John was a full head and a half taller than the other men in the tavern. Up until this point, they had all looked up to him and he had led them on several night raids on the occupied farm that lay south of them. What they were talking about tonight, though, made him weary.
It would seem that they too had been eager for a full on battle, much like the soldiers that were stationed on the Redgrave farm. They'd been cautious before but the night raids and addition of equipment had bolstered their bravery. How had John not seen this coming, he kept asking himself.
Cornelius had been one of the first to suggest burning down the farm. "We have to show them that we will do whatever it takes to be heard and treated fairly," his call to arms sounded rehearsed.
John and two other men knew that an outright conflict would result in the death of many of their own men and innocent people that have no choice but to be caught in the middle of it all.
"What your suggesting is murder," John decreed, "plain and simple."
Cornelius leaned against the bar and looked down at John where he sat. "For a man who's seen battle in the crusades," Cornelius taunted, "you seem awfully like a coward."
John hated that word. Coward. He hated a man like Cornelius calling someone a coward even more. He'd second guess the attack if he'd seen the blood and carnage John had. John fought the urge to take back the leadership by force but it wasn't his intention to lead a mob, only demand some basic rights.
He looked over at Smith, who'd gripped his cup tighter in an attempt to hold back a full on attack. John put his hand on his forearm to calm him. Layne sat patiently. On a word, he'd gut Cornelius and anyone else that stood in his way, if John so requested. He knew John had learned the quality of peace and words. They had all three seen combat but John had lost men and when you lose men, you sometimes lose the taste for blood.
John stood up. He smiled at Cornelius, "It's been my experience, that cowards are the first to call someone else a coward." John motioned to his men. "You want to die so damned bad, I won't stop you. Those raids were supposed to destabilize the soldiers but the sheriff will just keep sending them supplies until he's decided it's too expensive and then send the king's army down our throats. He won't stop with just killing us, he'll make an example out of our families." He turned to the rest of the group and raised his voice, "Go ahead and sign those death warrants for your wives and children because that's what'll come in your homes, should you open this door."
John and his men left the tavern. They each went back to their respected homes and gathered their belongings. They planned on leaving their lives behind and finding another place to carve out a living.
It wouldn't go as planned.
Cornelius had whipped the mob into a frenzy. "John's lost his drive to see this through," Cornelius had said. "We all knew that it would lead to this but he lied to himself. He thought that a few night raids and the kings men would turn tail and run. The king's men? They would blindly follow that fool to hell. Which is where we should send them. If we burn down that camp and every farm between here and there, we'll show them that we mean to be taken seriously. We'll damage their food supplies and morale. We can do this. I know it!"
It was Cornelius that was lying to himself. He believed that some untrained farmers could stand up to the might of a king who was already coming under fire from outside his kingdom. King John would demand respect from his subjects if it meant making an example of these few farmers that had gotten a taste for rebellious endeavor.
It mattered little to the angry mob of men. Now they wanted blood. On top of this, they feared that John might turn sides and they broke off into three groups to capture John and his two cohorts.
Several hours later and an overpowered John and his friends found themselves tied to wooden chairs and locked inside a stable. They had subdued him, like many cowards would, by coming to him, pretending that they needed him to come back and talk sense into Cornelius and then hitting him from behind. Waking up tied to a chair seemed preferable to being their first victim.
Layne had tried to wake him but they had knocked him out good. "They're going tonight. They are going to burn the Redgrave farm to the ground." John had just traded goods with Thomas. He knew that Thomas was an honest man trying to not be the squeaky wheel. He had even said that he didn't mind the high taxation so long as they let him work his land. John felt guilty. He strained against the heavy hemp ropes but he was too tired to make any headway.
"I've condemned a family," John said. "I've condemned a good man."
Smith had tried, without success, to reach his boot knife. The three of them had fought in foreign wars and seen a lot of chaos and now, they sat here, helpless.
They were beginning to smell smoke.
Meanwhile, while John had listened to Cornelius' rant, plans were changing at Castle Nottingham. The king was making his rounds and Sheriff de Lacy wanted to make sure things were perfect. He had sent word to have Sir Guy brought to his ready room.
When Guy appeared, he seemed to be in good spirits. The sheriff had heard the rumor about Guy consorting with the help. He wasn't the first to do so but he was the first to do it without trying to hide it.
"I see that you've been keeping yourself busy while you're here," de Lacy said teasingly. "Make sure she understands that she'll never be nobility and that you're only using her for her skills with sheets so she doesn't get the hopes of hand maidens everywhere up. They may all believe that some knight will come and magically make them better stock."
Guy hated the sheriff for saying things like that. Marian wasn't like anyone else.
"Now it's down to business," de Lacy continued. The king will be arriving in a week. I've sent word to bring in all but twenty of the men from the Redgrave farm. We will need them here. I want you to coordinate a rotation and a presentation of the men's ability."
Guy realized this would leave the Redgrave farm susceptible. "What about the uprising?" he asked.
De Lacy looked at Guy incredulously, "what harm can some farmers do? Besides, that's not your concern. Your concern is what I tell you."
Guy realized that he had to be careful. He'd questioned the sheriff's authority once too often and had overstepped his station. He'd been warned on more than one occasion.
"I'll begin exercises immediately," Guy said. "Is there anything else, Sir?"
De Lacy paused, "the wench, Marian, is it? How is she?"
Guy furrowed his eyebrows. "How do you mean?" he asked.
"With the sheets? I mean, within the sheets?"
"I wouldn't know, Sir," Guy answered.
De Lacy smiled, "You're dismissed."
Guy left the ready room. As he passed a window he saw Marian hurrying across the lawn of the courtyard. He knew she was on her way to visit her family. He thought for a moment of going down and introducing himself but he had too much to prepare for and also didn't want to bring anymore attention to his relationship with the Maid Marian.
As she ran across the lawn he thought she seemed so eager to see her family.
Comics, "Alan Moore", "Captain America", "Robin Hood", "Ivanhoe", "Green Arrow", "Kevin Smith", "Tarzan",
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