The Colosseum, as they called it, was named and modeled after the very same Ancient Roman Amphitheatre, the Flavian Amphitheatre. It was the greatest achievement of the human survivors of the lost world of Earth. The theatre was constructed by the first human settlers of Rottingham and they planned to showcase naval battles, gladiatorial displays and fights, racing competitions and more. The Colosseum was situated close to Rottingham Castle and there were markets that surrounded it with pools situated just before their grand golden staircases with neon-lights that lead to the theatre from all directions. However, this great theatre was also surrounded by a large elliptical structure that encompassed it and a large dome that surrounded the theatre itself. It consisted of three floors with the bottom floor consisting of large arches, the middle floor being an area connecting to the Colosseum where people ordered their drinks and finally the dome, the roof, from which there were openings where rooms resided for the Colosseum staff. The theatre itself, however, consisted of five floors with three of them being located underground. They each had their own balcony, walkway, plenty of seating, and overall guards at every corner. There was a large stage erected at the bottom of the theatre where, for the first time, the King Regent chose to sit to observe the tournament up close and personal…

“Ah, yes, the lovely Maid Marian.”, the King Regent leaned forth and kissed Marian’s hand. “The lovely lady Anna Safavi.”, he then kissed the hand of Anna that smiled back at him before he would turn to face his sister. “Eliza, it’s so good that you could join us on this very day.”, he hugged her in front of the knight that stood on his feet, waiting for the King to address him.

“And finally, my esteemed guest; Lee of the House of Verysdale!”, John turned to greet the knight with open arms and Lee took his bow. “It is my esteemed honor to have been granted a seat at your table, milord, thank you.”, this courteous reply was surprising to both Anna and Marian.

“Nonsense!”, said the King Regent. “I should be honored instead to have the privilege to sit by a crusader, a veteran of the crusade, my boy. Sit, feast, drink, salute!”, the King Regent was also courteous, something that Lee himself didn’t expect either while Eliza just smiled at her brother.

“Pardon, milord!”, shouted Robin and the King’s guests, as well as John, turned to face the edge. “Would you permit me the honor to grant this red rose to the lovely lady, Maid Marian?”, the Iron Fist Guards looked to their King Regent that gestured with his hand for Robin to come.

As Robin made his way on stage, he would approach Marian and take a brief glance at the King that wore a black opulent robe with delicate jewelry. The King Regent had dark red hair, brown eyes and black gloves with his fingertips exposed. Robin thought the man was a mere child and quite the ‘thug’ who tried to fit the part while Lee absolutely despised him for what this man had done to his own son, but for now he had to bear him…

“Please accept this rose on my behalf, Lady Marian, for every shot I will take in this tournament will not be for the prize of the Golden Arrow but rather to curry your favor in order to gaze into your eyes once again so that I may relive this beautiful moment forever…”, the way he worded it caused Anna to roll her eyes and Lee shook his head while Eliza giggled for she found it to be adorable how he humiliated himself, tried, in front of the King Regent.

Maid Marian thought the same and therefore she took the rose from him, sniffed it with her nose and then she sneezed by accident in front of him that tore some of the rose petals off.

“I…”, she felt so humiliated and the King Regent laughed while Eliza turned to face him, her look silenced the man who then corrected himself. “Um, why thank you, my thin legged archer.”, she said to him and Robin smirked at how silly that sounded.

“I wish you luck...”, she said to him and desperately wanted to say more, but had to keep her love and fondness for him hidden before she would lean forth to whisper to him. “With all my heart.”, with a smile on her face that caused Robin to smile as he took his bow.

“My ladies.”, he bowed. “My good sirs.”, he then took his bow for the knight and the Lord Sheriff of Rottingham that was seated beside Anna before he finally took his leave.

Everyone at the table noticed he didn’t salute or bow to the King Regent; he wouldn’t even acknowledge or try to rectify his mistake for he despised the man. All that he wanted, all that he ever wanted, was for Maid Marian to feel and understand his love in a different way.

“Your highness…”, whispered the Lord Sheriff. “With your royal permission, we are ready to begin.”, this caused the King Regent to smile. “Alright then.”, the King then stood up and walked over to the balcony before he raised his arms only to be met by a glorious response.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the tournament of the Golden Arrow may finally begin!”, he announced it to everyone that greeted it with thunderous applause and then the Lord Sheriff walked down the stage as he waved his hand only for the drummers to begin drumming ahead.

This announced for all the marksmen, crossbowmen and bowmen alike, to open fire upon their respective targets on the other side of the stage. Each arrow was marked by its own color, serial tag number and initials at the back as they all competed for the esteemed Golden Arrow.

