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Olivia sat in the sun with a pint of ale in her hand and marvelled at how far Alex had come. Just months ago she had been scared to see other people let alone speak to them and now, in the middle of the August sun, she was happily chatting away to a perfect stranger. To say things had been easy would have been a bit of stretch; sometimes it felt like they were taking one step forward and two steps back but ultimately things were better. Alex had grown in confidence and had become accustomed to the peasant living. She could now cook as well, if not better she always said herself, than Olivia and she was always willing to lend a hand at tending their small vegetable plot.
It was the bees however, Olivia thought, that really brought about the biggest change. They were the first thing that were entirely and singularly Alex. She had never had a project that was entirely hers to control and manage and she seemed to revel in the freedom.
To Olivia the bees were a menace that the world could do without. She was close to breaking into a cold sweat every time she heard them buzzing but Alex had seemed at ease from the very first day. She managed and repaired the hives and even went as far as planting some clover around the house so they had plenty of pollen with which to make honey. Olivia remembered how funny it had been watching her fret and worry about a month back; the first time she went to open the hives. All morning she had parried question after question of what they were going to do if there was no honey; what they were going to do if the honey had somehow spoiled- Olivia didn't even know if honey could spoil; what they were going to do if no one wanted to buy it. Sitting there now Olivia smiled to herself to see the tens of jars of golden produce that was almost flying off the stall. She couldn't help but feel proud at how much Alex had achieved, how much she had grown. They had become regulars at the tables of Mary and Martha and she loved playing with the children while Alex taught them all to play chess; with a set that had taken Olivia a month to whittle.
They had travelled with Sir Walter and some of the village to the local summer fair held down in Canterbury and Alex and Mary were happily manning a stall while Martha had taken charge of the children. Olivia, for once, was doing absolutely nothing. Apart from building the stall that morning she was happy to laze in the sun and drink the day away; watching how the light hit Alex's hair and how her smile seemed to brighten her whole face. Though the winter had been hard and cold; the earth baring nothing but thorns and weeds, spring had jumped into action and the two of them almost had more food than they could eat. Alex had quickly put on weight and Olivia liked that when she ran her hands down her sides she no longer felt every rib.
Her own physique however, was a little bit more on the podgy side than she would have liked. She hadn't realised how fit running away from soldiers had made her. Alex liked to poke fun at softness of her belly, her own seemingly unable to become anything more than flat, and for once it was Olivia shying away from Alex's eyes. The blonde had been quick to reassure her however, telling her that she liked how soft it was to lie in her arms; although Olivia didn't know how much of that was just kindness on Alex's part and vowed to herself that come winter she would get back into shape. A small part of her feared that when it came to pulling her bow again she wouldn't have the strength.
She wondered sometimes; what it would be like if they never went back. They had friends here, they had a, if a bit small, honey business. The threat and injustice of the sheriff seemed so far away lying in the southern sun and more than once, that small voice in the back of her mind had raised its head; tempted her with the idea of easy living with nothing more to worry about than Alex's arms wrapped around her. They could add rooms to their house, Olivia could help teach the local children archery and they could live happily ever after….
No. Olivia shook her head, chasing away the thoughts. She hated that only a few months away could make her forget how much Nottingham and the forest meant to her; how much her friends and the people meant to her. It scared her sometimes how all-consuming her love for Alex was. It felt as if she needed no else in the world apart from her, that her old loves, her still existing love for her friends paled in comparison. She couldn't even entertain the thought of Alex not being there, of somehow losing the blonde.
'Hey' Olivia was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed that Alex had left the stall and walked over towards her. She smiled and raised her tankard in response.
'You ready to go?' Alex asked. They had planned at the start of the week to spend at least half a day walking round the fair, seeing if there was anything they wanted to buy, any games they wanted to play, but the stall had been so busy from day one that Alex hadn't had a spare moment and though Olivia had wandered around a little she didn't see much point without Alex.
She raised the tankard to her mouth and downed the rest of her ale to Alex's raised eyebrow. 'I am now.' she said getting to her feet, her joints stiff from sitting for so long. Alex shook her head, half in amusement and half in disapproval as they turned and walked towards the main 'street' through the various tents and stalls.
The sun was falling slowly through the sky making beads of sweat appear on Olivia's forehead. They passed tents of every colour imaginable, reds and blues and yellows and stalls selling herbal medicines to lucky rabbits' feet. Alex brought them both some hog roast from a giant boar that was being roasted over a roaring fire. They stood for a time, mesmerised by the smell of sizzling a fat, and watched a small boy turn the spit. He was naked from the waist up, his back coated in sweat and soon they had to move away because the heat became unbearable. They turned off the main walkway and from there the tents were spread out in a haphazard way with no clear paths between them as people jockeyed for the best places. There was a man in a bright green tunic trying to sell a hooded sparrow hawk to what must have been a lord with a curling moustache and at one point they saw a woman contorting herself into various almost sickening poses to the amazement of the crowd.
