A/N: I know, it took forever for a new update but alas, here it is! I hope all of you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!
I feel Much's gaze on my back as I pack his cooking pot in the cart beneath the sacks of grain. I look over at Isaac and give a low whistle to attract his attention. He raises his head to meet my gaze and I tilt my head slightly towards Much and he nods.
"So, Much…" He starts to say as he walks over to him. I glance over just as Much sneers at him and takes a step back.
"Did she send you to kill me?" He sneers.
Isaac smiles. "No. As your friend and fellow cook, I just wanted to tell you about the amazing kitchen in the Sanctuary. I think you'll like it."
He folds his arms over his chest stubbornly. "You're not my friend and I'm not going with you. I refuse to be led into your assassin den like a lamb to slaughter."
Isaac chuckles and Much gives him an irritated look. "What's so funny?" He asks, hotly.
Isaac leans against a nearby tree. "Much, since we had to rescue Eva from execution in Nottingham, neither of us are working for King John anymore. Our contract was voided the minute that Eva showed up at Nottingham castle and refused to kill Robin."
"How do we know that it wasn't just a ploy to drag Robin to Nottingham to be killed by Gisborne, the Sheriff or one of the guards? Robin has a tendency to rescue any damsel in distress." As he says this he shoots his friend an annoyed glance.
"I was not a damsel in distress." I argue, receiving a chuckle from Allan and Robin. I glare at them. "What? I'm not."
Robin gives me his typical charming smile. "So you just happened to walk up onto the gallows, place a noose around your neck and yell for the executioner to pull the lever and end your life?"
I feel the heat rise to my cheeks with frustration. "No. Knowing the consequences, I broke my contract and sacrificed myself so that you could live. A damsel in distress is an innocent woman in trouble awaiting to be saved by a man. I wasn't expecting to be saved nor was I innocent."
Robin chuckles and I feel my irritation grow. "It doesn't matter now anyways." He says trying to ease the tension. "In the end, you risked your life for me and I am grateful." He his smile falters for a moment as he eyes my shoulder. "I'm sorry that your heroic gesture caused you to be wounded."
"It's fine." I mutter as I turn away from him and walk back to retrieve more supplies before he can utter another word.
By the time we are ready to start making our way to Southwell, the night had set upon us with the soft glow of the moon as our only light. Robin checks on the horses while everybody else with exception of Much and I begin crowding into the back of the cart amongst the camp supplies and sacks of grain. I turn to Much but he looks down at the ground. "Much, how about you sit up near Robin so you can keep an eye on him and make sure he's safe. I'll sit in the back with everybody else."
He says nothing and I begin to wonder whether or not he was listening as Robin turns to look at us around his hood. "Eva, come sit up front with me." He says. "Much can ride in the back where he can lie down and rest."
"Robin, Much should—" I start to say but stop as her walks over to us.
"Much, will you please sit in the back? I'll be perfectly fine while Eva sits with me and tells me where to go. As she pointed out, we don't know when or if they sent anybody to look for us and she'll know how to get to the hideout."
Much scowls. "This is a very large forest and all these years we've yet to be caught."
"Except for when Roy brought back that horse that led them straight to us." Allan interjects.
Much shoots him a glare. "Aside from that—"
"Much, we've already been over this. We're all going to Southwell and that's final." Robin says. Much opens his mouth to object but closes it once again when he sees Robin's stern expression. He takes a step over to the cart and recoils as Isaac holds out his flask.
"Here Much." He says. "I made sure that it wasn't stashed under everything."
Much reluctantly takes the flask and takes out the stopper to smell it. "What did you do to it? Add poison?"
"What are you going on about now, Much?" Djaq asks. He glances at her.
"How do I know what they're capable of doing? He could have easily slipped some poison in my flask when I wasn't looking."
"Much, that's enough." Robin says.
Much looks around at the rest of the gang helplessly before finally climbing into the cart, muttering to himself. He takes a seat and takes the stopper out of his flask once more and takes another whiff before taking a long swig. He then licks his lips. "Mm. Strawberries…" It takes him a moment before his eyes widen after he realizes he's been tricked and looks at Djaq. She gives him a confused look and shakes her head. "Wasn't me."
