They stared at each other across the divide of everything that had ever passed between them.Baron stood tall and powerful. His father, miserable, humiliated, and defeated.
The sheriff’s eyes went glassy. His body crumpled to the forest floor.
He didn’t rise again.
“Goodbye,” Baron whispered, the word final and hollow.
I let the bow slip from my hands. I didn’t take lives lightly, but for Baron, I would have fired a thousand arrows. If anything, my only regret was that this hadn’t happened years ago.
The feud was over.
Baron’s tormentor was gone.
I walked to Baron and gently took his hand, threading my fingers through his.
“Are you alright?”
He exhaled shakily, as if he’d been holding his breath for years. “I am now.” Baron finally tore his gaze from his father’s still form and pulled me into him, wrapping both arms around me and crushing me to his chest. His chin settled on the top of my head.
“You’re free,” I whispered into his tunic. “I’m glad you chose me.”
He drew back, just enough to search my face. “About what he said…the things from my past…” His voice cracked. “I should explain?—”
I pressed a hand over his heart. “I’ll forgive you your past, if you’ll forgive me mine. We don’t owe each other confessions we aren’t ready to give.”
The relief that washed over him was immediate and overwhelming—like watching a man lay down a great boulder he’d carried alone for far too long. “Thank you,” he breathed.
As one, we turned toward Father, Dale, and Little John. Panic fluttered in my chest until Father waved me off. “Don’tworry about these two,” he said gruffly. “They’re tough old hens. They’ll be squawking around in no time.”
Still, I moved to kneel beside Little John first. Blood streaked down the carved line across his chest, but his eyes blinked open and focused on me. “That’s going to be a fine story one day,” I said.
He huffed a weak laugh and winced. “I’m going to need a better excuse than ‘The sheriff tried to cut me in half.’”
Dale, on the other hand, lay sprawled in the grass, still unconscious. I checked his pulse—steady. His breathing—strong. “He’ll have a terrible headache,” Baron murmured. “But he’ll live.”
Another wave of breathless relief broke over me. I stood and slipped my hand naturally back into Baron’s. His fingers dwarfed mine—warm, steady, real. He squeezed gently, and I felt it all the way to my ribs.
I glanced once more at the scene of the fight. “Come on,” I murmured.
He didn’t resist as I tugged him away.The rest of the Merry Men would turn up soon, I knew. Then they would want to hear the dramatic tale of our adventure with the Sheriff of Nottingham, and of his demise. Baron didn’t need to hear that or see the reminder in the form of the bodies littering the clearing.
We slipped quietly into the trees and made our way to the clearing we had celebrated Baron’s induction to our band in. Baron sank down with his back against a tree, exhausted in a way that went deeper than bone. I sat beside him, leaning my head on his shoulder. His arm wrapped around me instantly and I closed my eyes.
I had been wrong about heaven. It wasn’t sunshine and clouds with golden gates and angels singing.
It was this. It was the warmth of Baron’s arm around me and the cool breeze playing across my face.
“Laurel,” Baron said softly. “I love you. I have for a long time.”
I smiled, eyes still closed. “Well, of course you do. I’m pretty amazing.”
He gave a startled laugh that I opened my eyes to see, then narrowed his eyes at me. “What, nothing to say back?” he challenged.
“Oh, were you expecting something?” I gasped dramatically and sat up a bit. “I mean, I would apologize for killing your father, but I’m not sorry for that.”
He rolled his eyes and tilted his head back against the tree, letting out a quiet laugh. “You really are the most difficult prisoner I’ve ever had.”
I shrugged out from under his arm so I could turn to face him. Cupping his face in both hands and guiding him toward me, my thumbs brushing the faint scruff along his jaw, I told him what he so clearly wanted to know. “And I love you too, Baron.”
