Chapter Fourteen-Sherwood

"Where did you go, Robin?"

"To the castle."

The gang surveyed him in disbelief. "Alone?" Kate asked, looking up from the arrows she was busily fledging. "What about us?"

Robin smiled at their disappointed faces. "It was an only an...investigative errand."

"What were you investigating?" Much demanded.

"Our connection. To the inside. Just preliminary sort of digging about." Robin looked thoughtful. "Met a servant girl."

"Was she pretty?" said Allan.

"Yes, very." Robin grinned, and turned to Marian. "No worries, my love." He looked back at Allan. "But not the kind who would brook any...let's just say, Allan, you're a bit too much of a-"

"Scoundrel," broke in Much. "I'm sorry, but it's just the plain truth."

Allan elbowed him. "Alright now, alright! I've given up my old ways. Mostly."

"Robin," Djaq put in firmly, "There is something we need to talk with you about."

"So serious!" Robin raised his hands helplessly. "It's hardly mid-morning."

"It is serious," Djaq told him. "It is about the inside spy you say we need."

Robin's smile faded into an expression of earnest interest. "Tell me."

"You won't want to hear it, mate," Allan interjected carefully. John laid a hand on his shoulder. "Let Djaq talk."

Djaq scraped her knifeblade against the edge of a log. She took a breath. "Robin, we know that you will not like this. But you must accept the fact, if we are to have someone get close to the Sheriff, it must be through Gisborne."

"No." In a moment, Robin's good humor was replaced with a grim expression and a tense jaw.

Much threw up his hands. "I knew it would be like this. I just knew it."

Marian sighed.

"Robin," Will said slowly, "It...it's worked before."

Robin turned on him. "Yes, very well indeed-and remember how that ended? Marian was almost killed! I wouldn't put any of you-"

"Robin, the Sheriff is worse than Guy," Marian said softly. "If you want a spy, they'll be safer-"

"That has nothing to do with it." Robin clenched his fingers around the curve of his bow. "There won't be a Gisborne to get close to, if I get to him first. And I will."

"Robin-you're not going to kill him!" There was something slightly too urgent in Marian's tone, at least for Robin's taste.

"Do you still hold out hope for him? Marian, he's a killer. A traitor. He's all evil." Robin's eyes flickered with rising anger as the rest sat in silence, waiting for his outburst to pass. "I won't have it!" He paced back and forth restlessly. "I will kill Gisborne, the first chance I get. We'll find another way!"

"Robin." It was Tuck who had spoken. His dark eyes were grave. "You must listen to reason, my friend. Everyone here perfectly understands the nature of your deep animosity with Gisborne. But that does not change the facts. Djaq is right. Getting close to the Sheriff means getting close to Gisborne. Killing him will ruin that chance."

Robin ran his hands through his hair, exasperated. Then he paused. "Alright. I won't kill him-yet. I just don't know. Is it even right-to ask anyone to take such a risk?"

For a few moments, the only sounds that filled the forest were the crackling of the fire and sound of the wind dancing through the treetops. "We all take risks for you, Robin," Kate said earnestly. "We wouldn't force anyone to serve with us. It's a choice."

"Everything's a choice," Marian put in quietly. Her voice was calm, but her hands were pressed tightly over her abdomen. "Robin, I know you're not ready to hear this at the moment, but I was making a choice at every step of the way."

Robin's brows drew together in frustration, but he did not speak for a few moments. At last he said, "I need to think." His voice was abrupt, but the others could tell that he had calmed down. He strode off quickly into the forest.

"He'll come round," John said, poking at the coals with the tip of his staff.

"Of course he will," Marian breathed. She leaned back and tried to hold back a groan. Djaq and Kate were at her side in a moment. "Are you worse?" Djaq asked, looking worried.

Marian shifted, her dark hair falling in a river over the pillow. "No-it's just...there's a new kind of pain."

Djaq's mouth tightened in a grim line. "I will try to find some new herbs. I thought the wound was healing well."

"I think it is," Marian said, looking puzzled. "As I said, it's something different."

"He's such a changeable bloke sometimes." Allan shook his head. "The trouble is, if Robin's divided-"

"Robin will make the best decision," Much argued. "He always does. He will come round."

"I just said that," growled John.

Relative silence fell on the camp after that, with once more only the sounds of fire and forest to interrupt the contemplative quiet.

It had not been very many moments, but it seemed like hours before they heard the quick, light footstep that heralded the return of Robin.

Everyone turned. The suspense among the company seemed to echo in the fitful little breeze that suddenly ran through the treetops.

Robin faced them for a moment-serious, pensive, even grim. They waited, and watched, and suddenly a smile broke out over his face. "Alright, lads-and ladies. I've decided to see reason. At least for the moment." He strode forward, snatched up an arrow, and energetically began to draw in the dust surrounding the campfire. "First, someone needs to go to Kirklees and speak to the Abbot about the King's message. That's me. Someone-Tuck, Djaq, Will, Much-needs to go to the castle, scout out what the Sheriff knows about Prince John's plans. Clearly, he knows something-he's sending gold. After that, we meet back here plan from there."

"What about the spy?" asked Much, a trifle reluctantly. No one could be certain if it were still a touchy subject or not.

"That's the third part," Robin said, his voice surprisingly level. "For now, we can't know what they would actually be spying on, but it's never too early to find out who our allies are. As I said before, I've got an inkling of an idea already. Allan, since you were so eager, you can start making inquiries about a new servant girl in the castle kitchens."

Allan's eyebrows lifted. "More like it! What's her name?"

Robin smiled slightly, seeming to remember something. "She wouldn't tell me."

A/N: This chapter was tough to write, so any feedback would be much appreciated! :)