Robin Hood, Princess of Thieves
Sherwood Forest, my home, for now. My secret must stay silent for me to stay safe. Even with my father being the leader of our band, there is a chance they will vote and I shall be exiled. I have made up my mind to tell James tonight. I hope he'll understand.
"Robin! Stop staring into space and come help us!" a bandit yelled, "just 'cause your our little princess doesn't mean you get to skip helping around!"
He ducked the punch I'd aimed at his face and ran away laughing with his friends, leaving me cursing. Everyone knew how much I hated them calling me by my so called "official title". My mother and father had met in this very forest, she was a lost queen, he was one of the most wanted bandits ever. I was born a week before they were discovered. My mother had betrayed him to have her family's honor back. After quickly escaping, my father vowed that he would stop at nothing to show all royalty that other people mattered. While raising me, he soon became leader or "King of the Thieves" making me a bandit princess. They never mention this nickname in front of my father, in fear of him becoming angry from it.
The bonfire is big tonight, I thought while walking with James. We walked further away from the group and I decided to tell him.
"James, I need to tell you something" I started.
"Hm?" he asked.
"I'm leaving" I said to keep it short and simple.
"They told you already? So much for the ceremony" he said grumpily
"Told me what? What ceremony? James!" I yelled as he tried to walk away, "What are you talking about?"
"Obviously you know or you wouldn't be leaving" James said still angry.
I had to tell him before he decided to leave, James, I have no idea what you are talking about, but that's not what I meant." I said quickly. "James, I'm leaving because I love you."
That shut him up. He stared at me as if I'd grown three heads.
"You. Love. Me?" he asked still stunned.
"Yes I have and always will!" I said.
" Robin, you can't. I can't. You can't love me, you have to love him" he was ranting on about someone. I finally got frustrated waiting for a name and asked.
"Who James? Who is he?" I asked
"Caleb! You have to love him and not me! He's a royal who isn't disgraced" James yelled.
Falling in love with a royal and leaving the band, the two reasons why I was going to be exiled and I was expected to break both of them! I fell in love with James, he was a run away prince who later was disowned but still is considered a royal. I am his only friend, much to my father disliking, he needed a friend and I was the only one willing. I then realized if we loved each other, we would have to run away.
"Robin!" my father called. I walked dazed to the hut we shared.
"This is hard to tell you but, Sir Derblue came last day" I froze at the name. Sir Derblue had been on my fathers trail for years. "He had our camp surrounded and told me I had two choices, either they kill everyone here right now for all our crimes, or I surrender the daughter of the past queen to marry Prince Caleb of Yorkshire to complete our truce, I had no choice," he kept talking but I wasn't listening, this is what James had meant, we couldn't love each other, for I was to marry his brother.
Without thinking I grabbed my bag I had packed to leave and ran. I didn't know where I was going but no one was stopping me.
"Robin! Come on Robin you know I had no choice!" he yelled running after me.
You may not've had a choice but I do, I thought, I'll make this right, but from now on I can no longer be with you, for my life's sake and yours.
I had traveled all night until I reached a road leading to a town. I persuaded the innkeeper to let me stay in their stable. On the way there I noticed a sign posted on a tree.
"Kings Tournament, all skills welcome" I read aloud.
"Looking to see a knight?" the stable man asked.
"Yes," I lied, "would you happen to know anything about this tournament?"
"Why of course, it's simple. Every year on the first day of summer the tournament starts and all skills are welcome. If you are the winner of the skill then someone of the royal family presents you your prize" he finished.
"Prize?" I asked confused.
" When the member of the royal family who presents the prize to you, you get to ask them one question." he said.
"One question? That's it? No riches, food or anything like that?" I asked amazed.
"No, not many people would want to enter our tournament then. Too many people here already have all of that." He made that sound like it wasn't odd at all.
"Where is this tournament taking place?" I asked.
"Why right here in Yorkshire of course!" he said laughing.
Right then I was sure of two things, I had traveled from Noting-Ham to Yorkshire and that my plan just might work. My face must have given something away for he quickly added.
