Over the next few days Marian slowly became herself again, she even opened up a little to Edyn and told her most of what she had been through, though some details she was clearly holding back; the green gem wasn't mentioned at all. Occasionally Edyn caught her fiddling with it whenever she thought she had left the room.
But the cheer didn't last long, as it never did in Nottingham. Edyn had once again been granted access to the town to see to Marian's needs, but one particular morning she soon became suspicious of why she had been given it. She was happily strolling down the street when she noticed her former master Joe staring at her. She had not seen him since that terrible incident a year ago and her heart began to pound from fear of what he might say or do to her. But he didn't do anything but smile, not a friendly smile, a wicked one used to frighten young children. Edyn sure felt like a child, immobilised by fear just watching this horrid man. His eyes flickered behind her and his smile grew wider. He let out a low chuckle before he turned and stepped back inside his tavern. Hastily Edyn looked over her shoulder in search of what had made him so cheerful, but all she could see were two castle guards patrolling the streets. Shaking her head she forced herself to continue on her business.
But as the day progressed she noticed those two guards always close by and soon she became suspicious. Telling herself she was being foolish she made a few quick turns into some more crowded streets while pulling her hood up over her head. She found a small side street where she hid herself, constantly looking out towards where she had come to see if she was followed. Thankfully the guards did not reappear, but a balding man passed by and slowed his pace as he walked, looking down the street at where she stood. It was then she became frightened; she was being watched, she knew it. And not just by the Sheriff's men either.
Returning to the castle she was desperately trying to think of what to do. Normally she would have told Marian but lately her head was in the clouds, too preoccupied with her secrets to care what was going on around her. She thought briefly of telling Will but there wasn't much he could really do for her, besides the fact she was still mortified by her behaviour after Henry's death. When the answer came to her she felt like slapping herself for not thinking of it first; Robin! He had told her many times if she ever needed help, ask him. And she definitely felt she needed help. She decided then that she would try and sneak to their camp the following day if she could get away from her duties.
But residing in Nottingham typically put a stop to her plans. She was woken to the sound of panic the next morning when it was discovered that the Sheriff had disappeared sometime during the night. Worst of all, one of Prince John's men had arrived at the castle that day to receive the Sheriff's seal and if he didn't have it by nightfall then Prince John's men would burn Nottingham down.
The entire castle staff, including Edyn, had been ordered to check the castle from top to bottom to find him. She didn't see Marian until mid-morning when she was quickly told that Robin was on his way there to make a deal with Sir Guy. Marian it seemed was finally herself again, excited by the idea of seeing her lover again. Edyn watched Robin and his men arrive from outside the Great Hall where she waited for Marian. Robin winked at her as he passed, striding confidently into the castle and leaving his men outside in the rain. She was desperate to call him aside but she felt the presence of a castle guard breathing down her neck which she was slowly coming accustomed to.
The bargaining between Sir Guy and Robin didn't take long as soon Robin was outside calling his men into the town. Sadly Edyn watched them leave. "Edyn?" She turned to find Marian approach her. "I think I'm going to be busy trying to organise Sir Guy until the Sheriff's found, you may as well head to the town and see if Robin needs any help."
"Yes, my lady," Edyn said grateful she may get her chance to talk with him.
After ducking into many streets and making a few quick turns she was certain she had lost the guards that had followed her from the courtyard leaving her free to approach where Robin and his men stood gathered.
"Robin?" she asked as she got closer pulling her hood higher.
"Hello, Edyn," he said briskly barely looking at her before he turned back to his men.
She waited silently beside him as he organised his men. Finally when he was about to split away from them she interrupted. "Robin, please, may I have a word?"
"I'm sorry, Edyn, I'm very busy at the moment," he replied trying to move past her.
But Edyn wasn't going to have any of that. Her arm shot out and she grabbed his elbow and pulled him back to face her. "Please!" she said firmly. "This is important."
Robin frowned but led her away from his men. "What is it?"
She swallowed and looked down at her feet nervously. "Robin, I– I'm being followed. At first I wasn't so sure but now I'm all but positive. Everywhere I go there is always a castle guard behind me. I think the Sheriff suspects I have something to do with you."
Robin stared at her narrowing his eyes. "W-what?"
"I know it sounds silly, but I think Joe may have something to do with this."
