Katherine managed to follow Will through the forest to the waterfall and she found him sat on the rocks that overlooked the water of the lake through the waterfall itself.
"Will?" She asked quietly, and as she got closer, she heard sniffling and every so often his shoulders would shake, and she realised that he was crying.
This worried her, as Will was the one that never cried, he was always being the strong one, for her, and the camp, nothing ever phased him so much that he cried.
"Will, my love, please talk to me." She whispered as she walked over.
"Go away Kat, I don't wish for you to see me in such a way." Will told her, his voice thick with what Katherine could only explain to be terror.
"No, I won't." She told him, moving to kneel behind him and she slid her arms around him from behind, pressing her head into the space between his shoulder blades.
Will leant back into her. "I'm sorry, you must be so embarrassed by me."
"Why would I be embarrassed?" She asked, moving so that she only had to turn him to face her slightly.
"Because I ran out of there like a babe," He told her.
"Will, you were in distress, I'm not embarrassed." She told him. "I'm worried about you."
Will looked to her, distress? If only she knew. "I was concerned."
"Will, talk to me," She begged. "I'm your wife, you don't have to hide things from me." She gently brushed her fingertips to his cheek, before she used the same fingertips to brush some hair from his face.
"Seeing Fanny like that…It reminded me of my mother." Will whispered after a few minutes.
"Can I ask how?" She asked him quietly, she was cautious, not sure how he would react, she knew that Will's relationship with his mother was not the best.
"She died during childbirth," Will told her. "The babe was not being born, we were alone, I had no money for a doctor, I was only nine." He explained. "I watched her fight pain to bring them into the world for days, before she became too weak to manage it. She had lost too much blood, and her body was too weak. We hadn't eaten in days." He whispered. "The babe was born after she died, but he too was already dead."
Katherine looked to him. "Oh Will," She whispered, and she watched his usual stoic façade crumble as he fell into her chest sobbing. She held him close as he cried, she could not imagine seeing such a sight at such a young age. Only when Will stopped crying and had calmed down, did she ask one last question.
"Will, can you answer me one more?" She asked and when he nodded, she continued. "You told me you killed the man that killed your mother, how did you do that if she died in childbirth?"
"My mother was a woman of the night, she turned to selling herself to buy our way in life," He explained. "The man who got her pregnant was the man I killed; I knew who he was because he came around a lot once he found out she was pregnant."
Katherine nodded and she moved to sit against a rock, bringing him with her and she patted her lap. "Rest with me, Will." She whispered.
Will looked to her and he smiled softly, before he moved to lie his head on her lap, lying across from her and he closed his eyes as she started to brush her hands through his hair. He didn't realise that he had fallen asleep on her lap until he opened his eyes again and he noticed the faintest light of the sun rising and he realised that he had kept her outside all night with him.
"Come on, it's getting late, we should head home."
Will looked up at her and he noticed that there was a slight blue tinge to her lips, he sat up suddenly worried for her.
"Katherine I'm sorry, you must be so cold." He touched her cheeks, and they were freezing, as where her hands when he took one in his. He felt awful for keeping his wife outside in the cold, when she didn't even have her cloak to keep her warm.
Katherine got to her feet, shaking the cold from her bones and she rubbed her upper arms to bring some warmth to herself when she thought that Will wasn't looking. Will splashed his face with some water from the pool before he wiped his face with his sleeve. Together, they walked back hand in hand as they made their way back to the camp. As they reached it, Sarah soon joined them.
"Katherine, there you are, I was hoping to catch you before my lady, and I departed." Sarah told her.
"Leaving so soon, Sarah?" She asked, she sounded tired, but she put on an upbeat persona for Sarah.
Despite how upbeat she tried to look, Sarah still noticed, and she looked to her concerned. "Are you alright dear?" She looked to Will. "She might be your wife, but you need to take better care of her."
"I'm fine Sarah, don't trouble yourself." Katherine told her. "I couldn't sleep, when that happens, I like to go for a walk, Will was keeping me company, nothing more."
Sarah raised an eyebrow as she looked between them, and she could see how much Will valued his wife.
"Anyway, what is it that you wanted Sarah?" Katherine asked.
"My lady would like to extend an invitation to you to come to her home to help heal the sick and wounded." Sarah told her. "If that is something that you both want."
She nodded. "We will definitely think about it and discuss it." Katherine told her. "Now, please take care when you depart."
Sarah nodded and the two women shared a hug, before she and Will nodded to each other, and she went off to join Marian and Robin as they walked towards the lake. When she was gone, Will looked to her.
"Do you wish to leave?" He suddenly demanded.
"No, I don't." She told him.
"Then why would she offer you a place with the Lady Marian?" He asked, he didn't mean for it to come out as it did, more of a complaint than a question, but he couldn't take it back.
