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The regrets hit me hard and fast, as quickly as the morning sun began to burn through the gray clouds. At the camp, I caught eyes from the Merry Men—faceless people I didn’t know.
I searched around desperately for a familiar face.
And I found her when I glanced over to the carriage I once called my stowaway. Maid Marian was walking out of the carriage, readjusting her corset and dress. Dusting herself off with a sigh.
She didn’t see me watching her from the patch of wildflowers. She marched off in the opposite direction, through the trees toward another area of the campsite.
I furrowed my brow, following her in a haze. I had nothing better to do and—
Something bumped into my leg as I passed a fire. Jolting, I looked down to see a hand reaching up, offering a stick of salted meat. “Here, ma’am,” said the young man holding it, “sounded like you might be wanting this after the night you had.”
The other three men at the campfire snickered. I snatched the meat, voiced a humiliated thanks, and continued into the trees. I quietly ate the stick of jerky, which helped satiate my grumbling stomach.
Through the trees, I caught up to Marian, keeping a safe distance. She didn’t look back once. I walked around a few birch trees, finishing my sad meal, and came to a small glade surrounded by bushels of berries and undergrowth.
Will Scarlet stood shirtless in the center of the glade, swinging two swords in focused measures. He was a marvel to watch, adopting different stances, attacking invisible enemies until it seemed he had cut them down. His corded, sinewy muscles glistened with sweat. I found myself unblinking as he showed his stuff.
He had such a different build than Little John. Half the size and half the age. Curly-headed and youthful, with dark, fine features where John’s were broader. He was closer to my age than John, and the shape he kept himself in had me feeling slightly annoyed and envious.
All Will Scarlet had ever done was attack me and be a snarky little shit. I had no reason to fawn over him.
But as Maid Marian watched hidden from a tree in the glade, and I watched her from a further tree, a pang of jealousy ripped through me.
It was ridiculous. I almost scoffed from the incredulity of it all.
Once Will Scarlet finished a spin, slicing his swords in a blur, he stood to his full height with a deep breath that expanded his hairless chest.
Maid Marian lightly clapped.
Will’s face swiveled to her.
She said, “My, but you are strapping, aren’t you, boy?”
Will’s perpetually scowling face deepened with an even worse frown. “I’m not a boy, whore.”
Marian snorted. “And if you think that’s all I am, then I suppose we’re both wrong.”
“What is it you need, Marian?” Will sheathed his swords.
I tucked myself away further behind the tree, to eavesdrop. I was somewhat of an expert at it, and I’d long ago stopped feeling guilty about it. If I wanted to learn who I was staying with, what better way than to listen to their conversations?
Marian’s shoulders bobbed in a shrug. “Nothing from you, Will Scarlet. I was simply admiring the view as I passed through.”
“Oh? Somehow I doubt that.”
She laughed. “Why must you always see and attack enemies that aren’t there? And I’m not talking about when you’re practicing with your pretty little swords.”
Will tilted his head. “I see enemies everywhere because it keeps me safe. If I let my guard down, I have a tendency to take a knife in the back.”
“Like when the girl Robin threw one into your shoulder when the band was stealing her?”
Will scratched behind his neck.
“I heard about it from the others,” Marian added, gesturing behind her.
I ducked away, feeling awkward now that the conversation had shifted to me.
Will said, “She didn’t mean anything by it. She was only trying to protect her people, as we all are.”
