Out of sheer habit, Gisburne glanced around carefully as he arrived at the village of Octon on his horse, only to berate himself an idiot at the same moment, for Hood and his men had been giving the knight and his soldiers a wide berth for weeks. And then he berated himself an idiot all over again, for he actually caught himself starting to believe that this state of affairs could be permanent. But there was no way he was allowed to assume that. At some point, the outlaw would come to his senses and realize that this whole matter with the luck was nothing but his imagination. At the moment, however, he still seemed to be firmly convinced that he had indeed returned something to the knight that had supposedly been stolen from him as a child. As if luck could be stolen from a person. That was all nonsense.
Moreover, Gisburne rather assumed that Hood's reticence was linked to the other matter that had come up at Rhiannon's Wheel. This matter of the familial relationship between the knight and him. That which must have been the true reason for this meeting. The rest, the leader of the outlaws had probably just made up so that his own people would not start rioting. However, Gisburne still could not understand why Hood had told him about this in the first place. The other man could not have seriously believed that this would change anything, could he? Even he could not be that naive! And had he not considered that the knight could now put pressure on the earl due to the affair. Even if he had not really anything in hand, for often a rumor was also sufficient for such a purpose.
The odd part about the entire affair was that Sir Guy had no doubt that the other man had not told him the truth. Everything fit together much too well for that. And the entire tale could not be regarded as a lie, either. Gisburne's first reaction - after he had returned to Nottingham - was to set off at once for Huntingdon and confront the earl with the words of his wayward son. Then, however, he had not acted on this idea, and at first he failed to understand the reason for it.
It was some time before he realized what had kept him from going to Huntingdon. First of all, he figured that Hood had gone right away to his father to beat him to it himself. And if the earl had been forewarned, then he could no longer count on the effect of a surprise.
After that he realized that he would have had to give the sheriff an explanation as to why he wanted to leave Nottingham for a few days. And what should he have told him? Certainly not the truth, otherwise de Rainault would have immediately tried to take advantage of the whole situation. However, that had not been Gisburne's first train of thought when he pondered the sheriff's reaction, for with the same likelihood his master may have accused him of being in collusion with his brother all the while, and for that reason having been ever so unsuccessful. Guy had absolutely no intention of ending up in the dungeons for something he had not committed.
As he continued to consider the entire issue, he reached the conclusion that he would be in a better position - with respect to the earl - if he did not make any demands. It would only be even better for him if the older man was the one who made the first move.
Only much later did it occur to him that he had not wanted to reflect on his true motive. At that very moment, he finally understood why he had actually held back, and he was annoyed with himself. However, he also realized that there was nothing he could do about that, and he even managed to accept that it was his dread of being rejected that had prevented him from seeking out the earl in the first place. He would rather forgo this familial relationship - and be no worse off than he had been previously - than to be ignored by the man who had sired him.
Despite his acceptance, he had to admit that this realization was too painful to dwell on it any longer. And whenever he would return to it in thought, he would discover that there had been no sign of change.
All of a sudden he became aware of where he actually happened to be. He was not in the castle, where he could lose himself in such musings - provided the sheriff would leave him alone - but in a village in Sherwood. And immediately he recalled that he had just reminded himself that he had to be on guard. Despite the fact that Hood had been avoiding him for the last few weeks, he had to expect an outlaw raid at any time.
What he was not allowed to do under any circumstances was to sit on his horse, immersed in thought and utterly inattentive, as if he could not be exposed to any threat whatsoever.
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Robin was careful not to be spotted while keeping an eye on his brother. It had been no challenge for the outlaw to get to the village ahead of the knight and the soldiers accompanying him - after he had figured out where the troop was headed - since he was able to pick his way across the woods, while the mounted men were forced to use the wider paths.
However, he did not know for sure why he had set himself on Gisburne's tail in the first place. On the other hand, he was very much aware of the reason why he was keeping such a low profile. Until a few weeks ago, he would not have deemed this necessary, but after the meeting at Rhiannon's Wheel, it proved to be quite different. Previously, he had at least been able to expect to prevail over the knight simply due to the fact that the other man had no luck in the truest sense of the word. However, he himself had then had to ensure that this no longer reflected the truth.
