Chapter 32

A fire was burning in the dark, damp cave, and Mach, the miller's son, was looking into the fire and tossing dry chips, but his thoughts were far away. For a week now, he knew nothing about Marion. They stopped in this cave when it became cold to sleep in the forest camp in the open air. Marion cried often, and Much didn't know how to comfort her. It was so bad that there was no strength to go on living. He tried to hunt and gather nuts in the forest to provide food for the two of them.

On one such day he returned from a hunt towards evening and did not find Marion in the cave. After waiting a little while for her, he went in search of her, but it was getting dark and he came back with nothing.

After spending the night in anxiety, and not sleeping a wink, in the morning he headed towards the village of Wickham, hoping to find Marion there. But when he heard from Edward that she hadn't been seen in the village for a long time, his legs gave out and he realised that something irreparable had happened. How he cursed himself for not being able to keep her safe. Edward consoled him as best he could, telling him that it wasn't Much's fault. But Much was still sure that if he hadn't gone hunting that day and left Marion behind, things might have been very different. He was alone now, having lost all his friends. He felt especially bad at the realisation that he could not help his captive friends imprisoned in Nottingham Prison. Rumour had it that the Nottingham prisoners were expected to be executed the other day by hanging in the castle courtyard. The mood of everyone in Wickham and the surrounding villages was depressed.

Much got up and walked sadly out of the cave. The day was drawing towards evening and before ordering he wanted to replenish his supply of firewood for the night. He began gathering brushwood around the cave, an activity that distracted him a little from his sad thoughts. After moving a decent distance away from the cave, he climbed up to the high ground to watch the sunset. The sun was setting in bright pink clouds.

A bird perched on a branch beside him, chirping merrily. Much smiled, his heart warming.

-How do you know, maybe the bird brought good news? - He said thoughtfully, picked up a bundle of brushwood, and walked back.

It was already dark when he reached the cave, and he paid no attention to the footprints leading to the entrance. He entered the cave and was stunned. Robin, Little John, Marion and Nazir were sitting by the fire. The light from the fire illuminated their faces. Nazir was busily adjusting a rabbit over the coals, turning it over so that it would brown evenly.

Mach leaned silently against a rocky ledge, tears streaming from his eyes; he dropped a bundle of brushwood and it crumbled at his feet.

Hearing the sudden noise, the friends stirred and looked in his direction.

-Much, is that you? - Robin shouted, and coming up to him, he threw his arms around him. Gasping with emotion, Much only repeated, 'You're back! I knew you'd come back! You promised!'

Robin ruffled his dishevelled, unruly hair. When Much calmed down a little, he rushed over to Marion, genuinely glad that she was all right.

-I don't dream it,' he kept repeating, looking rapturously at his friends, one and the other.

-You've brought some kindling, and it's very useful,' said John, 'These rabbits must be roasted soon! - He said, pointing to the carcasses lying by the fire, -We're having a little feast tonight!

-I wish we had Tuck and Scarlet with us now,' said Much, dreamily.

-Don't worry,' Robin said, 'we'll think of something. We don't have much time to prepare, but we'll get them out of here.

They feasted and talked and laughed, but at one point Robin suddenly fell silent. His friends were having fun, but he just sat there, absorbed in his own thoughts, staring absently at the fire. Marion noticed his change.

- What's the matter, Robin? - She asked him quietly, touching his arm, 'Is something bothering you?

Robin covered her hand with his palm and gently looked into her eyes. The glow of the fire illuminated his face.

- It's all right,' he said with a smile. But his smile seemed sad to Marion, and she could see the sadness in his eyes. It was like he was sorry for something, but he couldn't tell her, or didn't want to.

- Robin,' Marion began, but she was interrupted by Little John.

- Loxley! Oh, my God, I almost died when I saw you alive and well in that hall! We had already mourned you, and suddenly there you were, standing there looking at me and Nazir as if we were your worst enemies. And when you came at us with a knife, I thought I'd gone mad and was imagining things. What got into you then?

- Yes, Robin,' Nazir said, 'What was that? What did the sorcerer do to you?

- Tell me, Robin! - Much,' he said with an almost childlike curiosity, moving closer. Marion was silent, but she, too, was ready to listen.

Loxley gave his friends a long look and said quietly:

- Well, it's a strange story, but you have every right to know.

And he began his story. They reacted in different ways. Nazir listened attentively and focused, Much listened with his mouth open in amazement, John swore loudly, occasionally slapping his hands on his knees, and Marion remained silent. Only once did she frown sternly when Lilith appeared in his story. Robin had been careful not to mention the details of his awakening in the font, but even without that, the look in her eyes made it clear that Lilith would have been in trouble if she'd been there.

There was something else Loxley did not dare to tell.

