It was nearly two weeks since disease had first come to her village and Sapphire was the only one left. Two weeks, that was all it had taken for her entire world to change. Two weeks ago she had been a happy young woman, poor but happy, she had lived her entire life in the village. It was small, not too far from Loxley but far enough that it, and its people, had mostly stayed out of the trouble that had been caused since Robin had returned from the holy land. Of course she had always been fascinated by stories of the hero, how he left to fight with King Richard, what he had been up to since then but her life offered little opportunity to investigate or travel and find out. She worked the land with her father, she cooked and cleaned with her mother and she spent any free time with her friends. Her life wasn't dramatic, or adventurous or particularly comfortable a lot of the time but it was as happy as it could be.
Now that was all over of course. She sighed quietly as she stared down at the small sapphire necklace, her name sake and wondered what to do. Her mother had told her that the necklace was special, that it was a heirloom, that she was named after the stone for its beauty and the fact that her eyes were also a sapphire blue, no she couldn't sell it but she didn't know what she could do. She had never left her village but she could see no other choice now, the village was empty, the disease had been quick and deadly as it swept through and killed everyone. Everyone except her the thought grips at her heart painfully as she pulls a small pack onto her back and begins her journey. Resting against a tree some hours later, she picks at the bread she had brought with her and goes through her options in her head. She couldn't go to Loxley, she had heard too many rumours about the trouble there and she knew that most of the masters around these parts expected obedience and silence from servants something she had always struggled with and never had to worry about it much because working with her parents she had always been more free. That meant that Nottingham was out too, she knew well enough what the Sheriff was like and was pretty certain she would find herself with a rope tightening around her neck before long if she ventured there. What then? She couldn't stay here in the forest like an outlaw, she'd starve or be murdered or something. It is with this thought that she drifts into an uncomfortable sleep waking up hours later grief overwhelming her once again as she remembers all that she has lost and for a while she can do nothing other than sit and cry.
Standing up with a heavy sigh she begins to stumble through the dense foliage until she hears noise and comes to a halt with a gasp as she sees what looks like a village through the tree line that looks exactly like heres and just for a second she thinks she's been dreaming and will step through to home, to see her parents and her friends but the knowledge that she would never see them again suddenly hits her harder than ever. Feeling suddenly dizzy she feels her knees buckle sending her quickly to the ground only something grabs her around the waist before she can make impact. Strong arms hold her steadily as she tries desperately to calm her heart rate and breathe more steadily. Of course she choses this moment to look at her saviour and quickly finds herself feeling even fainter than before. Her entire body going numb. It's a dream. It must be a dream of some kind. She can feel the desperate and panicked laughter bubble in her chest and her throat is tight with grief and no small amount of relief as she stares into the concerned emerald eyes of… a man who looks remarkably like he is trying to be Robin Hood, right down to the bow and arrow and band of men around him.
"Are you okay My Lady?" he asks in a voice deep and full of worry and it causes a shudder to roll straight through her.
"I… I, er, I…" her voice is hoarse as she trails off quickly unable to work out what is going on. Could she have found her way somehow into the arms of Robin Hood? Could he help her? She had heard the stories from tradesmen and other villagers, of how Robin and his men helped the poor and sick and needy, she wonders briefly if there was anything he could do for her?
"My Lady you are shaking and pale please tell me what is wrong," he says as he pulls her further into him in order to keep her on her feet as she wavers even more, her own fingers gripping at his tunic.
"I'm sorry, just… a… a bit shocked, who are you?" she asks, hoping against hope that he will say that he is Robin Hood and that he has come to rescue her, to help her and make sure that even though she had lost everything else in her life it would somehow be okay.
"My name is Robin of Loxley," he replies with a smile and for a second her whole world tilts out of focus such is the relief as she feels herself go limp in his arms and he quickly lowers her to the ground.
"I'm sorry," she murmurs feeling ridiculously pathetic as he hushes her and then he is speaking to his men but she cannot hear a word he is saying over the pounding of her heartbeat in her head, her world is spinning again and quickly becoming hazier as hunger and lack of sleep take their toll and she descends into darkness.
When she comes to she is on a bed of some kind and a small Middle Eastern woman is placing a damp cloth on her forehead.
