AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I thought I could fly,” I said, embarrassed. My cheeks flushed. “Childhood’s whimsy, I suppose.”
“You’re still young, Robin.”
My smile vanished. Cold crept through me. “If you’re going to propose accepting a suitor Father has in mind for me, it’s wasted breath, Uncle.”
“I’d never dare do such a thing,” he said, smirking. “All I’m saying is, you’re beautiful and young. Why do you hide yourself under that hood? Or wear trousers befitting a man?”
At least he had the decency to ask. My father would never stoop so low as to try and figure out the mind of his wild daughter. Much easier to just chide me and punish me for not conforming to the designated roles I was born into.
“Because I don’t want to be seen,” I said.
My uncle pursed his lips, then shook his head, unconvinced. “No, it can’t just be that. Otherwise you wouldn’t escape into town to mingle with the orphans, or converse with the serfs in the fields. You’d never leave your room at all, if that were the case. And I’ve never seen a woman more inclined to adventure than you, lass.”
I supposed he was right. I didn’t want to be invisible. “. . . Fine,” I said with a harrumph. “I don’t want to be seen as myself. Life’s so much easier as a boy, Uncle. I can go anywhere I want. Converse with anyone. Gamble. Drink—not that I do!” I waved my hands frantically when I saw his concerned frown. “Tell me, do you think I could be sitting in this carriage—alone as you are—as a woman? No. I’d need a chaperone at all times.”
To his credit, Gregory took my words in. He stroked his beard, scrutinizing me with his gray eyes. Finally, with a nod, he clicked his tongue. “I don’t doubt you, girl. And I can’t disagree: Being a man is easier. But we all have expectations in life.”
“A woman’s is to bear babies for her man.”
“And a man’s is to protect his woman and said babies. You need a chaperone at all times? Well, that chaperone is expected to take a sword in the gut before harm comes to you.”
“I’d happily trade positions.”
He laughed lightly. “I don’t doubt it.” Gregory shook his head again, as if trying to come to an understanding. With another click of his tongue, he said, “What you need, dear niece, in my opinion, is a man to love you. Care for you. Grant you some measure of peace. I know you aren’t getting any of that staying at the Wilford manor.”
“Uncle Gregory,” I said flatly, staring into his eyes, “there aren’t enough men in the world to give me all the things I need.”
With a snort, he leaned back. “You’d be surprised to hear, lass, that there are good men aplenty in this world.”
“Then give them to me. All of them.”
His head tilted. “All of them?”
“Yes. Maybe each one of them can fix a different broken part of me.”
Chapter 12
Little John
Irose out of the river and flung my mop of wet hair off my face, sending water droplets flying. It suctioned to my scalp, and my beard hung lank from my chin, cascading a waterfall down my bare chest.
With a hefty sigh, I waded through the hip-high water and strolled up the mossy bank, searching for my nearby clothes. The sun beat hard today. I’d be dry before long, so I stood examining my grimy garb.
“You could probably use a rinse too, eh?” I asked the grimy clothes. We’d had a few gray days in a row. Who knew when the sun would be so welcoming again?
A snapping twig whipped my head to the right, up a small slope where a copse of trees bunched together. I crouched and reached for my quarterstaff, before a woman sifted through the green like a fairy.
With a frown I stood back to my full height, putting my hands on my hips. More like a devil.
Maid Marian adopted the same stance. There was a mischievous glint to her eyes. A quirk of her lips as she took me in, from my face to the scars on my chest, before unabashedly going further south.
“I knew the rumors weren’t true,” she announced.
I sighed and went back to what I was doing, gathering my clothes to sponge in the slow-moving river. “What rumors would those be, Maid Marian?”
“That your cock matches your moniker, Little John.”
I stopped, the bundle in my arms, and gave her a look over my shoulder. Does she ever have anything else on her mind?
