Page 43 of Far From Sherwood Forest (Far From #3)

“Robin!”

The moment the prince’s fingers release the string, time fractures.

The twang of the bow is sharp enough to slice through the chaos it’s left behind in its wake. The arrow leaps forward, a glint of steel spinning through the air, and my stomach drops like a stone. My heart slams against my ribs, frantic and furious.

I can’t get to him in time.

My legs feel as though they’re moving through mud. The single beat my heart makes in the time it takes for the arrow to fly through the air feels as though it might be its last.

All I hear in that instant is some cruel truth whispered in my ear.

I’m about to watch the man I love die.

But then something shifts in the corner of my vision—a fast and desperate blur.

It’s Will.

He hurls himself forward, shoving Robin back just as the arrow slams into him with a sick, wet thud.

“Will!” Robin’s scream echoes through the hall.

Will staggers, the fletching quivering from where it sticks out from his stomach. His face contorts in pain as he stumbles backward. Robin catches him, and they both go down onto the stone floor.

The knights surround Prince John, taking the bow from him and slapping his wrists in irons.

“Get him out of here!” the king shouts.

As they drag the prince out of the throne room, he continues ranting hysterically, going from pleading to sneering and back again. I don’t pay attention to any of it because all of my focus is on Robin as he supports his cousin’s head in his lap.

I rush over, my sword clattering to the stone as I drop to my knees on the other side of Will. His breaths are shallow and ragged, each one like sand slipping through an hourglass.

“Will, you fucking idiot.” Robin’s voice cracks and breaks as thick tears well in his eyes.

“I told you I’d follow you to the ends of the earth, Robin,” Will says, his own voice weak and shaky.

Robin’s entire body hitches with a sob.

It’s a strange feeling to experience this ache blooming in my chest at the sight of Robin in anguish while simultaneously feeling relief that he’s alive. That it’s not him lying on the floor with an arrow in his gut.

The rasp of Will’s breath mixes with the hammering of my own pulse. The arrow sticks out from his lower stomach, a little to the left, and I know better than to pull it out.

“Take off your cloak,” I tell Robin.

He does, handing it over. I wrap it around the shaft of the arrow and apply pressure, drawing a choked scream from Will.

Maybe I should let him die. It’s his fault Marian is dead. Then again, maybe the prince would have just found another way to do it if Will hadn’t been so easily manipulated.

He saved Robin.

As far as I’m concerned, that absolves him of his sins.

Lifting my head, I yell as loudly as I can. “Ivy!”

I don’t know if she’s listening. I don’t know if she can hear me. But I’ll be damned if I just sit back and let Robin lose someone else.

Ivy appears right beside us in the middle of the hall seconds later, a flowing dark green robe draped over her shoulders. Her black hair is a foot longer than it was yesterday, more braids scattered throughout. She seems to fit better here. The Spirit of Sherwood Forest.

“Ivy, please,” I beg her while I continue applying pressure around the arrow. “Use your magic and save him.”

A frown etches deeply on her face. “I can’t do that, Henry.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!”

It’s like I’ve completely forgotten that the throne room is crowded with knights and courtiers and the king himself. I don’t give a fuck what they think right now or that all their eyes are on us.

I take a deep, shuddering breath in an attempt at some semblance of calm. “You healed my injuries from your goddamn bear. Why can’t you heal him?”

“Those were wounds inflicted by magic,” she answers. “So they could be healed by magic. That’s not the case with this. I don’t have that kind of power. I’ve told you my magic has limits.”

There goes my other idea to have her keep Robin from getting sick as often back in our other world.

I look away from her in time to see a tear slide down his cheek as he stares down at his cousin.

“There’s gotta be something,” I mutter desperately.

John—Little John, not the prince—pushes his way forward past the knights surrounding the king. “A hospital,” he says. “Back in that other place. He’ll have a better chance there than he does here.”

It makes sense he would be the one to think of that considering all the times he probably took Robin to one.

I look back at Ivy, pleading again. “Can you take him there?”

She nods. “Of course.”

There’s a spark of hope in her eyes that manages to reach me.

“I’ll go with them,” John says as he kneels beside me to take my place, taking over applying pressure to Will’s injury. He peers between me and Robin and then over to Alan and Tuck who are watching us, their brows creased with worry and their eyes wet. “Robin has some goodbyes to make.”

I nod as I realize what he means and sit back on my heels before turning to Ivy once more.

“I’ll come right back for you. I promise.”

I realize what she means too, and this time, I trust her.

“It’ll feel like just a minute,” she says as she glances at Robin. “I’ll make sure he gets help.”

“Thank you.” His words are a whisper because I don’t think he’s capable of anything stronger right now. He peers back down at his cousin. “Hang in there, Will.”

A moment later, Ivy, John, and Will are gone with a puff of displaced air that blows through my hair. Gasps and whispers float through the hall in their absence. The only ones who don’t appear shocked are Alan and Tuck and…strangely enough, the king.

