The Greenwood Shadow (27 page)

She looked down at his face, which had grown eerily pale. Something lurched in her stomach, and she had to turn away again.

"Did you ever expect to get mixed up in this? I sure didn't. My uncle told me once that I might be surprised what I could do if I just tried. But I never thought I'd actually be trying. Trying and failing so far. Just look at you. This might have never happened if you never knew me."

"That's alright. I forgive you."

The reply was horribly weak, but Evey still had to stifle a scream.

"Isaiah!!"

She nearly toppled on to him in her rush to check the state of his illness. She pressed her hand against his cheek, and then to his forehead.

"You're awake! Your fever is leaving! You scared me to death!"

"Well, since you wanted to keep score, we'll count that as two for me, I think."

He coughed with the effort of speaking, and cleared his throat several times. She gave him some water, a little at a time, so that he could swallow it.

"Isaiah! I'm just... and you'll be okay... and what on earth were you thinking? Really? You nearly died! I can't believe you! How could you do that to me?"

"And to think I expected you to be glad to see me," he whispered hoarsely, with a wink.

She pushed his hair off his forehead and checked his temperature again, just to be sure.

"I am," she replied in a calmer voice. "I'm sorry. You know I am. But I thought you were dead. Do you know what that did to me?"

"I think I have a pretty good idea. Recall a certain foiled execution."

Evey suddenly felt guilty for blaming him. After all, because of him she had escaped unscathed. For a moment she couldn't find the words to thank him. She was still too traumatized by his death and re-appearance.

Despite his weakened state, he still seemed to be able to tell what she was thinking. He moved his un-bandaged arm, and took her hand.

"I would do it all over again, for you. All of it. You can't blame yourself for anything," he said.

His voice grew stronger as he used it more.

"You should try to eat." She felt suddenly very awkward.

"Now that you mention it, I am famished." He was obviously disappointed in her change of topic. "How long have I been out?"

"Eight days."

"Eight? Well, no wonder I'm starving."

He tried to sound lighthearted, but Evey still noticed the forced cheer.

She reached for a loaf of bread, tore a piece off and gave it to him, forcing him to release her hand. She wanted to grab it back, but she knew she shouldn't.

He struggled for a moment. Then she realized he was trying to sit up. His face tightened, and he tensed for a moment, to let the pain pass.

Once he'd lain flat again, he stared at the bread as if deciding how to tackle it from a horizontal position. Evey took her blanket and rolled it into a tight bundle. She leaned over him, and lifted his head, to prop it with the make-shift pillow.

For a few seconds her face was inches from his. She froze there, inexplicably paralyzed. Heat flushed her cheeks. A moment later the spell broke. She rested his head on the blanket roll, and moved away quickly.

"Isaiah?"

"Yeah?" he grunted more than said.

"I... I don't actually know what to say."

"That's a first." He sounded harsh and bitter.

She stopped herself from taking his hand again. "Don't be mad at me."

"I'm not."

He looked away.

"You are. I've just crushed you to pieces, haven't I?"

"Quite literally."

She took a deep breath.

"You know we can't – you and I won't – that we'll never–"

Her voice cracked, and she cursed herself for stumbling so badly. She looked to him for the words, and a tiny smile re-appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"I know," he whispered. He took her hand again. She couldn't find the will to pull it away.

"But what about our–"

"Weddings?" He frowned. "I'll keep my promises, and you'll keep yours. But I need you right now."

She turned her face away.

Isaiah squeezed her hand. "I know it can't go anywhere, but without you, I'd just as soon not wake up ever again."

"Don't say things like that!" She intended to stop there, but the next words leapt from her mouth. "I couldn't be without you either."

She blushed profusely. It was true, of course. He meant more to her than anyone else had ever done. She realized that even as she spoke the words.

Isaiah squeezed her hand again. Somehow she knew exactly what he meant by it, even without words. The air had to be cleared. The subject had to be addressed. Now they both knew where they stood, and things would go on exactly as they had before.

Well, almost exactly.

She gripped his hand a little tighter, as if afraid it might not be there when she woke. By the time morning came, she was more tired than she had started. She had spent a thoroughly restless night reminding herself that Isaiah was fine. He was there next to her, and he wasn't going to go anywhere.

Instead of brooding on it, she took up her bow and slipped away into the woods, hoping to find some meat. She was tired of dry bread.

The sun peered over the horizon before she found anything. A small bird foraged around in the pine needles for its breakfast. Evey took aim and was just about to fire, when the bird flew away in a panic. Animals tended to have sharper instincts than humans, and she knew she hadn't caused it.

With that in mind, she went into defense mode. She froze against the trunk of a large tree, practically disappearing from view. It took several minutes for her to hear what the bird had known long before. Someone came their way, and they were anything but silent.

Now that she had a direction, she stalked closer, keeping her arrow nocked and ready. Silent, and invisible, she approached the intruder only to discover that it was Lance. He held a pouch, which she assumed was full of bandages and bread. When she was as close as she could get, she stepped into his path, which made him start. He dropped the pouch, and she laughed.

"We really need to work on your forest skills." She dashed forward and picked up the pouch. "Five minutes ago you scared a bird away right as I had it in my line of sight."

"And we really need to work on your people skills," he grumbled. "Stepping out of nothing like that is enough to give a man heart failure."

