Sherwood (19 page)

Again, no one spoke up. Harlow felt
Enders tense, clenching and relaxing his fists repeatedly, anger
flowing through his veins like his own blood.

"Really? No one?" The king asked, an
eyebrow raised quizzically. "You'll all die then."

Still, no one spoke up. Harlow felt
terror flow through her veins. She felt terror for Enders. Just as
he came to her mind, he'd grabbed her hand tightly. She knew he was
scared. He'd expressed this very fear to her, and now all she could
do was watch and wait for their lives to end.

King Wesley shrugged, the cloak at his
shoulders swaying gently. He looked down to one of his knight's
next to him. "Kill them all." He ordered.

"Wait!" A loud voice rang out through
the forest. Harlow turned her eyes in horror to the side. Enders
took several steps forward, through the crowd. He let Harlow's hand
fall from his own before anyone could notice they'd been holding
hands.

Harlow felt her jaw drop and her mind
go blank. What was he doing? She wanted to cry and scream. She
wanted to do so many things but she couldn't move.

The king looked annoyed upon Enders
presence. "Why should I wait if you outlaws are of no use to
me?"

"Because I'm offering something better
than Robin Hood." Enders said, anger threatening to brim over the
edge of his temper limit.

King Wesley laughed sarcastically, his
gold necklaces and luxurious jewelry glinting in the sunlight. "Why
should I trust a mere boy? What could you possible offer
me?"

Enders' heart pounded wildly in his
chest, although anger dominated his expression. He was fearful,
yes, but he was angry and determined. “I can offer you bait and a
way to lure him out to you.”

The king raised an eyebrow, looking
skeptically upon Enders.

"My name is Eden Enders Hode. I'm
Robin Hood's son, and I am to inherit the land of Sherwood as a
prince of thieves."

Chapter
Eighteen

Three seconds.

That's how long it took for the king's
expression to turn from annoyance to absolute delight.

"I request a deal to be made," Enders
said, his eyes glaring up at the king.

"What is it?" The king asked, delight
still evident in his eyes.

"I request that you let
these men live, in one piece, and return to their safe havens. I
also ask that you do not bother them for some weeks. In exchange I
will offer myself as your bait for Robin Hood."

Harlow began taking steps
forward, her jaw hanging gently and her eyes taking in everything
happening in front of her. She started to reach out her hand to
stop Enders, to pull him back. A hand on her mind section stopped
her, making her eyes freeze and her body want to recoil. A voice
whispered almost inaudibly to her, “Don't.” She recognized the
voice, “He's doing this for you. Don't make him regret
it.”

Harlow felt the blood in
her veins turn to ice as Little John's words spilled out and
implied her own secret to herself.

She would have been more
surprised if it hadn't been for Enders doing something so intensely
unpredictable at this moment.

This was it, she'd lost all
control on everything.

Enders was giving himself
up.

Little John knew about
her.

Worst of all situations,
her grandfather sat upon a horse in front of her, taking away the
only person she'd ever truly loved.

The king held a raised
eyebrow as he contemplated the proposal before him. He eyed Enders
suspiciously. “How likely is it that he'll come for you?” A smile
still sickeningly hung at the man's lips. He wasn't asking out of
curiosity, he was asking to prolong the inevitable, to cause panic
and fear in the outlaws.

“
He'll come
for me,” Enders reassured, anger building in his voice. He knew the
angle that King Wesley was playing. “Contrary to your opinion,
Outlaws have a strict code of conduct. We're loyal to those we
love, especially our children, whom we protect with our lives.”
Enders said, the comment being a jab to the king about the daughter
he'd executed.

The king's delight faltered
slightly, flickering to annoyance at the mention. “Bind his hands
and get him on one of the horses.” He commanded the man at his
right side.

“
Yes,
Majesty.” The man stepped forward and spun Enders around to face
the Outlaws. The man pulled Enders' hands behind his back and
forced his head up. It was meant as a warning to all the Outlaws,
not to fall out of line with the governing royalty.

As Enders eyes went up, he
purposefully let them fall directly onto Harlow's. He tried to keep
himself calm, but Harlow saw the anger and panic behind his eyes.
He tried to offer her a small, reassuring smile, but Harlow's anger
was only brought to a boil by it. She furrowed her brows and kept
eye contact with him.

She didn't know when she'd
see him next, or if she would see him again at all. She feared the
worst and felt herself start to tremble. She tried to push it back,
keeping the anger up front.

Harlow swallowed gently,
knowing Enders noticed. She refused to smile at him.

Enders took a split second
to look past Harlow's head to the area behind her. She knew who was
behind her, that he'd dare to look at: Robin Hood.

Enders quickly turned his
eyes back to Harlow's, trying to comfort her with a small smile or
with softened eyes.

Harlow still felt her jaw
hanging gently and her eyes filling with anger as they turned
Enders around, so he could no longer see his fellow outlaws. They
ushered him up onto a horse on King Wesley's right side.

Enders let his eyes fall to
the floor, unable to take the pain of looking into Harlow's any
longer.

“
Say goodbye,
outlaws,” The king said, malice dripping with every syllable, “and
tell Robin Hood that his son is being held for ransom.” With that,
he shook the reigns to his horse and ordered everyone back to his
castle.

Everything happened in a
blur from that moment on.

She saw the final look in
Enders eyes as he peeled away from her in slow motion.

She saw the royal calvary
rush off the way they'd come.

She felt the anger flow
through her veins. She felt the intense pulse of her
heart.

