Everything I Do: a Robin Hood romance (Rosa Fitzwalter Book 1) by M.C. Frank Page A

an effort to keep more from coming. Slowly she placed her fingers on top of his and leaned against his strong arm. To her surprise, he didn’t remove his hand.
    Then he finally spoke, in a voice trembling and gruff, and she felt her heart breaking for him.
    “They took Will,” was all he managed to say.
    Rosa’s heart stopped. That was worse than anyone being injured.
    “I fought,” Robin continued, his voice breaking, “I fought as hard as I knew how. But it wasn’t enough. They took him. Alive, of course, I mean. I wish he had been killed.”
    “No, don’t say that, master,” she said urgently. “I’m sure you do not wish so, for now there is the hope that you can free him and…”
    “You know well there is no hope of that,” he said brusquely. “You of all people, living in the castle, you should have heard of tales about the dungeons, how closely they are guarded. That is nigh on impossible.”
    She had heard tales about the dungeons, and she had even visited a portion of the famous prison. That’s why she said what she did next.
    “It is impossible for most men. But most men are not Robin Hood.”
    Robin turned and looked at her, his heart in his eyes. Then he abruptly faced away.
    “My girl, you…” he murmured in a choked voice and the rest of what he was going to say was drowned out by a pitiful, muffled sound.
    Rosa looked at him in surprise. Suddenly she realized that his shoulders were shaking, and, her heart breaking for him, she put a tentative hand on his sleeve.
    He turned to her abruptly and buried his head in her neck, his arms crushing her to him desperately. She held him as he cried in strong, manly sobs that racked his whole body, and felt tears stinging her own eyes at the sound of his almost inhuman pain.
    The sudden realization hit her, as she waited for his despair to subside, that he was little more than a lad himself, forced to fight the battles of a thousand men. Hundreds begging to be rescued, everyone expecting of him the impossible and yet he still fearlessly, relentlessly strove for what was right.
    Rosa held him tightly, helplessly, but soon he had himself in control again and he got to his feet, after gently holding her against him for a second.
    She stood next to him and he retrieved the pail in one easy movement. Then he started walking in measured strides, so that she could follow his pace easily. Suddenly, he turned to face her.
    “Rose,” he said and stopped.
    “Yes, master?” she asked, still feeling a little shaky from they way they had touched only moments ago.
    “You will not leave my side when we go out there, and I’ll have to face them, will you?”
    “I won’t,” she answered, trying to calm her racing heart.
    “Good,” he said.
     
     
    Afterwards, he insisted that it would be too dangerous for her to spend another night in the forest and almost forced her on her horse, just as the torches were being lit around the campfire. Rosa did not protest overly, even though she hated to leave him, because she knew the danger of which he spoke was far greater for himself and his men if she stayed.
    As she mounted her horse, her spirits were very low indeed; for she feared that this had been her last excursion into the forest. For all she knew tomorrow could be her wedding day, and the execution of Will Scarlet a wedding present from her father to Sir Hugh. She shuddered violently at this thought, and Robin noticed.
    “You are cold,” he said reproachfully and quickly removed his cloak to put it around her shoulders. Rosa wanted to protest, for she thought the reproach was intended for her weakness, but she knew if she spoke, the tears that were gathered in her eyes would finally spill.
     
     
    To reproach her was as far from Robin’s thoughts as anything. His mind was working in quite another direction.
    He still berated himself for that kiss. He had so worried about keeping her safe, and had finally gone and done such a dishonorable thing to her