“Mr. Verysdale!”, called the King Regent. “Come hither, please.”, he called for the knight that then looked to Eliza that gestured with her eyes for him to go and so he did.

He got up from his seat uneasy, had a glance at Maid Marian and then proceeded to walk up to the man who took his son’s eyes. The King Regent was waving and smiling to the crowd that applauded him, and upon seeing the knight himself they applauded even louder. The marksmen in that moment took many shots at their targets and each of them tried to land a perfect bull’s eye but only one succeeded, shot after shot for his beloved Maid Marian that watched in awe as he kept waving, bowing, to those who noticed and cheered for him. He would also take a glance at the lovely Maid Marian, his eyes would always catch onto hers for a brief moment and they didn’t wish to look away no matter what but that wish would be interrupted by…

“Hey, Robin.”, said the sheriff. “Are you just going to stand there or are you going to shoot?”, said the sheriff and Robin cheekily smiled at him before he would launch an arrow that scored a perfect bull’s eye yet again that surprised the sheriff who admired his dead on accuracy.

Meanwhile, underneath the tournament there was water and at the bottom of that water there was a surface where the nazirh of the Stone Cold Clan waited for the amphitheatre floors to open. The nazirh present there were well aware where the control mechanism was and waited just in case things went horribly wrong as back up. David Doncaster and his band of Merry Men waited among the crowd ever so patiently and observed the tournament for anything that seemed off while they were all in perfect disguise. The factories, however, were already being raided with ease as the band of Merry Men easily infiltrated, seized and captured the assets after dealing with everyone present within the factories with ease due to their disguises. Everything was going as planned for the Merry Men. They were getting richer and at the same time they were restoring the honor to their people, they were honoring their King and thought that no one would suspect them in the tournament. It was all the perfect cover, the perfect time to do so…

“I’d say I am sorry about what I did to your son but then that would have been a lie.”, said John and this caused Lee to turn his head with disbelief at what he had just heard. “In truth, I did what I had to for I promised I would protect my clients.”, said the King Regent. “Your clients are a bunch of criminals.”, Lee replied and the King Regent smirked as he continued to look forth.

“Yes, they are.”, he said before turning his head to face the knight. “And yes, you are.”, which highly upset him but it was the truth, one Lee could not deny. “I am only King Regent and the courts still answer to my brother, Richard, and therefore they still uphold his laws, not mine. The Merry Men and the Curt Cut’s Clan, that includes you, are all my clients and I didn’t wish to see you all be guilty before a trial for just one man. In this world, Mr. Verysdale, we are all wolf among sheep just as equally as we are sheep among wolves. One cannot work and coexist without the order, both are necessary to keep the wheel turning.”, the King Regent spoke to the knight that listened while Robin bowed, waved and cheered at the people who applauded him.

“Well, well... three successful bull’s eyes in a row.”, commented Lady Eliza. “I wish someone could shoot me the same way that man does.”, this caused Marian to smile at the lady’s comment and she turned her head to exchange a brief happy stare with her while Anna remained focused.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our finalists!”, the King Regent interrupted the conversation between himself and Lee for the next following announcement by the Lord Sheriff.

“Attention, everyone, the final contestants are! The short and stout; Gilbert Whitehand!”, a dwarf then stepped forth with a crossbow and took his bow. “The honorable; Reynold Greenleaf!”, the next one to be announced was a human cowboy with a bow. “And the former ranger but still great ranger of King Richard’s crusades; Robin Loxley!”, the sheriff would then announce the man as all of them got equal amounts of applause for each of them scored perfect.

“This final match, ladies and gentlemen, will determine who will walk away with either the very participant’s prize of the Silver Arrow!”, the friar stood beside the sheriff and the sheriff stood on the stone as he presented a Silver Arrow laying on the pillow to the crowd. “Or the ultimate prize…!”, and then he pointed towards the King Regent’s stage where the lovely Maid Marian presented to John the Golden Arrow that he had risen for all to see and they applauded loudly.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“You see, Mr. Verysdale, both sheep and wolves have something in common. The wolves are the enforcers and the sheep are the followers, yes, but a sheep can grow teeth and become one of the wolves at any moment or it could grow too hungry, and in its desperation choose to abandon the herd. The wolves, however, can become disloyal and grow to be wild if you show signs of any weakness, which brings me to your son.”, the King Regent kept explaining his reasoning to Lee before he would turn to hand the Golden Arrow to Friar James Gisbourne who took the bow.

Gisbourne walked away with the arrow on a pillow before he approached two men that were magi themselves that were sitting on an opposite table. They were waiting for the end.

“Good luck to ye, boys. Let the best man win.”, said Gilbert. “I don’t need any luck.”, said Reynold. “You will need it today.”, said Robin. “What?”, asked Reynold and then Robin walked away to his own side of a sphere that was located in the center of the amphitheatre.