This was a declaration of
war and Harlow refused to be on the losing side.

*~*~*

An intense fire of malice
and hatred rose in her veins as she saw the calvary disappear in
the distance.

Unexpectedly, her legs
unlocked themselves from their place and propelled herself forward,
running after the rushing calvary.

“
Everyone,
back to camp, now!” Little John's voice shouted out, the booming of
his words reaching Harlow as she sprinted after the
horses.

Branches and leaves
crunched under her feet, and her body weaved through wooden oak
trees as she dodged random foliage from clinging to her.

She saw the last horse
gallop through the thicket of trees across the clearing as she
burst through the forest debris in her way.

They'd disappeared again,
taking Enders out of her reach for good.

Out of breath and out of
options, she dropped to her knees, feeling helpless and defeated as
she did so. Exasperated, she threw her fists at the ground, an
angry, gruff, muffled shout escaping her lips.

Everything had gone quiet
as she sat defeated for a few minutes.

The sting of tears invaded
her eyes and panic rose in her chest. Initially she'd felt anger
only at King Wesley, but now she felt anger towards Robin, towards
herself, her father, and everyone around her. She tried to push it
aside as best as she could as she sat in the quietness of the
forest.

A cough sounded behind her,
a gentle sign that someone was there. Harlow knew who it was before
he spoke.

“
How long had
he known?” Little John asked, his tone quiet and
reserved.

Harlow sniffed quietly,
letting herself sit still, staring at the dirt before her. “What do
you mean?” She tried to deny what he'd implied of her.

“
Enders hated
his father. He would never have given himself up for his father. He
sacrificed himself out of love, yes, but not love for his
father.”

Harlow looked up at the
horizon that Enders had been taken through, letting herself stay
sad for a moment, before turning her eyes back to the dirt on the
ground. “Eleven weeks.”

Little John raised one
eyebrow and whistled. “Eleven weeks, huh? That's a long
time.”

Harlow nodded, picking
herself up from the ground, her legs trembling and her eyes still
fighting back tears of frustration. She found it easier to be angry
than sad. She let her back stay toward Little John, not wanting him
to see her in a weak state.

“
How did you
find out?” Harlow asked, rubbing her cheeks dry of the renegade
tears and composing herself.

“
Your father
is a good friend of mine,” He said, a small smile on his lips. “He
made me vow not to tell a soul, but only to watch over you and keep
you safe.” He looked over to the trees at his left before adding,
“Aldridge also knows. He tended to you when you were ambushed. He
found the wrapping at your chest and had Evie take care of you.
We're the only four who know, besides Enders.”

Harlow nodded.
“Aye.”

She looked back in the
direction that Enders had been swept off to. She raised one hand to
touch the brim of her hat, which was snugly placed over her
brunette hair.

“
Come on,
Henry,” Little John said, nodding back in the direction he'd come.
“Let's go back to camp and come up with a rescue mission.” He
offered.

Harlow nodded, rubbing her
eyes dry again and rolling her shoulders back once.

She wouldn't let every one
see her like this. She turned around and stalked forward, past
Little John, and made her way through the thick forest.

Harlow and Little John
walked in silence, Harlow's mind running rescue strategies through
in her head. She felt herself getting fatigued of the thought and
pushed it aside for the time being. She kept walking, her brain
focusing solely on Enders, and the secret he'd kept for so long:
His father was the infamous Robin Hood.

*~*~*

Her feet crunched over
leaves and twigs as she and Little John crossed a boundary line
into Sherwood City.

She stood amazed at the
sight before her, just as Little John had. The outlaw recruits and
every man available sat on the training fields, awaiting
instruction and a strategy of attack.

Everyone sat in different
groups, with the different people they knew and talked to while
they stayed in Sherwood.

Harlow noticed quickly that
the other team had returned and had been informed. Several people,
she noticed, were now murmuring and quietly talking in hushed tones
about Enders capture. Even more were talking about him being Robin
Hood's son and how they were shocked and surprised by the
idea.

“
Now that I
think about it, they do look very similar,” one man said, taking a
bite of his apple, one arm hung over his knee. The other man he'd
been speaking to responded with something inaudible.

As she walked past the men,
some people turned and gave her regretful looks and sad faces.
Everyone knew Harlow and Enders got along well and had been in
life-threatening situations before.

Now, Harlow walked toward
Robins cabin with her head held high and her face twisted in
anger.

She approached the door,
not caring to close it softly after Little John had gone
in.

Inside, Robin stood hunched
over the table, examining a map of the castle and the forestry
areas around it.

Next to him stood Will
Scarlett, who had his arms mostly crossed, with his right hand
under his chin as he stared down at the map as well. Two other men
stood off to the sides, leaning against the walls and trying to
think of what to do next. She'd recognized the men, but they
weren't the type of recruits that trained. Harlow guessed they'd
been in Sherwood for a while and were a rank or so above
her.

Little John stood still for
a moment before stepping forward and looked at the map of the
castle.

“
We could go
around the west bank and head toward the drawbridge.” Will Scarlett
offered, looking over the map, momentarily moving his hand from his
chin to speak.

Robin shook his head,
keeping his eyes still on the map. “No,” he pointed to the
entrance. “Only some of us would get in since they'd pick up the
bridge. That's the reason they have it there.”

Harlow waited, leaning up
against the door post, her arms crossed, and her eyes twisted in
distaste.

Silence followed for a
while.

“
What about
going through the east end plateau to attack?” One of the other men
asked, stepping closer to the map and pointing to an
area.