His eyes start to droop as he goes to mutter something but is silenced as his eyes shut and his head falls back on a sack of grain as he falls asleep. Everybody eyes Isaac suspiciously until Allan exclaims, "Finally!" He shrugs as every one's eyes look at him. "What? I poured some of the drink Djaq made to help him sleep. I didn't want to hear him complain the entire time."
Robin chuckles quietly and turns his attention back to me. He motions to the cart. "Shall we?"
I adjust my cloak around me and Robin helps me up onto the little seat and climbs up next to me, taking the reins. He turns to look at the gang behind us. "Is everybody set?" They say they're ready and he turns around, smiling. "To Southwell then."
We travel throughout the night, taking many of the hidden paths and avoiding roads whenever possible. As the early morning sun started to peek over the land, I glance at Robin. His face is hidden from my gaze by the hood of his cloak until he looks over. He smiles but I can see how tired he is from being up all night. "Would you like me to take the reins for a while?" I offer. "We should be close to Worksop within the hour. Isaac and I know some people there and we can eat and rest a while."
He shakes his head. "I'll be fine until Worksop." He turns to glance behind him. "The rest of the gang seems to be set on rest but it would be nice to stop for a while."
I frown. "I meant that you need to rest, Robin. You've been up this entire time."
He nods. "I will but not until we get to Worksop." He glances at me and sees my frown. "Besides, you still have yet to tell me your story." He smiles. "Your real story."
I shift on the seat to look at him. "What do you want to know?"
"Where are you actually from?"
"I was born in Derby but was mostly raised in Newark where I lived with my stepfather."
"Where was your mother?"
"She died when a plague swept through the land. I was sent to a convent when she fell ill. Not that it mattered since most of the nuns at the convent had died before I got there."
"I've sorry to hear that." He frowns.
I shrug. "It was so long ago…"
He nods. "So how did you become an assassin?"
"My husband recruited me. I was living with my drunken stepfather when one night I was cleaning out the cinders in the fireplace when William showed up, hidden by shadows, and slit my father's throat."
Robin looks at me with a horrified expression. "Your husband killed my stepfather?"
I nodded. "My father was a cruel man who apparently refused to pay his debt to a brewer. The brewer hired the Shadow Hunters to deal with him and so they did." I look Robin in the eye. "I was miserable and after my father was killed, he knew I was unmarried and had no way to support myself. I would have died of starvation but instead of killing or leaving me there, he told me to pack my things and come with him." I look away. "He gave me a home, family and…"My voice catches as I feel my eyes prickle with tears. "He loved me when nobody else did." I take a deep breath as I wait to be mocked for my moment of weakness but hear nothing. I quickly wipe my eyes and continue. "He convince our leader, Delvin, to allow me to join and trained me himself."
"So he taught you to kill?"
I look at him and I just sense how uneasy he is about the whole idea that I, the woman he loves, is a rained killer. I can only imagine that Marian was much like him and only killed if she had to. "Yes he did but, " I smile. "He mostly taught me how to fight wielding a blade and taught me how to aim an arrow and shoot my target." As I say this I am reminded of the three men I killed in the forest that Robin then found. "He also taught me languages like French and Latin, how to disappear into the shadows, how to pickpocket and pick locks. Everything I know, I owe to William and the other Shadow Hunters."
There's a brief moment of silence as I can only guess that he's trying to process all of this or he's in shock from not knowing all my hidden skills.
"And how did you come to work for John?"
I let out a sigh. "That's a long story."
Robin gives me a grin. "We have a long journey."
I chuckle. "Working for King John was never our intention…" I begin. I tell him everything starting with William's death and how I found Isaac and forced him to take me to Bradford. While he had his suspicions, Robin was surprised to find out that Isaac and I weren't actually related.
I tell him about my encounter with Delvin and how I got my injuries and how I trained Isaac while awaiting news of Delvin's whereabouts. "On our way back from a contract, Isaac and I decided to stop in Papplewick to see if we could hear any news. While there, Gisborne and his guards recognized Isaac and I from our recent wanted posters. We were hauled off to Nottingham and King John told me he knew who I was and gave me a deal. Your life in exchange for money, my freedom and resources." I look away suddenly as if ashamed. "All I could think about was how if I was free and had the money and resources, I could hunt down Delvin and make him pay for what he's done." I clench my jaw. "I had no real idea who you were except what Isaac had told me so it didn't matter to me."
