Much sighed, shaking his head. “Why do you lot get to say things like that and I can’t? All blustery bravado, you are, but no one trusts me to handle anything.”
“We trust you, Much.” Rob’s head tilted a bit. “You just have to explain a little,” he told him.
“You never make Scar explain.” He crossed his arms. “I learned how to open locks.”
I gaped. “You learned that in a book?”
He shrugged. “More from a blacksmith who makes the locks, but yes, you can learn that from a book.”
“Can you teach me?” I asked.
“You’re supposed to be a proper lady,” he told me, turning up his nose. “But after you’re done with that, yes.”
“Well, let’s have at it,” Godfrey said. “Right? Time’s wasting.”
Much nodded, and he went round the front of the store room while we watched. Much pulled two thin, short metal pins from his pocket and set them to the hole in the lock. He held one with his hand and leaned down to catch the other in his mouth. In my eyes, it looked like all he did were jiggle a bit and the whole thing sprang open like he’d set a key to it.
He waved us forward and spat the second stake into his hand with a broad grin.
“Well done, Much,” I praised, clapping his arm.
He beamed.
We ducked inside and shut the doors again, keeping the lock with us just in case a wandering guard passed by.
I settled my free hand on my hip. “We need something to carry the lot of it, don’t we?”
Godfrey went to a sack of flour and could bare heft the thing. “I reckon so,” he said.
A frown came to my face. John could have taken two of the sacks at a time without a worry.
I shook John free from my head. “There should be a cart by the stables. Godfrey, why don’t you help me nick it and we’ll get it over here.”
“I’ll come with you,” Rob volunteered.
“Godfrey,” I snapped, glaring at Rob.
Rob strode forward anyway. “I’m coming with you,” he said. “Godfrey, stay with Much.”
Godfrey looked at both of us and didn’t move forward.
Which made me miss John again.
The stables were on the same bailey, right near the barracks. While they weren’t so much guarded, they were lousy with armor and the men what wore it. We went the long way to the back, peeking round the building to see three men drinking and laughing. I pushed Rob back from the corner.
“We have to wait,” I told him.
“There. You spoke to me.”
I glared at him. “You want me to speak? How the hell could you be so cruel, to deny him his happiness? What are you thinking? You know what a family would mean to John after his whole family were taken from him. John, more than any of us.”
“You think me cruel?” he asked, angry and sad both, stepping from the wall to look at me full. “I can’t stand this. He runs around dishonoring as many women as he can get his goddamn hands on, doing whatever the hell he wishes, and he gets a child, a wife, a reason to stop fighting and think of himself for once. Whereas I—”
He stopped sharp, looking away from me.
My heart cracked. “Oh, Rob.”
He looked at me. “I’ve been playing by all the rules, Scar, and I don’t think I’ll ever have any of that. Maybe he deserves it more than I do. Maybe he does. Because even if you were to get an annulment, even if”—his throat worked—“even if I get to marry you, I’ll never be able to stop fighting. I will never be free of this burden, and I hate him that he can lay it down.”
I stared at him, drinking him in till I felt tipsy with the sight of him, and pulled him closer to me, wanting to touch him. His arms came round me and I pressed my face to the crook of his neck. “We’d never be happy without adventure,” I murmured to him. “But we’ll be happy with each other. We will have that chance. I promise.”
His arms shifted, wrapping round my shoulders and head, and it felt like he were shielding me from the world. “I hope so, Scar,” he said in my ear.
Sighing, I pressed closer to him. “We should look…” I reminded him.
He moved over a bit, tugging me with him, to peek. “They’re gone.”
His arms began to loosen, but I fast whispered, “Kiss me, Rob.”
Like any good gentleman, he didn’t deny me. He picked me up a bit and held me against the wall, kissing me and making heat and courage flow from my toes to my hair.
He let me down and his mouth left mine. His forehead touched mine, and I couldn’t bring my eyes to open just yet.
“These schemes may benefit the people, Scarlet, but I fight for you.” His hands squeezed my waist a little bit, and it made my blood run fast. “I will always fight for you.”
I opened my eyes, pressing my hand to his face, making him look me in the eye. “Rob,” I murmured. “I will do everything I can so that you don’t have to fight anymore. For me or anyone else.”
He pressed his lips to my forehead. “Come on, my love.”