"Oh no, don't be thinking that, it is a tournament for men only. "
My spirits dropped immediately. How was I supposed to enter this tournament if I was a girl? But wait, they didn't know that I was a girl, my hair could be covered with a helmet and smearing my face with dirt could make me look like any other village boy. This could work, I thought, I have a sword all I need is a helmet. I wandered around the small village and convinced a retired soldier to sell me his helmet.
I stood by the pond I had found at the edge of town. I had finally figured out a quick way to tuck my amber hair into the helmet. I stared into the water and saw the new me. I smiled, the only thing that made me sure that the person I was looking at was still me was my icy blue eyes. I thought of what most people had said about my eyes. Like how when my temper snapped- which was often- my eyes were the scariest thing. I smudged more dirt onto my face and looked at the village. Time to see if this'll work, I thought walking to town.
Signing up wasn't so bad, the night before my first match was. Everyone had been assigned a place to tent. Since this was my first year entering the tournament, I was stuck with other first years. My tent was right in between two twins who were constantly yelling insults back and forth all night. In the morning most people were short tempered with them. My first match was starting soon. I had spent most of the morning preparing and learning about all the other people who I'd have to fight.
My first match was against a young boy, who looked barely old enough to be competing. I felt ashamed after winning against him, since he had no experience and I had fought in one of the largest bandit wars in history. The competition had lasted for barely one minute. As I walked back to my tent the boy I had just fought came up to me.
"You're a good fighter, but ya dodge like a girl" with that he left me laughing until tears streamed down my face.
As I had feared, many people got curious of why my helmet never came off. Just before my match that would take me to the semi-finals, my competitor made a comment that blew my temper. I glared at him and watched as he saw my eyes.
"He got the eyes of a ghost!" he yelled backing away to the courts. The match against him later had been the easiest. The rest of the afternoon flew by until my semi-finals match. According to the schedule I was to fight a boy around my age. From the fights I had seen earlier, he knew what he was doing. Later on as our match started, I went on the defense rather than attacking him. In order to win I had to find his weak spot and that took time. He started out with simple light attacks and progressed into hard, faster more complicated patterns. He fought only with his right hand I noticed and his left hand always stayed at his side. I tried attacking there for the first time and he stumbled to block it but it was too late. My sword was already twisting his sword out of his hand and pointed at his throat.
"I yield," he said before retrieving his sword and walking away. The crowd was silent for a few seconds then erupted into deafening cheers. I was going to the finals.
There was many congrats that night, though when I went back to my tent I noticed that my opponent from earlier was no where to be seen. I know the customs were that as soon as you lost, you had to camp somewhere else, but most of the time people stuck around to say their goodbyes to friends. I pushed the thought from my mind. I would need a clear head to sleep tonight. The final match to decide the winner was always very exciting. The only thing that I knew about my opponent was that he was a knight from Noting-Ham. I wasn't worried he'd recognize me, for why would he? I was a bandit who lived in a forest, he was a knight who lived in a castle. There was no chance he would recognize me. I fell asleep confident that night.
The camping grounds were deserted in the morning. Of course the knight was staying at the castle, but I had expected more people to stay. My match was soon. I jogged to the court where the final match was taking place. The crowds were huge and they cheered as I walked onto the field. I smiled and turned to see my opponent. My entire body froze. I stared at the knight as he walked onto the field. He carried a helmet under his arm with the Noting-Ham symbol on it. But that was not what I was staring at, my opponent was Sir Derblue! I calmed myself seeing him look at me like I was not worthy of fighting him. He did not know who I was, I was safe, for now.
When the match was signaled to start, he came at me seconds after with a chop to my head meant to knock me out. I blocked twisting out of the way and the match continued like this until he decided to end it. His sword came up and locked with mine, then he pushed down on me as if he meant to squash me, but I knew better. At the last second I stepped out of the way and let him fall. Before he knew it, my sword was lightly resting on the back of his neck.
"I yield," he said defeated, he got up and smiled at me then walked over to the official and sat with him. I saw Prince Caleb come up to the middle of the court by me.