"So you did all this because you wanted to avenge your husband's death?" He asks, quietly. "You should have known that whether or not you killed me, John would have ordered your execution. He wouldn't have rewarded you like he said he would."
"I know. I was so naïve and so heartbroken that I was willing to believe the offer was real. "I nod. "Before William's death, he set aside some money and we were talking about retiring from being assassins and starting off new and starting a family." A tear slides down my cheek. "Delvin knew about this because William asked for his blessing."
"And in return he sent bandits to kill you." Robin asks and I nod.
"He thought we were foolish for wanting to leave. He said that our love was weakness." I pause for a moment." I pause as I feel Robin grab my hand and give it a light squeeze.
As we drew nearer to Worksop, I turned around to wake Isaac so he could wake the others. At my touch, he drew his dagger and pointed it at me. "It's just me." I reassure him and he sighs with relief before putting his dagger away. As he stretches, he looks around at the rest of the gang who is fast asleep before looking over at me. "Were you two up all night?"
"We were." Robin answers. "Eva was telling me you know some people in Worksop so we're going to rest there for a while and eat. "
At the mention of Worksop, I could see the excitement in his eyes and gave him a questioning look. Grinning, he shrugs and turns away to wake the others. I watch him suspiciously and Robin glances over. "What's wrong?"
"It seems happy to be stopping in Worksop." I mutter. "I wonder why that is."
"Maybe he has a lover you don't know about." He chuckles. As he says this I try to think of who he could possibly like. He's an attractive man who tends to draw the attention of women but I couldn't for the life of me remember who he's ever shown an interest in. Could he have said something but I was too preoccupied with my own problems to listen?
We stop at a small stream and disconnected the horses from the cart to let them drink from the stream. The rest of the gang was now awake with the exception of Much who was still slumbering. Robin frowns at him. "Allan, how much of that drink did you put in his flask? Shouldn't he have awoken by now?"
"Not too much. I just put enough for him to hopefully shut up for majority of the trip."
Robin glances at Djaq. "How strong was this drink?"
"The past few nights Much was saying he was having nightmares of what had happened in Nottingham so I made a slightly stronger version to help him sleep soundly. He should be waking soon."
"About how long?" Robin asks.
She looks down at him and shrugs. "An hour or two perhaps. "
Robin nods and turns to Allan. "Well, since you were the one who gave him the drink, I think it's only fair that you get to stay here to watch the cart and keep an eye on Much."
"But I was doing it for the greater good!" Allan exclaims. "He was giving us trouble about going to the hideout so I figured I could use my skill at sleight of hand to keep him quiet. I think I should be rewarded."
"How about I bring back a sweet roll or some other some other treat for your heroic effort?" Isaac offers with a grin.
"Thank you! I'm glad somebody here recognizes my efforts." He looks at Robin. "Fine, I'll stay here."
"I'll stay as well." John says as he sits down near the stream. "Just in case Much wakes while you're gone, I don't want Allan aggravating him any more than usual.
"Thank you, John." Robin says with an amused grin and turns away with the rest of us in tow.
As we enter the town, it is already buzzing with activity as the towns folk are going about their activities. Robin stops and pulse out a small purse and takes out a few silver and hands it to Djaq. "Take this and go get whatever you need to help with Eva's wound. Once we get back to the cart, can you check on it?"
She nods and leaves with Will as we start making our way to the blacksmith. Nobody is present except a young boy stoking the fires of the forge and Isaac and I exchange glances. He walks ahead of us and talks to the boy. "Where's the Blacksmith?" We hear him ask as we approach. The boy glances at us then back at Isaac. "He's been ill the past few days. His daughter has been inside taking care of him while I've been fulfilling orders for him." Isaac quickly turns away and walks toward the door nearby and knocks. I watch as he fidgets as he anxiously awaits somebody to answer the door. He raises his hand to knock once more but the door opens and Sabine's face lights up as she sees him. "Isaac!" She exclaims as she flings herself at him and pulls him into a passionate kiss. My jaw drops and I hear Robin chuckle from beside me. "Looks like I was right." He whispers. I watch in disbelief as Isaac wraps his arms around her and lifts her from the ground and spins around before setting her back down. They rest their foreheads against one another and smile as the say how much they missed each other.
