ROBYN

13th century

She slowly pulled back the bow, sighting the deer. To kill this creature could mean horrible things, but Robyn had killed in the Sherwood forest before. She knew the consequences, but she was exceptionally good at dodging them.

4 years earlier

Robyn felt sick, the Prince had devised cruel and unusual punishments for hunting deer. She nervously strung the bow, remembering everything Eald had told her and was telling her even now.

"Pull it back slowly, keep pulling back, and then don't consciously let go, just let it happen. Always expect to hit your target." She gritted her teeth, knowing that he had no idea what this was doing to her, breaking one of the kingdoms laws. She, more than anyone else, should know what would happen if she got caught. She had seen it plenty of times as the Prince made her watch his cruelty.

She struggled for a moment with her conscience, but finally pulled back the bow, as she had been taught, and the arrow flew from her bow. Living was more important. She hit the buck.

~…..~

Robyn smiled as she remembered Eald, how he had taken her under his wing, taught her to shoot, to hunt. She was forever in his debt, for he continued to help her, to help her people. They were preparing for the coming winter, with his help. He had survived in this forest, in the winter before, and now, he would be teaching her and several more how to live in the forest.

She slowly got down from her perch in the large tree, and crossed over to the fallen doe. She grinned, this one had fat on her, something that was becoming scarce as this drought continued. Her smile faded, as if she didn't have enough to worry about, keeping her people alive with a drought going on was next to impossible. She sighed, there was nothing like keeping her hands busy while trying to sort out all the thoughts and worries running around in her mind. She set her hands to the task of gutting the doe, then hauling it back to camp.

Johanna met her half way, sporting her own doe. The exceptionally tall woman gave her a smile, and said her usual line, "The Lord has been gracious."

Robyn nodded . She couldn't agree more, as outlaws, she couldn't imagine how the Lord could get any more gracious.

The pair, silent, comfortable in their own thoughts, headed to camp. Rilla Scarlock met them at the entry of their camp. Silly as it may have seemed, Rilla asked, " Who goes there?"

It wasn't that Rilla didn't know them, Robyn just required everyone on entry duty to ask this of everyone. Robyn didn't expect anyone to get this close to the camp, but this was an extra safety precaution. They were, after all, outlaws, wanted in the worst way by the Prince.

Them, her people, she couldn't keep calling them that. They needed a name, a strong name. Without warning, a conversation she had had with her uncle floated into her head.

Prince John's voice, loud and harsh, "What we need are Ansgars, warriors. This mess with the Arabs has gotten out of hand, my brother needs to come home and stop dallying with his maniacal notion of being a hero for his country. Although he is giving me free reign with his country." Robyn could still see his smile, like he was planning more harm for the helpless people of his country.

Robyn rolled the name through her mind. Ansgar, her people were warriors. Even the youngest, a fiery 12 year old named Reeae, was a fighter. They had all had a rough life, even Robyn sometimes. But no knew that, they thought she was a noble. She didn't want to let them know she was royalty yet.

Her thoughts roiled around as she skinned the doe, preserving as much as the fur and meat as she could. The meat, they would eat, the fur they would wear. Johanna worked beside her, glancing at her friend once and a while. Johanna knew that Robyn was under a lot of pressure, and she tried to help out wherever she could.

Eald walked up to them, whistling. "Nice hunting ladies!" He smiled at the red head who was bent over her work. "Robyn, we truly are doing well, the Lord has been very merciful to us. If we continue like we have been doing, I am confident we will make it through the winter," Eald said reassuringly.

Robyn glanced up, her smile wan. "But what I worry about is whether we will continue to do well." She bent her head, and continued working. Johanna and Eald exchanged a glance, then both continued with theirs too.

~…..~

Just after the two women had finished their work, an alarm sounded. Robyn quickly grabbed her bow and the quiver of arrows, and ran to the ladder the led to the intertwining branches and trees. Before she could scramble up, there was a quick tug on her tunic. Robyn looked down at Reeae, who looked up with pleading eyes. Robyn had heard her plea before, but only hesitated a second before nodding. Reeae grinned, and clambered up the ladder after Robyn.

When they got to the top, they didn't hesitate before running across the branches tied securely together. The alarm, a bird call, sounded every five minutes, leading the archers towards it.

Soon, Robyn saw the cause of the alarm. Five men on horseback were riding on the road through the Sherwood. Three of the men looked like soldiers and they were glancing warily at the surrounding trees. However, they would not find the hidden shooters, for they wore clothes that were dyed to blend in with the trees. The other two men looked like nobles.

Robyn could not make out the leaders' features, but the way they carried themselves showed the distinct mark of nobility. Robyn quickly decided on the way to handle the situation. She whistled softly, signaling that she wanted eight shooters on the ground, two in front, two on both sides of the riders, two in the back. She didn't want any to get away. She also signaled that she wanted everybody still in the trees to pick one man to cover. They would shoot on her command. After she made sure everyone understood, she gave the signal to drop.

Landing lightly on her feet, with Johanna by her side, Robyn confronted the riders. The two nobles looked on with calm and ease as eight archers dropped out of the trees. The other three had apprehension all over their faces. As soon as they were on the ground, all lifted their bows, with arrows notched, in unison. The archers' faces were covered with hoods, to protect their identity, required by Robyn.

"What business have you here?" Robyn asked, short and blunt. The dark colored man grinned and said, "You sure get to the point. We are searching for the hidden outlaws who are said to live in this wood. We mean no harm to anyone."

Robyn glanced at the swords that were drawn by the soldiers, lifted her eyebrows, and lazily said, "Convince me, tell your men to put away their swords, and if you don't run away, we will not shoot you. You should be glad we don't shoot first, and ask questions later."

The man looked at the men and nodded, resulting in swords being slid into sheaths. Robyn nodded to her women, which resulted in bows being lowered. The man looked at Robyn, noticing how her body never relaxed, prepared for whatever came next. He got down from his horse, and presented himself saying, "My name is Duncan of Beorne, at your service."

Robyn reeled, her head spinning. Duncan? He had done some growing up, that was for sure. But then again, so had she. Trembling with excitement, she relaxed, and stepped forward, motioning to her women that all was well.

"Duncan?" she breathed. "Why are you here?" she asked louder. He looked confused, and she remembered that her hood covered her face. She flipped it back, and almost felt the surprise around her. Her women were surprised because she had always stressed to never show your face, you would definitely regret it. Duncan was surprised, and so was his nobleman friend, who Robyn recognized as Aiden of Oakland.

"Robyn? How did the-" he quickly changed what he was going to say at her look. " How did you end up here? As an outlaw?" The stress on outlaw was very subtle, but Robyn got the message. Duncan was probably wondering why she didn't want him to mention that she was the King's daughter. That thought flew out of her mind as he wrapped her in a hug.

Robyn couldn't help but stiffen a little as he put his arms around her. It was an old habit, but one that was formed after that last time he saw her. He noticed, she could tell, because he tightened his hold, then let go. He stood back, his hands still wrapped around her arms, and looked at Robyn, closely. When Duncan looked into her eyes, she was sure he saw stress, tiredness, and something that he hadn't ever seen in her eyes, deeply hidden fear. She had never been afraid of anything when he had known her. Ever.