Hello everybody! Sorry about the wait. I did a program in Baltimore at the end of June that kept me so busy that I got sick from sleep deprivation...again! (Fyi, in case you don't remember, the exact same thing happened to me last summer when I participated in this program's predecessor)! So now that I'm caught up on sleep and stuff, I've got time to write. Thank you to my reviewers: Watership's Nightwish Rat and Break This Spell666. And don't forget that this chapter takes place about a week after the previous one.
Disclaimer: I owneth not the tale of the mighty Robin Hood
It had been a week since Kiara had escaped the sheriff's men. Suffice to say, the young dictator was less than pleased with the progress of the situation. How was she even still alive?! Not only had she survived for ten years, but she had managed to arrive in England - in his land - without his knowledge! And now, after all these years, she had turned into the gorgeous woman he knew she would be and so much more. His eyes began to darken as he stared at the wanted poster and thought of all the other tricks 'The French Huntress' had up her sleeves.
Sheriff Andrew enjoyed the company of his fair servants, but they obeyed his every wish without hesitation. He missed the thrill of the hunt. He wanted a woman who would make him work to impress her, who would stand up to his advances with passion, who would ignite his animalistic nature.
Once again, his thoughts returned to the French girl. Of course Andrew knew her name, but he never spoke it out of fear that somebody might make a connection. She was the only thing he had to work for in his entire life. And Andrew wanted her! He wanted to feel her-
"Excuse me, my lord?" a young female voice called. The sound of her voice interrupted the sheriff's thoughts.
"What?!" Sheriff Andrew snapped, angry at the unwelcome disturbance.
The servant girl jumped slightly at the unexpected volume. She stared down at her feet as she murmured, "Y-you have a v-visitor, sir."
"Well go fetch him, then!" the sheriff ordered. "And be quick about it!"
The sheriff watched as the the chambermaid fled from his study. That was one servant who would not be warming his bed in the near future. Nevertheless, it did not bother the sheriff. With her dark stringy hair and unwashed face, she was far too common for a man of his class and stature.
Suddenly, Andrew heard the clanking of armor and identified his visitor without taking a single glance. "Any news, Captain?" he asked as he signaled for a bottle of wine to be brought in.
"There is much news, sir," the captain answered carefully. He chuckled nervously as if he were joking.
Unfortunately, the sheriff was not quite as amused. He smirked humorlessly at the captain as he picked up a glass of red wine from the servant's tray. "Would you care for a drink, Captain? It is from the finest grapes that French vineyards have go offer."
The captain seemed unsure at first, but his thirst got the better of him. "Thank you, my lord." The sheriff's seemingly good mood comforted the soldier.
"I was referring to the French Huntress. Is she in my dungeons yet?" Sheriff Andrew inquired in a conversational tone as he glanced at the liquid sloshing in his glass.
The captain took a gulp of his wine. "Uh, not yet, my lord...but she will be soon! I am sure of it!"
"You are sure?" the sheriff questioned, still looking at his glass.
"I am, sir."
"Hmm," the sheriff mused with a nod. Suddenly, he lashed out at the captain and knocked the glass out of his hand. The glass smashed against the floor and the alcohol splashed on to the soldier's face. "If you were sure, that woman would be in by dungeons by now!" the sheriff screamed.
"B-but my lord-"
"SILENCE!"
The captain fell out of his chair and scooted backward.
"Find that girl! Or your next home will be in prison, awaiting the noose!"
The captain scrambled out of the study.
"Squire!"
Sheriff Andrew's squire rushed into the room, almost colliding with the terrified captain. "My lord?"
"Raise the French Huntress' bounty to seven hundred and fifty gold pieces! I want her captured, even if it costs me my entire treasury!"
The squire was about to make the changes before the sheriff made another request. "And order for a team of scouts to join me this afternoon. I plan to find the outlaw swiftly."
"Yes, my lord. I shall do so at once."