I clear my throat and as they look over, Sabine blushes as she noticed Robin and I. "I'm so sorry. It's good to see you again Eva!"
"You as well." I say. She introduces herself to Robin and turns back to Isaac.
"Is your father alright? I was told he was ill."
She frowns. "He's had a fever for the past two days and can been coughing and complains of being cold but I've made sure to keep him covered with blankets and keep a fire running…" The poor girl looked ready to burst into tears as Isaac pulled her close and caressed her head tenderly while whispering comforting words.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Robin offers. Sabine pulls away from Isaac for a moment and begins to shake her head.
"I'll go find Djaq and see if she can help." I say. Robin nods and I quickly run off in the direction that she went.
I find her and Will near a shop stall looking at various herbs when I approach them, making sure to keep my head down so that my face is covered. "Djaq." I say quiet enough for only us to hear. She slowly glances over at me. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?" She asks.
I look around me for any sign of guards. "A friend of mine and Isaac's is in need of your medical attention."
"Do you know what they have?" She asks.
"Not really. His daughter said he's had a fever for the past couple days, he's been coughing and he's expressed being cold regardless of being covered in blankets and a fireplace in his room at all times." I explain. "Does that sound like anything you know of?"
She's quiet for a moment before speaking again. "From the symptoms you've described, I believe he might have pneumonia."
I frown. "Is there anything you can do?"
I watch her as she looks around at the herbs in the various baskets at the stall. "I think so."
"Do you have enough money to get both the herbs for him and I?"
Will looks down at the coins in his palm before shaking his head at his wife. "We'd be short."
I reach for my purse on my belt to find it no longer there. I curse under my breath and Djaq frowns. "It's alright. Use the money Robin gave you to get what you needed for my wound. I can wait until we get to the hideout. He needs it more than I do."
"Are you sure?" She asks. "I can think of another method?"
I shake my head. "I don't know how severe his illness is so I won't risk it. Focus on him first."
I pretend to look around at the various herbs and spices for sale but I look around for any guards or anybody else who could recognize me from any new or old wanted posters. Once I'm sure it's safe, I turn my head slightly towards Djaq. "Come to the blacksmith shop once you have what you need."
She gives a small nod and depart through a dark alleyway between the dwelling and make my way back to Theo's workshop. Once I arrive, the boy is now heating up some pieces of metal and Robin, Sabine and Isaac are nowhere in site. "Are they inside?" I ask the boy as I approach.
He nods. "Yeah. Miss Sabine offered them some food."
I mutter a thank you and go through the little door and up the stairs. At the top of the steps, I look around. It's amazing how it's been 3 years since I had been here eating at the very table that Isaac and Robin sat around when I first asked Theo about Giles." I walk over near the doorway to the kitchen and watch Isaac and the way he looks at Sabine. He says something and she smiles. They haven't noticed me yet but as I watch them I can't help but wonder; In however long he's been wooing her, has he ever told her the truth about our first visit? That we poisoned Giles instead of giving him the sword he was supposed to deliver so that he wouldn't come back after them? About how I was one of the "fallen family" that Delvin had the sword made as a tribute for and I was on my way to kill him?
At that moment Sabine rises from her seat to refill the tankards on the table and spots me. "Eva! I'm glad you're back. Would you like some ale?"
"Sure." I smile. "Thank you."
As she turns away to grab another tankard, Robin rises and walks toward me. "Were you able to find Djaq?"
I nod. "She and Will were in the marketplace still buying herbs. They didn't have enough to buy the herbs needed to treat my wound and to help Theo so I told her to focus on helping Theo."
He frowns. "But your shoulder…"
I give him a small smile. "I'll be fine. Once we get to the hideout, Djaq can tend to my wound and you can fuss over me then."
I feel him grab my hand as he leans forward. "I just don't want you to catch a fever and get worse."
"It'll be okay for now. If it makes you feel any better, I'll have Djaq change my bandages and take a look at it when we get back to the cart."
He lets out a sigh. "Fine." He mutters and I can see that in his already tired state, his worry about me and the black knights doesn't help.
Once he releases my hand, I walk over to Isaac and lean near his ear. "Do you have a shilling? I'm going to take Robin over to the Inn—"
He smirks. "For what?"