"Where am I?" she whispers as the woman smiles at her gently,
"You are in our camp my Lady, do not fear, no harm will come to you but you fainted and Robin thought it best we cared for you for a while," she says quietly and Sapphire nods as she sits up a bit and takes the cup of water from her would be nurse gratefully.
"My lady you are awake, how do you feel?" Sapphire glances up into Robin's face as he crouches beside her and an instant flush slightly spreads across her cheeks. She had always sort of imagined that hero's like Robin had been made up to be these handsome types, that in reality they were scarred and old and rough and kind of ugly but, in Robin's case at least, it seemed that he really was as handsome as the stories she had been told made out. His eyes are a startling green and filled with honest open concern and care and his skin is smooth and tanned by the sun, even his hair, I mean how is it that a man living as an outlaw in the forest has such perfect hair? Years of hard training and fighting had clearly affected his physique too and, well, he was pretty much perfection in male form which is just totally unfair and she was a complete nobody that he was helping her for no reason other than to be kind. She had spent her entire life trying to be strong and heroic in her own right and she had been lucky enough to have had parents that kind of agreed with her. They had taught her how to use a sword and shoot a bow and arrow since a young age. It had been done in secret of course, others weren't quite so understanding, of course everyone knew anyway. They lived in a small village and things had a way of being found out, probably the reason Sapphire was still unmarried at the age of twenty, no man wanted a wife who was better with a wooden sword and bow and arrow than with a needle and thread but she couldn't bring herself to regret her decisions even if they had left her alone and destitute.
She is brought out of her memories as he moves now to sit on the edge of the makeshift bed taking the water cup from her hands and placing his own warm palm against her forehead, the calluses formed from handling weapons over the years sending shivers through her body.
"You are pale still," he murmurs quietly and she can feel myself heating more than ever.
"I…" she stop speaking almost as quickly as she starts, what was she going to say? She had always hated being weak and the thought of admitting that to these people made her cringe but she knew she had to tell him, she just didn't really want to.
"What were you doing wandering alone in the woods, they are dangerous?" he asks now and she tenses immediately.
"I was lost," she replies in a lame whisper after a while and he sighs as if sensing that she was not telling the complete truth, although in her defence it was pretty true,
"But why were you walking in the woods to begin with? From where do you hail? Surely there are people there missing you and we should be getting you back there as soon as possible," as he says this she shudders as tears gather in her eyes before she can stop them.
"I… it doesn't matter, not anymore," she whispers unable to keep the pain from her voice and it seems that it is clear to him too as he shifts slightly closer and seems to examine her even more intently.
"You must tell me what has happened," he says earnestly and she can't help but feel a little relief as she gazes into his honest, handsome face and prepares to tell him.
"My… they're all… my village was… there was disease, it was so quick… two weeks and everyone… it took everyone, they're all gone and so I left too but I didn't know where to go, I was scared so I just wandered through the woods but I ran out of food and water and I… I…" she trails off knowing that she was about to cry and desperately trying to avoid it.
"But my lady," he starts and the shock in his voice makes her look up suddenly, "where were you heading?" he asks after a slight pause and she glances up to see the others there too, listening and she flushes as she watches their piteous gazes fall on her.
"Nowhere, I… I don't know, I have… nothing, I told you the disease it took everyone they are all dead, my parents my friends, everyone," she whispers even more quietly and he sighs as he moves to take her hand in his.
"Do not fear my lady, we shall find you a home," he says confidently and… Sapphire doesn't know what she expected to feel, did she expect him to ask her to stay with him and join his merry men? Did she want that, to live in the woods, on the run? The truth is she had no idea but she was beginning to realise that her life as she had known it was well and truly over.
"Sapphire," she say quietly now and he frowns at her slightly, "my name, I am no lady, just a village girl," she adds a tiny smile making it's way on to her face at his confusion.
"Your name is Sapphire?" one of the men asks and the tone of his voice accompanied by the looks on some of their faces makes me flinch slightly.
"My mother named me after the precious stone, she had a necklace that was a family heirloom, it had a sapphire set in it and she always said that my eyes were the colour of sapphire too," she explains a blush on her cheeks as she does so, she was used to it though, her name was unusual and she had this conversation every time someone new came into her life.
