The rumbles turned into mumbles of shock and fear, as the troops in front of him turned to one another — some nodding at the confirmation of what they'd already suspected, some hearing it for the first time.
"They will reach us sooner or later, and countless innocents will die — are already dying as they make their way to Nottingham. The question is, do we meet them head on, attempt to stop them before they can slaughter anyone else, and before they reach the places and people we care about?" Robert paused to take in not only the faces of the crowd, but also the people who'd brought him out of Sherwood in the first place. As he did so, he saw Mary standing right at the very back. Their eyes met and from that moment on he was really only talking to her. "Do we do the right thing, or hope that someone, somewhere will do it for us? Personally, I believe we are the only ones who stand a chance of stopping them, of kicking them back to where they came from and making sure they never try anything like it again." He nodded. "Yes, I know how thinly stretched we are — mainly due to the threat the Morningstars have become. But if we wait, this could escalate further."
"The best defence is a good offence," Jack called out from the crowd. "That's what they always say back where I come from."
There were more murmurs from the crowd. Nobody wanted to face an enemy of this kind, but if they hid away behind the castle walls then they would have to at some point anyway. Was it better to pre-empt them?
"None of you are here because you have to be," Robert said once the crowd had quietened a little. "My way is not the way it was with the Frenchman, as some of you who served under him have discovered over the time you've been with me. I said this once before, but I've made my decision and I have to stick by it. I'm riding out to meet the convoy. How many of you choose to join me on this mission, I'm leaving in your hands. I've said this before, too. It'll be dangerous and there are no guarantees that anyone will be coming back." The pause this time was because Robert could see the tears welling in Mary's eyes, and his began to mist up in response. "So I wouldn't blame anyone for not coming. In fact some of you I want to stay behind to defend the castle, just in case we fail. But if you really wanted to leave us altogether, the door… well, actually the gate, is over there."
For a good few moments there was silence. No mutterings from the crowd at all, probably because many of them were trying to make up their minds about what to do. Divided between their loyalty to a man who'd given them refuge, given them a home, and their terror at facing what was to come.
It was Dale who broke this silence. "I'm with you Robert. Where you go, I'll be there." Azhar, at his side, put a hand across his chest and bowed. Then Dale turned and looked at the other fighters, in the hopes of shaming them into saying something. It seemed to work because they began to nod their heads and a buzz of positive noises filtered through. That buzz became a wave, which washed over the heads of those present. It wasn't long before some of the Rangers were holding up their swords and waving them in the air. Some might change their minds later, or opt to stay at the castle, but for now it seemed like the majority of Robert's men were on his side.
He thanked them and stood down, relief etched on his face — possibly because he knew he now had the support he needed, or even because he'd finished speaking in public.
Whatever the case, Robert knew that the hard work was only just beginning. If they were to halt the progress of this new army, they had to leave soon. And he had more than a few loose ends to tie up first.
He scanned the crowd for Mary as it broke up, but she'd vanished again. Before he could go and look for her, he was being pulled in several different directions at once. Being asked a million questions about the mission.
Though they weren't too happy about it, Robert insisted that Jack and Mark stay behind at the castle. "I need someone I can leave in charge here," Robert told Jack. "Someone I can trust." The fact that he'd seen them both dead in his dream also had something to do with it.
"I should be out there with you, Robbie," Jack complained, but when Robert asked him again, adding a firm 'please', the larger man relented.
Mark was more of a hard sell. "You're still not ready for that kind of combat," Robert pointed out, which wasn't the smartest thing to say.
"But you're taking Dale?"
"Yes."
"Because 'where you go, he goes,'" said Mark, mimicking the youth.
"Because I want you to stay and look after Mary and Sophie."
"Mary can look after herself. You know that."
That was true. "And Sophie?"
Mark thought about this for a moment. "I think she'd prefer to have Dale looking after her."
"You might be surprised." Robert looked him directly in the eye. "If anything happens to me, and the troops break in here, get Sophie and Mary out. Do you understand? You'll know where to go. That's the most important thing you can do, son." He gave Mark a tight hug, and when he pulled away again he could see the boy was fighting back tears.
Robert said the same thing to Reverend Tate when he spoke to him, that he should help to keep Mary, Sophie and Mark safe. "Plus Gwen and the little one," Tate added. He'd sent word to the woman at New Hope, letting her know about the army that was heading towards them, promising supplies if she would come to the castle to collect them. Word had it she was on her way with Clive Jr, and when she got to the castle Robert knew Tate was going to try and get her to remain there until the danger had passed.
"She won't stay, you know," Robert told him. "She'll want to be with her people. I have to say I can understand that."
Tate agreed. "All I can do is try."
"You do know I can't let her have any weapons?"
"I wasn't specific about what the supplies were."
"But that's what you've let her think."
The Reverend heaved a weary sigh. "Just as you do what you must, so will I. You know, I wouldn't normally be the one to say this, but are you sure you shouldn't take some of those things along yourself when you meet this army of yours?"
Robert tutted. "You're advocating the use of firearms now, Reverend? You sound like Bill."
"They were used in the battle for the castle," Tate reminded him.
"We'll do okay without them. Isn't that what you're always telling me, to have faith?"
"There's a difference between that and suicide."
"We'll be armed. Just not in the way they'll be expecting. The men have been trained well, and we'll have a few surprises for our friends."
Tate gave a tip of the head, then said finally: "Remember the story of David and Goliath, Robert. I think it's probably an appropriate one."
That just left Mary.
Robert tried to find her, but he knew that if he chose a quiet spot, she would eventually come to him… if she wanted to talk. That quiet spot was down in the stables as he was feeding his horse. They'd been through quite a bit together, and he'd be asking quite a bit more of the animal in the days to come.
When he heard the footsteps behind him, he hoped it might be Mary — so when he turned and saw Adele, he couldn't hide the disappointment on his face.
"You were expecting her, weren't you?" said the woman. "I'm sorry."
"That's okay."