By the time they were done walking around, having seen what felt to Olivia the whole fair, they found a patch of grass that hadn't been worn down to mud and away from the noise of various animals and people yelling across to each other and sat down to rest and eat some strawberries that Olivia had brought for an extortionate price.
'Are you happy?' she asked Alex as they watched the sun go down, bathing the sky in red.
'You mean today or life in general?' Alex asked, smiling to think that Olivia would feel the need to ask the obvious.
'In general I guess.'
Olivia's tone was almost sad and Alex frowned when she turned to answer. 'I'm the happiest I've ever been.'
Olivia nodded and continued staring out at the sunset, resting back on her hands.
'Why do you ask… aren't you?'
Olivia heard the worry and turned with a reassuring smile. 'I guess sometimes I wish I could tell everyone how much I love you. Like today we couldn't even walk down the street holding hands or look at each too long. We've known Mary and Martha for months and they don't know; Mary asked me yesterday if I liked the baker from that village over with the wonky sign.' Olivia's face crumpled in disgust, 'I mean the baker!'
'I guess sometimes I want that too,' Alex replied, 'but then I never expected have this much. The very thought that you love me is enough. I don't need to go shouting it to the world too.'
'Do you want to stay here Alex?' Olivia said seriously sitting up and turning fully to the face her. The little voice was speaking again and she thought that perhaps, if she could choose Alex would want to stay, that if hiding their love wasn't an issue she'd have no reason to leave.
Alex took a while to answer, sitting cross legged and pulling at the grass, 'I want to be with you.'
'That's not what I asked, Lex'
'Yes it is,' Alex argued looking up into Olivia's face, 'I want to be with you and however much part of you might want to stay you'll always go back.' Olivia sighed and pressed her mouth into a line, looking up into the sky. 'Don't feel guilty about it Liv. You have family there and I haven't forgotten about William.' Olivia's head shot down. 'I might have failed to save him once but that doesn't mean I can't try again.'
This was the first Olivia had heard of this plan and she couldn't say she was happy to hear it but she tried to hide her disapproval. She still hadn't told Alex about their plan to kill the sheriff and tentatively thought this might be a good moment. 'How would you save him?'
Alex sighed and shrugged her shoulders, 'I guess I'd find some way to get him away and make sure he grew up away from our father.'
'He's bound to have other influences as well as your father surely?'
Alex shook her head, 'No. My father is very controlling. Besides he only ever surrounds himself with people as bad as him. I remember there were two men from when I was little he even crueller than he was.'
Alex's eyes had become haunted and Olivia knew from the past that she had to speak and turn the conversation quickly. 'What about if your father wasn't there?' she said, trying to sound off hand.
'My father will always be there.' Alex said bluntly.
Olivia opened her mouth to speak again but seeing the hard look on Alex's face and after the amazing day they had had she couldn't bring herself to start an argument, to break the paradise they had created. They sat for a little time extra before it got slightly cold and they headed back to their tent, packing to be ready for their dawn start back home.
'Will we see you next week?' Mary shouted after them as they walked away from the village.
'Same as always!' Alex yelled back. It had taken them two days to make the journey back from the city, children in tow, and after so long in the company of others Olivia was looking forward to it just being the two of them again. She hefted their bags on her shoulders and they started the walk back to their house, Alex clinking with ever step their haul had been so big.
'I'm going to be happy to be home.' Olivia said.
'Oh God me too. I mean, don't get me wrong, I didn't mind being with everyone but it does have it downsides.' Alex said with a wink dancing on ahead.
Olivia felt her mouth fall open slightly. Alex confidence had not only increased in her social skills but in their bed as well. She had wanted to explore everything Olivia could teach her and some nights, although Olivia had thought she was rather fit, Alex had left her gasping for breath and her legs shaking. However, although in the middle of the night, in the dark with only the moon Alex was confident her blunt and rather unsubtle statement was unusual and caught Olivia off guard.
It didn't take her long to regain her bearings though, and soon she was almost running after the blonde. The fatigue of the journey was lost as she chased Alex home and a journey that should have taken them an hour was completed in thirty minutes. It wasn't until they reached the lane up to the house that Olivia finally caught her, although she thought that Alex must have let her for the younger woman had always been faster.
Alex shrieked in surprise as Olivia lifted her and whirled her round in a circle before setting her unsteady on her feet, both of them out of breath and laughing. Alex twisted in her arms and pressed her lips to hers feeling Olivia smile though their kiss. She slipped her tongue into the brunet's mouth but Olivia ended the kiss quickly after that, not wanting it to get too heated before they'd even reached the house. She pulled away and reached for Alex's hand leading her towards the door.
'I guess we arrived at the wrong time.'
Olivia whirled round, her head snapping towards the noise, instantly on the defensive.
'Don't worry about it,' the flat voice of Munch said, 'they've had months to get it on. One night without won't kill them.'
Olivia was rooted to the spot in shock. It seemed that for all the little voice raising its head, all the desire to never go home; home had come to them. Her year with Alex was over and she'd finally have to tell her, and tell her soon, that they were going to go and kill her father.