† Chp. XLV †

___

She was 18 years old when the Valar sent a blessing upon her life.

"I will offer one last time. Give me a name to the man who accompanied your robbery, and we will leave you be."

"Kiss my ass." Eretria seethed, blood dripping from her busted lip.

Another loud smack filled throughout the stone chamber, and the young girl hissed in pain, the chains bounding her wrists rattling as she attempted to recline from the blow. The city guard towered over her kneeling frame, his eyes narrowed upon his rigid, hard set features.

"Stubborn young lass." A seperate guard grumbled, leaning against the cold wall of Eretria's bitter cell.

"Three weeks and she still refuses to tell her name, nor the name of her companion." The grizzled man growled, a sinister smirk carving onto his rough skin. "The bull will make her talk."

"Or a bottle of whiskey." Eretria offered with a mocking grin.

This remark caused another hard hit to the side of her already tender face.

Three weeks had felt like an entire eternity for the young girl, and due to losing track of time, she failed to realise it was her birthday.

"Heat up the Brazen." The head guard ordered, his accompanying men exiting from the cell to follow the command.

"You act tough now, little girl. But not for long." He seethed, bringing his bearded face low to grit his teeth inches from the beaten outlaw. "Soon we will leak you of information, like an eagle spilling the guts of a diseased rat."

"Nice description, you should be a poet." Eretria remarked with bitter sarcasm, lifting a cut brow at the begrudged guard.

With a harrowing slap to the face, her aching body fell hard against the cold floor. The guard then proceeded to send a forceful kick to her stomach, before cursing her beneath his breath and exiting the cell, making certain to lock the bars behind him.

"Good talk." Eretria uttered to herself, her breaths heavy and pained as she crawled to the wall in which she was bound.

Reaching up, the outlaw grasped at the spike that clasped her chains. Tugging, she removed it from the wall. Whoever had previously accommodated the cell had already loosened the sharp metal from the cracks of stone.

"Robbery, huh?"

With a surprised jolt, the girl briskly turned her head to view a man standing against the bars of her cell, peering in with amusement. Several tattoos adorned his dark complexion, and his clothes were rather unique for the region with their crimson shade and loose fit.

He drew in a sharp breath at her battered appearance.

"They have really laid into you." The man remarked, crossing his toned arms and tilting his head to the side. "All you had to do was tell them who accompanied you."

"Do I look like a snitch to you?" Eretria retorted, raising to her feet and cautiously approaching the bars. "If you aren't here to deliver the whiskey, then leave me be so I can take a nap on this delightfully comfortable floor."

The man chuckled, his laugh hearty and surprisingly warm.

"Both witty and true hearted." He proclaimed, lifting his hand to display a set of keys. "Which is why I'm busting you out, that is unless you'd rather a bottle of whiskey?"

Eretria narrowed her eyes through the steel bars.

"And I'm supposed to trust you?"

"It's either that or the Brazen Bull. You know what that is, right?" The dark man replied with a lowering tone, drawing in against the bars to view Eretria with a stern eye. "It is a large bronze bull, the stomach hollowed out to fit a human body. Beneath, a fire is kindled, and inside, your flesh melts away from the bone and your blood sizzles upon the steaming metal. Your screams? Your cries and pleads? They are muffled within the apparatus, mimicking the shrills of an angry bull."

Eretria went silent, her jaw coming to tense.

"Sounds lovely." She remarked, masking her fear. "How do I know you're not here to take me to this torture device?"

A loud clink came from the cell door, followed by a rusted creak as the man pulled the bars aside.

"I guess you'll have to trust me." He remarked, grinning lightly, before turning on his heel.

Cautiously, Eretria stepped out from her cell, an eyebrow raised as she turned to view an unconscious guard upon the stone floor. She followed the mysterious man out of the dungeon, but held her breath as two guards could be seen watching the exit.

However, as soon as eye contact was made, the guards were as good as a floor rug, for the dark man took no heed in knocking both unconscious within a matter of seconds.

"Follow me." He ordered, and Eretria was delighted to obey, for she was rather impressed by the skills of the escape artist.

Eretria followed the dark man throughout the streets of the grey city, turning many bends and treading through thin alleys. Though, another problem surfaced, as within turning a corner, they came to face the head guard along with a handful of his armoured men.

"Just looking for the restroom." Eretria's rescuer remarked with an innocent grin, spinning quickly to push the young outlaw into a run. The guards were not fooled, and were quick to pursue.

Dashing once again down the streets of rich stone, Eretria ran with the speed of the wind. And much to her surprise, the dark man made sure to stay behind her, shouting directions for where she should turn.

Suddenly, her heart dropped.

The same stone wall where Eomer had abandoned her came into view.

With great swiftness, her fellow escapee scaled the wall, reaching the top with minimum effort. Eretria attempted to do the same, though in repetition of history, she proved unable.

Turning around, she swallowed heavily at the rapidly approaching guards. What she didn't expect was the dark man to suddenly drop by her side.

"Looks like scaling walls is the first thing I am going to teach you." He muttered, confusing the outlaw, though she was too stressed to question.

Crouching down, he ordered Eretria to step into his hands. Upon doing so, he lifted her frame and lightly heaved her upwards. Gripping the ridge of stone, Eretria pulled her body over the top. Her dark companion was soon by her side once again.

A heavy sigh of relief escaped her busted lips, and with a satisfied grin, she glanced down at the guards who shouted in bitter anger at the base of the stone wall.

"By the way," She called down, bringing herself to stand with squared shoulders, as she smirked down at the infuriated head guard. "the name's Robin Hood."

And with that, both her and the mysterious man disappeared from sight, leaving a cluster of aggravated guards behind the looming stone wall.

From that day onwards, the name Robin Hood spread like a wildfire. Robberies all across Middle Earth, past and present, were pinned on the young girl, even those she did not in fact conduct. Rulers of high kingdoms resented the infamous thief, though those with little money and torn spirits looked upon the girl as a banner of hope.

Little did they know, the rich were robbed and the poor were fed, all in the honour of a fallen young boy.

She was 18 years old when she fulfilled her brother's legacy.