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Another day passed for Robin, and another day was chained to the wall of a Catholic basement. A strange punishment for a strange situation. Robin saw things in the night. Steve always said they were visions, but then again he was always an optimist.
She was not. She saw bad omens and dark premonitions. She saw things sometimes, and people others. Rarely good things, and always before they happened.
They always happened.
Steve, in all his bull-headed support, has accidentally revealed her … condition … to the clergy. A warning she meant for him was given to all, and she would have to pay the price.
The Church wanted her gone, but she could hardly be killed as a witch. Steve was far too important to kill, and he had made it abundantly clear that if she ended up dead, there would be two coffins commissioned. Grim, but she supposed that was what you get when you mixed steadfast protection with a death threat.
So she ended up in the basement instead. Silver chains at her wrist and meals were brought to her twice a day. A small barred window in the corner let in sunlight, but only saw the sun when it set.
She supposed she should be thankful to be alive, she was only a blacksmith's hand. No one important. No one who would normally be noticed missing. Steve, however, was the beloved son of the late Countess of Hawkins, and could not be so easily dispatched.
Everyone would notice Steve missing. And he had bound himself to her, for better or for worse.
Robin would laugh if didn’t hurt. Her mother always wanted her to marry a man before God. Robin had long since given up on a God that damned her very existence, but being tied to Steve in this holy place was close enough to the marriage her mother wanted.
She would never love him like that, but the clergy didn’t need to know that. They might think they were lovers when siblings were what lies in their hearts, but what they didn’t know couldn’t hurt them. Alrought the thought of the clergy finding our her penchant for the fairer sex brought a chuckle to her. Their little hearts would burst in horror.
Only Steve knew her truth. He remained above ground, in captivity, but even the church cannot throw the Earl’s heir into a cell without consequences, so he stays confined to a feather bed and is escorted by guards everywhere he goes.
They wanted her gone because she knew when Geoff, the local hunter, would die, she knew he would not return from the latest hunting trip. His body would be found, organs missing and mauled by some large animal. That, of course, had not happened yet, but the simple idea of her knowing the future was enough to enchain her.
Robin also knew that the animal was no natural thing.
A beast like no other, with a split face and a screeching roar. A beast that would also kill the 3 men they sent to avenge Geoff. She had yet to see their faces, but she knew she would see them soon enough.
Robin had long since given up on the hope of her dreams being only that, a dream. She knew that when her dreams shimmered as if seen through heat, they were not dreams.
Which meant she also knew that the woman she saw was real. Somehow. Somewhere.
She saw a short woman, small in stature but not in presence. Curled pecan hair flowed from her head and glowing blue eyes started into Robin’s soul every time their eyes met.
The woman was strange, however, due to the simple fact that she could see and hear Robin. Visions don’t look back, but Nancy does. That’s the woman’s name, Robin had asked after the second dream.
And by the twelfth, Robin had learned that Nancy didn't exist in the same way that she did. She could pass through objects at will but could remain just as solid as the wall when she wanted. Robin learned that she was a curious thing, always asking about the world. The mundane reality of being a blacksmith’s hand meant that she had little to tell.
She had much to say, however, about anything and everything. So she told Nancy about it all, about the traveler who wanted a blade that would split into two and about the kids from the town just over the horizon who wanted her to fix and polish an old cuirass that was rumored to be enchanted.
She spend months detailing the ceremonial armor Steve sent her to help him with, telling her about the pranks the children at the orphanage played, and about the near-constant demand for short swords.
As she spoke, Nancy listened. Not quietly, as she asked questions and prodded for details, but Robin never minded. She also learned that Nancy wasn’t bound to the earth as she was.
She wasn’t bound to the flesh, and most certainly wasn’t bound to the chains.
In every dream they met, they were in the same place where Robin had fallen asleep. The past few days had been interesting to say the least.
“This is an interesting choice of residence.” Nancy had teased, concerned but clearly wanting Robin to explain.
“Yeah, don’t blame me for the decoration, the Church loves silver, however tarnished. I think it’s ugly as shit, but they’re mad over it. Look, even their chains are made of it. You know they say silver burns evil, supposed they wanted to burn the sight from me.” Robin chuckled darkly.
A grimace overtook Nancy’s face. “I suppose they haven’t changed much then. They have always tried to destroy that which they don’t understand. You’d think that they ” Nancy dropped to her knees and touched the silver at her wrists.
As she touched them, they unlocked and Robin rubbed at the sore skin. Nancy moved the cuffs to Robin's feet and took her hands in her own, soothing one wrist at a time. When she had deemed them restored, and without breaking eye contact, she took Robins's knuckles to her lips and kissed them.
“Better?” She moved to sit beside Robin.
“Much.” Robin smiled and moved to give her more room.
Nancy was strange like that, she spoke as if she had lived through things before her time. More strange, however, was her ability to change things.
When the guards came in to give Robin her morning meal, her chains were still sitting at her feet.
Every night, Robin was either met with the gentle arms and gentler eyes of Nancy, or with the horrifying knowledge of when and how the next person would die.