"I think it is a pretty name," Robin says quietly and she looks up at him and risks a little smile as he says this before he moves to stand.
"So what do we do with her now Robin?" one of the men asks and she tenses as she once again remembers her present situation.
"We get her to the abbey village Rufford, the lord of that land is looking for a new housemaid he will give her lodgings and a job," he replies and just like that her life is decided and she has had nothing to do with it. All her life she had fought to make her own decisions, it was something that had caused more than a few arguments with her mother over the years when she turned down the only suitors that were willing to marry her but now she did little other than nod and smile politely when she is supposed to as they feed her quickly and then put her on a horse with Robin behind her and they begin moving.
Three hours later and she was a housemaid at some lords manor with a little room in the servants quarters and Robin Hood had left to go back to his life, his men, his maid Marion she assumed. She had heard the stories of her too, the beautiful maid Marion, noble, a lady, fierce and stunning just the kind of woman that Robin deserved to be with. It's two days after that that she learns just what type of person her new boss was. Just a little heads up, he wasn't a nice guy, in even the tiniest way. What was she to do though? At least she had a place to live now, that was a good thing right? She spends the next few weeks struggling to fit into life here and failing miserably. She seems to mess everything up and can't stop herself from back chatting which has earned her more than a few bruises. Worst of all she has found herself with a reputation of a trouble maker now so none of the other servants are willing to offer help or sympathy. She was more alone than ever and had no idea what to do. She had met the hero of her childhood, and adult stories and he had been beautiful and just like meeting any hero you have always fantasised and dreamed about they had passed like ships in the night and she is left dreaming while he has moved on and has forgotten all about her. She was stuck. She was alone, She hated her new life and she had no way to get home. She had no home, not anymore and the grief in her heart only grew each day as she remembered how happy she had been at home in her village. It wasn't the work that was so terribly hard, she was used to working a lot harder than she did now it was the company, the friendship, the love, the conversation that she missed. It was driving her insane, the silence, the beatings and the grief.
Sighing she drag myself out of her bed trying not to whimper as the movement pulls on fresh wounds on her back and legs, a punishment for improper attitude again. You see the problem with being from her family and village and not therefore growing up being either subservient or second class to anyone she struggled with the rules here… a lot!
"Where is that wretched girl?" a voice growls from somewhere below her and she flinches despite herself, how had this become her life? Losing her parents, losing her friends and her home was bad enough but to be dumped here with a sadistic and cruel man was not what she had envisaged, not that she knew what that was!
"I'm right here sir," she says hurriedly as she rushes towards him, trying not to trip on the stairs as she does so.
"Well what are you doing here? You were supposed to clean the guest bedrooms in preparation for the arrival of my guests tomorrow," he growls and she stares in bemusement at him.
"No, you never said anything to me yesterday," she replies before she can stop herself recoiling as she sees his face morph into one of pure unadulterated fury. You see now how her upbringing has caused certain minor issues for her over the last few weeks. How was she ever going to survive this place? The short answer of course is that she wasn't going to, survive that is, she was just trying not to think about that too much.
"Why you…" he is red in the face and spittle is flying everywhere as he begins screaming at her, the other servants moving quickly away, avoiding her eye and leaving the area and before she can get away her hair is in his fist and her face is being smashed against the wood of the staircase, so hard that for a while she can hear nothing but the ringing in her ears and then a kick is being landed on her ribs and she can barely breathe but she does know that she has to get out of there and so, somehow, she gathers her strength and half runs half stumbles and fall out of the house and towards the open road.
She makes it into the woods before slowing to a walk, satisfied that she's not being followed and as she stumbles breathlessly onwards her mind once again drifts back to her life before she came here. For as long as she could remember she had been the strong one, the happy one, the one who is always there to support everyone else and despite the fact that things were different here, that life was different now that her family were gone, it seems some things never change, she was still alone and needed to be strong. Sometimes she just wanted to scream, she wanted to cry and she wanted to slump down wherever she was and just… give up. She wanted so badly to talk to people, to someone, to be wanted to be loved but was beginning to realise that there is no one to talk to, no one to love her. Thats the problem she had always had she muses and it seemed that no matter where she was, it would be the same, everybody would have someone, have people to love them and to love, everyone but her that is. specially now, now that the only ones who had to love her were gone.
