Maid of Sherwood

Chapter Thirty-Four

"Why not kill me immediately?" The sheriff panted. "You disarmed me; there is no reason for you to wait."

"I do not need to prove my worth by killing you," Robin said contemptuously. "However, killing you for Dulcina's sake would be my pleasure."

"I never harmed her. I kept her safe; I love her."

Marian eyed the guards watching them. They shifted from foot to foot without meeting her steady gaze. "I saw what you did to her," she finally said. "You branded her. What sort of a man does that?"

The guards shook their heads. "It is not right," one of them muttered. "I will be no party to murder." The others nodded in agreement.

"Cowards!" The sheriff spat. "Then be gone with you! I will deal with this outlaw on my own!"

"Hand him his sword, Mari," Robin commanded. "I will not murder a helpless man."

"Your nobility will get you killed." The other man promised. He accepted the blade from Marian, drawing it across her palm in the process.

"Oww!" Her hand welled with blood.

Robin's eyes went flat. "That is the very last courtesy I will do you," he said. Excalibur seemed to agree, its point pressing deeper against the sheriff's chest, leaving a spot of blood against his white shirt.

The sheriff flinched and stepped farther back. "I believe you promised me a fair duel," he said.

Robin brought Excalibur up to his face in a salute before striking out. Blue sparks rained down, but this time the sheriff was ready for the light and struck through it. Marian gasped when Robin barely deflected the blow.

"Help him," Marian pleaded with the guards.

"No, milady, this is not our fight." One of them said.

"Then leave," she snapped. "Run back to the castle like the vermin you have proven yourselves to be!"

The guards all looked at each other, then back at where the sheriff and Robin fought, blades sparking and clashing in a continuous bout. "If we take her back to the castle," one murmured, "we can still collect the bounty from Prince John."

Marian's eyes widened. "No, can you not see? I have not been kidnapped, I am not being held here against my will. What will taking me back to the castle accomplish?"

"My mum is a villager," one guard said. "I became a guard to work for the throne, not for a man who tortures women and holds them hostage against their will."

The first man spoke again. "Well, I could use the monies the sheriff promised us."

"Do you really believe he will pay us? Or even survive?" The second man questioned.

Marian glanced away from them and toward Robin.

Excalibur shed sparks as it beat relentlessly against the other blade. The two men thrust and parried their way across the clearing.

"I think either one of them could win," the first guard said. "I would prefer to have my payment, and I am sure Hood will not be the one to offer it."

"I will not go with you willingly," Marian stated. "And Prince John will hear the truth of the matter; that you have brought me to him against my will. What do you think he will do to you then?"

The men looked at each other uneasily.

"You could," Marian suggested, "take the sheriff back instead. After all, he was the one who kidnapped me, not Rob—Hood. I am sure the—the prince would reward you handsomely for your service."

"We could do that," the first guard said. He shrugged at the other men's incredulous looks. "I do not care where the money comes from, so long as it comes. But keep a grasp on her, just in case."

The second guard nodded and moved to Marian's side. She shifted slightly to the left, but kept her eyes glued to the scene taking place in front of her.

"What do you think John will do to your band of outlaws," The sheriff parried a blow from Excalibur, "if you succeed in killing me?"

Robin struck again. "The prince has never concerned himself with the outlaws of Sherwood. That has always been your personal vendetta, not his. And now you wish to lay claim to the throne itself?"

"John," the sheriff panted, "is not man enough for the throne. England needs a firm hand."

"England has one," Robin retorted. Excalibur began to glow a steady blue as Robin forced the sheriff further and further back toward a huge, towering oak, its branches heavy with moss and mistletoe."Richard rules here."

"Richard rules nowhere!" The sheriff screamed. "The king is not coming back! I will be the ruling power here!"

Excalibur's glow increased until the whole clearing was bathed in light. "I think the sword disagrees," Robin said.

"A sword does not have the ability to agree or disagree," the other man gasped, his back pressing against the tree trunk.

Robin smiled, sweat beading his brow. "This one does."

"Wait," the sheriff said. "I have heard rumors of a sentient blade—a blade nearly older than time... I know that sword! Prince John would give all the riches of the throne to own it!" The blade nearly leapt out of Robin's hand, thrusting deep into the other man's chest. In a leap of logic only the dying are allowed, he solved the sword's mystery. "It's Excal—" The blade twisted a final time, piercing his heart and forever silencing the word on his lips.