As soon as he was alone, Andrew once again looked at Kiara's poster. "You may have been able to escape from those bloody idiots I call soldiers, but I know these lands. You will not be able to hide forever!"
~Sherwood Forest~
"Are you going to accompany me on every hunt, Wulf?" Kiara asked.
"Would you prefer another man join you?" Wulf replied. "Robin insisted that you are to be protected at all times."
"I am perfectly capable of protecting myself, need I remind you."
"I know that," Wulf argued. "I am only following Robin's orders. He worries about your safety."
Kiara looked down shyly. "I must speak with him about his unnecessary concern the next time I see him."
"I, for one, have no doubt that you are capable of defeating your foes."
Kiara looked to the side so Wulf could not see her blush. They had been spending much of the week together since Robin assigned Wulf to be her personal guard.
Needless to say, Will was less than pleased with Wulf's position. He loved Autumn, he truly did, but something about Kiara lit a fire inside of him that he had never experienced before.
"Merci, Wulf."
"Kiara-"
"WULF!" a familiar voice yelled.
"Griffith?!" Wulf cried out.
The youngest son of John Little ran through the trees, followed by Archer and Rinah. Each of them was sporting a wound of some sort. Griffith had a slice on his hand and a red spot around his eye where he would probably have a black eye by the next morning. Archer had a cut on his eyebrow and his lip. Rinah had a bloody nose that marred her beautiful Moorish face.
"Mon Dieu!" Kiara whispered.
"What happened to you?!" Wulf interrogated as he kneeled in front of his little brother. Wulf pushed back Griffth's hair and gently brushed his hand up against Griffith's face. "Who did this to you?!"
"T-the Sheriff!" Rinah stuttered. "H-he's leading the scouts! They found us playing in the woods and chased after us!"
"Griffith and I slowed them down with our bows, but we hid under one of the trap doors until they were gone!" Archer added.
Kiara suddenly heard the crunch of leaves in the distance. She handed the squirrel she had caught to Archer. She scaled a nearby tree and peered through the leafy branches. "They are not gone," Kiara stated. "I can see them. Go! Return to the village!"
Nobody moved.
"Maintenant!" Kiara commanded.
The three children fled. Wulf, on the other hand, climbed the tree to join Kiara.
"Do you think they will make it?" Kiara questioned.
"They will," Wulf answered. "They grew up in these woods. They know them better than anyone, especially the Sheriff. In fact, one time, they managed to-"
"Shh!" Kiara hissed as she slapped her hand over Wulf's mouth. "We have company!"
Kiara was right. A group of at least a dozen soldiers tromped into the clearing led by a hooded rider.
"We lost 'em, sir!" one of the soldiers announced.
"Forget the bloody children!" the hooded man barked. "Find the girl!"
"That's the Sheriff!" Wulf whispered.
Kiara gulped. That voice...she knew it! But from where?
"If she is here, I want her captured with as little physical damage as possible! She is here on my soil illegally! She belongs to me now!"
Suddenly, Kiara put the pieces together. The shadow! It was the shadow's voice! She panicked! Kiara bit hard on her lip to hold back her scream, but a slight squeal escaped...and the sheriff heard it.
Wulf put his hand over Kiara's mouth, but her eyes were still wide with fear.
The sheriff whipped his head around, looking for the source of the sound. He made a signal for his scouts to aim their crossbows up at the tree.
"By the order of the Sheriff of Nottingham, come down immediately or my men will shoot!" Sheriff Andrew called out.
Wulf put a finger to his lips. "Stay here," he mouthed. Wulf climbed down to a lower branch and jumped to the ground. He kept his back to the soldiers.
The scouts switched their aim from the tree to Wulf.
"Hands in the air!" one of the soldiers shouted.
Wulf raised his hands just above his head.
"Turn around!" another soldier yelled.
Wulf slowly turned around to face the men.
"Were you the only one in that tree?!" the sheriff questioned.
