The Queen Of Arrows

Chapter 46 - The League of Thieves

Marian was incredibly relieved to see Robin. Even if she had never admitted it and would have fought tooth and nail against the rough bandits until her last breath - she had been terrified. Even if she always believed in the good in people, anger could make people do incredibly terrible things.

In the same way, Robin would not have admitted that there had been a cruel hard knot in his stomach until Marian was back in his arms. That was another reason he hugged her tighter for a split second and took a deep breath to calm his troubled mind."Are you all right, Marian? Are you all right?" Robin murmured, and there was honest concern in his words. Marian nodded slowly and disengaged from the thief, for this battle was not yet fought.

"Ha, there she falls around your neck as if you were a knight trying to rid her of robbers. But that changes nothing at all. I won; we got the lady." Scarlet folded his arms before his chest and jutted his chin as if he had just stolen the king's crown jewels. "The woman will be returned to the Sheriff. Perhaps for a ransom that will make our winter easier and burn a hole in the fine lord's too-full pockets!"

"You haven't won; you've already admitted that Will," Robin's voice shot sharply as he shoved Marian behind him. As if he had to protect her from Scarlet. "Repeat what you said earlier, Will Scarlet, king of this band of headless chickens: do you have the amulet?" Robin's eyes narrowed. "Because that's what you were supposed to steal! Not the woman!"

Will's fists tightened. He hated this damned arrogance that Hood constantly displayed like a banner. He was nothing more than a fallen noble-a nobody like everyone else. Yet even now, he acted arrogant, as if he were something better! "You've got a pretty big mouth for a loser!" hissed Will, grabbing Robin by the collar.

"I can get away with it, though," said Robin, raising his hand. In the light of the sun casting its golden rays through the canopy of leaves, the jewelry gleamed in Robin Hood's hands. "For I have the amulet."

Will Scarlet stared at the jewel in the other thief's hands.

"How?" was all he could bring himself to say.

Marian smiled with satisfaction and also a tiny bit of pride. She hadn't helped Robin. At least not directly. She could have just given him the jewel. But even if the plan was hers, Robin had stolen the necklace alone. And if she was honest, she hadn't even noticed it herself.

Robin grinned and spun on his heel to step behind the lady and put the jewel back around her neck. "I took my opportunity," Robin merely explained. He concealed how difficult it had been to steal the treasure from Marian's neck while Will's men dragged her away and pinned him to a wall in the process. But he was an archer, a good-for-nothing thief since childhood, and had highly dexterous fingers. His arrogance was not just hot air.

"So I guess I win, Scarlet."

He stepped before the other bandit, whose clenched fists were shaking. Robin only began to suspect how hard it must be to admit to himself that a nobleman had been better. Damn it, he couldn't stand the guy. He was haughty and smug and reminded him too much of himself.

Robin's gaze met Marian's. In her eyes, he saw so much at once. Confidence he couldn't explain, alongside a hope he wasn't sure he could carry and, more importantly, earn. Robin, at first, only wanted to support the rebellion. But thanks to her gaze, he could be more than a thief-more than a rebel.

Gently, she nodded at him and touched his arm momentarily. He now trusted her judgment, her ideas, and her plans. Even if he had to put himself in danger to do so.

Robin took a deep breath and turned back to Scarlet and the other bandits."Listen," he restarted, "I may have been a noble once, but that was long ago, and I gave up my title for my beliefs. For me, this is not a game," Robin looked around the room with a seriousness that was hard to believe.

"I do not intend to become your leader to boast. I intend to lead you because you need it and have earned it. I will help you. Far away in London, a man sits on a throne that is not his. He's fleecing our country, our brothers and sisters. And by God, we're not the only ones who've had enough. But all these men and women, all these citizens, maids, peasants, and yes, nobles too, do not dare to stand up, for they have too much to lose. But we have been backed into a corner by the Crown and the Sheriff. They thought we would turn tail and accept their new master like beaten dogs. But we're wolves, damn us. When nothing is left to hold us back, we bite at the hand that beats us. Out here in the woods of Sherwood, there is no rich or poor; there is only a band of brothers in arms. Please work with me, Scarlet. And we can ensure this gang can achieve more than just being a couple of tramps. I teach you how to fight, and you give me your allegiance in return. We will be the first to show the people of England that fighting for a better future is worth the effort!"

Robin reached out to offer his hand to Will in peace.

The man pressed his lips tightly together. Murmurs and murmurs went through the other men of the gang. Then the arrogant tramp did something neither Marian nor Robin would have thought him capable of: Scarlet let his eyes wander, searching the faces for approval or disapproval. Even if he pretended to be the king of this gang, he did not simply decide over their heads.

After what felt like an eternity, during which Marian and other witnesses to this moment had held their breath, he finally reached out his hand and extended it to Robin. A short cheer went through the pack.

"Don't think we're going to clean your boots, though, Hood," he said, smiling faintly.

Then Robin laughed, released the dreadful tension, and patted Will on the shoulder. It was a strange but significant moment.

Then a gasp sounded. Astonished, Marian and Will turned their heads.

They saw the bandit guarding Marian sink to his knees and lifelessly into the dirt. Blood gushed like a fresh spring from the wound in his back. It drenched the green shirt in dark red. An arrow shaft protruded from it like a pillar in loose earth.

Then a voice like a dark storm rose and settled over the camp, announcing disaster:

"In the name of the Crown of England, I hereby sentence you all to arrest!"