Wood's Eternal

Chapter 3

"You idiots! Can't even steal a key?" Prince John shouted, the heads of the twins hanging low in shame.

"We did try to come up with the plan." Rolf said.

"But it just didn't work" Ralf added.

"Obviously it didn't. You thought of that" Prince John sighed, "Maybe I will have to think of something myself." He said as he walked out of the courtroom, coming face to face with his sister.

"Marion!" He exclaimed, making his way towards her, eyes eying the bag that hung across off her shoulder, "Going somewhere?"

"Uh, yes." She answered.

"Where?" He asked.

"Just around the village, why?" Marion answered, getting suspicious.

"Maybe I can accompany you. It has been a long time since we spent some quality brother-sister time together. What do you say?"

"No thanks." She said, stepping away from him and down the stairs, "Besides, you must have some other things to do."

Grumbling, Prince John made his way back into the palace, getting out of the watchful eyes of Scarlet, who stood in the kitchen.

"He is not up to any good," She muttered.

"Is he ever though?" The voice of Little John echoed from behind.

"When did you get here?"

"Just now. Don't worry, I am pretty sure Robin has a plan." He sat down next to her, "So, anyway I can help you right now?"

Scarlet gave him a warm smile, "Sure," she said.

---

"I find it funny how just yesterday you were not even accepting the thought of me helping you and look at you now," Robin chuckled, "Asking for my help."

"Can you please take it seriously?" Marion said, "King Richard has put his faith in me. I don't want to let him down."

"Don't worry Marion," Tuck said, "We have this all sorted."

Marion sat down on the ground, "Is there anything that I can do? Or are you guys just going to do your thing leaving me feeling useless?"

"What?" Robin asked, eyes full of concern.

"What?" Marion replied, trying to ignore Robin's question.

"Nothing," he answered, clearly seeing that Marion does not want to talk about it, "I think you should focus on your practice."

"No," she replied packing up her things, "I think I am done for today."

"Oh," Robin acknowledged, "Okay."

"I should get going," Marion said, but stopped on hearing Robin's voice.

"You don't have to guard the key anymore," He said, "It is fake anyways."

"Okay?" Marion replied, confused as she walked back to the castle.

"Do you think she will be alright?" Tuck asked after Marion left.

"Yeah," He sighed, "No time to think about that. Bring the box out Tuck."

Obliging, Tuck went to the back to pull out a chest, identical to the one used by the royal family. "See," he said, "I understand why it is a good idea to just replace the chest with the fake one, I just don't understand why we need to hide it from Marian."

Robin sighed, "I don't want her to feel like we don't trust her enough to keep it safe."

"Well, do you?"

"Yeah, of-course I do," He defended, "It's her brother that I don't trust. What if he goes straight for the chest instead of getting the key?"

Tuck nodded, "Understandable, but again, how do you plan to replace a whole chest in a castle we can't enter without the help from the girls?"

Deep in thought, Robin narrowed his eyes, "We'll think of something."

---

"Taxes! Pay up your taxes," announced the guard as he entered the town. The three boys sat at a roof top, hiding behind a chimney waiting for a perfect opportunity.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Tuck asked as he looked at the empty chest and then down at the guard who was forcing people to give up the last of their savings.

Robin looked at him, "Have our plans ever not worked?"

"To be fair," Little John said, "They are more thought through than this."

"Come on," Robin rolled his eyes, "They are almost done lets go down there."

Pulling out his bow, he shot an arrow towards the guards, "Are you leaving without saying hi?" He mocked, urging the guards to run towards him in an attempt to catch him. He jumped from one roof to another, occasionally getting down on the ground or stopping to shoot an arrow or two, but mostly just to lure the guards away.

While he distracted the guards, Tuck and Little John silently slid off the roof and exchanged the fully loaded chest with the empty one, giving Robin a signal that the task has been done before hiding in the cart themselves. Seeing that, Robin shot a smoke arrow causing the guards to stop and lose their vision.

"You know what," one guard coughed, "We got the taxes, and he didn't try to steal them away. Let's consider that a win and just go back."

Hearing that, the three boys hiding in the cart smiled and high-fived each other.