The ground floor surrounding the spherical platform then opened up to reveal water that had laid waiting underneath and then large chains began to loosen from the ground as new targets soon emerged from all around from the water. Each marksman set their eyes upon every target they could for now it was not only a tournament of accuracy but of speed as well. The targets floated and moved across the water’s surface with three separate men raising flags in preparation.

“Contestants, get ready!”, the flaggers waited for the order of their Lord Sheriff. “Set!”, every marksmen then took their aim towards their respective targets. “Fire!”, the Lord Sheriff gave the order and the flags were swung as each marksmen then launched arrow after arrow.

“It was difficult for me, truly, to make a decision but I had to. On one hand I had the members of the Curt Cut’s Clan and on the other I had the Merry Men, and then I had the third party which consisted of you and your son. You see, Mr. Verysdale, in this business we cannot stand around and do nothing. That is not the kind of mentality that we wish to instill upon our subordinates. The clan had already found out about what your son had told the Iron Fists and even though the Merry Men didn’t find out yet, they would once the courts would demand them to answer for their crimes and the knights would begin to hunt them throughout the forests. And how would people then perceive this, Mr. Verysdale, if I sat around and did nothing?”, the King Regent kept on trying to reason with the knight, explain to the knight the nature of people and the business.

Lee, however, was so filled with anger and many emotions caused his blood to boil. All that he wanted was vengeance for his fallen son and yet he stood there quietly, listening, for he found that the King Regent was actually making a few honest good points.

“The Curt Cut’s Clan would face the same, if not worse, judgment as the Merry Men and I. This is not about just covering my ass, as close minded people would perceive, but rather it is truly about covering the asses of all, both the sheep and the wolves. Should I have stood around and done nothing, the gangs would have perceived my actions as dishonorable and weak. They would have considered me a betrayer and one who selfishly looks to his own interests, and because of this I would have lost the support of many who keep the wheel of our good fortune and our guarantees turning. The wolves would have grown too wild seeking retribution and the sheep would slowly but certainly leave the herd to find protection elsewhere, the same protection we had promised them, haven’t we?”, Lee thought about every single word the man said and as he looked to Robin Hood launching his arrows along with the other two final contestants.

The audience served as a reminder to him of how people lived with a guarantee of obliviousness of their own while most carriages throughout the city were being loaded with the stolen goods from the factories. The Merry Men loaded carriages with orphans, intending to take them to their village in the outskirts of the city, and shared most of the stolen treasure with the common folk.

“Why did it have to be my son? Why did it have to be his eyes? Why couldn’t have you come to me first?”, Lee asked and the King Regent sighed. “Because you were one of many and it was the many that needed a guarantee, and without that guarantee we would have lost the support of everyone and everything would have fallen apart. You would have fallen apart too and the many families of our organization, and we could not afford that just because of what one man had seen.”, the King Regent replied as the arrow kept hitting their mark before the flags swung down with the tournament coming to an end followed by a thunderous applause from the crowd.

The friar then placed down his goblet and stood up with the two magi that raised their hands only to create a portal as a rift then appeared in the center of the stage that the Lord Sheriff observed with a smile. There were then four people with trumpets that announced it was finally over…

“As to why it had to be your son? I cannot answer that. Sometimes in this life we don’t have all the answers and we wish things could have turned out differently. Sometimes it is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness, that is a fact of life.”, the King Regent then turned to face the knight. “You committed no mistake and you still lost something. If I had approached you about your son, you would have begged me to do nothing and spared him from any punishment but as a father, I am certain, that you are fully aware of what I had seen when I first met the boy.”, the King Regent spoke further to the knight who then turned to face him.

“And what is that?”, Lee asked. “His honor knows no bounds and no one would be able to deter him from his duty.”, Lee felt a swell of pride for even his enemy recognized this as a father did. “My hands were tied, Mr. Verysdale, they truly were and therefore I picked a route that appeased both parties. I took your son’s eyes in order for him not to be able to testify in court. I mean, he could, but which judge will believe a blind man who could easily be argued on the simplest fact that he is blind alone? Anyone, including us.”, John explained everything in detail and as much as Lee hated it, he realized that every word that the King Regent said made sense.

The three humans would then teleport to the middle of the amphitheatre with the Golden Arrow in tow. The Lord Sheriff raised the Silver Arrow that he had leaned forth to hand over to none other than Gilbert Whitehand himself who was overjoyed and honored to receive this award.

“Congratulations, Mr. Whitehand.”, the Lord Sheriff had shaken the dwarf’s hand when he spoke to him. “Thank you, thank you.”, the dwarf replied and then let go as he was content with second place something that Reynold was not but the human kept his head down for he lost.

