Marian's Man: A Tale of Sherwood Forest (HighTower Robin Hood Book 2) by Jacque Stevens

Author:Jacque Stevens [Stevens, Jacque]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: sjacquebooks
Published: 2021-10-20T16:00:00+00:00

25

Mare

I had tried to be a boy for months, but I still couldn’t understand all the men around me. Rob and John had been at each other’s throats, but now all the outlaws were settled back down at the fire together, like the whole incident never happened. They gathered close, Elizabeth sharing one seat with her husband while I had to stay several feet apart from mine.

“So, Robin, why don’t you tell us about it? The war?” Will asked.

“Lots of sand. Lots of blood.” Rob seemed to be dismissing the questions at first, and I quickly turned to mouth the word “no.” What was Will thinking? Obviously, he had to stop before he summoned another one of Rob’s inner demons to life. We had more than enough trouble with them already, and it was certain only to make matters worse. But then Rob took another swig from a bottle and ventured onward without concern. “The Saracens have this powder called Greek fire. It burns on the water and never seems to go out. Made of pine and a few other things.”

Pine. The fire. Was that what Rob had been seeing when he threw me from the tree?

Of course it was. My poor Rob. He had been through so much, and I had to protect him.

I looked back at the other outlaws gathered around the fire. They couldn’t ask him any more. They couldn’t—

Will’s eyes went wide. “And they attacked you with it?”

Rob nodded, almost eagerly. “Sometimes. Mostly at sea. But what they really like to do is shoot and run. They do it on horseback.”

“Really? They can do that?”

Rob’s shoulders shook. A strange sound came from his mouth. Was he really laughing? Now? “What, haven’t you seen Mare—me . . . ?” Rob shook his head and winked without any actual subtlety. “Well, I know someone who can shoot on horseback. Mayhap you’ll see it sometime.”

I couldn’t believe it. Rob had seemed so haunted whenever I stirred him from a vision, and now he wanted to talk? To everyone? Was the boy I knew from childhood so easily brought to the surface? I even had looked up hopefully at my name, but it was good Rob had corrected himself in time. Of course, no one should know about the skill Fairy-Dancer and I spent several long years perfecting.

Of course, all the attention should continue to go to Robin Hood.

Rob smiled, pressing on more eagerly. “And the Saracens have horses with great lumps on their backs called camels. Strangest thing I ever saw—and the snakes, the scorpions. Can’t really imagine what our Lord Christ was thinking, wanting to put his holy city there. Gale and I were both ailing half the time, and even the Lionheart almost died of all their foreign fevers.”

“So, you really fought with King Richard; what was he like?” John asked.

“The Lionheart?” Rob turned, pulling in more and more of the men. Warmth stirred in me at the sight, pleasant at first. Then scalding. “Think of all the stories you heard and then some.

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