"Because of what I know," She told him. "I learnt healing from my mother, you know that my skill is useful."
He gave her a hard look, before he walked away, leaving her on her own. It had been a hard night, and at hearing that she was offered to leave, it had hurt him more than any memories.
Katherine kept to herself that day, going to check on Fanny instead of going to sleep. Fanny was already sitting up and doing much better, she hadn't contracted a fever so that was good. Katherine sat with her, on a stool, and she was helping her mend some clothes, they had just gotten her up and walking around the room that she was in, the baby was lying in a manger next to them as that was the only thing available.
"Are you alright?" Fanny asked her, she had watched her sew the same shirt for ten minutes.
"No," She sighed, putting the sewing back into the basket.
"What's the matter?" Fanny asked, sitting up slightly and she smiled softly as Katherine fixed her pillow behind her to help her sitting upright.
Katherine sighed and told her about Sarah finding her and Will this morning, obviously she didn't tell her about Will's past, that was better left unsaid, but Fanny could tell that she was hurt by Will just leaving her like that.
"Ah, you know that's the only thing that scares him, is losing you, don't you?" She asked her.
"I understand that, but I've ever once thought of leaving." Katherine told her. "I love it here, I married him, why would I want to leave?" She asked her, and Fanny knew that she didn't expect an answer. "He's all I have Fanny," She sounded so heartbroken that it broke Fanny's heart. "The look he gave me, he looked so betrayed and then he just walked away…What if I lose him too?"
Fanny shrugged. "He's obviously feeling a bit anxious now, I'm sure he will be back to his usual self soon."
"I hope so." She sighed, before she stood as the baby was crying and she lifted him out of the manger, holding him.
Fanny looked to her and she could not help but smile, despite all Katherine said about not being ready, she was a natural at caring for babies and children. Fanny looked to the door as John walked in and she could see Will behind him, and she watched both men look to Katherine who was calming the baby was ease. Fanny watched Will most of all, his facial expression hurt as he saw Katherine, but then shifted to wonderment as he watched her with the babe.
"You're a natural, Katherine, I've not even seen Fanny calm a baby that quick." John told her.
Katherine looked over and she gave him a small smile, her eyes avoiding Will's, before she walked to Fanny and lay the baby on her chest. Once the baby was safe in his mother's arms, she picked up her cloak and walked out of the hut.
This time, Will didn't follow her and John and Fanny both looked to him in concern, but it was Fanny who voiced her thoughts first.
"If you're planning on torturing that poor girl, you're doing it right." She told him.
Will looked up at her at that point. "What?"
"Do you seriously think that she is going to leave you?" Fanny told him. "You, Will Scarlett, are all she has." She told him. "She loves you so much, you just walking away really hurt her."
Will looked to her. "Sarah offered her a place with the Lady Marian, what part of that is her not leaving?"
"She didn't take it Will," John told her. "She's still here, you told me yourself that she wanted the pair of you to think about it," He reminded him. "She is going to talk to you, if I were you lad, I'd be grateful that she values her husband's opinion."
Will looked to them, he felt like a child that had just been chastised by his mother and father, but he knew that what he had done was wrong. He hadn't meant to treat Katherine like he had, to just walk away like that, but he wasn't sure how to fix it.
"Try and find her for a start," Fanny told him. "Then you grovel and apologise."
Will nodded and he walked out of the hut, he searched the camp, the waterfall, even walking in a circle around the camp a short distance in the forest, he asked everyone he cared to know if they had seen her, but no one had. It was like Katherine had simply vanished. Eventually he decided to check the one place he hadn't, and it was the most obvious place, their home. Walking inside, he found her weapons at the door and her cloak hanging over one of the chairs. Walking further inside, he found her in bed, she was in a deep sleep. He sighed softly as he realised what an idiot he had been, before he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. She was in that deep of a sleep, she didn't stir even as he ran his hand through her hair.
"I'm sorry," He whispered to her. "I'm sorry Kat," He kissed her head. "I'll do better, I didn't mean to hurt you."
With that, he left her to sleep, going back out with his knives for some target practice, he returned that night and sat himself down in a chair to watch his wife sleep, soon falling asleep himself in the chair.
This carried on for numerous nights, Katherine and Will became ships in the night. They eventually met at a head in the morning a few days after. Will was just coming back after some early morning training, and Katherine was just leaving, walking into Will as she opened the door, and she looked up at him with wide eyes.
"Kat…" He breathed; he had missed seeing her awake, missed her voice or her deep eyes.
"Will…" She too had missed him, regularly seeing him asleep at the table or on the floor, not wanting to share a bed with her until they had spoken properly.
John and Fanny had been watching the pair of them and they had regularly tried to get the pair to talk to each other, but something always came up. The only place they seemed to meet unwillingly was at John and Fanny's hut where Katherine was helping Fanny with the baby and checking her healing wounds. However, every time they were together, their attention was coveted by someone else. It was becoming increasingly frustrating.
