Author's Note: Sorry this took so long! Life got crazy on me! I hope those of you who are still reading this will continue to enjoy it!
Disclaimer: If I owned it the barn scene would have never happened. Ever.
Volpis Praetigiae
Chapter 3
There was a pause in which Guy sincerely wished he was better at this kind of thing. Instead the only thing he could think of to do was to raise an eyebrow, turn and say:
"Friends?"
The slightly mocking chuckle was expected, as was the calculating gaze, but the light of openness in the man's eyes was something new. Guy almost shrunk back, used to the sheriff moving closer whenever he got in this mood, but after a moment, Martin took a step away and indicated a chair:
"How about we sit down, Sir Guy?" It wasn't really a question. For a moment, Guy considered standing but… his curiosity flared up as it hadn't in months and so he sat down. Martin grinned but it was not unkind and sat across from him. Then the noble drank and looked at him, sighing.
"Look, let's be honest with each other," Martin opened. He grinned again. "After all, that's what friends do. Tell the truth." Guy risked a nod.
"Would you say Vaysey has done a good job? Here? With Nottingham?"
"Uh-" Guy started, and hesitated, but Martin cut him off.
"You're loyal to him- Good. Loyalty is always good. I'll answer my own question then: No." Martin stood as if he was too angry to sit and strode along the wall of the room. "Vaysey has not done a good job here. He's failed to organize the Black Knights, he went gallivanting off to the Holy Land because he can't even handle some pesky outlaw! I recommended him to this position myself and been made to look a fool!"
He took a breath and seemed to calm down, though the wildness was still in his eyes. "Vaysey won't be around for much longer, I've been saying this for a while and John agrees with me. It's just a matter of time."
He sat back down and leaned forward. "So the issue then becomes this: Who takes his place? Do we bring in someone completely knew and have to train him and explain the situation and question his loyalty?" He rolled his eyes and shook his head, looking almost comic.
"Or," he drawled slowly and there was nothing funny about him now. "Or do we just… bump someone already here up a position. What do you think?"
"Uh," This was happening too quickly for Guy to process. Vaysey out? It just didn't make sense… Or did it? Suddenly all the things Martin was talking about started to make more sense. Guy had always thought the way Vaysey handled Hood was too… showy. It was always about grand schemes or stupid snake pits and not about getting the job done. Hood should've- could've been handled months ago. He would've done it.
Still… it was Vaysey. The man he had fought for, killed for, died for. He had killed Marion instead of Vaysey, given up all hope of redemption for Vaysey. He hated the man, yes, hated and feared him but he was still loyal. It was all he had left.
"Look," Martin suddenly broke into his thoughts and Guy worried the man must've seen something of his struggle in his eyes. The noble sat down again, took a sip of wine and was suddenly relaxed, molding into his chair as if it were made for him. "Don't worry too much, Sir Guy, it was a rhetorical question. Just the babblings of a man with a terrible habit of talking too much."
Guy nodded- or maybe he grunted- but he didn't say anything. It was hard to be comfortable around this man. He was too controlled, too smooth, too quick to change moods.
The man continued to talk- about his estate and the court and other random bits of nothing. Guy found it easy to mostly ignore him and ponder the questions put in front of him. He had the annoying suspicion that Martin knew Guy wasn't listening- chuckling at his own jokes but not waiting for Guy to add anything to the conversation. Finally, he took a last swig of wine and rose to leave. Guy rose as well and moved to shake the man's hand. Guy didn't trust him- but it couldn't hurt to have him on his side. Or for him to think Guy was on his.
"I would ask that you ponder one more thing for me," Martin said, handing his empty cup to Guy and giving his head a toss so that his hair fell perfectly out of his face. "It seems to me that you have sacrificed everything. The question then lies in what you have sacrificed it for: the Sheriff of Nottingham or the Rightful King of England? Do not confuse one with the other, Sir Guy, they are quickly becoming increasingly contradictory."
With a cordial bow and one last knowing smile, Lord Martin exited the room. Guy remained standing and thinking for a long time after he left.
"This is a terrible idea," Allan muttered and Much couldn't help but grin. Allan was whining- a constant, pouty, dark string of words and curses that could only be called comical.
"We're going to die you know. Be attacked. Get killed."
"I highly doubt that," Much said, holding back a branch so it didn't hit the trailing man in the face.
"Oh, don't doubt, Muchlyn," Allan admonished. "We're going to die. Horribly. Painfully. Probably with nails or something. Fire. Blunt instruments."
"Did you meet this kid?" Much asked over his shoulder. "He's more innocent than a newborn. There's no way he was raised by murderers."
"Probably faking," Allan grumbled. "I'm too young to die."
"You didn't have to come. I told you I could've taken John."
"Too trusting," Allan insisted. "He wouldn't have watched your back properly."
"Glad to know you care so much about me," Much said, grinning.
"Don't! But who else is going to feed me. Don't want to starve myself!" Much nodded- he was beyond rising to Allan's friendly bait. Especially when he could tell that the man's constant complaints were hiding the fact that he really was a bit nervous. He started humming to himself. Allan remained silent for a moment before:
"Families are unnatural, you know."