Robin drops his head, and his shoulders jerk with a silent sob. I slide across the floor toward him, avoiding the blood that Will left behind. Placing my hand on the side of his neck like I usually do, I bow my head close to his so only he can hear.

“He’ll be okay, Robin.”

I say it because I want to believe it. Because I don’t want Robin to lose him.

He lifts his face, his eyes meeting mine as he sniffs back more tears. “Thank you.”

“I told you we’re done hurting each other. That means I’ll do everything in my power to stop anything else from hurting you too.”

A tear slips free and glides down the tracks left from the others on his cheek. “I should’ve gone with him.”

“Ivy will be back for us.” I look over at Alan and Tuck. “And I think John was right.”

Robin follows my gaze, his frown deepening as he stands to his feet. I follow as the other two approach us.

“I take it you two aren’t coming?” Robin asks, his voice still raw, choked with even more emotion.

“We all talked about it, and Tuck and I have decided to stay,” Alan says.

“We still have people in the forest. If things are finally going to change around here, then we want to help them and the others in Nottingham. Will was undecided, but it looks like his decision might have been made for him. I think deep down he wanted to follow you wherever you ended up anyway.”

A faint, sad smile crosses Robin’s face.

King Richard takes a step forward, looking at Alan and Tuck. “After what you’ve all done in the service of Nottingham, you two are always welcome a place in my court.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Robin says with a bow of his head.

“Thank you , Robin of Locksley. I have a feeling none of this would’ve been possible if it weren’t for you. I’d probably be dead on the road right now.”

Robin peers back at me with a small grin. “The Sheriff is to thank more than I am.”

“Then thank you as well, Sheriff.”

I bow my head, but it’s mostly to hide a grin of my own. If Richard had been around the last couple of years in Nottingham, he’d know how ironic that truly is.

Robin turns to the king once more, his grin gone. “I’m sorry about Marian.”

“As am I.” His face falls, his gaze full of grief. “You two would have made a lovely pair.”

I look away and try really fucking hard not to roll my eyes. I should probably feel bad because…yes, Marian is dead. I shouldn’t let what the king said bother me.

But Robin Hood is mine .

If Marian is waiting for him in the afterlife, she’s in for a big surprise.

There’s no way in heaven or hell I’m letting her have him.

Before I’m too tempted to say any of that out loud, Ivy reappears in the middle of the hall. Robin and I both face her, waiting for news with bated breath.

“Will is in surgery.” She looks from me to Robin with a smile. “I think he’s going to be okay.”

The air tumbles from his lungs, his shoulders sagging as the tension he had been holding onto is lifted. He slumps over a little as though it had been too much to bear.

Relief floods my chest. “Thank you, Ivy.”

“Of course. By the time we get back, he’ll probably be out of surgery and resting.

And no need to worry about anything else.

” She gives me a little smirk, a sly twinkle in her eye.

“When we arrived there, he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and the arrow had turned into a knife. Funny how that just happens.”

I’m glad she thought about that because I hadn’t.

“Ivy.” King Richard takes another step forward, a kind smile on his face and familiarity in his gaze. “It’s good to see you again after so many years.”

She turns to him with a similar expression. “You as well, Richard.”

I suppose it makes sense that the king would know about the Spirit of Sherwood Forest, but…damn, why am I a little jealous? It seems I’m more possessive than I thought, even over Ivy.

Which is ridiculous.

She’s a pain in my ass.

“When you return, we should sit down and have a talk,” the king says.

Ivy makes a little noncommittal sound and shrugs. “I’ll think about it.” She winks at him before turning to me and Robin. “Ready to go home?”

Home.

With Robin Hood.

Abso-fucking-lutely.

Robin turns back to Alan and Tuck one last time. “You both take care of yourselves.”

“You too, Robin,” Tuck says.

“We’ll always be brothers.” Alan reaches out and grabs onto Robin’s shoulder, a smile on his face despite the hint of sorrow in his eyes. “Please tell John and Will that as well.”

“I will, Brother.”

They all exchange hugs, and I find myself a bit sad that Robin has to leave them behind. However, he has me. He has John and Will too. He’ll be okay, and he’ll never be alone. I’ll make sure of it.

When he comes to stand beside me, he gives Ivy a nod and says, “Ready.” Then he faces me, reaching out to brush his fingers down the length of my forearm before threading them with mine. A mischievous grin plays at the corner of his lips, and his eyes sparkle. “One last act of rebellion, Sheriff?”

“Oh, absolutely, Robin Hood.”

With my other hand not holding onto his, I grab him by the back of the neck and pull him to me, pressing my lips to his as a wave of gasps passes through the hall.

They fade away as we do too.

There’s a breeze. The world shifts.

It’s my turn to play the thief as I steal the legend of Robin Hood from Sherwood Forest, taking him with me as we return home.