It was not only his friend Will who had characterized this as asinine, and he was not even in a position to disagree with him on this point. In fact, the situation for the outlaws in Sherwood had been much better before he came up with the notion of returning Gisburne's luck. On the other hand, being Robin Hood, he would always be on the side of those who had been wronged, and in this case that was well and truly Sir Guy of Gisburne. Therefore, he had convinced himself that he could not have acted differently at all on that account, despite the really hefty price he had had to pay to make it happen.
Robin sighed. The fact that he was now alone out here was not primarily on account of that he did not trust his friends to restrain themselves. The rest of them had believed him when he told them that Gisburne was no longer out of luck and that they should not ambush him so often, at least not without a really good plan and for a valid reason. Therefore, he had suggested to them to first observe the knight to find out in which manner his behavior had been changed.
The rest had agreed with him in this respect, but still none of them had wanted to accompany him. Yet this was only caused by the fact that they had now learned that Gisburne was his brother. Will had not spoken to him at all for days, and even now, weeks later, he was really just yelling at him. Much had withdrawn offended, though Robin could actually sympathize with him. Contrary to what Will used to claim, the hatred the young man harbored for the knight was actually very personal.
John had not blamed him for who his brother was - which was something Robin had no influence on - but he had resented not having been told at an earlier stage. He had made it quite obvious to him that he considered this a betrayal of his trust.
Since Tuck and Marion had already known the truth, it was no wonder that they had not turned their backs on Robin, but Nasir had managed to surprise him. Although he had not assumed that the Saracen would cause him a public scene - that was certainly not his style - he had not reproached him even in private, and Robin could not help getting the impression that the other one had already known about it, as well. He just had no clue in which way he could have gained this knowledge.
To all intents and purposes, he had escaped the hostile mood in the outlaws' camp under the pretext that he had to inform his father as soon as possible, although he was dreading this encounter. Just how could he divulge what Lady Margaret had confided in him without letting it appear as though he was reproaching his father? And what was he to do if his father would deny everything. While Robin could not really imagine such a thing, it was not impossible either. But he knew he could not avoid this conversation, particularly since he expected Gisburne to seize the first opportunity to speak to the Earl of Huntingdon himself.
Robin was not pleased to have been proven right in at least one respect. The conversation with his father had been one of the most unpleasant ones he had ever had with him and that should say a lot. Only to have to realize in the weeks to come that he had obviously been wrong about his brother. The latter had so far made no effort to use what he had learned at Rhiannon's Wheel. Neither were there any rumors in Nottingham that Gisburne and the earl now had a familial relationship - which, of course, did not imply that the sheriff had not heard about it after all - nor had Robin received a message from his father that the knight had approached him.
In fact, it seemed that Gisburne had not reacted in any way to his knowledge, and this puzzled Robin. It also left him perplexed, for this was quite uncharacteristic for his brother. Maybe, however, this was an early indication that he had begun to change. Robin was not at all certain about this, though, for he had only given him back his luck, not his wits. For this reason, the outlaw had trouble comprehending the knight's behavior. But he treated this as another reason to keep an eye on the man. If necessary, he would do it all alone. Albeit, he must not forget that both Marion and Tuck had offered to accompany him, but he had declined, lest the two of them also face the displeasure of the rest.
Nasir would certainly have accompanied him if he had asked for it, but Robin was reluctant to do so either, at least not as long as he was not sure why the other man did not reproach him. After all, the Saracen was no friend of the Norman himself, and had previously fought him as fiercely as the rest of the outlaws. Though with more restraint than Will and more sense than Much. While Much made a serious effort to change this situation, the former soldier obviously saw no reason to do so.
With some difficulty Robin managed to pull himself out of his thoughts and immediately berated himself as an idiot for not paying attention to what was going on around him, completely lost in his contemplation. The most useless of the soldiers could have overpowered him with no trouble at all, and he had only himself to blame. In addition, he had also not caught how his brother now had behaved in Octon, since he meanwhile was once again ready to leave. Had he really only stayed in the village for a short time or had Robin actually frittered away so much time? In all probability it was the latter and something like that was not supposed to happen to him in any case. He had to be more alert, he could not expect the knight to stop hunting him just based on the fact that he knew they were brothers. And if Robin was to be honest, Guy could not really afford to do that either, otherwise the sheriff might accuse him of making common cause with the outlaws, even if de Rainault had not learned that they were brothers.