"You are our winner of the swords fighting Kings Tournament this year. What do you wish to ask?" he said
I looked at him and said "I ask you to call off your marriage."
"I beg you pardon, but I cannot do that" he said confused.
"Why not? Are you too good for her or are you afraid of her," I challenged.
"When you signed up you agreed to the rules, you owe me your respect" he said, I could see he was getting angry.
"I owe you nothing"
The crowd was deathly silent, "What is your name warrior?" he demanded.
"Robin, Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest" I said pulling off my helmet letting my hair fall out. "You have three days to accept my request," with that I ran off the court and into the forest.
I had caught a glimpse of Sir Derblues' face while running. He looked ready to take down a bear from how angry he was. As I had assumed, within half an hour, there was a search party lead by Sir Derblue. His mood didn't look like it had improved. I stayed hidden in a large hollowed tree. I discovered this hiding place while wandering the forest. After deciding on a plan, I had brought food, blankets and my few possessions into this tree.
I had not planned to wait three days but the words were out of my mouth before I could think.
"Princess," Sir Derblue sneered, "we know you are listening, you might as well give yourself up. There is no way this marriage will be called off."
It took every ounce of my will power not to yell back at him. When the search party had went back to the castle, I decided that coming out would be out of the question.
When the three days were up, I snuck into the castle. I got in by using the back door of the kitchen and asking a maid -for a small fee- where the prince's quarters were. On the way there I was thinking of what to do if he declined. Run? Hide? I thought, what am I thinking! I will fight no matter what!
When I got to the prince's room, I pressed my ear to the door to see if anyone was inside.
"-well then what are we supposed to do!" a voice yelled, I think it was Sir Derblue.
"She's coming today and I have to answer!" said the prince.
"You are marrying her! There is no other choice! Her mother and father are falling in love again! Her father has figured out that I was the one who found them and that she didn't betray him!"
Sir Derblue and I have one thing in common, our temper. No one is safe when we are mad.
"Well then why don't they make the truce final and marry!"
"Because I won't have that thief run any kingdom I am in!"
Right now I was positive of two things. My parents were falling back in love and Sir Derblue was the reason I grew up hating royals.
I ran to one of the nearest windows and climbed out. If Prince Caleb was going to deny my request, then I would have to show him that my parents marrying could be an advantage for him. I waited near the outside of the prince's window until Sir Derblue left. As soon as I swung in, the prince threw something at me.
I ducked and said "Is there not one friendly face here?"
"Sorry" he said simply picking up the book he had thrown.
"You're apologizing to me?" I asked surprised.
" If you're my bride to be, we need to have some respect for each other."
" I am not marrying you!" I hadn't slept well last night, but I needed to stay calm for this.
"You don't really get much of a choice," he reminded me.
"Look, think of it this way. If we marry, you're stuck with me and no more freedom for either of us. If my parents marry, you can do whatever you want for all I care and I don't have to be on the run from everyone and I can finally go back with James." I hoped he wasn't completely convinced by Sir Derblue.
"James?" he asked confused.
"My best friend. Part of my band. Why do you care?" I got defensive.
"I had a friend named James," he said.
"Had?" I questioned.
"He ran away a few years ago and hasn't been heard of since." I could tell this was hurting him to talk about it.
"Wait, he's a royal?" I asked suspicious.
"If you mean by royal, a person living in a palace getting waited on their every demand then yes"
If my James was the same person as his James then this could work out. If I got James to have Yorkshire sign a truce through his country then this would all be over and I could go home. I could be with James. I could stop running and keep living the life I had wanted to have.
A pair of fingers snapped in front of my face. I flinched and then glared at Prince Caleb.
"Oh don't do that! You were looking at nothing and hadn't moved for ten minutes. If you want to go back to staring go ahead, but Sir Derblue will be coming soon and he won't even try to listen to what you have to say, so I suggest you either come back later or find a hiding spot while I get rid of him."
"You are willing to go along with my plan?" I asked confused.