"Are you going out for some practice?" Will asked, nodding to her arrows and bow in her hand.
Katherine nodded. "Yes," She looked to him. "Join me?"
Will looked to her and he nodded. "Okay, let's go."
She gave him a tiny smile, and she walked up the hill with him, Will walking alongside her, however as they got to the camp, they heard the whistle of the warning arrows.
Looking to each other, they ran up to where the lookouts had seen a rider, Will keeping to the back with Kat and they watched as Robin's servant, Duncan, was helped from the back of a horse. Even from their distance away the man looked half dead. Suddenly more arrows rained down and they looked to each other, before they were told to look to the hill before them. Looking up they saw that an army had gathered, and Will's heart raced as he heard what they were. Celts! Now they were done for! Everyone was stuck, frozen, before he heard Bull's voice spur everyone into action.
"To the trees!" He shouted and everyone scarpered.
Will looked to Robin as he came running back. "The poor old fool led them right to us." He told him, before he ran down the hill and he found Kat, throwing her arrows and bow onto the roof of a house.
"Kat," He spoke her name and she looked to him, they both could see their emotions reflected in the other. If this was the last time they saw each other, they wanted to memorise everything about each other.
"It's okay, go," She told him. "We will be okay." She promised.
Will didn't think twice, he kissed her quickly, before he watched her run to John who helped her onto the roof with her weapons and he ran off to join the other men.
Katherine readied her arrows as she watched Wulf run up to the house she was on and when Robin joined them, he threw Wulf up with her.
"Stay by my side," Katherine told him. "Don't leave it, I will protect you." She promised him.
Wulf nodded and he held out a hand to her and Katherine squeezed it with a soft smile, the past few days she had seen a soft side to Wulf, the side that reminded everyone that he was still a child. Suddenly there was a battle cry from the Celts, and they were suddenly running towards them. Katherine readied an arrow, and she fired it, hitting a Celt straight through the chest.
The battle carried on for hours, Katherine and Wulf fighting together on top of the roof. Katherine giving Wulf direction on where to shoot as she was on her feet for better view. Suddenly there was a Celt trying to climb onto the roof, and in quick thinking, he was met by Wulf kicking him in the face and when he fell, Katherine shot him with an arrow. They watched the rest of the Celts running away and they heard the cheers from the woodsmen and their families, but Katherine didn't celebrate, she saw the Sherrif's soldiers up ahead and she saw the flaming arrows around them.
"Oh god," She whispered, before she looked to Wulf. "Wulf, jump down, quick." She slid off the roof and onto the floor with Wulf, and their weapons, before she grabbed his hand and pulled him further into the makeshift village.
"Kat!" Will shouted.
"Get down!" She told him, and as the words left her lips, flaming arrows suddenly rained down on them. She looked to Wulf beside her. "Wulf, go," She pushed him towards the forest, watching the boy run off, before she took her stand, arrows at the ready. She readied the arrow in her bow. "Father, mother, make my arrow fly true." She whispered, before she let the arrow fly, taking down a soldier who had run at her.
Will watched from the platform, before he picked up his own bow and he shot at any that Katherine could not, along with the other archers, even John had picked up a bow to do the same. Katherine's skill with a bow was commendable, even Robin joined her on the ground, shooting arrows with her. Will soon joined them, instead of a bow using his blades.
"We need to go!" One of the men shouted, and they looked around the village was lost.
"Robin!" Katherine heard Bull shout, before they saw a soldier sneaking up on him as he tried to help other villagers. "Behind you!"
Taking aim, Katherine shot the soldier through the back with an arrow and when Robin turned in time to see her behind the soldier he nodded in thanks before they started to fight again. Katherine kept her eyes open for Wulf and Will, and she saw Will up ahead. He was fighting with his fists, having lost his knives and she pulled an arrow, taking out one of the soldiers that was about to attack him from behind. As he turned and saw her, she ran to him and passed him her knife, before she went back to shooting an arrow.
"Get out of here," Will told her.
"I'm not leaving you." She told him.
"Katherine, go with Fanny, please." He begged her.
Katherine only had time to look at him with a look that she used to try and convey her emotions to him, she loved him, the past few days had been hard with them not talking to each other, there was so many things that she wanted to say to him.
"I know," Was all he told her. "Azeem, take Katherine." He told him, before she was gone, Azeem taking her hand to lead her out of the village.
He didn't expect to be captured, but he ended up with no weapons once more, having to use his bare hands, he was soon surrounded with crossbows. As he was dragged away, he looked in the direction that Katherine had been taken by Azeem and he wished he could have seen her once more. His only solace was that he was not the only one, but then he found Wulf be dragged to them, and he knew this was now a big problem.