"Edyn," he said firmly making her feel like a disobedient child. "I don't have time for this!" he snapped at her making her jump. She had not expected that reaction.
"I know your very busy, but I'm scared, Robin. And you always told me to come to you if I needed help," she replied.
"Yes, well that may be the case, but all of Nottingham needs me at the moment. By tonight your problem may not seem that important," he said bluntly as he turned away.
She stood rooted to the spot for a few moments. He was right; there were much bigger problems to worry about. She made to leave when she spotted Will watching her. Humiliated, she didn't wait to see if he was going to approach her or not, she turned away and left heading back towards the castle. Passing the Trip Inn she noticed Joe standing at the doorway watching her again.
She kept her head down and refused to make eye contact as she passed. She thought he was going to ignore her as he did before but she wasn't so lucky. "Aren't we in a bit of a hurry," he called after her. She stopped, frozen with fear. "I suppose you think you'll be able to find the Sheriff, you and your outlaw friends." She turned to face him, her eyes wide. How did he know? "You think I don't know?" he asked as he began to walk towards her. "You think people don't talk about what they see around them?" He chuckled at her wide eyed expression. "Yes, I've heard all about your little trips into the forest. I wonder how long it will be before the Sheriff hears about it."
"No…" she whispered.
He shook his head. "You made a very big mistake making an enemy with me, girl."
She didn't want to hear anymore. Exhaling sharply she moved away from him and tore down the street, her body trembling with fear. Why was this happening? Where could she go? What could she do about it? No matter how many questions she asked herself she couldn't come up with an answer. She thought of leaving. There was nothing for her here anymore. No family, hardly a friend. She had ruined things with Will, Marian was completely changed since her time in the forest and Sybil had her own family now. The more she thought the more she knew it was what she needed to do. She could steal a horse, say she was on an errand and hopefully be far enough away from Nottingham before anyone would realise. But where to go? What to do? Shaking her head she began towards the castle deciding to choose any road and see where it would lead her and as for money she would have no choice but to sell the horse which would get her accommodation for a while but she would need to find work quickly.
She hurried into the castle and into the deserted servant's quarters to pack her few possessions. She stuffed her spare dress, an old blanket, some bread from the kitchen, a skin full of water and tied her mother's pendant around her neck. Thankfully everyone in the castle was in too much of a panic to notice her. Outside she spotted her guards again and ducked around the town before doubling back to the stables to get her horse. "Well, Duke," she whispered to him. "Say goodbye."
Leading him through the town she kept her head low and her hood up. She stopped when she got to the towns gates. People from the outer towns were dragging their families towards the safely of the Nottingham's tall walls. In the distance she could see the uprising of dust; Prince John's army was fast approaching. Was she being cowardly leaving now? With this new threat not only to her but everyone else she cared for.
At the sound of footsteps she looked over her shoulder to see Will approaching. She felt her cheeks flush and looked down at her feet, the silence dragging on. Finally it became too much and she spoke. "It's not looking good, is it?" she asked.
His expression answered her question. "We'll get through this," he tried to convince. "Robin will find him and have him back in time."
She smiled, though not completely persuaded. "I hope so."
"I'd leave whatever it was you were going to do and stay here. I think the town is now the safest place in Nottingham, I doubt Prince John will spare the villages." Edyn nodded her head and looked away feeling guilty. She could see him out of the corner of her eye looking at Duke, his eyes resting on her bag tied to the back of her saddle. "Where were you going?" he asked suspiciously. She continued to look away. "Edyn!"
"I haven't yet decided," she almost whispered.
"You're thinking of leaving?"
Edyn shrugged her shoulders when she heard another set footsteps approach she turned to find Allan standing nearby. He jerked his head towards the castle, asking her to leave. She did so gladly, hoping the two of them would say their peace and be done with it.
Back at the castle Marian found her and pulled her to one side. "This is bad," she said to her bluntly. "I want you to go into the town and begin to gather the people."
"Gather the people? I don't understand," Edyn admitted.
"We may have to defend the town. If it comes to that then everyone will need to gather inside the castle. I want you to go and help the elderly and those with small children. I will talk to Sir Guy about organising weapons and men."
Edyn could only stare at Marian. Earlier the situation had seemed bad, but now it seemed catastrophic. "Let's hope for the best," Marian said to her before she left.
