat in her chest, prancing restlessly like a young foal stumbling across the paddock.
"Are you sure you won't miss?" called Robin from the canopy of a large oak tree opposite her. Marian refrained from rolling her eyes.
"As sure as I met your face in my chamber," Marian replied, hearing the gurgling laughter from the other side. She should have felt insulted, but instead, she snorted, unable to hold back a smirk of her own.
"You've changed quite a bit from before," Robin commented, and the young woman leaned a little closer to the tree as her gaze tried to make out her companion in the foliage opposite.
"Really? You're still a dumbass," Marian stated, not needing to see the smirk on the other's features to know it was there. Yet he had no idea what it had cost her to shed the naivety of a noble doll. Marian's smile faded, unseen by the thief across the street.