Meanwhile, the battle in the forest had finished, and Katherine walked through the survivors looking for those she cared for. She looked for Wulf, and Will and Fanny and John. Azeem was at her side, his sword still in his hand, ready for any chance of an attack. Katherine suddenly jumped as she heard her name and she found Fanny running towards her, her babe in her arms and she used one of those arms to hug her close to her as John, Bull and Tuck joined them. Katherine shared a hug with John and Bull also, before she looked around. Now she realised, most of their men were dead, and Robin was not amongst the living.
"Where is Will?" She asked John quietly.
"They took him lass, the Sherriff's men took him," Bull explained. "I'm sorry Katherine."
Katherine felt the panic rise in her chest, and she felt the colour drain from her face.
"Sit her down before she faints." Azeem advised, using his own strength to sit Katherine down on the ground.
Fanny handed John the baby and she knelt before her as Katherine started to panic. "Look at me, he will do whatever he can to come home to you." She reminded her. "Don't give up yet Kat," Fanny pulled her into a tight hug as she watched the woman's resolve crumble.
"I didn't even get to say I was sorry." Katherine whispered to her, and everyone looked to her, they had all noticed that Katherine and Will hadn't been as close these past few days.
"You will get a chance." John told her. "Let us regroup and we can come up with a plan."
Katherine nodded quietly into Fanny's chest and when she had calmed herself down, she moved to stand. "Right, I need to start sorting things out."
"Katherine, love, what are you doing?" Fanny asked her.
"I can't just sit here, I need to be useful and busy, so I'm going to help the wounded." She looked to Friar Tuck. "Can you help me?" When he nodded, she looked to Azeem. "Can you and some of the others go and search for survivors?"
When Azeem nodded, he left with Bull, John and another of their men and Katherine looked to Fanny. "Let's go."
They walked back towards the survivors, and she sought out those who were hurt worst, tending to them first. Fanny watched her as she cradled her son, and she silently prayed that Will would survive this and come home to her along with her son. Eventually news came back to them that they had found Robin, and when they reached them, Azeem sat him under a tree and started to treat his wounds. When his wounds were cleaned and bandaged, Robin found Katherine tending to Bull's head wound.
"Katherine, may we speak?" He asked her, and when Bull got up to leave, Katherine walked away with him.
"Thank you," Robin told her. "If you hadn't have made that shot, then I would have died, thank you for saving my life."
Katherine looked to him. "I'm not as useless as you first thought," She told him, and she noticed that Robin winced as she reminded him of the first comment, he made about her. "But whilst I appreciate your thanks, we have all lost too much right now."
"Who is missing?" Robin asked her and she gave him some names. "Will and Wulf have been taken as well." She told him. "They were all taken to the Sherriff."
Robin frowned, then he noticed that Katherine started to fiddle with the ring on her finger.
"How long have you been married?" He asked her, he couldn't believe that he hadn't seen it before.
"Up to one month now." She told him. "We kept it a secret and only had a few witnesses."
Robin nodded, he knew that both Will and Katherine were private people. "I'll get him back Katherine,"
Katherine nodded. "We will," She told him, and she walked away before Robin could offer a retort. That evening, whilst everyone settled to eat before a fire, Katherine worked through the night, there were too many wounded for her to just stop. Everyone was clearly worried about her; she was like a soldier not stopping.
"I've seen this before," Robin told them from where he sat around the fire – Bull, Azeem John, Tuck and Fanny with him. "In soldiers, so ready for a fight that they can't stop, and when they do they drop."
"She needs to eat," Fanny told them, passing the baby to John before she got up and walked towards her.
Katherine was washing her hands in some water after just finishing wrapping a particular bloody wound on a child, and as she cleaned them, she was literally ripping her skin on her hands with her nails.
"Katherine, come on lass," Fanny told her, and she rested a hand on her arm, which Katherine shrugged off. "Katherine, come and eat."
"I can't, someone has to help them." She told her.
"Katherine, you are no use to anyone without rest or food." Fanny explained, but even she wasn't prepared for the reply from Katherine.
"I have to keep going!" She suddenly shouted. "If I stop, I think and if I think, all I can do is imagine Will's fate, hanging from a noose." She told her, her voice breaking. "I've lost everyone, I can't lose him too." She told her as she fell to her knees before her and sobbed.
Fanny didn't move, just knelt before her and pulled her into her, the men around the campfire all came over. No one knew that she carried this pain with her, this fear, but they all came over and sat with her. John and Fanny sat her between them as she rested on John's shoulder as Fanny rubbed her arm. It was easier for all of them, they still had people, even Friar Tuck was content with his ale and his job to help him through it, Will was truly all that Katherine had. Sometimes, they forgot that she was only nineteen years old, still a child to some of them.