Free The Greenwood Shadow by Sara Ansted

held up both hands and backed two steps away. "But you're the expert. I'm not quiet or fast enough."
    Evey closed the distance and put the coins into his hand.
    "I had to learn somehow, didn't I?"
    After several deep breaths, he said, "Okay."
    The owner of the lean-to was gone. Isaiah went in and nosed around the place for several minutes.
    "Come on," she said. "Just pick somewhere."
    "I just want it to be right," he said, and he dithered a bit more.
    Whistling came from the road. Evey peeked out casually, then sucked in her breath.
    "He's coming. Hurry up."
    Isaiah froze and looked around in a panic.
    She gave him a push to set him going again. "He'll see us any second!"
    The whistling grew louder. Finally Isaiah made a decision and turned to leave. Evey caught him by the collar.
    "He'll see us that way," she hissed as loud as she dared. "Out the back."
    Only moments after they dashed out, the man entered his lean-to, grabbed some kind of tool, and left again.
    Evey let out a long sigh of relief. "You'll have to work on your speed."
    She gave Isaiah a playful jab.
    He took her by the shoulders. "Marion, thank you. This is the best day of my life. I feel... I feel..."
    "Like you could walk on the clouds and not break through?"
    "Yes, exactly. Do you do this all the time?" he asked.
    "For seven years."
    "Seven!!" His hands fell and his jaw dropped open. "Robin Hood's got nothing on you."
    As they delivered the silver throughout nearby villages, they talked and laughed. It was never hard to keep up the conversation. The job took all day, but neither of them minded. When the sun set, they went back to the oak, tired and happy.
    Isaiah leaned against the tree and propped his feet on a fallen branch. "I could stay like this forever."
    "Me too."
    "Well... we could."
    She dropped her head. "I wish."
    "Why couldn't we?"
    "Talk about something else."
    "No. Why couldn't we?"
    The firmness in his voice surprised her, but she waved him off. Rage and despair boiled together in her stomach, leaving her sick and miserable.
    "I don't want to talk about it."
    He leaned forward. "Something's bothering you. Tell me."
    "No!" With that, she walked away through the trees.
    Before she could disappear, Isaiah darted after her. He grabbed her wrist and turned her around. "Please?"
    She pulled free. "Don't look at me with those sad puppy eyes."
    "I just want to help. You don't have to do everything alone, you know."
    She groaned. "Being stubborn is really hard with you around."
    "Come on." He smiled and led her back.
    She slouched against a tree. Isaiah sat close and stared at her until she spoke.
    "I'm getting married."
    Obviously, that wasn't the answer he had been expecting. He sat back and just said, "Oh."
    She folded her arms. "It's not like I want to. I don't have a choice. Well... not really."
    "Neither do I," he mumbled.
    "About what?"
    He lifted his eyebrows.
    "Oh," she said. A moment later her eyes went wide. "OH!"
    "Uh huh."
    She sat down next to him. "You too, huh? It's so unfair."
    "Yeah, but there are worse things, right?"
    "Not many." She chucked a pebble at a low tree branch.
    Isaiah adopted a look of sincere concern. "Is it really that bad?"
    She frowned. "You obviously have no idea what it's like to be a girl."
    Now he looked thoroughly confused. "No?"
    "Look," she said. "How would you feel if your only purpose in life was to get married off? In the real world, I'm nobody. I'm useless."
    He furrowed his brow. "You're not useless."
    "Isaiah, you're a really nice guy, but you're still a guy. Getting married won't change anything for you. You'll still fight wars and run castles and maybe even advise the king. You have a future. I don't."
    "But you can-"
    "Oh, think about it!" She stood again and started pacing. "I don't see any girls getting knighted. No one has a woman for a steward or a chamberlain. I can't even inherit my father's property because I was a daughter, not a son. I'm free out here, but the moment I'm married, this ends.