"You came here like you said, into a palace full of people who would marry you off without a second thought, while other sane people would be half past England by now."
"You're admiring me and calling me insane?"
"Do you want to get caught or go back home?" I could tell I was annoying him.
"Well where is the least likely place that he would look for me in this room?" I said looking around.
"The best there is right now would be this" he said opening up a trunk at the end of his bed. As I climbed in, he threw blankets on top of me and shut the lid. Minutes later Sir Derblue came in.
"Has she shown up yet?" he asked impatiently.
"No, do you not think I would have sounded some kind of alarm?" Prince Caleb sounded equally annoyed.
"She can be tricky, you remember how she slipped away from us before," Sir Derblue was pacing, I held my breath every time he came near me.
"Slipped away from you," the prince corrected.
"Look, as soon as she is caught you will be married and her father and his little band will be thrown in the dungeon." I nearly gasped at this.
"You told him that it was either give up his daughter or his entire band's life."
"I never keep my word to bandits," he said the word bandits like it was a bad taste in his mouth.
Sir Derblue left soon after that. He just had closed the door when I jumped out of the trunk and said "I need your fastest horse and some way out of this place."
I led the horse out the back way on the road to Noting-Ham. Everyone was at supper so I had no worry of anyone catching me. As I mounted the horse I prayed that there would be no distraction along the way.
My prayer must have been heard, for I reach Sherwood Forest in no less than half a day. My luck continued for the first person I saw was my father and a large group of our band.
"Robin?" he looked at me blinking a couple of times.
The normal Robin would have hugged my father and told him about my journey. I wasn't the normal me today. I just went straight to the point.
"We need to get everyone and everything out of this camp as soon as possible. Sir Derblue is not going to keep his word."
"Why the-" I didn't hear the bandit finish his sentence. My father had covered my ears and was also glaring at the bandit as I was.
"That's not the point! We need to get everyone out!" My message seemed to have finally clicked because everyone was soon running around packing and spreading the message. I turned to my father who was giving orders and asked "Where is James?"
"He looked at me and said "Probably at the old willow." I was gone and I ran until I saw the willow.
"James!" I yelled.
"Robin?" I looked up and saw him. He jump down and grabbed me into a hug. "You're really here, where have you been? Why did you leave all of a sudden?"
"James! Stop, I'll explain when there's time but right now you need to hear this." I told him about the truce, the plot and how we had to fix it.
"So, in order for you to come home, we have to get married?" he asked.
"It's the only way everything will work out, and someone has to get married so I figured it might as well be us." I looked at him with hope.
"All right"
"You'll do it?" I asked pleased.
"If someone has to get married, it might as well be two people who love each other."
We rode to Yorkshire together that night and came right in to the dining room.
"You!" Sir Derblue shouted.
"Before you even think of doing anything just listen. I, Prince James of Derby, am now betrothed to Princess Robin of Noting-Ham. You no longer shall have any need to have any more unnecessary, unwanted marriages to complete your truce. For we have now sealed it." I glared at Sir Derblue while he glared back.
"This cannot happen, you cannot just step in like this, there was an agreement!" Sir Derblue managed to sputter out, he was turn a shade of red I thought was impossible.
"That is not your concern or choice Sir Derblue," the king said, "this choice is up to our son."
Everyone in the room turned to look at Caleb.
He narrowed his eyes at Sir Derblue, "I agree to this marriage of my friends James and Robin. I never wanted to be married off for this truce, but now that there is the choice, I would rather see two people who want to get married than two who don't."
"Then it is settled. We are now at peace with Noting-Ham." The king announced.
All I could do was smile as I glanced at James. He looked happy, I hadn't seen many happy faces on this journey and it was nice to just know that everything was over.
We are back at our camp in Sherwood Forest, and I am sitting on the old willow branch that hangs over the lake. I smile thinking of how everyone finally got some kind of enjoyable ending. I know I'm old enough to know that people don't end up happily ever after. It just doesn't happen, but, they can end up happy, forever, right after everything is done.
By Meagan