It was about time that everything resumed its accustomed way. The only thing was that they should not try to kill each other in the process. That was Robin's hope and maybe his brother was of the same opinion. However, he could not be completely certain.
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Robin had not failed to notice that mist had started to gather on the shore of the lake, and so he had known that his spiritual father obviously had something to tell him. However, he was not really sure if he wanted to hear what Herne had to say to him. On the other hand, he was well aware that he could not avoid this encounter. He was Herne's son, after all, and he could not hide from the divine presence in these woods, even if he was still coping with the aftereffects of what Herne had put him through the last time. He could do without something similar without any problems.
"My Son." Although he had been watching the lakeshore closely, he was taken by surprise when the voice rang out unexpectedly out of the dense mist. However, this did not prevent the leader of the outlaws from going down on one knee and bowing his head out of respect for the god - but also for the man who constituted the vessel for Herne.
"You are distressed." That voice now seemed to come from close up, and then the outlaw felt a bony hand on his shoulder as well. "Arise and walk with me a little while on my path," the voice begged him, which on most days carried tremendous power, but at this moment held nothing but affection.
"It's not easy having Gisburne as a brother," Robin admitted, although he had resolved not to talk about this with Herne. However, in that very moment, it became apparent that he had not yet been able to bring himself to mention his problem to anyone else.
A soft laugh was heard from Herne's position, and Robin's gaze darted over to the other person. Was this Herne or just the man who sometimes bore him? Robin was not always able to tell the difference. But maybe there was no such difference some of the time.
"Do you suppose it's easy for the knight to have Robin Hood as a brother?" he challenged him with an unexpected question.
Robin was about to point out that this did not interest him in the least, when it suddenly struck him that it was precisely this behavior that annoyed him so much about Will. He shook his head, having caught himself doing something he disliked about someone else, and then got himself up to say a few words after all. "I'm sure it's not." He sighed. "But that's not going to help me."
"You're not using your advantages," Herne admonished him, still with affection evident in his voice.
"My advantages?" Robin had no idea what the other one was referring to.
"What sets you apart from your brother?" Even in such a conversation, the other person was apparently unable to express himself plainly. This realization elicited a chuckle from Robin.
"A lot. At least I hope so. But what of that could help me in this situation?"
"There is something, Robin, you just need to recover it. However, I must warn you that you don't have much time left to do so." All at once the other man's voice had changed. While it did not sound unkind now, it unmistakably conveyed to Herne's son that he must now listen closely to his spiritual father once again. But most importantly, he had to react to what his father told him.
"What can I do?" Robin was too exhausted to hold back this question.
"Reclaim your advantages and strengths. Regain your balance before rampant ferocity is able to knock you to the ground and overwhelm you. You are the protector of these woods, you are Herne's son, therefore bethink yourself of your task. You must not forget the people."
These words once again seemed like the prophecies he had heard so often from Herne's lips. Exactly the kind of words that often only made themselves understood to him when it was nearly too late. Could Herne not for once tell him in plain words what was in store for him? But he probably should not be expecting something like that.
That said, the other man succeeded once again in taking him by surprise.
"And don't forget about love, my Son."
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The shared evening meal - for a long time an integral part of the lives of the outlaws, if they could make it - still took place in the evenings, but it was no longer shared.
Will still refused to sit down by the same fire as Robin - even staying in the same clearing seemed to cause him problems - and Much, who had been plunged into great confusion by the entire matter, stood by him in friendship. Marion and Tuck, on the other hand, had started to quite ostentatiously to join their leader - although it pained the latter to witness that in Will's eyes they had become infected with his betrayal - which then led to John being somehow stranded between these two groups, as the bearded giant did not want to offend either Robin nor Will.