"Lots of people have families, Allan."
"Not normal people."
"Yes they do."
"Do you know any normal person who had a family?" Much glanced back at Allan before deciding it was safe enough to bring up.
"Will had one." Allan shrugged dismissively.
"Not normal. Who wants to live in a desert?"
"You have a point," Much agreed because bringing up Will at times was acceptable, but bringing up Will's relationship with Djaq was not. Allan would go quiet and angry and… hurt.
"We're gonna die."
"He mentioned sisters."
"Raped and then killed."
Andrew risked a glance over at his wife. She was glaring at him. She had been glaring at him for the better part of a week. It was getting a bit eerie.
"Look, dear," he started again. "He's growing up. He deserves to make his own decisions."
"Even if his decisions are going to get him killed!" Her voice took on that shrill tone it always did when she was battling between anger and worry.
"He's not going to get killed," he said, risking reaching out a hand and touching her on the shoulder.
"Oh, how do you know that!" she cried, slapping his hand away. "He can't fight! Robin Hood is always getting into fights! With trained guards!"
"I'm sure it's not that often."
"Carol told me!"
"Your sister doesn't even live in Nottingham! How would she know?"
"She has friends there," Amanda insisted.
"Mandy," he tried again, taking a step closer. "He's not going to get into trouble." His wife spun to look at him angrily.
"Oh, how would you know?"
"Amanda," he said, adding a touch of authority into his voice. "His mind is made up. He's going." He saw her balk a little and tried to keep the fear from his voice. He was only allowed to pull any sort of authority on very rare issues. If she decided to go "sarcastic, sadistic, angry wife" on him he was in for a miserable few weeks. Oh, God, his daughters would probably join her. What was he thinking? Allowing her to have more children…
"Well, fine!" she snapped, spinning back around to where she was packing some food for Stephen to take with him. "But if he dies, I'm digging him back up and killing him again. And throwing Robin Hood in there for good measure!" She stalked out of the small kitchen and he breathed a sigh of relief as he followed her out. She was on his side.
His daughters were also glaring at him as he entered the main room. Luckily, once Mandy made up her mind, it stayed made up.
"You look like idiots," she informed her daughters, ignoring the fact that she had worn the same expression just a few moments ago. "Aren't you supposed to be helping Stephen get ready?"
Stephen himself chose that moment to enter, holding a bag over his shoulder and smiling sheepishly. Mandy's face softened immediately and she practically pounced on the boy.
"Do you have everything you need? Did you remember clean socks?"
"I got it, Mum," Stephen said. "Everything's in there. Elizabeth checked already."
Elizabeth, Andrew's youngest daughter, nodded. Amanda tutted.
"Well, when are they supposed to be here?" Stephen glanced around and shrugged.
"Any minute I think."
"They're probably late," Katherine- the middle child- said, voice dripping with disapproval.
"Well, it's a far way to walk," Stephen said peaceably.
"Not far enough that you can't visit," Amanda said warningly. Stephen hurriedly nodded.
"Whenever I have time."
Andrew watched as his son carefully hugged each of his sisters, yelping as Katherine stomped on his foot. His son had always been a quiet kid, content to watch or be told what to do. Katherine, and later Elizabeth, had gleefully taken full advantage of that. Stephen had spent most of his childhood carrying his younger sisters through the house or getting his hair braided when it was long enough. Andrew suspected that was the reason he was so careful to keep it shorter now.
Andrew did have his own worries about sending his only boy off to fight when a crew of outlaws. These men were doubtless rougher than Stephen was used to. Heck, just the fact that they were men made them completely different. He had no doubt that his son would be bullied and corrupted. He could only hope that he was bullied by the right people and corrupted to a proper extent. After all, he couldn't very well say "no" to the idea. It was the first time Stephen had showed an interest in something he wanted to do aside from carpentry and Andrew wasn't about to stifle him at home. No matter what pain his remaining female household gave him for it.
A careful knock at the door stopped his thoughts and though everyone quickly put polite smiles on- except for Katherine- Andrew knew that only a complete idiot would think that all was perfectly well.
The men were not complete idiots. The shorter one with light brown hair was carefully standing a few feet back from the door, while subtly shifting his weight from one foot to another. When his eyes risked a glance up and saw Amanda who had given up on looking polite and now looked entirely judgmental, he shifted back even more. The second, snatched his hat off his head faster than Andrew would have thought possible, revealing reddish-blondish hair, took a breath before announcing.
"Hello," it was uncertain and tingled with nerves but Andrew really couldn't blame him. He sounded the same way when he first met his wife. The fact that there were two mirror images of his wife sitting behind her probably didn't help. "I'm Much." He glanced at the other man before realizing that his friend was not going to say anything. "This is Allan. We're just here to pick up Stephen."
