Page 47 of Queen of Sherwood

“Your would-be rapist. Yet you could not shove the blade into his chest.”

“I wasn’t a killer.”

Sadness wrapped around my heart. I didn’t dare touch her in this moment, as much as I wanted to, because I knew she would flinch. She was lost in her own thoughts again.

“The past tense being the key part there,” I said softly, trying not to anger her.

When she finally looked up at me again, the glint of tears blurred her eyes. She blinked them away and sniffed. “I don’t know what to do about it either, Will. Or how to fight it. But I won’t deny it’s happening any longer.”

“Then that is the first step.” This time, I did step into her and wrap my arm around her body to bring us together.

I was not one to coddle, and Robin had always preferred my tough-love approach anyway. I wouldn’t change that now, even if she was trapped in a moment of weakness.

A thought came to me. Perhaps that is my place here? Not an enforcer of swords, but an enforcer of confidence, as she said. “I know what you’re going through, little thorn, because I’ve been there.” My lips ghosted over the shell of her ear. “And I think I know what’s causing it.”

“What?” she gasped.

“You feel everything.” My hand curled around her chin, the pad of my thumb brushing her cheek. “And that is your burden to bear. The pressure has built so much, you wrap everyone’s pain around you like a quilt. I’m not just talking about the pain caused to you, but the pain of the entire band.”

She faltered a step back. “What are you saying?”

“You’ve come so far from your life as an heiress and noblewoman, and have flipped in the opposite direction, Robin. My family, too, was once respected and esteemed. As you’ve seen from the Ravenshead incident, that is not the case anymore. With you . . . you hold it all so dearly. You take everyone’s pain and make it your own. And, at a certain point, the frustration and sadness, the futility and indignation of it all, has boiled into sheer rage.”

She looked scared gazing into my eyes, and I could only wonder what my orbs reflected in that moment. I suspected I was a smoldering ruin of wrath—the same man Robin had first been frightened of, yet had come to love.

“By God,” she whispered, shaking her head. “I think you’re right.”

I nodded sagely. “Now, when you see a tyrant, you imagine their death. You want retribution rather than fairness. You’ve reached a point of discontent with the lords of this land that the rest of us reached long ago. It’s a frightful place to be—knowing your own savagery. You’re no longer the scared lordling from your father’s carriage. I suspect Sir Thomas’ death at your hands was the first step in your transformation, in fact.”

“It was the day I became a killer.”

“And also the day you became a Merry Man.” I frowned and shook my head. “Snuffing out the root of the problem, however valiant, does not unburden you from the feelings that build after it.”

She paused. Mulled that over with a furrowed brow. “You’re wiser than I imagined, Will. Especially for your age.”

I snorted and rolled my head back. “Age has nothing to do with it, little thorn. It’s experience, and I see my own mirrored in yours.”

“Do you have any suggestions, then?”

A smirk flicked the corners of my lip. “To not become like me, you mean?”

Shame clouded her face. She shrank a bit, which was the last thing I wanted. I wanted my woman strong and bold, because that was the only way we were ever going to defeat our enemies and find peace.

Ever so slightly, she nodded.

“Sadly, I don’t. I’m not the man for that. I can point out everyone’s problems, I suppose, but I’m damned when it comes to fixing them, much less my own.” I laughed at myself incredulously. “A hell of a trait, I know.”

She gave me a shy smile, looking up at me from under her wavy hair. “I wouldn’t change a thing about you, love. I want you to know that.”

My eyes blew wide. “I . . .” I cleared my throat. “I would.”

She cupped my cheek again. “All of my men are unique. You are the fiercest. I believe that is your place here, Will Scarlet: to instill that fierceness in everyone around you. To remind them of their strength. Now that you’ve pointed out what’s violating my mind, I think I can work to figure it out. So . . . thank you.”

She kissed me again.

We held the kiss longer this time, and I felt truly at peace for the first time in ages.

NEXT MORNING, I AWOKE rejuvenated and with purpose. I didn’t even need to claim Robin the night before to feel the determination coursing through my veins.

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