In contrast, Nasir had no problem moving from one fire to the other. However, he shook his head every time a second fire was lit in the clearing. Still, it could not escape anyone's notice that he did not seem to hold a grudge against Robin. Will, however, did not dare show him his displeasure, as he did with everyone else. Shortly after Nasir had come to the woods, Will had learned - had had to learn - that this led nowhere and, moreover, could be quite painful. This realization had then caused the former soldier to convince himself that he was not having any argument with the Saracen. This had then led Nasir to stare dumbfounded at the other one - which rarely occurred to him - as soon as he had comprehended this.
As odd as this might seem to other people, it was that member of the outlaws, of all of them, who many - who did not know the outlaws very well - saw as not fitting in well in Sherwood, who was responsible for keeping the group from falling apart completely during this difficult time.
But now, Robin had been advised by his spiritual father that he had to make sure the split in the group was rectified as soon as possible. However, at first this only ensured that his already not particularly bright mood got even worse, since he had no inkling of how he was supposed to accomplish this. Yet he knew who he could turn to at such times and who would definitely not reject him, and so he decided to broach the subject with Marion that very evening. However, before he could do so, he had to get through the awkward situation of the shared meal in the evening.
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Before Robin had a chance to put his intention into action, however, Nasir approached him. The Saracen had spent the evening meal with John, who would otherwise have remained alone, and in the process had had to endure the bearded giant's torrent of words. John was not in love with his own voice to the same extent as Will, but he was not exactly the silent type either, and the lack of conversation imposed on him was a strain on him. Which made him talk all the more when he then got someone to listen to him. Besides, Nasir seemed to be the perfect listener, for he rarely interrupted the other person and did not impose his own opinion on him, at least not without being asked. Robin knew him well enough, however, to recognize that he had found this situation trying. On the other hand, Nasir had never been put off by the fact that something could be demanding.
Although the leader of the outlaws had actually planned something else for the time after the meal, he would never have dreamed of turning his friend away. Especially not at a time when some of his friends no longer wanted to talk to him anymore and he had been told by his spiritual father that he had to quickly rectify this state of affairs.
When the other one settled down next to him, Robin was nevertheless unable to suppress a sigh. This immediately caused him a great deal of embarrassment, as he did not want to give the impression that Nasir was in any way a nuisance to him. The more so as this did not reflect the truth either.
"I ...", he launched, but he did not get any further, for the Saracen gave him a dazzling smile, while at the same time shaking his head, and Robin had to acknowledge that he was no longer in a position to continue talking. However, this was not only due to the fact that he had just realized that the other person had definitely understood, that his presence was not the reason for this sigh. When it occurred to the leader of the outlaws that he had not stopped speaking for this reason alone, he sensed a blush rising in his face, whereupon he looked around warily to determine whether Marion had noticed anything.
When he recognized that she was occupied elsewhere, he sighed again, but this time out of relief. Only to blush again immediately afterwards as Nasir's smile further broadened. All at once Robin started to feel odd.
"What can I do for you, my Friend?" he brought out with some difficulty at last, while at the same time making up his mind that his reactions were not allowed to have any impact on his friendship with the Saracen. He just could not understand why this was so noticeable at that very moment.
"You got a problem!" stated Nasir.
Robin had to laugh despite his tension.
"You bet, my Friend. I do have a problem," he admitted candidly. "I've split our group, rendering us incapable of effective action. In fact, Gisburne and the sheriff should be thanking me."
The other man's smile had faded once again, and instead Robin beheld the face that Nasir usually showed. A face, from which it was impossible to tell what the warrior from a faraway country was actually contemplating. Unless one knew him very well. And Robin believed he was allowed to say that he knew the other one very well indeed. And he also believed he could say that Nasir did not reproach him, which he found very amazing, since he reproached himself.
"Not you," was the succinct reply.
"Maybe you're right, Nas." It was wonderful to have a friend who always supported him without reservation. "Nevertheless, our group is divided, and even if I'm not to blame for that, I still can't manage to reunite us. But I urgently need to do that since according to Herne, there's already another threat coming our way."
The other one only raised one of his eyebrows this time, yet Robin knew immediately that he wanted to know more.
