[WATTYS2023 - GERMAN WINNER/Most Engaging World] ** Marian, a thieving nobleman's daughter with too big a heart, meets Robin Hood, a daring thief with a huge ego. Will they be able to overcome pain, longing, and, finally the cruel Sheriff of Notting...
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Adventure. She had once looked for them when she had first searched with a wildly pounding heart for the hidden cassettes and money boxes full of misappropriated coins in the counting chambers. She was feeling dizzy, and the way to her chambers was only a blur in her memory. But she remembered how it had been when the door had slammed shut behind her. And also how the eyes of the young mother with the sick toddler shone when she placed the shimmering coins in her hand the following day.
If Marian had asked her father, he would certainly have given her money. He did that before when she was still a young girl. Whenever her heart overflowed with compassion for those who had so much less and were starving, while full plates made their tables groan. Back then, before the days of the greedy prince. Today, their tables were also less richly set. Her father appreciated her good heart - but she would also always remember his words:'No matter how many coins we throw into the streets, my child, it will not relieve England's hunger. We cannot help them with silver.'
But with what then, father? This question had occupied her long and often. Not daily, though. Her mind often wandered, seeking other ways of distraction from the oppressive boredom. She had to make this admission to herself. And yet, like a pendulum, her heart inevitably returned to this point again and again. The people's poverty and suffering, to which many nobles so vehemently turned a blind eye. It would not be ignored forever, even if they locked themselves in their castles and drew the curtains of their carriages.
It felt good to give something back to the people. She missed the pounding of her heart in the darkness, the tingling in her fingers, and, yes - the sweet taste of the forbidden. It was intoxicating, and the reward was sweeter when it filled a family's plates for another week.
But these kinds of 'adventures' had never been so dangerous for her.
Rattling chainmail, clattering sword scabbards and blades, the drumming of heavy boots on the stone floor. Shouts came closer. Guards, she had to pass somehow and above all unseen. She hurriedly ducked into the shadows and went over the plan in her head to get into her chamber again. This was a dance on the castle's battlements; only one false step could drag her into the abyss.
Her advantage was the darkness and the winding corners of the dungeon, which eerged with the castle's cellars due to a wall that collapsed years ago. This was her home. She knew every nook and cranny of this castle, and Marian had to take every advantage that the old walls offered her.
The footsteps came closer. Excited voices hissed and barked at each other. The atmosphere was tense to the breaking point, yet nothing compared to the tension inside Marian. Like a mouse hiding from a circling bird of prey, she huddled behind a pillar near a cell.
'Come on, Marian! You mustn't hesitate! You're running out of time!' she scolded herself, then jumped forward. The door to the cell stood a narrow bit open - just enough for her to slip through without any trouble.
