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I shook my head, squeezing the man’s neck. “Do you pay your men in silver coins?”
Winthrop stared, confused. “No…”
With one hand, I kept the man pinned in place. With the other, I revealed the contents of his pockets — a handful of silver coins.
“You don’t pay your men in silver coins, but Prince John does. I saw his guards paying off this traitor. He must have sent word to Prince John that Marian was here.”
“But…Henry…” Winthrop sputtered.
I scoffed. A good reminder for me never to trust anyone. Well, no one but Marian. And Robynne.
Don’t forget Willa and John, my lion chimed in.
Reluctantly, I added the sheriff to that list, because you didn’t have to like a man to trust him.
And Alan and Martin and Rob— My lion stopped on the cusp of adding Robert. Okay, maybe not Robert. But the others, yes.
All in all, a pretty impressive list. An army, one might say. An army I would be proud to fight with.
I squeezed the traitor’s neck, ready to finish him off. His feet were dangling above the ground by then, and his voice was a wheeze.
“You’re a man of God. You can’t kill.”
Ha. If only he knew.
“I can kill the devil,” I snarled, continuing to squeeze.
But one of Father Benjamin’s sermons echoed through my mind just then. Something about mercy and turning cheeks…or was that the one about a serpent?
I wasn’t really sure, because I rarely paid attention in church. But, still. I’d obviously picked up some trivia.
I didn’t know whether to be proud of myself or aghast. But I did know one thing.
I had no more time to waste. Marian’s life depended on it.
I threw the traitor to the ground and all but snapped my fingers at Winthrop.
“I need a horse. Now.”
Never mind that he was a lord and I was a mere friar. The woman I loved was in danger, and I was in a rush.
His eyes bored into mine. Then he nodded and turned to Jacobs. “Do as he says.”
Minutes later, I was thundering toward Sherwood Forest.
Chapter Seventeen
MARIAN
Well, Tuck was right about one thing: the part about things going wrong.
Prince John didn’t ride in the carriage with me. He rode his own horse, giving me no opportunity to slit his throat.
Damn shame.
At least I had Lady Winthrop for company. She’d insisted on accompanying me, saying it wouldn’t be proper for a young lady to travel without a chaperone. She kept a straight face at the time but winked the moment Prince John turned his back.
And boy, was I happy for the company.
