“We have to work on your fame among the public.” Eva walked beside Robin in the green trails of the Sherwood forest. “The interest of the Sheriff is not enough.”
“I am already quite famous.” Robin shrugged. “Although till this point of our adventure, I don’t know why I should be.”
“Everything will clear out in due time.” Eva sat on a hollow log. “By the way, did you give the gold from the last heist to the good friar?”
“Just as you said, half to the good friar and half to the men.” Robin sighed. “Another thing I will never understand.”
“As I said, you will see the wisdom of all of this in due time.” Eva stood. “Did you hear about the reward the Sheriff put on your head?”
Robin laughed. “One hundred pieces of gold. The highest ever offered for the capture of an outlaw.”
“Well, we need to raise it to ten thousand pieces, then we will collect.” Eva jumped a stone in her way and landed on her tiptoes.
“What? You would sell me out?” Robin grabbed her arm violently.
“Sometimes I doubt the wisdom of choosing you.” Eva sighed. “I said we will collect, WE, as in you and I.”
“I don’t understand.” Robin had to let go of her arm as she turned a full circle focing him to let go or face a broken arm. “How can WE collect, if the prize is for my head?”
“It will be clear to you once we tip the hand of the Sheriff to run a contest in skill.” Eva sped her pace ahead. “What weapon are you most skilled in?”
“The quarter staff.” Robin almost fell as he ran after her. “But I am also good with the sword, and fair in the longbow.”
“Hmmm.” Eva stopped. “We need a skill that can be adopted by a nobleman, and commoner. The quarterstaff is too low for nobility, and the sword is not available for most commoners. You have to hone your skill with the longbow to its maximum.”
“But why should I do all of this?” Robin faced her with a puzzled expression. “The longbow is not a very good tool for robbing carriages and tax men, the sword is a hundred times more intimidating for instance, and the quarterstaff is more effective.”
“Didn’t you listen to any word of what I said?” Eva sighed. “It has to be for the contest.”
“What contest?” Robin threw his arms in the sir in exasperation.
“The one Lady Marion will convince the Sheriff of Nottingham to run of course.” Eva winked.
***
“Your ladyship, it is an immense honor.” A middle aged man with the frame of a fighter and the scarred face to prove it, bent almost double in front of Eva.
“Please rise, dear Sheriff.” Eva reached with the tips of her fingers to touch his shoulder. “You are such a gracious host in such tumulus times.” She sighed. “My poor uncle had been captured by the Arabs. Oh my dear uncle Richard, how I miss you.”
Eva swooned, and the Sheriff rushed to help her up. She brushed his cheek weakly with the back of her hand.
“Lady Marion, I assure that prince John, your other kin, would return his brother, King Richard, to his throne with all due diligence.”
“Of course, you must be right.” Eva sat on the soft cushioned chair the Sheriff led her to. “Still, till my uncle comes back, the land cries in outrage for all the atrocities done to it.”
“My lady?” The Sherif towered over Eva with a scowl that turned the scars in his face into a mockery of sieged wall hiding his features.
“Please, take no offense, my dear friend.” Eva pulled a silk handkerchief from the pocket at her side and dabbed around her nose and under her eyes. “I am certain that you spare no effort in catching the criminals around your fair town.”
The sheriff’s scars danced in anger around his face. “I am, and I will catch that wretched outlaw, soon.”
“But I heard that he is too elusive, like a ghost.” Eva fanned her handkerchief over her face. “Such a criminal has to be lured, and pulled in like a fat trout, not chased like a fox.”
“Oh?” The Sheriff pulled a chair and sat in front of Eva. “How so?”
“Well, just as my dear uncle pulled the Arabs from behind the walls of Aka, he lured them out. Say that this outlaw is skilled in some weapon above all others, and seeing that he craves the adulation of the commoners, he would love to flaunt it to them. This would be the way to lure him out.”
“I am sorry your ladyship, I am not sure I get your point.” The sheriff looked at Eva in confusion.
“I see, it is a trait of the men around here as I have heard.” She sighed. “You can run a contest in whatever he is skilled in, let say, archery.”
“Archery? Why would an outlaw seek perfection in archery, it is not practical for highwaymen like him and his men.” The Sheriff scowled.
“Then you should seek info about him then, for I heard that he is a rightful master of the longbow.” Eva gnashed her teeth in frusteration.
“If a contest should lure him, then by the name of the king, I shall make it so.” The Sheriff beat his chest hard. “As long as we are certain of the archery thing, such an uncommon practice for an outlaw.”
“So, I have learned.” Eva shook her head and pursed her lips.
From Another World
If you liked this chapter of this serialized story, be sure to read the prior chapters Here: They call me Robin, They Call Me Robin, Tax Collector, and They Call Me Robin, The Good Friar.
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