Author's Note: I've been having formatting issues, but I think I've corrected them all. I may try something later with later chapters to avoid having to post such short chapters. I hope the short posts don't detract from the story.
Please, please read and review so I know someone is reading. One word reviews are fine if that's all you have time to do. Thanks.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
The Long Road Home by Ecri
Part 2: Best Laid Plans
Robin stared in horror as Will's eyes rolled back in his head and he began to fall. Only Robin's quick reach kept him upright.
Azeem was by his side instantly, as were John and Fanny.
"Lay him down, Christian," Azeem instructed as he helped Robin do just that. The Moor called for various things, stripping the young man's shirt from him as he did.
The extent of Will Scarlett's injuries, merely hinted at by the brief glimpse they'd had through the tattered shirt, were revealed now to his stunned friends.
Azeem looked at Robin. "And you English call us barbarians!"
Will's back and chest were a criss cross of bloody stripes so intricate it seemed his skin had been shredded. Where he was not bloodied, he was bruised; arms, legs, neck, upper back…all purple, black and blue and mingled with the blood and the starkly, startlingly pale skin.
Robin stared wide-eyed at the limp and battered body of his brother. His mind could not grasp this reality. He had dreamed of returning home after the madness of the Crusades to the sanity of his ancestral home, yet it seemed all of England had gone mad in his absence.
No madness could be worse than this—to discover he had a brother only to lose him.
Azeem looked Robin in the eye, but the look was enough. He did not waste words.
Robin gave an almost imperceptible nod. He swallowed hard twice before finally finding his voice. "Do what you can."
Azeem and Fanny cleaned Will's wounds, the tattered clothes and unconscious state of the youth combining with the tearstains on his face made him look like a child far younger than his years.
Robin realized that this perception was also likely aided by the fact that this was the first time he'd ever seen Will not held rigid by hatred and agitation. He tried to listen to Azeem and Fanny, but the words were a droning murmur in his ears drowned out by the ones repeated in his head. One maddening, shocking refrain; I have a brother!
He stared at the young man—Will Scarlett. His brother. So much made sense now. Will's hatred, his angry stares, and the times he seemed determined to rally everyone against Robin. He knew there were many who, if in his position, would not believe Will, or, if they did believe him, would claim publicly not to believe. He wasn't sure why he had been so ready to take his words as truth, but when Will had stood before him, unshed tears standing in his eyes, Robin had seen everything.
Behind the tears, Robin had seen the truth; a war between hope and the expectation of disappointment struck Robin a blow more solid than any physical hurt he'd ever received. Realizing what he had before him, he was gripped by the sudden conviction that he would hold onto this last, this youngest Locksley with every ounce of his strength.
He thought back to the angry, petulant boy he had been when he was 12 years old. Hurting from his mother's death, he'd wallowed in the pain, not considering that his father was hurting as well. Robin had pushed his father away and then reacted with anger when he'd turned to a stranger for solace. He'd said horrible things—words like betrayal, unfeeling, despicable—recalling each now was like a knife through his heart and he berated himself for inflicting such pain on his grieving father.
Will Scarlett moaned in pain, tossing his head and moving weakly to escape Fanny and Azeem.
A brother.
He had a brother.
A brother whose life he had ruined. Could his father have known about the boy? Was his love for Robin so much greater than for Will that he could have known of his birth and yet turned his back on the boy merely because Robin could not accept him having a relationship with another woman after his mother had died? He would not have allowed a son of his to grow up as Will had, would he? Then he realized he had no real idea how Will had grown up. He wondered if it were even possible that he could set things right.
To Be Continued