"Of course," Mandy announced. "Would you like to come in?" It would have sounded friendly if her smile didn't show quite so many teeth. Andrew tried to keep an amused smile from coming to his face. Much thanked her and the two moved to come in, the second- Allan- for the first time showing something other than meek terror, as he suspiciously drifted his hand towards his sword. He entered first, cautiously scanning the room before glancing back at Much who then followed with an almost imperceptible roll of the eyes. Allan flashed the quickest half-grin Andrew had ever seen. A smile of his own refused to be suppressed any longer. He wondered idly if Mandy even noticed the interaction. She probably didn't but he would tell her later that no one was sneaking up on Allan any time soon.
"This is my daughter, Katherine," his wife was saying. "And this is Elizabeth." Much made an effort to nod and smile, Allan again kept his eyes firmly on anything else. There was an awkward silence.
"And I'm Andrew, the father," Andrew said, reaching forward to shake their hands. He had a lot of respect for Robin Hood- and his men. Much smiled back at him- a shred of relief in his eyes as he found someone who wasn't subconsciously glaring at him. Allan, though he had shrunk back at Andrew's initial movement, shook his hand as well, blue eyes flashing to his face for the briefest instant.
"This is a lovely home you have," Much offered. Allan nodded in agreement.
"Not lovely enough to keep Stephen here," Amanda said, a hint of anger lacing her voice. Stephen blushed.
"Mum," he muttered.
"Do you have everything you need?" Andrew asked Stephen, though he already knew the answer.
"Yup," Stephen replied.
"Great," Much replied. "We'll just be off then."
"Is there a way to contact Stephen if we need him?" Both men looked honestly stumped for a moment, as if wondering why they would ever need to do that. Amanda pressed on, adding a note of "you're being ridiculous and stupid" to her voice. "In case of a family emergency…"
"Uh-" Much said, blinking. "Right. That would be… important. Allan?" Allan jumped at the sound of his name and then glared at Much before looking back to the condescendingly patient woman in front of him. Then he frowned to himself and looked around again and Andrew for the first time though he might be more than a very jumpy sidekick. The man's gaze turned almost calculating as he deliberated something over.
"Do you know Anne Stocken down in Knighton?" Allan spoke for the first time, thick accent filling the room. Amanda nodded and he continued. "Good. Tell her you need an extra batch of apples for Katherine's birthday. She'll get me the message."
"But there is no message in that," Amanda said, raising an eyebrow. To Andrew's surprise, Allan finally met her gaze head on.
"Security is tight," he told her. "Stephen will come over as soon as I get just that message." She nodded but didn't look very impressed with his display of backbone and he quickly looked away.
After a final round of hugs and well wishes, Stephen gave his family a last smile and then walked out with the two men. Elizabeth and Katherine began discussing the better qualities of the two men and Mandy glared at him for all of one second before giving in and pressing her face against his chest. Andrew held his wife and hoped for all their sakes that he had made the right decision.
"I was right!" Allan declared as soon as they were out of earshot of the house. "Bloody terrifying."
"You didn't say a word the whole time practically!" Much said, chuckling.
"Woman was ready to kill us. She might come back and kill us anyway." Allan made a show of glancing over his shoulder. Much smiled at the newest member of the gang.
"Doesn't mean any disrespect by it," he said, not wanting Stephen to think they were mocking his mother. "He just gets all in a tizzy when he's scared."
"Was not scared!" Allan insisted. But Stephen was giving Much the smallest smile and seemed to agree with him.
"She scares me too," he admitted. "You should see when her and all my sisters gang up."
"Don't know how you lived with it," Allan replied, shaking his head. "I thought my father was bad- but she was the most terrifying person I've ever met!"
Much was relieved to see that Stephen just chuckled and nodded along, seemingly unaware of the offense other men might take from such comments.
"So," he interrupted Allan's rant. "About the gang. Robin's the leader. Obviously. In charge of tactical stuff and the like. If he tells you to do something, you do it. In battle, no questions asked." Stephen nodded seriously. "John you've probably heard of- big man. I would do what he says too just because… well… he's huge. Not one to talk much though so don't get offended if he doesn't say anything." Another nod from Stephen who Much noted way hanging on his every word.
"And Allan here is in charge of our network of contacts and such. Spies in Vaysey's camp and such. Basically, don't talk to anyone about anything without clearing it with him first!" Stephen nodded.
"And finally," Much jumped as Allan started speaking. He didn't think he had forgotten anything. "Much is in charge of the camp- food, warmth, basic survival needs. Without him we all starve to death: keeps the whole operation running!" Stephen was looking at Much with a new found respect and Much felt a glow of pride and gratitude in the pit of his stomach. He looked over to thank Allan with his eyes but Allan wasn't looking at him. Instead he was off, talking about which traps he thought should be fixed up first and different ideas he had. Much smiled to himself and jumped in when Allan took a breath- they needed new bowls as soon as possible.
"Oh! Almost forgot," Allan said when Much finished. "The goose. Do not piss off the goose. It's evil. Truly, deeply evil."
End Chapter 3.
hope you enjoyed it! reviews or comments are always welcome!
