[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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No one suspected that the young Lady in whose honor this feast was being held had very different concerns than the color of her dress today and the presents for her centenary.
Marian had been wrestling with herself and her decisions for the last few days and nights. The ones she had already made and the ones that still lay ahead. Questions kept her awake. What did she really want, and what was she willing to risk for it?
Was King Lionheart still alive? If so - what would it all mean? What would the consequences be? Did she want to be a conspirator and join a rebellion against the king's brother? Against the rightful regent of England? She had stolen so mothers might smile, orphans might have a loaf of bread, and the crippled might not die in the dirt. She had stolen to fulfill the oath she took at Gillian's grave and a little to assuage her guilt. But rebellion? Treason?
No. That was not what she had actually wanted. Naïve as she was, she had wanted to rob a few carriages and relieve the Crown of some money that the citizens needed much more than the Crown Regent! Just a few... and then?
Robin was, unfortunately, right. Someone else had to take the throne to help the needy in the long term. And that would require a rebellion.
In the end, she would have to choose a side: That of the nobility she had been born into. Guy's side, that of the Sheriff and her father. Or Gillian and her mother's side, that of the poor and the commoners. And the side of Robin Hood.
'To decide... Haven't you already done that by your raid with Robin?'
The young maiden slid back and forth on her soft pillow. Today was a special day - in more ways than one. A dress of fine fabric embroidered with silver ornaments and pearls adorned the shapely body. The jade green color perfectly matched the red curls adorned today by a silver hoop around her head. A beautiful jewel of fine craftsmanship was around her neck: an amulet with a shimmering tourmaline adorning its center. She sat quite comfortably on her cushion. Nevertheless, it tingled like hundreds of ants under her buttocks.
The competition she had proposed to the thieves would be decided today. They wanted to know who was the better thief and leader. So Marian suggested that talent and God should decide. Of course, she had planned a cunning feint this time, too, and had chosen the task carefully: The one who could steal the precious amulet from the Earl's beloved daughter with the help of no more than two other men would become the gang's leader.
Marian raised her hand and put her fingertips to the jewelry that lay coolly on her chest.'Please, do something clever this time, Robin,' she pleaded quietly, smoothing the fabric over her legs with her other hand. Soft fabric folded gently around her legs, allowing the ornaments on the delicate fabric to shimmer. Appropriate and breathtaking. And yet she wasted no thought on how she might look, only on whether Robin would manage to back up his big words with action. Drums and fan-riding snapped the young woman out of her thoughts and drew her attention back to the tournament in her honor.