He had been thinking about the child ever since they had left the wizard's castle. Was there any truth in the black mirror's visions? The Baron had deceived him by trying to pass Nazir and John off as peasants from Calwinton. So the oracle's predictions were also just a sorcerer's morass. But does that mean that seeing Marion with their child was also a sneaky trick of a black magician trying to take over his mind?

'She doesn't know anything yet,' the sorcerer said of Marion. And Loxley believed him at that moment. Right now, common sense was telling him that there was no baby, but his inner gut was telling him otherwise. These conflicting feelings disturbed him, and he had never felt so insecure before.

- So you thought that by killing us, you were saving Marion from a brutal death at the stake? - Nazir asked after Loxley had finished his story.

- Yes,' Robin said, lowering his eyes. - The Darkness's greatest treachery is that it uses our own fears and doubts against us. Consumed by anger and thirst for revenge, we do not know what we are doing, and at that moment evil celebrates its victory over us.

After a little silence, he added quietly.

- Our innermost dreams and secret desires can also become weapons in the hands of the Darkness. That's why it's probably best never to dream anything at all.

Marion again felt his gaze full of sadness and vague longing, but could not understand the reason for it.

Only towards morning, when sleep had finally overtaken them, the friends scattered around the cave to settle down for the night.

Robin lay down next to Marion, she covered him with a rough woollen blanket, hugged him tightly and rested her head on his shoulder. How long had she dreamed of just being near him like this. She raised herself on her elbow and looked at him; he was lying with his eyes closed. She kissed his lips softly. He smiled and drew her to him.

-Robin,' Marion whispered, 'I thought there was something you hesitated to tell me, and it wasn't about Lilith.

Robin looked at her with a furrowed brow.

-I can feel some uneasiness weighing on your heart. What else did you see in the sorcerer's black mirror? - Marion continued.

He gently stroked her hair with his hand and touched her cheek.

-I'm just not sure it's true-what I saw,' he said.

-And yet,' Marion insisted.

After a moment's silence, Robin brought his face close to hers and whispered:

-"I saw you with our baby in your arms.

-Oh, Robin,' Marion shrieked softly.

-I wish it were true,' he said.

Marion clung to him, and they were silent for a few moments. Then she pulled away from him and looked into his eyes and whispered:

-I wasn't sure, so many things happened to us. Sometimes I didn't understand what was happening to me, sometimes I thought the sensations were deceptive, but now it seemed to me that this vision was the only thing that could be called true of everything the sorcerer had told you.

Robin hugged her tightly, covering her face and lips with hot kisses that drove her mad, enveloping her in caressing touches and numbness, unable to stop. And then he watched for a long time, afraid to move, as the reflections of the waning fire slid across her closed eyelids and soft skin as she slept snuggled against him. He fell asleep without letting her out of his arms, and when he woke up, the fire was almost out. Trying not to wake his beloved, Robin carefully got up to change Nazir. Everything was quiet.

Robin tossed some dry twigs into the embers of the fire, watched the fire rekindle, and thought of ways to save Tuck and Will from the gallows. As he pondered this, he met the morning.

The friends woke up. John crouched by the fire, rubbing his face after sleep to cheer himself up. Nazir got up too, stretching.

- I can't get used to you, mate, in that outfit,' John said.

Robin looked down at himself and grinned:

-Yeah, you're right, I should get some normal clothes somewhere,' he agreed.

-Robin,' said Much, joining them, 'I can run down to Wickham and get some clothes from Edward; he won't refuse me.

-Good,' said Robin, 'and see what news there is from Nottingham.

-I will,' replied Much, cheerfully; "I'm getting ready, with one foot here and the other in Wickham," and taking his bow and arrows with him, he ran out of the cave.

-Wait,' Little John shouted after him, 'don't talk too much about us when you're happy.

Much nodded his head, showing that he understood, and ran away.

Robin looked at his friends and said:

-I have a plan to free Tuck and Will, but I don't have enough information to do it. I hope Much will be back from Edward's soon, and not empty-handed. We also need to prepare our weapons, sharpen our swords, check our bows,' Robin said and picked up one of the swords. It was the sword of De Bellem's guard. Robin examined it carefully. He wiped it clean, checked the point, and thought for a moment, staring at its shiny surface.

- It could have been Albion,

Loxley turned round. Marion was looking at the sword, too, and in her gaze the gunslinger caught a shadow of sadness and regret.

- I gave it to Hearn, Robin. Not long after you… how did you…

She stammered, unable to say the words she dreaded.

- I decided that the Sword of Albion would be safe under the protection of the Spirit of the Forest.

Loxley nodded approvingly.

-Albion is where it belongs. It belongs and has always belonged to the forces of light. You did the right thing. Hearn always makes wise decisions. And if it is his will, he will return Albion to me.

With these words, Loxley put the sword he had prepared for tomorrow's fight into its scabbard.