"You're young. You'll survive," she said. Then she added, "The fever broke last night. He woke up for a little while."

"Robin?"

"No, John. He just woke up and told me to tell you that he was having a great dream. Of course, Robin!"

"How was he? Did he speak?" Lance asked.

"Yeah, some," she answered vaguely.

She was not about to reveal the topic of their conversation to anyone.

"And he remembered everything? His mind was good?"

Evey started rifling through the pouch, as much to avoid eye contact as to see what was in it.

"Yes. It's the best thing he's got right now. It will be a while before he can even sit up without pain."

"That doesn't surprise me at all," Lance said with a nod. "I'm just glad he's recovering. I worried that I didn't get to him in time."

They reached the camp, where they found John awake and boiling water. Evey went to Isaiah and examined his bandages. She accidentally prodded one a bit harder than she had planned to. He groaned and opened his eyes.

"Sorry!" she said quickly.

He just answered with another groan.

"I'm so glad to see you awake, Robin. How are you feeling?" Lance asked.

"Broken."

Evey leaned over him. "What do you need?"

"A new body."

"I think you've had a negative influence on him," Lance laughed. "There's never a shortage of sarcasm around here."

"How do you know I didn't get it from him?" she asked innocently.

Lance just stared at her.

She smiled and turned back to Isaiah. "No, really. What can I get for you?"

"I want to sit up. I don't want to just lie here anymore."

"You really shouldn't," Lance said.

"I know that, but I can't see or do anything like this, and my back is like an oak board. I need to move. If we go really slow, and both of you hold me up, we can do it."

Evey looked to Lance, who shook his head and repeated, "We really shouldn't."

"Oh, come on. It's my body. Just do it." Isaiah's tone grew sharp.

"Fine."

Evey went to his right side, and Lance to his left. For a while they discussed the best way to move him without breaking open any of his injuries. Isaiah tapped his fingers impatiently. She didn't blame him. Wounds like that could make anyone irritable.

Before they could come to any conclusion, an arrow whistled through the air and hit the tree only a foot above Evey's head. She immediately grabbed her bow and fit an arrow to it. Even while crouched, she could aim accurately, and she returned the fire. Moments later an unseen person squealed as the arrow hit.

By this time John had his crossbow and hammer. Lance had drawn his sword and Will sat up looking confused. More arrows sailed in. None of them hit their mark, and all four of the defenders crouched flat, waiting to catch a glimpse of their attackers.

Evey crawled forward, staying low. After two yards she had a clear view of three different men, all holding bows and wearing swords. She wanted to laugh. If the king's guards were so bad with crossbows, she could only imagine how hopeless they would be with longbows.

John fired as rapidly as his crossbow would allow him. He wasn't hitting anything either. The attackers had hunkered down behind large trees, and he had no clear shots. But he provided a good distraction, which Evey took full advantage of. In a flash, she raised herself to her knees, took aim, and fired, before throwing herself flat again. One man went down with an extremely painful hit to his calf. The others fired wildly in her direction.

Their aim was worse than the first volley.

Lance was only just behind her, and John was less than ten feet away.

In a whisper, she said, "I can see two men. More might be hidden. But from the looks of it, you should be able to sweep them clear, while I covered you and stay with Robin."

Far to the rear, Will called, "I'm coming. I'm coming."

She counted to three in her head, and then took another shot from her knees. The soldiers were quicker with their return fire, but not quick enough. They missed her completely. While they re-nocked arrows, John, Lance, and Will stood up and charged.

Evey was right. There had been only two more bowmen, and there were also many other soldiers hidden further in the trees. At the sound of the clash between the archers and the defending men, they came forward, engaging in a full scale battle. Evey counted at least ten of them.

Three she easily dropped with arrows, but the rest were too close to her friends. She didn't doubt her aim, but she did doubt her ability to predict the battle flow. Finding that her long distance advantage was gone, she dropped her bow and groped for her father's sword, which had been lying nearby.

She tried hard to remember every important thing that Isaiah had taught her as she charged into the fray. Without her bow she wasn't very effective in the fight, but Lance and Will were both sufficiently talented to balance her shortcomings. John was less skilled, but when he hit someone, they stayed down.

Most of the attackers went down quickly. After a few minutes, there were only two left - her combatant, and one that held his own very well against Lance. Will and John immediately noticed this, and closed in on the man she fought, which allowed her to back away. She gratefully took the reprieve.

Something caught her eye as she looked around. She turned quickly to see an eleventh man stalking toward Isaiah, sword drawn. Isaiah made a hoarse, frightened sound that stirred her into action. She didn't have time to run to her bow.

Sprinting as fast as she could over the dozen yards between them, Evey dropped her sword and leapt. Her flying tackle knocked the man cleanly from his feet. Like a cat, she landed gracefully, straddling the man's now prone form. She only realized that she had been furiously beating him when John pulled her off and held her arms behind her.

In the moment it took to restrain her, the man had jumped to his feet and taken off into the forest.

"Come back here, you coward! Try that again! Try it! I dare you!"

Will looked her in the eye. "Marion-"

"Let me go. Let me go!" she shouted.

John did, and she shook her arms out while asking, "Who were they?"

"I know this livery," Will said.

He kicked at a fallen soldier. Lance looked too, and swallowed hard.

"It's from the castle. These are the king's personal guards."

Suddenly Evey understood, and screamed out in fury.