1,49 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: via tolino media
- Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
In the course of the Crusades, the Englishman Robin of Locksley and the nomad Azeen become prisoners of war in a distant land. By chance alone they manage to escape. Back in Britain, Robin is left with only the ruins of what was once his life. A wave of destruction had hit his homeland, for which only one man is responsible: the Sheriff of Nottingham, who runs a cruel regiment during King Richard's absence. When they seek refuge in the woods of Sherwood Forest, they quickly meet other homeless people who have been driven from their villages. Together they manage to pull off ingenious raids, relieving some of the high lords of their wealth and giving something back to the beleaguered people. One night, however, they meet the prince, who is kept by the sheriff like a nightingale in a gilded cage. A meeting that from then on never lets go of the Englishman ... #FairytaleAdaptation #GayFantasy
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Ähnliche
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Dedication
The dungeon
The promise
The homecoming
The face oft he enemy
The forests
The cultivation
The reconnaissance
Righteousness
The encounter
The salvation
The agreement
The delivery
The grudge
The reunion
The dispute
The message
The Liberation
Moonlight meeting
Epilogue: Swimming lessons
Turmoil in
Sherwood Forest
By Kaiden Emerald
Imprint
Copyright © Kaiden Emerald, 2021
Layout: Kaiden Emerald
Images used for book cover:
© Shutterstock (image licences purchased);
© The Book Cover Machine
Font cover page:
Angel Tears (royalty-free font)
Translated from German into English. Edition 1 Also available in print.
Kaiden Emerald
Holderäckerstr. 8
70499 Stuttgart
Germany
All rights reserved.
This work is protected by copyright. Any use without the consent of the author is prohibited. This applies in particular to electronic or other reproduction, translation, distribution and making available to the public.
All persons and names in this e-book are fictitious. Similarities to living persons are purely coincidental and not intended.
Dedication
Thank you, dear reader, for taking the time to join Robin on his adventure and I hope you are well entertained and can sink a few hours into Sherwood Forest.
Most especially, I thank in advance all those who review, review and recommend this booklet. Without this support, my Robin would probably not find its way to one or two readers.
The dungeon
A chill wind howled down the ramshackle stone steps to the dungeon where the prisoners of war were chained to a wall. A mixture of men's sweat, fear, urine and fire ashes filled the air. Heavy cast-iron chains, anchored to the dungeon's vaulted walls, were connected to the hoops each of them wore around their wrists. Only a tiny window at an unreachable height and fenced in by bars told whether it was day or night.
Yet they had already lost all sense of time. Any hope of escape was becoming more and more smothered in the deep shadows of night with each passing day. Only the twilight of the crescent moon and the fact that their eyes had already become accustomed to the darkness allowed Robin and Azeen to perceive anything at all of their surroundings. "How long have we been down here?" the nomad asked. His clothes were ragged, dirty and worn, as were Robin's.
"I don't know," the Englishman replied resignedly. His chin-length dark hair hung straggly and sweaty in his face. He shouldn't have been here at all, he was of noble descent after all. If his tormentors had any brains at all, they would know his worth and sell him to his father, the Lord of Locksley, for a lot of gold. Instead, he sat here with a bunch of strangers, who by now were not so strange to him, rotting in the catacombs of Jerusalem. Everything about this prison seemed gloomy and crushingly small. Sometimes he even thought the walls were inexorably closing in on him.
"They're coming," he whispered when he heard the guards' footsteps.
Two listless, hulking fighters rumbled down the stairs. Like cattle, they threw the bread at their feet, knowing that none of them would approach. None of the prisoners were able to bend down because of their chains. This did not bother the guards much. Only yesterday, another one of them had starved to death.
The two men put their torches in the notches provided on the walls and lit some coals in a cauldron. They eyed their choice of slaves with perverted anticipation. Usually they would pick out one of them to torture afterwards. Nothing more than a game, a pastime that happened anew every evening, like their own little hell.
"That one," the more portly of the guards spoke, pointing his finger at Robin. With a pained look, Azeen watched Robin being untied. The guard grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and began to push him towards the centre of the room. He tried in vain to find a foothold with his feet and to brace himself against the direction in which he was being pushed. But all his feet left on the floor was a scraping drag mark. The closer he got to his butcher, the more he tried to break free.
"I like it when they fidget," the corpulent man mumbled with a psychopathic glint in his eyes. With his pincers he clutched a glowing coal and came closer and closer to Robin. His joints stiffened in shock and he felt the adrenaline rush through his veins. His lethargy dissolved as his panic rose immeasurably. With his elbow, he pushed the man behind him as hard as he could against his exposed ribs. Cursing, the latter jerked his arms upwards and released his grip from Robin's shoulders. The Englishman fell to the ground, too weak to stay on his feet. Angrily, the guard grabbed his wrist.
With all the strength he still possessed, the young lord kicked him in the shin just as he was about to be pulled up. His tormentor staggered, held on to his companion and pulled him backwards against the cauldron. Screaming, they wallowed in the glowing coals.
The prisoners bawled and emitted sounds that Robin identified as laughter. Only at that moment did he realise what he had done: he had gone too far. They would certainly not let him live this evening, none of them. A realisation that made the Englishman swallow hard. He tried in vain to sit up and finally decided to crawl. He only had to get close enough to the bloated man's belt.
"Ro -bin, Ro -bin, Ro -bin ...-," Azeen began to cheer him on as he realised what the latter was up to.
The others quickly joined in and cheered him on. It was a chorus of approval that awakened new spirits in the young lord's battered bones and made him even more aware that he was their only hope. Determined, he reached for the key and was already crawling back when the guard grabbed his ankle. Panic sprang up in him again. Hastily, he tried to kick it away with his other foot, but he lacked the strength.