Every night, Robin prayed to something, or someone, that it would be a brunette that she opened her eyes to.
After some time, Robin could hardly tell how long, the Chruch had deemed that it needed to do more. They felt that the silver wasn’t strong enough, so they went for something hotter. The thing about being a blacksmith's hand is that Robin was intimately familiar with metal turned red.
She knew what it did to leather, and she knew that leather was much stronger than flesh. Knowing didn’t help her.
What did help her, however, was the reprieve that passing out gave.
The first time, she dreamt of the death of a man and for the first time, she laughed. The very man holding the brand, would be dead before the moon set. He would never get to avenge Geoff, and would die alongside his fellow hunters.
The second, she dreamt of the death of the same man, and this time she cried.
The third, her prayers must have been answered, because an angry growl woke her.
“They’re dead. I’m going to kill all of them.” Nancy muttered as she saw the state that Robin was in.
“No point.” Robin exhaled, “They’ll be dead before long anyways.”
Nancy rushed to Robin and, as always, removed her chains. “They burned you! Branded you! Marked you skin for no reason other than they could.” she said, jaw clenched and eyes shining. She raised her hand to cup Robin's face, the other hand raised just above the brands on her shoulder.
“Yeah, guess they figured the silver was doing a shit job,” she responded bitterly, closing her eyes and leaning into the touch.
Robin knows that Nancy said something, and they must have talked, but she couldn’t remember the words they spoke, all she could remember was the broken look she saw in Nancy’s eyes. She never noticed when Nancy touched the brands.
She woke to an empty room, brands only pink when they should have been red.
Perhaps they should have been more careful, but neither of them thought about it.
The torture didn’t last long, after a dozen days or so, they decided it was pointless. That should have been the first sign something was wrong.
Steve was allowed into the cell one day. He sobbed and told her that his father was making him leave for a different territory. He wasn’t returning. He couldn’t. Steven Harrington, heir apparent of Hawkins was being sent to squire under the Earl of Upsiton, and would not be returning until he had completed his knighthood.
He had no choice in this matter. It would seem his ceremonial armor would actually see use.
Robin wept when he left, both for herself and for the future they could have had. She didn’t dream that night.
The morning came and the guard gave her more than a meal.
“They’re hanging you tomorrow morning, witch, so make a last request before dinner,” he stated as he left.
It was better than the stake, she supposed.
She spent the day with one simple goal, she needed to dream that night. So she ran, from wall to wall, over and over. Until exhaustion sunk in. She passed out just before dusk.
Her greatest wish was granted that night, for she opened her eyes and saw Nancy standing before her.
Robin smiled at her presence and spoke, cutting off whatever Nancy had been about to say “I’m glad at least that I get to see you before I go. I suppose there’s no point in hiding, and I don’t think you naive enough to be completely unaware.” her voice sounded raspier than normal, undercut with a dejected undertone.
“Why now?” Nancy demanded, cutting off what was about to become a monologue. “You seemed to want to take it slow, never fully define what we are. I’ve respected that, Robin, even though we have gone achingly slow.” a sense of exasperation surrounded her as she got closer to Robin.
Robin paused, letting the silence between them sink in, “I’m to be put to death tomorrow. There is no time left. I’ve been scared this whole time and now I’m out of time.”
“So the very simple truth is this: I have been in love with you for a while now. I have sought you and wanted you since we first met, and I don’t want to go without you knowing that I love you desperately.” the words escaped her mouth quickly as if she wasn’t sure she could get them out otherwise.
Nancy looked shaken. “I know,” she whispered. “I have sought you in return and I can’t say that I don’t want you just as much.”
“Love has never been an easy word for me, but I think I could love you fully. Earnestly, with all of me.”
Robin looked upon her, awestruck, and took her hands within her own. Her hands crawled up her arms until they sat on her shoulder.
Robin’s eyes asked a simple question, and Nancy responded. She probably shouldn’t be surprised the Robin kissed with the desperation of a dying woman, considering the situation, but nevertheless, the intensity surprised her.
They split, for just a moment, to wrap her hands in Robin's hair. Although this was a pleasant experience, Nancy was aware of time running out, so she pulled away fully, still leaning her forehead against Robin softly.
“Come with me,” Nancy asked quietly, meeting Robin’s eyes.
“I’m locked in a cell Nance.” Robin chuckled sadly. “I can’t go anywhere with you, no matter how much I might wish to.”
“Don’t worry about it. Don’t question it, just come with me. Hold my hands and close your eyes and just trust me. Please. ” she pleaded, desperation slipping through her words.
“You know, you are the strangest God, but I suppose they always say all you need is a little faith.” Robin’s words seemed to echo around the cell, more than her other words had.
“You think I’m a god?” Nancy questioned, amusement clear in her eyes.
“How could I not see God between your eyes?” she whispered, barely audible. “You are not of this mortal plain and you change me at will. You’ve bound me to yourself, both flesh and soul. I am nothing if not yours.” Robin took Nancy’s hand in her own and closed her eyes.
When morning came around, the chains were empty and the cell was bare.