I feel my cheeks burn as I roll my eyes. "To sleep. As we've told you before, we've been up all night and he needs to get some rest before we need to leave again."
Chuckling, he reaches into his purse and pulls out a shilling. "I was only teasing you." He smiles. "Are you going to share a bed with him?"
I feel my heart beat quicken as I think about the night in the barn. "Why?"
"You need some rest too. I just want to know if I need to give you another shilling if you need to get another room."
I take the shilling from him. "No. I'll be sharing the room but I'll be standing guard just in case. If need be, we'll switch off."
He frowns. "Eva, I was only joking."
Sabine waits until I straighten before she offers me a tankard of ale. I thank her and quickly drain in before setting back down on the table. "Thank you, Sabine. Our friend, Djaq, will be here soon. She is very gifted in medicine and alchemy and should be able to help your father."
Hearing this, I watch as her face brightens. "Oh, thank you!"
I nod and walk over to Robin. "Djaq should be on her way once she has what she needs so let's head over to the Inn so you can get some rest." I turn away from him and look at Sabine and Isaac. "We'll be back later to check on your father."
Robin and I descend down the stairs and get out the door before we put our hoods up and make our way towards the inn. Since we first arrived, the sun had risen higher in the sky. We reach the inn and I give the Innkeeper the shilling. As he puts the key on the counter, he looks between us. "Have I seen you two in here before?"
Shaking my head, I take the key and hand it to Robin before going to find our room. Once in the room, Robin shut the door behind him and locks it while I walk over to peer out the small window. "No signs of any guards or black knights yet." I turn to look at Robin as he carefully sets the key on the small table next to me. "You should be able to sleep for a few hours."
He unbuckles his belt and scabbard and places it on the table. I watch him as he steps closer to me and feel his breath on my neck. "So we're safe, for the moment at least."
I nod. I beat my heartbeat quicken as his hands encircle my waist and he takes my belt and scabbard off as well. He places it next to his and carefully unclasps my cloak and sets it aside. His fingers lightly graze my neck as they hook onto the left side of my tunic and slide it down to expose my uninjured shoulder. He moves behind me and, slipping his right hand around my waist, he presses small kisses along my neck and for a brief moment, I close my eyes and let out a sigh. "Robin…" I turn around in his arms to look at him, giving his usual cheeky smile.
"What?" He chuckles. I place my hand on his chest.
"Now isn't the time. You need to rest."
"I know I do." His hands remain around me as he walks backwards a little and sits on the bed. "I will sleep…after."
I chuckle and take his face in my hands so he can look at me. "Not isn't the time."
He sighs and leans back on his hands. "When is it ever the time?" He asks as he looks up at me. "This is the first time since when we were together in that barn that we've had any actual alone time. Every other time we were injured, running for our lives, hiding or were surrounded by the rest of the gang."
"I'm injured now." I point out.
He leans forward and he wraps his arms around me once more and rests his chin on my stomach. "I know…" He sighs. "And if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be."
I step back to look him in the eye. "What do you mean it's your fault? I was the one who betrayed you. I was the one who took the arrow to the shoulder so that you wouldn't be killed." I kneel before him. "Those were all choices I made."
He cups my cheek with his hand. "But when you told me of your betrayal, you wanted to explain everything but I was so angry that I just let you go." His jaw clenches. "I let you go and basically sent you to your death." He sighs and rests his forehead against mine. "Once Isaac told me what would happen if you went back without killing me, I knew that if I did nothing, you would have been gone forever."
"I don't blame you for being angry." I whisper. "What I did was unforgivable—"
He cuts me off by pressing his lips against mine. As he pulls away, his gaze meets mine. "If now isn't the time, lay with me. At the very least let me just hold you like I did in the barn that night so I know you're safe." He gives me another kiss and moves some hair away from my face. "We both need to rest anyways."
I smile and pull him into another kiss. His arms encircle me as our kiss deepens until press my hand on his chest to stop. We separate and I nod. "Alright. I'll lay with you, Robin."
He smiles and gives me another kiss before helping me up and lying back with his back near the wall. I lie down with my back near his chest and my head on his left arm while he holds my waist with his right arm to keep me close while keeping some distance from my wounded shoulder. We just lie there, listening to each other's soft breathing until we finally given over to the sleep and let it wash over us.
