Chapter 35

A cold sweat broke out on my forehead as I saw the point of Hood's arrow ready to fly. My eyes flew to Guy who stood by helplessly, his sword drawn, eyes frantic. "Hood, this is between us," he said pleadingly. "Leave Nyssa out of it. It's me you want to kill, not her."

"On the contrary," Hood said, his eyes never leaving his target. "It's her I want to kill, and you I want to eternally suffer, as I have suffered." His arm tensed, drawing back.

"Sir Robin," I said slowly, "I can assure you that Guy has already suffered eternally for what he has done, and will never be at peace with it. You already have what you want."

"Shut up, slut!" Hood barked at me. "Obviously his remorse is short lived if he can take another woman into his bed. He never loved Marian as I loved her."

"Perhaps she didn't love you as you loved her!" I burst out. "Did you ever stop to think that she was caught between you both, not knowing who to chose until her last moments, when it was too late? You sully the memory of an honorable woman by reducing her to a trinket that you both fought over!"

"Nyssa, be quiet!" Guy snapped. I glared at him and went on mercilessly.

"Sir Robin, your grief is Guy's grief. Did Sabine tell you that Guy nearly choked her when he found out she was spying for you? He stopped himself because he remembered Marian, and because he will always hate himself for what he did. He loved her too, Sir Robin." I said carefully, seeing the rage and hurt in his eyes soften a bit. "Can you imagine what it is to destroy the one person you truly love and never be able to make up for it? To know every day that you are a murderer, and of one you loved? To live with that guilt and knowledge forever?"

Hood eyes grew cloudy with tears. His lips trembled, thinned, became hard again, and then softened. Slowly I saw the tension in his arm lessen and in an agonizing motion, he lowered his arrow. In my shock, I realized his shoulders were shaking with sobs. "I…already know that pain," he said. "It is mine too. I should have kept her safe. She would be alive today if I had."

I glanced at Guy, whose eyes were also uncommonly bright. He blinked rapidly, looking at me with such love and pride that for a moment I forgot I was being held by Will and Little John. A welcome wind lifted the hair on my forehead and for a moment the tension in the air lessened. Until, of course, I heard the familiar shriek of Sabine.

"Have you gone mad?" she squawked at Hood, pushing at his arrow arm. "Shoot her! Shoot her!"

"I will not," Hood said, still struggling with his emotions. "God knows we have all suffered enough for one lifetime. Even Gisborne," he said, lifting his chin to give Guy a long, meaningful glance. Guy nodded, returning it.

Ugly rage broke out on Sabine's delicate features. "Well, if you won't kill her, I will!" she hissed. Before I could move, she had turned and swiftly pulled a dagger out of Hood's cloak. "Sabine, no!" I heard Guy shout. Smiling wickedly first at Guy, Sabine took a step backwards, stared hard at me and threw. And as I remembered from her last attempt at me in the Manor, she was a lousy aim. She threw for me, and my eyes closed involuntarily, waiting for the knife to land in my cheek or shoulder.

What I didn't expect was for Will release my arm and crumple beneath me, lying motionless.

As I looked downward at him, I screamed, breaking loose of Little John's grip. I knelt down holding Will's face, as he rolled painfully to one side, the dagger deeply embedded in his stomach. Sabine simply stared, frozen to the ground where she stood, unbelieving. Hood's men fell into shock, each one turning white and unmoving in the moment. I heard myself crying out Will's name, throwing myself next to him, denying that he had been struck down, holding his face in my hands, shaking my head, crying. It could not be. Will's hand gently found one of mine and he looked up at me, the love I had once known returned to his eyes. "Nyssa," he said in a labored voice. "Brave… Euridice." The light began to fade from his eyes as he spoke his last.

"Live happily…above the Underworld." His grip on my hand loosened, and he relaxed. The grove went absolutely silent, other than my labored breathing, sobs ripping their way out of my throat. "Oh, Will..." I said, touching his cheek.

"NOOOO!" screamed Sabine. "Non, mon Dieu, s'il vous plait, non…" Her moans turned to fury as she laid eyes on me. "Putain rousse, épouse du diable!" Enraged beyond anything I had seen, she made for me, throwing herself on me to get me away from Will's body.

The hit was surprisingly hard from the weight of such a small woman. I landed on my back and raised my arms to defend myself as she went at my eyes with her nails. "Misérable salope!" I heard her scream. She slapped my face, beat at my arms, tore at my hair, ripping out close to a fistful before I reacted to defend myself. I elbowed her in the neck, knocking her off of myself and trying to move away. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Guy lope forward with is sword drawn, but I shook my head at him. I stood, breathing heavily, and faced her.

"All right, Sabine," I said slowly. "You've wanted to be rid of me forever. Come and claim me if you dare!"

