of gold Gisborne had described, and that Robin was working on a plan to steal it after the festival. Every time her lips formed the words “Robin says” or “according to Robin,” she felt like a traitor—but whether she was betraying herself or the men who trusted her, she could not tell.
The ambush of Owen and Seild had transformed the band, igniting a sense of purpose that Marian herself could barely control, even as Robin. They robbed another wealthy traveler, and another, perfecting their tactics, until Marian had to tell them to slow down their efforts, for fear the wealthy would stop traveling through Sherwood altogether. The wealth being distributed to the people spread beyond the walls of Nottingham and into the farmhouses and cottages of the surrounding shires.
Together, she and Elena discussed and dismissed idea after idea for how Robin Hood could enter the archery contest without betraying Marian’s identity or risking their lives. All Nottingham expected Robin to compete, despite agreeing it was a trap—so bewitching was the spell that the masked figure had cast upon the people that their expectations defied all sense. And though she knew it was vain, and foolish, and dangerous, Marian could not help but want to preserve that spell as long as she could. She would not risk her father’s reputation or the lives of her men, but if she could only think how to win the arrow safely . . .
With the last of their secrets exposed, Elena and Marian spent more time than ever together. They didn’t speak often of Robin Hood, or of Alan and the others, but they managed to share more pieces of themselves with each other, and as the days passed, Marian could no longer imagine bearing the weight of Robin Hood alone.
Elena told her how she and Alan had met when she was a girl and he a traveling minstrel living off scraps from town to town, always coming back to Locksley when he could. She told Marian of their years-long courtship, that they’d both grown out of childhood trying to create a future for themselves. And that Alan had been caught only because he’d stayed in Sherwood Forest after performing in Locksley so that he could spend one more day with her before moving on to the next town again.
“We only have to hold on until the King returns,” Elena said, combing Marian’s hair in preparation for a morning with the other ladies in the castle. “Once he pardons Alan, we can be together.”
Marian longed to sit and linger in the warmth of contact, the gentle touch of comb on scalp, the fantasy of happily ever after—but she could not help but speak. “What was his crime? His original crime, what he was outlawed for?”
“Poaching,” replied Elena. “He had no money for a meal, and wouldn’t leave for the next town without saying goodbye to me.”
The King’s deer, thought Marian, are the King’s deer whether the King is in Jerusalem or Aquitaine. Aloud, she said, “You think the King will pardon him?”
The comb paused. Voice higher with surprise, Elena said, “Of course he will. When the King returns, everything will change.”
Marian fell silent, and when Elena had finished her hair and crowned it with its veil and declared her a vision of loveliness to spark envy in any lady’s esteem, Marian thanked her. And if she wasn’t as warm in her gratitude as she might have been, or as friendly in her goodbye, she was distracted by the strength of the realization that had taken root in her heart.
Good or evil, she thought, remembering Gisborne’s dismissal of philosophy and piety. She could not know what the King would do when he returned. She could not know if he would return. She’d always imagined Robin Hood would put away his bow and his mask when the King returned, for there would be no need of him—but she could not know for certain.
Nor was she willing to let Elena and Alan’s future hang upon the mercy of an absent King. She would see them wed and safe herself. Robin Hood would see it done.
And Marian had, deep in her mind, still fragile and ephemeral as a spider’s web, the beginnings of an idea.
As night blanketed the countryside, Marian left Jonquille in the stables, with Robin’s costume safely hidden in her saddlebags. She’d been out to the campsite to make plans with her men and had gathered information not about the archery contest, but the shipment of