Page 6 of Queen of Sherwood

I glanced out the corner of my eye at Little John, not sure how to answer that.

“It’s possible,” he said for me. “Though we’ve worked hard to mitigate that. I’ll admit, I haven’t been back with the Merry Men long enough to know for sure—I don’t know all the new recruits intimately like I once did, or hold the same status with them.”

“Pah,” Friar Tuck grunted with a wave of his hand. “Everyone loves you, Little John, and you’re still likely the most well-respected and admired among us. I won’t hear this self-pity from you. It’s gone on long enough.”

Robert and Gregory searched our three faces, a bit of concern and surprise showing on theirs.

I recognized Tuck’s mistake right away: It was not wise to sow doubt among people we’re considering forming an alliance with. There couldn’t be internal strife among our leadership, even if I understood Tuck’s frustration.

John still had not completely recovered from his . . . vicious assault, while imprisoned by Sheriff George. I feared he never would, at this point. I was the only one who knew of it, far as I knew, and I intended to keep it that way.

I gestured at my giant lover. “Little John is our most accomplished tactical mind. Robert, you have experience in that regard, as do you, Uncle Gregory. Can the three of you work together?”

Robert said, “Of course we can. I don’t foresee any issues there—”

“Having three heads in a war room instead of two is a good thing, for democracy’s sake,” Gregory pointed out. “We will always have a two-to-one vote on ideas. Good for innovation.”

Robert clamped his jaw with a glare at our uncle, evidently miffed that he was interrupted.

It seemed our side wasn’t the only one with baked-in tension.

“Except it won’t be just the three of us, will it?” my brother asked Gregory. “Briggs will be there, and Robin, I assume.”

“The mathematics still works,” Gregory drawled. “That’s five. An odd number, if I’m not mistaken.”

I recognized my uncle and my brother were getting a bit testy, and rather than sitting back to let them hash it out, I tried my own hand at mediation, by taking the onus upon myself. “You’re forgetting our three other leaders: Friar Tuck here, as well as Will Scarlet and Alan-a-Dale.” I held a hand up when I saw Gregory’s mouth open. “Which, yes, I recognize is no longer an odd number, with eight people at the table.”

“I don’t like it,” Robert said, shaking his head. “Not because of odds or evens. Because I see it playing out with everyone voting on party lines. We have three votes. The Merry Men have five. That’s hardly fair, especially given the Oak Boys’ larger size.”

He made a good point.

“Then we reduce our votes from five to three,” Little John said easily. “I’ll count myself out.”

“As will I,” Friar Tuck added.

“No!” I blurted. They can’t just give away their roles like this! We didn’t agree on any of this beforehand. If anything, I’d rather have Tuck and John in the war room than Will and Alan. Will, because he was too angry, and Alan because he was too nice.

“Then we’re back at an even standstill,” Gregory said. “Three votes apiece. Although there are worse—”

“Christ Almighty, boys!” Bess bellowed, a palm on her forehead. “You lot are giving me a headache. Talk about missing the forest for the trees!”

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the most elderly stateswoman of the group.

Bess scolded us all with her rheumy eyes. “Enough getting bogged down by numbers and votes and all that flotsam. The important question is all that matters tonight, and the details can be regarded as time passes.”

Robert tilted his head. “The important question, Bess?”

“Yes, foolish boy. Are we allying or not?!”

Her voice bounced off the thin tarp-walls of the tent.

Bess certainly had a knack for simplifying things, in a digestible way.

“Bess is right, again,” I said, nodding. “The details can wait.”

Briggs muttered, “We’ll be sorry if we put it off for too long and then can’t agree on a damn thing later down the road . . .”

“What was that, Briggs?” Bess scolded, leaning over the table toward the far side where the captain sat.

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