He answered her last question first. "Nay, Renata, I would not."
Robin gave a nod of understanding. She would feel what he felt. It was as when he 'spoke' to the forest spirits, and that was well within the realm of his experience.
For a moment he was shy, knowing she would be vitally aware of his attraction to her; but she would also see, he was sure, that he would neither approach her nor cause her discomfort in any way. He was committed to study here, not to romance. If he took deep pleasure in her company, if his thoughts strayed warmly to her at other times, why, surely that could hurt no one.
"My father was Ailric of Loxley," he began. "Herne gave him into his keeping the silver arrow, an item of great significance to our people and our beliefs, bearing us prosperity and safety from oppression. For a time all was well; but when I was five, the Norman knight Robert de Reinault was given assistantship to the Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, and everything changed.
He knew of the arrow, I know not how, and he and his soldiers came to Loxley, razing it and murdering all in their path in a search for what was not theirs. My father got me away, and so I was saved; but he was not, and the silver arrow passed into the possession of de Reinault.
In time de Reinault became the Sheriff, and he taxed the people mercilessly with the gauntlet of his knight, Guy of Gisbourne. I was raised as foster-son to the miller Matthew and his wife, and my foster-brother was a boy of my own age named Much. They were my family, and I loved them as my own."
Robin's gaze was distant, looking deep into the past. "I was tutored by the hermit of Sherwood Forest, an eccentric who went by the name of Herne the Hunter, also the name of a forest spirit worshiped by the people. He was a wizard of some repute, and many feared him, but I did not, though I did not know for many long years why he taught me so carefully. Had I known, perhaps I would have feared him more.
One day Much stole my bow and shot a deer. We were often hungry in those days, and he sought only to feed us, but all deer were claimed as property of royalty and the penalty for killing one was stiff - the loss of a hand, an arm, perhaps of one's life." Robin shook his head. "The law was enforced by Gisbourne and his Sheriff with grievous care, and I could not let Much suffer such a fate. He was not... he was a simple soul, loving and stalwart, but he sometimes did not understand.
When I found him, there was the deer, the arrow in its throat, and the bow in Much's hand. And so we ran, trying to escape the wrath of the soldiers; but Gisbourne was on horseback and soon had us surrounded. We were imprisoned, and there we should rot until the Sheriff's pleasure."
Robin's eyes narrowed, his lips curving in a fierce smile. "But we would not have it so. There were others in the oubliette: Dickon, and Tom the Fletcher, and Will Scarlet, and we none of us were patient men. So we made a plan to escape, and hide in Sherwood Forest as Wolf's Heads - outlaws. It seemed little enough to risk - we would likely die in any case, and so why not?" His shoulders lifted in a shrug.
"We fought our way out, but I did not get to the portcullis in time, and was trapped. I found my way back into the castle to hide, and there met Marian of Leaford, who did not betray me to my would-be captors." His expression softened in memory - he had loved her deeply and immediately. But that was over now, a story for another time. "With her help I escaped and made my way back to the forest.
Though we did not know it then, Satan's own wizard Simon de Belleme had made an offer to de Reinault for Marian, but she preferred Kirklees Abbey and the taking of the veil, for she hated de Belleme." Robin frowned blackly. "Gisbourne used the trip to Kirklees to try to find Much and me and the others, tracking Much to our father's house and the mill. He murdered Matthew and burned the mill. And so we attacked.
Marian I kept safe; Gisbourne we did not kill, but sent him back to Nottingham in disgrace, as a message to the Sheriff that we would not be taken easily. I took Marian to Kirklees Abbey, and there the matter rested, or so we thought."
no subject
He answered her last question first. "Nay, Renata, I would not."
Robin gave a nod of understanding. She would feel what he felt. It was as when he 'spoke' to the forest spirits, and that was well within the realm of his experience.
For a moment he was shy, knowing she would be vitally aware of his attraction to her; but she would also see, he was sure, that he would neither approach her nor cause her discomfort in any way. He was committed to study here, not to romance. If he took deep pleasure in her company, if his thoughts strayed warmly to her at other times, why, surely that could hurt no one.
"My father was Ailric of Loxley," he began. "Herne gave him into his keeping the silver arrow, an item of great significance to our people and our beliefs, bearing us prosperity and safety from oppression. For a time all was well; but when I was five, the Norman knight Robert de Reinault was given assistantship to the Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, and everything changed.
He knew of the arrow, I know not how, and he and his soldiers came to Loxley, razing it and murdering all in their path in a search for what was not theirs. My father got me away, and so I was saved; but he was not, and the silver arrow passed into the possession of de Reinault.
In time de Reinault became the Sheriff, and he taxed the people mercilessly with the gauntlet of his knight, Guy of Gisbourne. I was raised as foster-son to the miller Matthew and his wife, and my foster-brother was a boy of my own age named Much. They were my family, and I loved them as my own."
Robin's gaze was distant, looking deep into the past. "I was tutored by the hermit of Sherwood Forest, an eccentric who went by the name of Herne the Hunter, also the name of a forest spirit worshiped by the people. He was a wizard of some repute, and many feared him, but I did not, though I did not know for many long years why he taught me so carefully. Had I known, perhaps I would have feared him more.
One day Much stole my bow and shot a deer. We were often hungry in those days, and he sought only to feed us, but all deer were claimed as property of royalty and the penalty for killing one was stiff - the loss of a hand, an arm, perhaps of one's life." Robin shook his head. "The law was enforced by Gisbourne and his Sheriff with grievous care, and I could not let Much suffer such a fate. He was not... he was a simple soul, loving and stalwart, but he sometimes did not understand.
When I found him, there was the deer, the arrow in its throat, and the bow in Much's hand. And so we ran, trying to escape the wrath of the soldiers; but Gisbourne was on horseback and soon had us surrounded. We were imprisoned, and there we should rot until the Sheriff's pleasure."
Robin's eyes narrowed, his lips curving in a fierce smile. "But we would not have it so. There were others in the oubliette: Dickon, and Tom the Fletcher, and Will Scarlet, and we none of us were patient men. So we made a plan to escape, and hide in Sherwood Forest as Wolf's Heads - outlaws. It seemed little enough to risk - we would likely die in any case, and so why not?" His shoulders lifted in a shrug.
"We fought our way out, but I did not get to the portcullis in time, and was trapped. I found my way back into the castle to hide, and there met Marian of Leaford, who did not betray me to my would-be captors." His expression softened in memory - he had loved her deeply and immediately. But that was over now, a story for another time. "With her help I escaped and made my way back to the forest.
Though we did not know it then, Satan's own wizard Simon de Belleme had made an offer to de Reinault for Marian, but she preferred Kirklees Abbey and the taking of the veil, for she hated de Belleme." Robin frowned blackly. "Gisbourne used the trip to Kirklees to try to find Much and me and the others, tracking Much to our father's house and the mill. He murdered Matthew and burned the mill. And so we attacked.
Marian I kept safe; Gisbourne we did not kill, but sent him back to Nottingham in disgrace, as a message to the Sheriff that we would not be taken easily. I took Marian to Kirklees Abbey, and there the matter rested, or so we thought."
((Part 1))