The Thirteenth Summer Page 3

her. She had asked John to wear a helm, and over it a cloak, so that he was not recognized. The contest was being held at the estate that had been stolen from John, and, although he was still opposed to Fria's plan, he agreed to participate. The team staggered their entrance, and merged into the throng one at a time. They kept an eye on the sheriff, even as he and his spies sifted through the crowd. Fria handily won each competition, and soon the archer in the green cloak was marked as Robin of the Wood. The final contest was between the top archer and Guy of Gisbourne. A prudent combatant would have made sure to miss the mark, but Fria was not so politically minded.

  Gisbourne shot first, and the arrow struck dead center of the target.

  "Do you concede?" he asked. "You cannot hope to have a better shot."

  Fria said nothing, but smiled as, over Gisbourne's shoulder, Alan took Marian's hand and led her from the spectator's box and toward the edge of the wood. The whistle of a kestrel caused Fria to look up, but she saw no birds in the sky.

  She stepped forward and pulled an arrow from her quiver. She nocked it, and the crowd fell silent.

  She felt her own heartbeat as she pulled back the bowstring.

  She breathed deeply, willing her heartbeat to slow. Then she found its rhythm.

  In between pulses, she let the arrow fly.

  Fletching scattered and wood splintered as her pale arrow drove straight down the black shaft of Gisbourne's.

  Another heartbeat, then the crowd roared.

  Fria reckoned that while her father, the sheriff, was evil through and through, he was not stupid. He would not risk the wrath of the crowd by making a spectacle of seizing Robin of the Wood. It would be subtle and unobtrusive, a knife in the ribs, or poisoned drink. She was prepared.

  The sheriff raised Fria's right hand in victory. She did not pull back her hood, and her father failed to recognize his own daughter. "We have a champion!"

  Fria inclined her head.

  The sheriff presented the golden arrow, but whispered next to Fria's cloaked ear. "Robin of the Wood, you are a marked man. I will see you in shackles before nightfall."

  Fria put the golden arrow into her quiver, as she would any common arrow, bowed again, and turned to leave. She passed behind John, and a green-cloaked figure emerged from his shadow, but it wasn't Fria. Fae folk are most excellent shape shifters, and Tuck imitated her perfectly. The sheriff's spies would follow him for a while, until Ash, John and Fria were safely free of the compound, then he would shift into his usual appearance. In the meantime, Fria, hidden between John's massive form and a small alcove, slipped the golden arrow into his belt, and turned her cloak inside out so that now it showed blue. She let it cover the bow and quiver altogether.

  John left the compound first. Then Ash, followed by Fria. When she arrived at the rendezvous point, she looked at her sister. She had grown into a pretty young woman with porcelain skin and haunted eyes.

  "I hope you do not pine overmuch for your groom," she said to Marian.

  Marian looked longingly at Alan. He smiled back. "This misadventure may yet save me from the poisoned chalice I had prepared myself."

  Fria threw back her hood, "Marian, my sister! Never, ever entertain such ideas again. You are safe now."

  "Fria!"

  The two sisters embraced each other, and tears glistened on both their cheeks.

  "Where is John?" Tuck asked as he lumbered up to the group.

  "John?" Fria released her sister and looked around. How had she failed to notice he was not there? "We must find him! Alan, stay here with Marian and keep her safe."

  Fria ran back down the path towards the archery competition. A noise to her left caused her to change her course and follow a barely discernable trail. She proceeded through the thicket, following the sound she had heard earlier, for perhaps a furlong, before she came to a clearing.

  John was on his knees, face swollen and bloodied. Guy of Gisbourne stood behind him, the edge a sword pressed under John's jaw. Blood trickled down his throat.

  "Did you really think I wouldn't recognize this spawn of dogs?" Gisbourne said. He let his human disguise drop, and his long forked tongue flicked over his hard, scaly lips. The pupils of his tawny eyes contracted to vertical slits in the afternoon sun.

  Fria took a step forward. "Release him. It is me you want," she said, realizing too late that the kestrel's whistle she'd heard earlier had been Ash's warning that there was a demon about.