She slumps heavily against a tree and sinks to the floor trying to ignore the stinging in her face and the pain she has breathing properly. She felt wretched and at the same time incredibly guilty too because she had it so much better than most, she had nothing to feel depressed about after all. She had lived comfortably for most of her life, much more comfortably than some of the families she had heard about in Loxley and Nottingham, maybe not quite as comfortably as the lords and ladies and yet, she had not been forced to marry and had been loved by her parents. She had been given the chance, somehow to meet her hero's. They had treated her well, looked after her and got her on her feet and after all it wasn't their fault that the home they found for her turned out the way it did, that… he turned out the way he did. Oh God what was she going to do? She couldn't go back to them, even if she did know where to find them, which she didn't. They had been too kind already and besides they didn't care, they had much bigger issues to deal with than some random village girl that had lost her family and had nothing left! She had failed after less than two months and she felt utterly pathetic because of it too, she was so useless and self pitying and oh god she needed to get a grip and get one quickly.
"Right, water that's what I need," she mutters to herself, "need to stay hydrated and I need to clean these wounds before they became infected or something because then I would be in really trouble," infection meant almost certain death and that is something she wanted to avoid no matter how much she may hate it here, her parents had made her promise to live a full life and she was going to try her best to do as they wished. By the end of the next day though she is beginning to get desperate, she had been without food or water, or treatment for her wounds for nearly two full days and panic is setting in as she feels herself getting weaker and hope of finding at least a water source is dwindling.
A sudden noise behind her causes her to startle, a strangled whimper escaping her as she spins to defend herself and finding familiar, strong arms wrapped around her waist.
"Lady Sapphire?" the voice is questioning and full of shock as her body gives out and her legs buckle with relief and exhaustion.
"Robin," she breathes feeling a tiny smile tugging at her lips, turning into a wince as it pulls on her swollen cheek, "I seem to be making a habit of meeting you like this don't I?" she almost whispers and he tries to respond with a smile but concern is too prevalent in his features for that to work.
"We must get you home," he starts but her entire body tenses suddenly and she can't help the whimper of fear that escapes her as he says it.
"No… please, please don't send me back there," she manages to gasp out and his grip tightens slightly.
"What has happened to you Saph?" he asks both of them seeming to jerk in shock at the familiarity of the nickname he uses and she can't help the warm feeling it gives her.
"I was punished," she murmurs eventually and he hangs his head at this his arms shifting around her to hold her more firmly.
"I am so sorry, this is my fault," he says now and she is surprised by the level of sincerity and genuine guilt in his voice and face and eyes as he catches her gaze once more.
"It's not your fault Robin," she sighs, "I am too outspoken and rude and you had no way of knowing what kind of a man he was," she finishes.
"I should get you back to camp," he murmurs now almost to himself as he moves to lift her to her feet and steady her only for her legs to buckle and a soft cry of pain to escape her cracked lips, forcing her to bury her head against his shoulder for a second in order to regain control over her body and emotions.
"No, I don't, don't want to be a burden, I caused these problems so I should go out and fix them," she says with as much determination as she can muster and he actually chuckles a bit at that.
"You can barely walk Saph at least let me get you better then we can decide what the next step is," he replies and they both freeze again as the nickname seems to slip out without permission, "sorry," he says afterwards and she doesn't need to look at him to know that he is blushing slightly and it is a thought which makes her own cheeks warm and a feeling she is altogether unfamiliar with begin to grow in my stomach until she remembers that he has his maid Marion waiting for him.
"It's okay, I, I like it when you call me that," she whispers and immediately averting her eyes and staring very hard at a leaf on the ground until his fingers grasp her chin and pull her face up to his and she is unable to look away.
"Then that is what I shall call you always, besides outlaws can't really be called 'My Lady' can they," he smirks and she does too, so desperate for friendship and comfort that she buries the fact that he would leave her again soon and head back to him love and trying instead to enjoy the moment.
"Especially not servants on the run," she laughs stopping as it causes pain to burn through her side and forces a yelp of pain from her.
"Come let us get you healed," he says now sweeping her into his arms before she can protest and marching off into the trees.