The rest of the afternoon was spent ushering people inside the castle's Great Hall. Outside in the courtyard Sir Guy, Allan and Marian were hurriedly organising and distributing weapons amongst the men. When Edyn stepped outside she could hear women crying and pleading for their husbands and their sons not to be armed; the thought of them fighting was unbearable for them. Sybil, she noticed, was one of them.
She had Grace clutched to her chest begging Allan that she needed her husband; that he had no right to ask him to fight for them. Marcus, gentlemanly as always, was calmly trying to reason with his wife, assuring her that he was proud and honoured to do it. Cowardly, Edyn turned back towards the Great Hall not wanting to be caught up in the mess.
"Edyn!" Too late. Sybil frantically ran to her, sobbing and hiccupping, turning her pleas to Edyn. "Edyn, please, you've got to help me. Tell them they can't take Marcus away from me!"
"Sybil, I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do. With most of the Sheriff's men out searching for him we need as many men as possible to defend the town. Marcus included," Edyn said softly.
"But you can't!" Sybil wept. "He's all Grace and I have!"
Edyn shook her head in disbelief. Sybil's entire family resided in Nottinghamshire. She would never be without help, no matter what happened. "Sybil, I understand it's hard but–"
"No you don't!" Sybil spat at her. "You don't know what it feels like to love someone, so you don't know how it feels when someone takes that person away from you!"
Edyn's eyes narrowed. "You need to calm down."
"NO!" she shouted. "The only reason you are standing here so calmly and easily telling people they have to leave their family and fight is because you have no one! They're dead! All I'm doing is trying to protect my family so I don't end up like you!"
Edyn saw red. She was surprised by the sudden desire to strike Sybil, to hurt her. But she didn't, instead she took a deep breath and walked away. Strangely though, she felt no need to cry; she was oddly calm.
She headed back towards the Great Hall; maybe someone in there wanted her help. Just as she was approaching the door a hand shot out from beside her and pulled her into the shadows of the side corridor. "Will!" she hissed when she caught sight of the tall carpenter.
"Are you alright?" he asked her. "I heard…"
Edyn sighed. Did nothing go unnoticed in Nottingham? "Yes I'm fine," she muttered. She walked a few paces away and waited for him to speak but he didn't. "Actually… No, I'm not fine," she said while shaking her head. "Nothing in my life is fine. Henry is dead, as is my mother. My father could be anywhere for all I know, not that he cares that I'm alone, I'm stuck in this horrid place that will never feel like home, I have nowhere or no one to go to and quite recently I ruined whatever it was the two of us had. Please tell me what do I have to make everything fine?"
Will stood motionless letting her rant. "You have us," he said. "And Marian."
Edyn brought her hand to her face and turned away with frustration. "That's not enough." Will stared at her puzzled and she continued. "Will, I…" She knew she had to tell him, but getting the words out was one of the most difficult things she had ever done. "I– I'm…" She looked down at her feet and took a deep breath. "I'm in love you, Will. I think I have been for a while." He stared at her confused, his mouth opening slightly but no words came out. "I know it's not right for a woman to say that, and I know you don't feel the same." When she looked back at him he was frowning and shaking his head. She watched as he turned away from her. "I'm sorry!" she called.
He turned back around to face her and finally spoke. "I don't know what to say. I– I'm so confused." He brought his hands up to his head and ran them through his hair. "When I was growing up I thought if I ever got married it would have been to you." Edyn's heart began race. "But, then I got involved with Robin and became an outlaw, my focus was purely on the people and following his orders. And then I met Djaq." Edyn remained silent while he began to pace in frustration, her sudden excitement left with the mention of Djaq's name. "I have all these feelings and I don't understand what any of them mean."
Edyn didn't know what to say to him and it seemed he had said everything he needed to so the two of them lapsed into silence with an uncomfortably large space between them. "I should go and…" Will finally spoke and headed towards the courtyard. He paused as he passed Edyn as if he were going to say something but he stopped himself and kept walking. Edyn remained there for a while after he left mulling over everything that had been said. Shaking her head she finally decided it didn't matter and went to find Marian.
As the day got closer to dusk Edyn and Marian began moving the townsfolk inside the Great Hall. She caught sight of Will a few times but each time she ignored him, pretending she hadn't seen him too preoccupied with her task. She helped the other castle servants to light the torches inside the Great Hall and Sir Guy sent Allen out to send word back to them when Prince John's men began their march towards the town. The Great Hall itself was havoc. Soldiers racing round organising weapons, children screaming with confusion and fear, women sobbing as their husbands and sons were kitted out with swords and for some of the fortunate ones shields. Edyn was forced to struggle through the crowds.
