John had developed an almost anxious attachment to Robin years ago.
There’d been a moment in their life that’d bonded the men. One they rarely spoke of, and one no other knew. A secret they’d shared and would take to their graves. Some days it bothered Robin how much of an interest John took in his affairs, but then again, he’d also never known a man more loyal for no other reason than out of a profound sense of duty and honor.
Reaching into his hip pocket he withdrew the vial, flicking at the red wax seal with his thumb.
All his hopes, all his dreams—to think they could be realized by one drink, it was almost too impossible to believe. For years Robin had resigned himself to the thought that there was nothing he could ultimately do to regain what was rightfully his.
But now…
Now his life rested within the viscous fluid inside the vial. He clenched his jaw.
With a deft flick of his nail, he cracked the seal and swallowed the repugnant spell. It slid down his throat, thick and wet and briny tasting. Making him gag as it settled hot in his empty gut.
The bastard would pay for what he’d done. Robin would see to that, even if it were the last thing on Kingdom he ever did.
Chapter 4
“And you’re certain that this is the place, then?” Maurice—a steely-eyed swordsman with a wicked right hook and an even wickeder scar that traveled from the tip of his temple to the outer edge of his lip—asked, glancing around with a worried frown.
Thrane—and equally disreputable-looking man, with a long, grizzled beard and a paunch that could rival John’s own—snorted. “Don’t tell me the wee lad is afeared,” he teased Maurice, who hissed back at him.
“I most certainly am not, you son of a whore.”
“Och, well if me mum’s a whore, then so is yours, ye ignorant bastard.”
The brothers were known to bicker, and bicker often. But they were also loyal to Robin to a fault and would keep their tongues about what they’d see or hear on this excursion, which was likely the only reason John had chosen them from the bunch.
Robin’s lips set into a grim line, ignoring their banter, choosing instead to focus on getting to his quarry. Ahead of them stretched the flatlands of Kingdom’s sulfur pools.
The pools were a foul-smelling wasteland of death. As far as the eye could see there was nothing but vast miles of deep pools full of toxic brownish-black water. Plumes of white smoke curled up from the hundreds of puddles through the air like fat fingers, the rotten, eggy waft saturating the breeze enough to make Robin’s insides dip and sway. His stomach threatened to bring up his morning meal.
Currently they stood within the sheltering grove of a forest, but all they needed to do was take one more step and it would be like being transported to an entirely new and strange world. The line of trees cut off almost at a precise point, moving from thick, lush greenery to nothing but red dirt.
Toeing the dirt, he studied the landscape ahead for any signs of life, but the place was completely barren. There were no trees or grass, no birds flitting through the air, there weren’t even insects. Everything was dead and filled Robin with a terrible sense of foreboding.
There were animals calling through trees right behind him, insects scampering over the toe of his boots, and yet, it was almost like the creatures had a sixth sense preventing them from crossing the demarcation of life to death.
Curling his nose, he glanced at John.
“Bloody hell,” his right-hand man said.
“Aye,” Robin agreed thoughtfully.
The finder serum had led them here, about a four-day journey northwest from Sherwood. John had been right, of course. The walk had been much farther than Robin had anticipated. His men were in good hands, not that he worried for them much, but still. A four-day voyage was a nuisance he’d not anticipated.
To even consider staying away from his men for so long wasn’t ideal. In a fortnight Crispin would host his annual fair. That was the time to strike, when spirits were high and drinks plentiful, when the promise of slacking a man’s lustful needs overrode his common sense to guard and protect the realm as he should.
Of course, Robin could find the dark genie and wish them back. It would be expedient to do so, give him the time he needed to plan his infiltration of the king’s event. But it would also waste a wish, which in the end could cost him dearly.
He set his jaw.
“Do you see it, then?” John leaned in to whisper.
The brothers hadn’t been apprised of what exactly it was they were looking for. All they’d been told was that Robin had heard of a great treasure and he’d need them to tag along for backup.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Robin was reluctant to move away from the safety of the woods. His skin prickled and tightened, a lot like the feeling he got when being watched by faces he couldn’t see.