"Herne charged me with not using my advantages. And he asked me what sets me apart from my brother. If I have understood him properly - and I hope I have done so - then it must be something that can help me with my current problem. But I just can't come up with the right answer." He looked at the other man seeking help.
Nasir faced him for a brief moment before turning and looking over at the rest of the group, all of whom were now with Will, who was obviously telling them about something. Clearly, he did not want his leader - or rather, the man he no longer considered his leader and probably not even his friend - to overhear any of this, as he spoke very quietly compared to his own standards.
"I know the rest of us are my problem, but that doesn't do me any good in finding a solution," Robin clarified to his friend once again, only to be met with a shake of the head from the latter.
Robin stared at him without comprehension. What did Nasir want to tell him? He had become accustomed to the other man's silent demeanor, but at times he found words to be very helpful. Just as he was about to launch into another question, Nasir surprised him with one. "What sets you apart from your brother?" he echoed Robin's own words, then looked back over at the rest of them.
To Robin, it was as if a hidden door had been opened. All of a sudden he understood what Herne had meant. From one moment to the next it became obvious to him where the advantages lay, which he should use. Advantages that to his knowledge the knight was not in possession of.
Gisburne had no friends. Robin would have loved to hug the Saracen, such was his relief, but it was more than the latter's stern expression that kept him from doing so.
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Guy stood on that hill that had grown so familiar to him over the past few years, looking down over the plains illuminated by the full moon. He had no need to turn around to know that the forest loomed darkly behind him. But that was not something that scared him, for there was no reason for that at all.
Then suddenly he heard soft footsteps and realized that someone was climbing up the other side of the hill. However, this awareness did not make the knight turn around, for he knew very well who was approaching that way, and he also knew that all this had its proper reason. After all, he had arranged to meet the other one here in order to ...
For a short moment, Guy was no longer certain that all was indeed well. But then his searching gaze lingered on a tall man who had just reached the foot of the embankment and was now slowly climbing up the hill on this side, and any uncertainty vanished. He let his eyes sweep over the slender figure with the long, dark hair, only to frown nonetheless. Was this really the one he was expecting? He was certain he had met the other one previously, but at that very moment, oddly enough, he could not remember more than that. And yet he knew that this one was a friend.
So was the man who was now standing at his side. He did not have to turn around to know the other man had come to support him, after all, he had done so many times in the past.
Meanwhile, the stranger, who was not a stranger, had drawn nearer to within a few steps, and Guy expected him to come over to his other side. But instead, he suddenly went down on his knees in front of him and bowed his head. While he was surprised by the move, the knight still had a feeling that this was the way it had to be.
Once again his gaze swept across the plains towards the horizon, and as he did so he spotted in the distance something vast and sinister that filled him with immense dread.
With a jolt, the knight sat up on his bed, not knowing at that very moment what had startled him out of his sleep. But it did not escape him that the sense of intense fear that had seized him in his dream still suffused him. And at the same time, he realized that once again he had been dreaming about the hill.
Gisburne frowned. Never before had he felt such a sense of dread in the dream about the hill. There had only ever been the worry that he would not be able to get Loxley all the way down in time, but this time the dream had been different. And then it suddenly occurred to him that he had not liked not being able to see Loxley's face and not knowing if he had gotten him to the forest in time again on this occasion. That was just insane. He was supposed to feel relief at being rid of this man, yet he had never felt that way.
The knight took a few deep breaths to get his nerves in check again. When he reflected on the previous day, he should not have been surprised to have dreamed about the hill, for after several weeks of inactivity, Robin Hood had reappeared. However, he had come to a part of Sherwood where he had been sure not to meet his brother.
His brother! Gisburne snorted. The very notion that this Wolfshead, this man who had spurned his inheritance only to go against the king's laws, was in fact his brother, did not exactly inspire him with joy. Moreover, ever since the encounter at Rhiannon's Wheel, he had feared all along that the sheriff might have picked up on some of this and would now accuse him of being an accomplice of the outlaw. He had no trouble imagining what would happen to him in that case.
Abruptly his eyes widened, for he had not really been aware of what exactly he had been dreaming about until just that moment, but now it had all come back to him. With that, the sense of extreme fear, which he had believed he had already gotten rid of, assailed him once again.