Lady Thief: A Scarlet Novel Part 28

"Yes, you can. Until I find a way."

"Until we both find a way," he told me, staring into my eyes. "And if he harms you, I will deal with the devil himself to get you out of there." He looked up, at Winchester. "Swear to me, Quincy. Swear that you'll watch over her. Keep me informed. Swear."

"I swear."

Robin pulled me forward and kissed me. He tugged me up, holding me still, kissing me again and again, quick desperate things. He held me close and we began walking. We crossed the second bailey and went down to the lowest one. The carriage were already brought forward, which didn't much surprisea"word traveled faster amongst the servants than by any other way. There were guards there too, and knights, and I didn't want to find out who were on my side, and who not. I didn't dare cause another soul to be hurt.

Winchester threaded the chains through the bolt in the floor. He helped me into the seat, and he locked the chains to the bolt with a sorry look to me.

Rob stepped inside the carriage and kissed me, hard and fierce till the tears on our faces touched. Our lips broke but he stayed there still, breathing into me.

I nudged my nose to his cheek. "Last night, Roba"I know we're not meant for much happiness in this awful world, but I will tell myself that last night were the night I married you, and I'll be happy every time I think of it."

"Don't you dare," Rob said. "I will marry you. And I will count the sunsets until I do."

I shut my eyes and cried. I nodded, but I couldn't say another word.

When Rob left, Winchester shut the door and I couldn't mark the time. We started to move sometime after, and the tiny slit of a window showed me snow, and forest, and dark.

I hated it. And I cried. My marriage were over, and the rich shine of being free of Gisbourne were tarnished by everything else I had lost along with it. My home. My love. My friend.

My hope.

But that weren't really the way of it, and that were the worst part. I still had hope. Cruel, bitter, steadfast hope crushed my chest that still hurt for breath; I didn't want it. I wanted to give up, to leave my mind and heart in a bailey in Nottingham Castle as my body went south. I wanted to feel nothing but the blanket of pain and hate swallow me up. I wanted to run backward and lay on the snow with John and stay there, still and frozen and never moving forward again. That would be easy, and lovely, and dark, like the cold woods of Sherwood at night.

The awful thing were faith. Because with everything gone, after a day of horror and hurt, after years of horrors and hurts, the thing I couldn't shake were faith.

I remembered a story that I had heard about the Angevins when I was a girl, and I shut my eyes, trying to remember the pieces of it. It weren't just some legend of the king now, it were a story about my father. About my family.

Richard loved to boast of his devil's blood, begat when one of his ancestors had unknowingly wed a serpent. She bore him eight ugly children, and his curiosity got the better of him. He followed his wife into her weekly bath where he had promised never to disturb her, and found her secret form revealed.

When he confronted her, her heart broke, and she transformed into a dragon and flew above the castle she had built for her husband with her magic. She clung to the spires with her talons and shrieked until the skies grew dark and rained down the tears that she couldn't cry.

For all time she stayed atop the tower, screaming and trembling the earth when the Angevins were born or died, never resting, never failing. Protecting her blood.

That were my blood. The blood of a dragon, a beast, a devil. A woman with supernatural abilities to continue on in the face of pain and betrayal.

The blood that led my father, the Lionheart, to the Holy Land to wage a war for his faitha"his vengeance. Vengeance were the darkest side of faith, the thing that claimed violence and fury as holy arrows.

I were lionhearted too. My faith were just as strong.

And I would learn this new side of faith that Eleanor and Richard and the rest of the royal lions claimed. My faith would bring me back to Nottingham. My faith would bring Prince John to his knees before me.

As the carriage pitched and tossed, and the place I were promised to protect faded and the man I loved disappeared, I prayed for faith.

And I vowed vengeance.

Acknowledgments.

