Sherwood Forest: Homecoming

By Laura McVey

When Robin of Locksley returned to England after fighting in the Crusades, he expected a quiet homecoming. He did not expect to find his home burned and his family kidnapped by the Sheriff of Nottingham- but now that he has, he must battle to save his people from the treacherous Sheriff.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Laura McVey
• Release date: Jun 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311675880

Laura McVey

Laura McVey is a university graduate with a minor in history, though neither of these things seem to have done her any good yet. She writes stories about heroes and kissing.

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Sherwood Forest: Homecoming

by Laura McVey

Copyright 2014 Laura McVey

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Robin had known pain before. When he and Marian had laid their children in the ground; when he had first rode away to join King Richard; at Jaffa when he had seen his dreams of salvation crumbling before him. He had thought that he was no longer capable of such feeling; that he had suffered so greatly that his heart had quietly admitted defeat. He had thought to return, a broken man, but one who could still fulfill his duties to his people.

He had been wrong.

To any outside observer, the scene would appear peaceful enough. The ruins of Locksley Manor were blanketed in snow that hid the worst of the burned timbers, giving the impression that the building had burned down decades earlier. There was no sign of life- not even deer prints or squirrels venturing out to perch on the wreckage of the chimneys. It was as if the ghost of a manor loomed out of the falling snow, a monument to people who had lived and died before Robin had ever been born. There was no sign of the people he had seen here, not two years earlier, going about their lives. The manor servants had vanished. The groundskeeper was nowhere to be seen. And Marian and his father and Will-

Robin swallowed convulsively against the bile that had risen in his throat.

John stepped up behind him, the crunching of his feet in the snow the only thing to break the eerie silence. What happened here? he said softly. Robin had known John to speak softly before- as a physician, it was a necessity of his profession- but this was not a gentle sort of quiet. This was a hush borne of shock.

It shook Robin out of his stillness, and he stumbled forward, falling to his knees in the snow. Marian? he called hoarsely. Father? Will?

John’s hand fell on his shoulder. They’re not here, Rob.

They must be, he said numbly. His lips were cold. They can’t-two years, John! I was only gone for two years! How could-

His voice cracked, and he turned his face away, ashamed. John’s hand tightened on his shoulder.

Whatever happened here, he said, it wasn’t recent. This destruction isn’t the work of a few months. Look- He reached out and brushed the snow off the nearest stone. The mortar’s already wearing away. He looked around. We won’t find anyone waiting here.

They must be somewhere, Robin said weakly. Nottingham Castle, perhaps, or the Sheriff’s manor. They must.

They are, John said immediately, though Robin knew from the tone of his voice that he said it to be comforting rather than out of any real conviction. We’ll ride to the castle and ask for them there. And we’ll travel through the village, yeah? There must be some there who know what happened.

Excuse me.

Both men turned, having entirely forgotten that there was a third member of their party. Shaima stood where Robin had left her, holding the horses’ bridles with one hand and gripping her cloak shut with the other. She glared at them, brows knitted underneath her hood, eyes dark- as usual-