Page 36 of An Earl for the Archeress

“What else is their purpose?” she asked.

“For hiding,” he said. “Highwaymen have recently been harrying the Sheriff of Nottingham when he goes on outings to evict the next unlucky soul. Alas, he abuses his power, and much of what he does is for his own gain. Much like what his newfound friend does, the Sheriff of Ayr. Mayhap you know him?”

A quick glance around the room told her his men, leaning upon the table with goblets in one hand and coats slouched open, had put the rather simple clues together. She was related to the Beast of Ayr. Most likely she was the flighty daughter.

“Why would you need to hide?” she asked. “Have these men started plaguing you, too?”

No one answered the question, but a knowing smile lifted Will’s mouth as he sipped his wine, and Jonathan gave a nonchalant exhale as he leaned his bulk on his elbow against the table. Robert looked at them all, a smile tugging at his lips, yet not quite lifting them, then squared himself in front of her as he, too, leaned an elbow onto the table, sipping his wine lazily.

“Wait,” Mariel breathed, watching his rings glitter in the light shining through the windows. “Don’t tell me you are…” She shook her head. “You’re the ones behind the harassment? You’re the thieves?”

“We prefer to call ourselves Good Samaritans.”

“How so?” she demanded. “You led me to believe at the tourney that the woods were unsafe for me because of thieves. And it’s you I should have been wary about all along?”

“Oh don’t go acting like you’re shocked by the ways of the world,” Robert said. “Men scheme. And we here are men. Well, except for you. But we scheme for the good of others. We generally target William de Wendenal of Nottingham. Surely you can appreciate that, considering your fath–” He cut himself off, but she didn’t need him to finish the sentiment. Considering her father was cut from the same cloth.

“Oh, I see,” she said. “But it matters not whom you steal from. You’re still stealing.”

“No,” Alan said, the quietest of the group. “We appropriate what was ill-gotten and put it back to good use.”

“And I can see its good use,” Mariel remarked, giving a sweeping gesture of the extravagance around her.

“Don’t imply I steal for my own gain,” Robert said, his voice suddenly serious and his expression stern.

“What, then, would one assume?” she asked, perching a hand on her hip in a way only a woman scolding a child could do.

“Mayhap you should not assume,” Will chimed in, taking another sip of wine.

She looked at Will, then at Alan, and Jonathan. David the mute was no doubt thankful from his posture that he couldn’t speak to put his foot in his mouth.

“What do you do with the money, if you don’t keep it?” she finally asked Robert.

“It’s given to charity and people who need it due to Nottingham’s cruel edicts. Basically, given back to the very people who were wronged in the first place.”

She shook her head and folded her arms. “And what am I supposed to do now that I know of your deceitful ways?”

Robert’s face lit up with a boyish grin and he braced his hands on each of her shoulders to command her full attention. “You’re to join us. I need your archery skills as well as your disappearing talents, because, heaven knows Little John here is a lousy shot and hard to hide.” He flashed an impish look at Jonathan, who straightened up and puffed his chest with offense.

“What?” Jonathan demanded.

“Oh, ’tis the nickname Elmer bestowed upon you.” Robert laughed as the others began to snigger.

“What?” he exclaimed, glaring at her now.

“I told you she had named you for, em, your size, did I not?” Robert added to the rising laughter amongst the others and the growing rage boiling on John’s face.

“Robert!” Mariel exclaimed and smacked his arm. “That was not my intention!”

“What other intention would you have, woman, except to insult me after I showed you kindness?” John groused.

“Well, are you little, John?” Will taunted.

The others chuckled. John’s lips curled up in a confident smirk as he turned his glare on Will. He ripped his tunic aside to reveal the dusting of hair on his toned stomach and began to tug at the laces of his breeches.

“Do you need to see to pass judgment?”

Mariel whirled around and threw her hands over her face, knowing heat crawled across every inch of her cheeks. “Keep yourself decent!” she implored, only to hear a rumble of laughter. “Oh, you all are purely vile! I didn’t make up the name! Robert did! And I was referencing your actual, em, size! In full height and breadth!” She turned around to see John grinning, winking at her and lacing back up his trousers as the other men laughed uncontrollably.