The dwarf stood on the top beside the sheriff and raised the arrow for all to see that applauded his success while Robin reached for the shoulder of Reynold Greenleaf.

“Hey, Reynold, you might of got to third place but you are still a champion in my eyes and I am Robin Hood.”, the moment that Robin said this is when Reynold’s expression turned to shock and awe from sadness. “You’re kidding me, right?”, replied Reynold. “Nope, I am not kidding you at all. It’s just a Golden Arrow...”, said Robin and Reynold then turned to face him.

“Are you telling me I was competing with the best marksmen known all over Albion and scored third place? But not only that, I have the honor of meeting him and shaking his hand?!”, Robin looked at the man confused that grabbed his hand and shook it. “Hell, I thought you were another Loxley. I didn’t think you were the man himself but now that tells me everything. Thank you, sir, thank you. To hell with the prize, my prize is to have met you, milord. That’s the real prize here, yes sir.”, the two kept shaking each other’s hands before the trumpets sounded again.

“I could have had your son killed, Mr. Verysdale, but instead I let him live. You can say anything about me, you can question my methods, you can despise me for the man that I am but in the end I did what I felt was right and your son is still alive. Both sides were displeased with this course of action and satisfied too. The balance of our business was kept in check.”, the King Regent stated the obvious to Lee who couldn’t say anything back for he was right. “However, now I am faced with yet another dilemma which brings me once again to you…”, but this is something that Lee did not expect to hear and turned his head towards the King Regent whom he only then noticed had his eyes so focused on the man that just took a few steps to the middle of the theatre.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our champion!”, the audience roared with thunderous applause once they saw the famed Robin Loxley take his bow. “Remember, Mr. Verysdale, that money, jobs, and even best pals will come and go.”, the moment John said this, Lee looked to Robin Hood and wondered why the King Regent was on about. “Why are you telling me this?”, asked Lee and then two Iron Fist Guards approached them. “Because I know that you share a common past with Mr. Loxley and because I know that you two are friends, which is why I am sorry for what we must do.”, explained the King Regent.

“What?”, said Lee. “What do you mean?!”, Lee asked again and got no answer but Marian watched Robin from her seat as he stood waving and turning around to bow to his audience.

She took a brief glimpse of Lee raising his voice but could not hear anything as his voice was muffled out by the crowd of the audience whose thunderous applause traveled throughout the whole entire amphitheatre. Lee then looked to the center of the stage before John told him…

“He betrayed our family by going behind our back and colluding with our enemies.”, Lee knew this to be true and then he turned to face the center. “No…”, he did not say no because he was in denial but because of what he knew was coming, and that he couldn’t stop it.

“Mr. Loxley?”, said Thomas Curt as Robin stood before him with a smile, bowing his head, and the friar approached with the Golden Arrow in his hands that he handed to the Lord Sheriff.

Meanwhile, the carriages carrying the orphans and most of the treasury left the city with one of the members of the Curt Cut’s Clan approaching Anna Safavi, informing her of the situation and what had transpired. Realizing this, Anna dismissed the messenger with a wave and Marian was looking towards her as she could feel something was wrong.

“Ladies and gentlemen!”, the curtal friar announced. “No!”, Lee shouted only to get struck in the head by one of the knights of the Iron Fist Guard and Marian then knew something was up. “I present to you your champion and outlaw!”, this announcement made the entire crowd confused as well as suspicious before the Lord Sheriff removed the cloth that covered the Golden Arrow only to reveal it was placed on a mechanical crossbow that he had pointed towards Robin Hood.

“Robin Hood!”, the friar finished his announcement and then the Golden Arrow launched into the heart of the renegade ranger in the middle of the amphitheatre and in front of all to see.

“You bastards!”, Lee shouted in anger and was then pinned to the ground while Marian got up to stand from her seat so quick as she saw everything that had transpired. “I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you all, I’ll…!”, Lee shouted only for one of the knights to stomp on his head and knocked him out.

Robin looked down and reached for the arrow’s tip gently, the blood started to pour into his lungs and drowning it while it also came out from his mouth. When he raised his head, he stared towards the stage on the opposite side where he saw Maid Marian herself that ran forth to the balcony while the King Regent himself walked away. Tears formed in Marian’s eyes as she knew this was the last moment she would be able to gaze into his eyes and he then smiled towards her while the waters themselves coursed with sudden electricity that paralyzed every orc that was located underneath the tide that floated slowly to the surface that revealed them. Gilbert lowered his head down and looked away while Reynold could not believe his eyes while the friar and lord sheriff waited emotionless for Robin Hood’s body to fall down to the ground…