Sabine's answer was lost in a furious scream as she charged at me. What she did not know was that behind me in the grove was a steep drop-off to the woods below. As she ran at me, hair wild, eyes like a harpy's, I stepped aside and gave her a mighty push toward the edge of the ravine. Her eyes widened in shock as she flew past me, arms flailing to try to stop the inertia of her fall. She tripped, stumbled, and nearly broke her fall on a tree halfway down, but as she did so, the tree's upright branch caught in the laces of her corset. The force of her downward fall combined with the pressure of the tree slammed the corset ties into the branch, padlocking her and snapping her neck in one neat motion. She hung there like a ghastly doll, twirling slowly on her branch, her golden hair ruffling in the indifferent wind.

I swallowed, feeling a click in my throat as I looked downward at the grisly scene. Guy quickly ran over, glanced down and then away just as quickly. I struggled, barely controlling the need to vomit as he lent me his arm and pulled me away from the ravine's edge. Weakly I gazed up at him, my face white. "No corsets," I said.

"Of all the times for an argument, " Guy grumbled underneath his breath. We walked back towards Hood and his men, who had respectfully wrapped Will's body in a cloak and were carrying him away. I stiffened, and almost began crying again. As we approached, the men grew tense and I elbowed Guy, who abruptly laid down his sword. I leaned on him. "Sir Robin," I said, "Will was…" I stopped, my eyes filling with tears. "I don't know what right I have to say anything about Will. He was a true friend to me and I thought I loved him. I will never forgive myself for causing…" Now I could no longer speak, remembering Will's last, selfless words of comfort.

"Nay, lady," Hood said. " 'Twas not your doing, but that French witch. And if you had not dispatched her, I would have done," he said bitterly. "I should have known better than to trust the French."

"Then we do agree on something," Guy cut in querulously. Hood eyed him sharply, then said,

"Sir Guy, I have granted the life of your woman today. Do not demand more of me, or this truce is at an end."

"Hood…Sir Robin," Guy began. "I swear on the life of my wife, that I will not be the one to break the peace made here today."

"Your wife?" Hood said, looking surprised. "When did you marry?"

"Last night," I said, taking Guy's arm. "The public ceremony is today, though we have yet to find a friar."

Hood's eyes alighted on us with interest. "So you've found your match, eh, Gisborne?" Hood asked. He glanced at me again. "Yes, I believe you have."

"More than a simple match," Guy answered him. "This woman has loved me, lied to me, beaten me at arms and saved my life."

"Labels," I muttered at him. "As if you've been a perfect gentleman yourself."

A vague smile shadowed Robin's face. "I see more than a trace of Marian in you, lady," he said gravely. "And I am the more glad that I spared your life. If she lives in you, then I have not lost all of her after all." He glanced at Guy, still cautious. "As a gesture of goodwill, I will send Friar Tuck to you at dinnertime in case you have need of him."

"That won't be…" Guy began, and I elbowed him again, a bit harder this time, "…unappreciated, Sir Robin."

Hood sighed, then nodded briefly, flashing a short smile at Guy. "Sorry about your correspondent," he said cheerfully. "We only found a girl with them, so we let her go. I must see to Will's burial. Farewell, my lady. Gisborne." He shouldered his bow and arrows and headed off into the woods after his men. I winced a bit at his last words, and Guy's arm went around me instinctively. We watched them go for several minutes, holding one another, aware that both of us had narrowly escaped death. I began to let out a long, emotional sigh, when I suddenly heard a new, lilting voice colored by a beautiful Devon accent.

"I don't mean to interrupt but…are you Sir Guy?"

We both turned and saw the third figure from the woods, who had been hooded so that we had been unable to tell she was a woman. She was very fair, with deep blue eyes and long curling dark hair, almost Irish in its character. She looked at us expectantly, and Guy immediately answered, bowing deeply,

"Yes, my lady, I am Sir Guy. I offer my deepest apologies for the death of your colleagues. I had not expected so many adversaries who then became friends."

"Yes, it is odd," she said, her intelligent eyes flashing at us. Her gaze moved to mine. "You must be Nyssa. My name is Tiger Rose. That Hood is a bit of wet lettuce, isn't he?"

I smiled in spite of myself. "Yes, I would agree," I said, "though he did spare my life today."

"Ah, lovely, that's because you're a woman and he still underestimates our strength and importance."

I sniggered. "Agreed." My gaze softened again. "I am so sorry about your friends. Now we may never know what King John intended for us to hear."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that," the girl answered, a smirk on her face. Guy and I exchanged confused looks. Her blue eyes mischievous, Tiger Rose said,

"The other two were my guards. I am the correspondent who's been writing you."