  "Very noble. But I intend to kill both of you. Or perhaps all four of you." His mouth gaped in a gruesome parody of a smile.

  Tuck and Ash had caught up with Fria, and stood behind her. There was a nearly imperceptible click from her right. She watched out of her peripheral vision as John's hand inched toward Gisbourne's boot. Guessing that he was trying to give her a chance to escape by yanking his captor off his feet, and almost certainly cutting his own throat in the process, she whirled to her right and took the open demon trap from Ash's hand.

  She hurled it as hard as she could, aiming for the bridge of Gisbourne's nose. He dodged out of the way.

  But not quite enough.

  The tip of the open pyramid brushed against his cheek. His sword clattered to the ground as he was sucked into the crystal. Ash reached John first, and clicked the top of the pyramid into place. Fria fell to her knees in front of him and held his bloody face in both her hands.

  "Such a touching reunion," the sheriff's voice sounded behind her, freezing her heart.

  Steel sang across leather – a sword being drawn from its scabbard. Fria's lips brushed John's as she pulled the golden arrow out of his belt. Then she threw off her cloak and turned to face her father, bow in hand.

  He stopped in his tracks. "Fria?" Then he laughed. "Luck is with me today. I have regained my claim to Kel's holdings and unmasked Robin of the Wood."

  Fria nocked the golden arrow and drew her bow.

  The sheriff snorted. "You will not shoot me in cold blood. You are much too fond of goodness and –"

  The golden arrow pierced his heart, and he fell back into the forest litter with a thud.

  John recovered from his wounds and reclaimed his family holdings. He and Fria were soon wed. And though she bore him four robust children, the pair of them often disguised themselves and made their way to the forest, along with Ash, Tuck, Alan, and Marian to keep the demons from establishing a foothold there. Alan took Marian to wife, and he lived with her on her ancestral estate. Many generations of their children claimed their fae ancestry with pride.

  Age did not trouble Ash, Tuck, nor Alan, but Fria and John were mortal. After a time, they both found their heroic exploits in the forest too taxing. It was time to lay the legendary Robin of the Wood, also known as Robin Hood, to rest. The local prioress, whose convent had benefitted greatly from the outlaws' spoils, agreed to assist in the ruse. Fria and Little John donned their outlaw garb and made it known that Robin of the Wood was ill and was going to the abbey to be bled. They had cached clothes there, for even after all these years, no one suspected that Robin Hood was a woman. Once they entered the abbey, the prioress caused a grave to be dug, and ruefully reported that Robin had been more ill than she suspected, and she accidentally over-bled him.

  Thus ended the life of Robin Hood, but so thoroughly had Fria's team routed the demons that none ever set foot in that wood again. Their eldest daughter saw to that.

  If you enjoyed reading this short story, please consider leaving a review at your favorite books haring site. You can also sign up for my newsletter at my website!

  About the Author

  Artemis Greenleaf has always been fascinated by the mysterious, and she devoured fairy tales, folk tales and ghost stories since before she could read. In 1995, she had a near-death experience which turned her perception of the world upside down. She lived to tell the tale (and often does, in one form or another), and went on to marry an alien. She lives in the suburban wilds of Houston, Texas with her husband, two children and asso
rted pets. She writes novels, short stories, and non-fiction, and her work has appeared in magazines and anthologies. For more information, please visit artemisgreenleaf.com.

  Other Books by Artemis Greenleaf

  For Younger Readers

  Brain’s Vacation

  Carl the Vegetarian Vampire

  Team Smash

  For Teens and Tweens

  Earthbound

  Cheval Bayard

  Confessions of a Troll

  Exit Point

  For Adults

  The Hanged Man’s Wife

  The Magician’s Children

  The Devil's Advocate

  Color Me Blackthorne

  As Coda Sterling

  Dragon by Knight

  Dragon Killer

  Dragon Fire

  Anthologies

  Space City 6

  Tides of Impossibility

  First Last Forever