Writing a sequel is equal parts evil and exhilaration, and there are many people without whom Lady Thief would never have made it over the finish line. First, to my agent, Minju Chang, you're SO amazing. Thank you so much for helping me through the frustrations and difficulties, and always being there to cheer me on. I always feel like we are a team, and that means a lot to me.

Thank you to the entire team at Walker Books. To my editor, Emily Eastona"I am so grateful for your insights and for your keen editorial eye. Thank you for making Scarlet who she is today. Thank you to Mary Kate Castellani, for jumping in when needed and providing another very thoughtful perspective on Lady Thief. To Laura Whitaker, Beth Eller, Katy Hershberger, Bridget Hartzler, Erica Barmash, and all the people at Bloomsbury/Walker who have championed Scarlet and allowed her adventures to continue in Lady Thiefa"I am so grateful. Thank you for all that you've done and continue to do.

The weirdest thing about a debut novel is that it goes from being this somewhat manic dialogue between you and a computer, and becomes this public commodity that so many people experience. It's amazing and it never ceases to astound me, so thank you to the bloggers who helped get my secret little novel out to the world, to the readers who are so pa.s.sionate about Scar and the idea of a strong girl in fiction, and to the librarians who continue to pa.s.s my book to their readers. There wouldn't be a Book Two without you!

Debut year was a crazy thing, but in getting Scarlet out there and writing Lady Thief I've met some of the people I consider most dear and most crucial to the act of continuing to write. Thank you to the Cla.s.s of 2k12 and allll of the Apocalypsies, but I have to say there are a few people who need more thanks. Cory Jackson, thank you for reading a super-early draft of LT and jump-starting me when I was stuck. Tiffany Schmidt, I owe you my firstborn child for the comments you gave me on a later draft that wasn't working. To Katy Longsh.o.r.e, your books are inspiring and your friendship is more so. To Gina Damico, Gina Rosati, Diana Renn, Kate Burak, and Lynda Mullaly Hunt, for being my Boston authors crew and making visits of all kinds easier. To Hilary Graham for being so cool and being the best partner in crime I could ask for.

The past few years have been really hectic for me, and I wouldn't have made it through without a lot of support from my workplace. Thank you to Meghan, Amy, Paloan, Keith, Alex, Stevi, and especially Paula"you're the best boss ever. Thank you for being so supportive. To Risk, especially Mike and Matt, who have kept me sane on overnights for years. I'll even thank the guys from Engineering (Jason, Scott, and Ermin)a"just don't let it go to your heads. And of course, Andrew, we're going to have ants.

There are workplace families, and then there are families that come from working together without moneya"which I think is more meaningful. To my GLOW girls, you have proven to me that we can do anything (like, literally, anything) and that we can turn around and show young women that they, too, are capable of greatness. Emily, Jenna, and especially Leah, thank you for inspiring me to dream greater, to achieve greatera"in a word, glow. (And, you know, for ignoring those 6 a.m. e-mails when I decide to communicate mida"panic attack.) And since I can't miss an opportunity for nonprofit promotion,

www.bostonglow.org.

Then there are friends who have always felt like family. Ashley, I would not have survived without that week in Montana, and Gisbourne wouldn't be half the man he is today. Renee, Nacie, Iggy, and Alex, I would cut off my fingers for you. But please don't make me, because they're helpful with the writing.

To Mikey, who wanted to call this Scarlet 2: Scarleter, or Scarlet 2: She'll Cut You. I'm sorry we didn't go with your t.i.tles, but you're the best brother ever. And Kev, who still buys a new copy of my book every few weeks just because. You're the best brother ever. (See what I did there?) I love you both so very much!

Daddy, you've given me everythinga"including your awful sense of humor. Thank you for hoisting me up on your shoulders and showing me what the world looks like from such a height. I hope this book is a small gesture of my love and grat.i.tude.

To my mum, you and I probably have a little too much fun together. Thank you for always being there for me and for listening to me rant and cry and rant some more. I love being your daughter.

Also by A. C. Gaughen.

Scarlet.

end.