A shout then could be heard from outside. "THEY'RE HERE!" For a split second the room was silent, and then suddenly it was louder than before; everyone reaching for their loved ones in a desperate final farewell. The sight of them all but broke Edyn's heart. Looking around she spotted Will a few paces from her. At a guess they were the only two people motionless.
Stepping forward she slowly made her way to him; the fear was making her bold. "This is it then," she said. "He didn't make it." Will remained silent. "I guess it was a good thing we were finally truthful to each other."
"Edyn, listen to me," Will spoke. "Whatever happens, whatever you see happening, you stay by Marian's side. Nothing will happen to her as long as I'm here. I promised Robin I would protect her." Edyn smiled at the thought of Robin ensuring the woman he loved would be safe. "And…" Will's voice trailed off.
"What?" Edyn asked his softly.
"And I promise you, I will not let anything happen to you." Edyn's lips began to part with awe. "I will not let you die," he vowed.
"But I don't want you to die," she whispered.
His face softened and gently pulled her into a hug. She gladly brought her arms up to wrap around his firm torso and dug her face into the front of his shirt desperate to get one last inhale of his scent. She felt his arms tighten and he leant his head against the top of hers and she felt his chest rise as he smelt her hair. Butterflies filled her stomach and she didn't know if it was from the fear of what was going to happen or what she was about to do. As they pulled away she moved a shaky hand and rested it on the side of his face, stroking her thumb along the surprisingly soft stubble there. She watched as he closed his eyes and turned his head slightly towards her hand. It's now or never, she told herself. Stepping up on tip toes she very carefully placed a kiss on his lips. At first she felt him tense and she nearly broke away but then she felt him relax, she was almost sure she felt his tilt his head closer. When they broke apart his eyes were wide with shock.
"I'm sorry, I just had to know what it would be like," she whispered.
His expression looked so pained. Edyn suspected it was from his confusion between her and Djaq. Out the corner of her eye she could see his hand moving towards her face, he held it there for a moment debating what to do before he let it drop to her shoulder.
Allan then burst inside yelling, "They're coming!" With a loud clunk the heavy doors were shut as the men assembled together. Will looked at her once more and this time placed him hand on the side of her cheek. "Stay with Marian! Please?" And then he left, running up the steps and pulling out his hatchet to be ready.
Edyn took her spot beside Marian. The rest of the women all huddled as far from the door as possible but both Marian and Edyn stood below the steps and looked up at the brave men on top waiting for what was going to happen next. Edyn felt Marian take her hand and squeeze it. Looking at her Marian whispered, "Be brave." Edyn nodded her head and stared back at the men catching a glimpse of Will looking over his shoulder at her.
"GISBORNE!" a voice echoed around the courtyard outside. Atop the stairs the men all tensed. But then Sir Guy ran forward and pulled the doors open and left. The voice called his name again sounding much louder and clearer with the doors open.
"That's the Sheriff!" Marian gasped. "He's back, Robin made it."
Edyn grinned widely as Marian made her way through the gathered men to look outside. "Hood did it!" One of the men closest to the door yelled. Laughter and cheers erupted though the Great Hall but Edyn only had eyes for one person. When he spotted her he smiled wider than Edyn had ever seen showing all his teeth and reaching the whole way to his eyes. She couldn't help but laugh out loud with happiness. Surely that meant something. She desperately wanted to go and speak to him but with the Sheriff back he no longer had a pardon to be inside the town. Disappearing into the crowd she watched him leave, but her smile didn't leave her face. At last it seemed she had a reason to be happy again.
A:N/ I'm sorry! I know I said it would have been up less than a week since the last one but I got really caught up in work – haven't had a day off in nearly 3 weeks! So I've spent my day very productively eating ice cream and writing. I hope you like it. Surely the fact that I finally had their first kiss makes up for the fact it's a little late, yes?
Thank you to everyone who reviewed my last chapter, you have no idea how much I missed that lovely feeling when you read a positive review. Please, please review! Feel free to let me know if something doesn't sound right, or if I butchered the characters. I tried so hard to get Will spot on, but I think I still didn't quite get his character right.