A Thief and a Queen

The Queen in the Attic

Everything just kept getting worse for Robin after finding out he was dead. He didn't think anything could top that but then he saw his room and realized he was wrong. He might have lived in a tent in the woods while he was living but that didn't mean he was looking forward to having a coffin in his room. A nice bed and a comfy chair would be nice. Even if he was dead, didn't he deserve some comforts?

There was also no sunlight. Whenever he looked outside, it always appeared to be night. A full moon hung high in the sky, unmoving, as stars twinkled throughout the inky black night. Below his window was a graveyard, tombstones lined up as far as the eye could see. He saw others milling about, a diverse group all dressed in a variety of clothes. They chatted happily together and he heard singing from a far corner but it was nothing he wanted a part of. If he had to haunt a place for eternity, he would rather be in his beloved Sherwood amongst the green trees and bright sunshine. Not this dreary place that just reeked of death.

He needed to break out.

Now.

Robin laid on the floor, staring at the cobwebs on the ceiling. He didn't feel dead and it seemed he was still corporeal. Robin had been able to open the coffin as well as move items around easily. Ghosts couldn't do that.

Of course, he had to go through a wall to get from the foyer to this room, so that proved he wasn't corporeal.

Unless he was dreaming...

Knocking interrupted his musing and he sat up, raising his eyebrow. "Come in. It's not locked."

The door creaked open and an older woman bustled in. She had curly gray hair and half-moon glasses perched on the edge of her nose. Looking over their rims, she studied him. "So, you're the new resident."

"I think there was a mistake," he said. "I don't belong here."

"Because you're not dead?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He frowned, trying to figure out how best to answer that. "I don't feel dead but I'm coming to accept that. I just don't feel this is where I should spend my entire afterlife. It's just so...so..."

"Morose?" the woman supplied. "Uninhabitable?"

"Both work," he said.

She chuckled. "It can seem that way at first but once you get settled in and start meeting the other residents, you'll find that it's not that bad. You might even come to like it. I'm Granny, by the way."

He raised an eyebrow. "Just Granny? No other name?"

"Everyone calls me Granny," she said with a shrug. "I know I have a real name. It's out there on one of those tombstones, so I can always go look it up whenever I want. But I like Granny."

"Then Granny it is," he said, holding out his hand. "I'm Robin of Locksley. Better known as..."

"Robin Hood. You're something of a legend," she told him. He grinned, feeling proud that he managed to make an impact on the world before his untimely demise.

Granny shook his hand before giving him a little tug. "Come on. Let me give you the grand tour and I'll introduce you to some of the other residents of this place."

"So, how many of us are here?" Robin asked as they wandered the hallways a few floors up. Door after door lined each hallway, all apparently occupied by some other departed soul.

"You are our nine hundred ninety-ninth soul," she told him. "From what I understand, the manor can hold a thousand. So Master Gracey has been getting really picky about who he lets in now that room is scarce. It's not like any of us move out, you know."