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He could only open one eye "My thanks, hed to clear the blood froned his nose before the cartilage healed crooked He gasped

"Sorry, I know that hurt I’ve got to check you for internal injuries" She opened his tunic and gently palpated his neck, chest, and belly Other than extensive bruising, which was already beginning to fade, she found no broken bones "He didn’tto be okay"

"What did you do to ham’s motionless body

"I shot him with a tranquilizer dart He’ll be asleep for a couple of hours" She stood up "Let’s get you over to the infirmary Can you walk?"

"I cannot leave ht harm him I must stay with hi me a wet cloth for my face?"

Alex went into the bathroo it out to hiht decide to give you another beating when he wakes up"

"No, thank you, my lady" Skald scrubbed his face with the cloth "I a out his tee himself on Lord Locksley"

"What’s his deal with Robin?" Alex asked When Skald hesitated to reply, she added, "You can tell ht be able to help straighten things out"

"I begged my lord to let the truth be known" Skald lookedlish, not Italian Before he took the name of Ganelon of Florence, he was known as Guy of Guisbourne"

Alex’s jaw dropped "Maybe you got hit in the head harder than I thought"

"’Tis true, h as Lord Guisbourne he never committed the crimes attributed to him His half brother, a nameless bastard, replaced him as the master of Sherwood after the Lady Marian died"

Skald told her a different version of the story of Guy, Marian, and Robin, explaining how learning of Marian’s death in childbirth had driven Guy out of his head with grief

"My lord’swished to take control of Sherwood She seized the chance brought on by eons From that day his bastard half brother Ganelon, as much beloved by his ham "If he’s really Guy of Guisbourne, why didn’t anyone--why didn’t Robin--recognize hi his human life my lord feared assassination, and so always used his half brother to take his place in public," Skald admitted "In fact, my master and Lord Locksley never actually met in person My lord’s mother dared not kill him, lest his men find out and expose her bastard son as an impostor, but she intended to keep him imprisoned for the rest of his life"

"Like The Man in the Iron Mask" When Skald gave her a blank look, she shook her head "Doesn’t matter Go on"

"There is not much more to tell," the seneschal adeons, the hateful crimes his brother had coland and never return"

"’So it was this half brother, the real Ganelon, who started the jardin wars, and killed all the woot himself and everyone in Sherwood executed?" Skald nodded, and Alex rubbed her head "This is giving raine Okay If all this is true, then why didn’t your master come clean after his brother was killed?"

"I cannot say, my lady I think my lord felt partially responsible for his half brother’s evil It is e lived such a reclusive life in Florence When ere forced to flee he chose America because he hoped few here would know of or rehtened "So s we did not know before we came Had I known he still lived…"

"Who lived?"

He blinked "Lord Locksley, of course My iven a jardin here He will never know peace until he avenges Lady Marian’s death"

"Robin didn’t kill her," Alex stated "Guy raping her and getting pregnant did Or did his brother do that, too?"

"My lord worshiped Lady Marian He would never have forced hiaze "’Twas Lord Locksley who got her with child"

Alex started to argue with hiham had looked at Locksley in the hall "So that’s why he challenged Jayr He thinks Locksley’s in love with her, and killing her would be the perfect payback for Marian Boy, does he need an update" She gave Skald a wry look and added, "Byrne and Jayr are the ones who are in love Locksley is just a friend"

"I see" The seneschal frowned "That does change things"

"What’s Guy the Disguised going to say when he finds out you told reat burden off his shoulders, my lady," Skald replied absently

"Michael does need to know about this before these guys kill each other" She picked up her medical case "I’ll tell hio yet,out of his tunic and pointed it at her "For I need ht, and I will have it"

Alex’s eyes widened "Hey, that’s not a toy--" The gun fired, and she looked down at the dart in her chest "You little bastard"

As she fell, Alex heard hiht, my lady"