Scarlett

To Ann, from your Secret Santa.

The wind blew in from the desert, harsh and cold. It gusted through the small township and played across the flat roofs of the squat, sandstone buildings that gathered along the main dirt track through the town.
Will Scarlett gathered his fur-lined cloak around his body and entered the small wooden building, pulling the door tightly shut behind him. His lantern bathed the interior in a warm glow and he paused for a moment to regard the small space with pride.
Wooden structures were a rarity in this land, where the harsh desert environment called for more solid materials to be used in the construction of homes and outhouses. But Will had a talent with wood, learnt from his father, and there were certain knacks that could never be forgotten. In fact, he had become a popular resident in their town due to his flair, and was often called upon to build or fix. It was one of the reasons he had been accepted so quickly after his conversion to Islam.
Crossing the small space, Will placed the lantern on the table wedged into the far corner and pulled out the chair tucked beneath it, settling himself onto its hardwood seat. He gathered together the parchments set out in neat piles on the smooth oak surface and pulled the ink and quill closer.
Upon settling in Acre with Djaq, Will had set about learning all he could about the Muslim faith to assist with the stages of his conversion, and Djaq had been happy to help. One of the tasks she had assigned him was to learn to read so that they could study the Qur'an together, and she took on the role of his mentor.
Will had a hungry mind, and he learnt quickly. Within months, he had a decent knowledge of both the English and Arabic written word, and asked her to teach him how to write.
He looked down at the parchment before him and touched it, almost reverently. His own work. A brief outline of his life before Islam. Eventually, Will wanted to flesh out the story, but he'd need Djaq's help. For now, he was jotting down notes, and memories.
It was something he had considered doing for a short while upon beginning his lessons, but had never pursued any further. However, two months before, his brother Luke had arrived in Acre, almost two years and five months after Will and Djaq. With him, he had brought devastating news.
All those years ago, Will had asked Robin to send word to Luke once he had arrived back in England, but Will had never been sure if the message had reached his brother. Will's decision to leave his old life behind for Djaq meant that he had to accept that events in England were out of his control. He had to move on. But at times, it was difficult. He often wondered how the gang were doing; if they'd defeated the Sheriff. If Robin was still grieving for Marian.
It was only when Luke arrived in the Holy Land that Will and Djaq had learnt the awful truth. The Sheriff had been defeated and killed in an explosion at Nottingham Castle. But Robin and Allan had also died in the battle.
Will and Djaq had mourned for a week, and Will was filled with regret at not having returned to England with the gang. Maybe there would have been a different outcome if he'd been with them. Maybe his friends wouldn't have died. But, as Djaq explained to him, now was not the time for looking back. It was a time for celebrating the lives that had passed, and feeling thankful for having known them. There was no use in holding himself back by dwelling on the things he could no longer change.
But he couldn't quite shake the feelings of guilt. It was keeping him awake at night, and he spent many an hour grieving his previous life and the people he had left behind. Should he have returned to England with the gang instead of staying in the Holy Land? Deep down, he knew the answer to that. His life there, with Djaq, was everything he had hoped for, and he wouldn't ever want that to change. Yet his grief and a vague feeling of guilt continued.
Eventually, as it began to affect his day-to-day life, Djaq suggested that he should write it all down. He was no longer able to explain to Robin the real reason behind his decision to remain in the Holy Land. His explanation at the time had been vague, citing his impending marriage to Djaq, and his conversion to Islam. Will had never told Robin about his fears and worries; there hadn't been time, and wounds had still been raw.
So instead, upon Djaq's urging, he decided to write it down in an effort to purge his conscience of the weight of the guilt that wasn't his to carry. But as he laboured away on his writing, it became the beginnings of a memoir, one that spanned his entire life to date. He hadn't meant to do that, but it felt right. It felt almost cathartic to sort through the jumble of thoughts and memories that plagued him, and to put them onto parchment as an account of what he had lost, and what he had gained. At the moment, it was brief, the bare bones of what it was to be, but he could already feel it beginning to ease his mind, and to bring people back to life in his imagination.
Picking up the first pile of parchment, Will began to read through what he'd already written.