"Yes, sir," Wulf lied.
"So that squeak was you?!" the sheriff asked skeptically with a raised eyebrow.
"I wish I could say no, sir, but that would be lying," Wulf replied with a smirk. "I was trying to catch a sparrow up in that tree. When I heard your men coming, I got distracted and the bird flew off to a higher branch. When I tried to climb after it, I lost my footing and landed in a very painful position on one of those fatter branches, if you know what I mean."
Many of the soldiers, the weaker ones, grimaced empathetically.
The sheriff, however, did not buy his story quite so easily. "What is your name, boy?"
"Duncan. William Duncan."
"Are you positive nobody else was in that tree, Duncan?" the sheriff inquired. "A female, perhaps?"
Wulf grinned cockily, just like he had seen Will do so many times. "If there was a girl in that tree, the sounds you would have heard would be pretty different." Wulf hated talking like that, but he knew the kind of language that would turn off suspicion. Talking casually about women made a man sound uneducated, and a man who sounded uneducated was always underestimated.
The sheriff chuckled. "As convincing as your story sounds, forgive me for not believing it."
Wulf's grin fell.
"Check it!" Sheriff Andrew snapped.
Two of the smaller scouts rode their horses over to the most open part of the foliage. They pulled themselves up on the branches and climbed to the least visible part of the tree...the part where Kiara was hiding.
Wulf stood stationary. His hands were still up in the air and half of the crossbows still had him as a bullseye. The second half of the archers were pointing up at the tree. Wulf did his best to mask his panic as he eyed the movement in the trees, but if Kiara got caught, it would be entirely his fault. He ordered her to stay in the tree, and now she was going to be found.
"No girl up here, sir!" one of the scouts reported. "The boy is telling the truth!"
Wulf faked a smug expression to cover up his relief and confusion.
The sheriff turned his head toward Wulf and glared at him. "You were lucky today, boy," Sheriff Andrew stated icily.
"I would actually feel luckier if a girl was waiting for me in that tree."
The sheriff scowled. "Your story may be true this time, Duncan, but do not expect my men to be quite so lenient next time." He paused before addressing the soldiers. "Move out!"
The scouts rode off in the opposite direction.
Once the soldiers were out of eyesight and earshot, Wulf lowered his arms with a sigh. Thank goodness Kiara was not in the tree. Wait! If she was not in the tree, where was she?!
"Kiara?!" Wulf hissed. "Kiara?! Where are you?!" He whipped his head around, looking for any sign of Kiara's blonde head. "KIARA?!" Wulf screamed. He scrambled up the tree and frantically searched for the orphan. "KIARA?!"
"If you keep screaming my name like that and the Sheriff will return and shoot you down like un animal de prix."
Wulf practically jumped out of his skin at the French girl's sudden comment. "Kiara! Thank God you are safe!" He looked toward the source of the voice, but did not see her. "Where are you?"
"I am here."
Wulf squinted to see Kiara standing behind one of the branches. Her green dress mixed with the leaves and she used the shadowy foliage to blend in. Her golden hair matched the spaces where the sun shone through the leaves. Only a highly trained hunter would be able to notice Kiara's hiding place.
"You could have been seen!"
"I could have," Kiara responded coyly. "But I was not."
"Did you get a look at the Sheriff? Was that why you panicked?"
"His voice," Kiara said shakily. "I recognized his voice from my past. He said I belonged to him." Kiara sighed. "I should have stayed North."
Wulf did not know how to react to Kiara's regret. "Remember that day you first came to Sherwood? Remember how you said it would require the Sheriff and a hundred soldiers to catch you?"
Kiara nodded solemnly.
"I believe he is taking your challenge seriously."
I know this seems like a filler chapter, but I needed to have an indirect confrontation between Kiara and Sheriff Andrew. Don't forget to fill in that text box right under this sentence that says "Type your review for this chapter here..."
