The Queen Of Arrows

Chapter 12 - The Value of a Memory

Only out of the corner of her eye did Marian see the gleam of light from a sharp blade that struck her in a wide arc. For a second, her whole life passed before her inner eye. If she hesitated too long now, she would be dead. Quickly she unsheathed her own sword and, in the same breath, jerked her whole arm upwards to somehow intercept the blow in a desperate act.

Her whole body groaned under the weight as the force of the attack met her blade. Metal clanged and groaned as the swords scraped and clashed under great pressure. Marian's arms trembled, knowing she had no chance against the guard. His strength was too great, his experience in battle too great.

Then she suddenly moved aside and let all resistance against the attacker die. He had not expected this and stumbled a step forward. With one swift movement, she was around him, dropped the sword, and grabbed the counter's chair instead.

She smashed the chair into the guard's back with all the strength she could muster. Wood splintered, two legs broke off, and the guard landed on the floor with a groan. To make sure, Marian hit him again so that he would certainly stay there.

Her chest rose and fell in great, frantic breaths. Her knees seemed soft, and her nerves were stretched to breaking point. Her gaze slid from one incapacitated guard to the next. The guardroom was silent, except for the soft panting of the men and her own heavy breathing.

"I told you that plan would never work!" hissed Robin venomously, and with a great stride, he climbed over one of the guards. Although the battle was won, for now, they had no time to lose or to take a breath!

"Quick. Let's pack up what we can, and then let's go," Robin suggested. He quickly emptied one of the wooden boxes where the trinkets had been collected and put the coin pouches inside instead. Such a pouch was far more valuable and harder to retrieve. "If the sheriff finds out that two men took out the count master AND four of his guards, he'll go nuts!"

Marian helped him; then her eyes fell on collected rings and chains that had been stacked on the desk. Hastily she grabbed them and scooped them into the tax bags.

"What are you doing!"

"They had no right to take that away from them!"

"That little trinket isn't worth anything! Leave it!" Robin murmured. He just couldn't understand what she wanted with that trinket. Sure, one or the other might miss their marriage band. But she couldn't figure out who owned what anyway! The stubbornness of this woman was driving him insane...

Marian held one of the amulets in front of Robin's nose. It was made of thin sheet metal and had nothing of the jewels the nobles wore around their pale necks. An S and an M had been engraved into the silver in almost amateurish letters. It had probably been chased from an old coin, but Marian could imagine a man or a son, perhaps a romantic admirer, giving away his last silver coin to create this little thing from it.

"Sometimes little things like that are worth more than a bag of silver or gold, Robin. It doesn't matter if you can buy something with it. It might mean a lot to someone. There are thousands of coins that are almost the same, and you trade them without regret... but something like this? This is unique."

Robin looked at the dangling piece of silver on the worn leather strap.

Marian's eyes latched onto the swinging pendant. "I inherited a brooch from my mother... the stone is partially blind. The little thing is hardly worth anything now... and yet it is more expensive to me than it would be to have a box filled with jewelry," she murmured softly, her voice rough under the weight of memories. "Memories and feelings make such things priceless."

Robin fell silent.

"If you say so. But we'll deduct that from your share," he finally said, tossing another bag into the box before rising. Although he tried hard to sound indifferent, Marian thought she detected a tiny change in how he looked at her at that moment. Maybe, just maybe, Robin had actually understood what she was trying to tell him.

"Since this trinket is hardly worth anything according to your own words, it should hardly diminish my share," she returned and reached for the second handle of the box.

Robin gave what sounded like a mixture of laughter and snorts. Perhaps he wasn't sure himself which of the two would be more appropriate.

Instead, they hurried towards the door.

"We have to hurry. They will discover this mess very soon." Marian wasn't sure if the muffled sound was her boots on the ground or, rather, her bumping heart.

Before, the silence had caused tension in them; now, it seemed threatening and treacherous.The box was incredibly heavy, and its contents tinkled softly with each of their steps.

Sweat soon stood on Marian's forehead, and her fingers burned from the exertion. But she could think of nothing else but getting Robin and the loot out of here as quickly as possible... and take off those stinking clothes. They couldn't be caught. No way!

"This way!" Marian led Robin to a narrow staircase hidden behind a door, barely allowing one person to slip through. The spiral staircase led down with steep steps and was only sparsely lit. "This is a servant's passage. I'm sure the guards won't take it!" she whispered, and Robin frowned at the sight of the narrow passage.

"If we fall here, we'll alert the whole castle with the noise."

"Then this is your chance to show how skilled you really are, Hood," Marian returned. "This is the shortest way. All the others lead through the corridors - and soldiers are everywhere in them."

That seemed to tickle Robin's ego enough that he jutted his chin and returned the confident grin to his features.

"All right, follow me, princess."

Twice Marian almost tripped. With each step, she felt more sorry for the servants who had to use these stairs more often. Finally, they reached the door on the ground floor. Breathing heavily, they both set the chest down to take a second to breathe.

"From here, we only have to go through a corridor, and from there, we can go through the south staircase into the stables," Marian whispered, at which point Robin's hand suddenly shot forward, and he pressed it firmly over her mouth to silence her. Marian smelled sweat, gun oil, and the leather of his gloves. Immediately she paused, not daring to move a muscle.

Robin released Marian from his grip and hastily shut the door until only a small gap remained. Somewhere in the corridors, they heard the rattle of chainmail and footsteps. And that sound was approaching! It came closer and closer. With each step, Robin and Marian's nerves grew increasingly tense. Was the guard coming this way? Would he discover them?

Then suddenly, it became quiet.

Marian blinked and thought her heart wanted to jump out of her chest with nervousness. What was going on? Why was it suddenly quiet?

Robin seemed just as tense. He raised his finger to his lips and then very slowly leaned forward. Just enough so that he could peer through the crack in the door into the corridor. Abruptly he backed up and pressed Marian more clearly into the shadows.

"Damn!"