"I, I'm gonna stay here," Will stammered and Tristan gave him a strange look, "And talk to your mother, Grace."
"Ok, Will" Tristan nodded but wasn't really paying attention.
"Could you take Meg inside, please?" Grace asked, politely.
"Sure," Will nodded and smiled at the little girl.
Gisborne was livid. He had woken to find that his wife had left the house, taken an expensive horse and stolen a lot of his money. How dare she?! She was supposed to be obedient to him, loyal. But she had just up and left, just like that! No doubt to see that damn Hood! He thought she'd got over him but obviously not. He would get Marian back, no matter what it took and he would destroy anything that got in his way.
Marching out of the house he raised his arm and grabbed the nearest villager to lay into them. Over the years his temper had grown a short fuse and he used violence to take it out.
The person in question was a young girl, skinny in stature with brown hair but he didn't think of that, all he could think about was the fact Locksley had taken Marian from him. He threw a punch into her stomach and she bent over from the impact, winded. He thumped her again, getting pleasure out of seeing her terror and pain.
"Grace!" Gisborne looked up from what he was doing and spotted a tall lad running towards him. With the chestnut hair and sea blue eyes the boy reminded him of Robin. His anger doubled as the boy struggled to draw his sword and stop him. Gisborne dropped his victim and charged at the child.
The huge, looming form of Guy of Gisborne thundering towards him caused Tristan to freeze. By then it was too late to find his weapon. Gisborne had thrown the first punch hitting him on the head and sending his lanky frame flying backwards. After that Tristan ended up sprawled on the floor whilst Gisborne rained hits down all over his head, chest and groin. He tried to recoil but he couldn't move he was in too much pain.
Nearby villagers watched in horror as the Lord of their manor beat up a young boy for no apparent reason whilst another child, a girl, screamed hysterically for him to stop.
Will followed Meg into the house when she got bored of playing with Russet. Inside the house was quite dingy and the only light was from a few windows. A middle aged woman was bent over a pot of food that looked like stew.
"Mother!" Meg yelled, "I have brought a friend. Well, actually he is the friend of Grace's friend." The girl's mother looked up and saw the figure of Will outlined in the doorway and drew in a sharp intake of breath.
"Good morning," Will greeted her politely, "I am…"
"Will Scarlett," the woman breathed. Will stopped, bewildered, how had she known his name? As if reading his thoughts the woman spoke again. "I'm Sally Wilson. I used to work for Lady Marian. I was her maid." The outlaw knew this meant something and struggled from blurting out the question he desperately wanted answering.
"I…er…met your daughter outside, she is very beautiful and so are you, but she looks nothing like you." Will said, wondering whether the woman would be offended. Sally looked into his eyes, searching them and found what she was searching for. Knowing.
"That's because she's not my daughter. Not by blood anyway. I raised her from a babe for her mother," Sally looked sad.
"Who's…" Will had to know whether he was right, he had to, "The mother?"
"I cannot tell you," Sally turned away.
"Sally, I think I know already," Will said quietly, "If I told you what I thought, and it was right, would you tell me?"
"I suppose," Sally nodded.
"Is it…Marian?" Will asked looking into her brown eyes for the truth. The woman didn't speak, she just nodded. Will drew a deep breath. Even though he'd suspected it he still couldn't quite believe it. Which meant that Tristan, who could only be Grace's twin, was Marian's son too.
"And…I take it the father isn't Gisborne," he queried.
"No." Just before he asked the second question that would finally put his mind to rest a scream ripped into the house.
"Stop! Oh please stop!" Will and Sally both recognised it as the voice of Grace. The outlaw whipped out his axes and raced outside to be met with an awful sight. Sally followed him quickly, worried for her adopted daughter's safety.
The battered form of Tristan lay on the floor. Gisborne, although running out of energy and anger, was still throwing punches at his bruised body. Will sprang forward and smacked Guy over the head with his axe butt, his own fury at Gisborne hurting the boy, especially the son of Lady Marian, coursing through his veins. Gisborne fell side wards heavily but he soon shot up again when he saw Will. He was stopped though when Will delivered a sharp kick and knocked him unconscious.
"Oh my God," Sally said, Grace in her arms, "Is that, Tristan?"
"Yes," Will nodded grimly and picked up the limp body in his arms. The boy was deathly still.
"Is he going to be alright?" Grace whimpered.
"I don't know," Will began walking away from all the staring villagers.
"Bring him back to my house," Sally said, "I can help him there." Will really wanted to get the young boy back to Djaq but he may not have enough time and he wanted to get some more answers from the woman.
Marian galloped through the trees, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of the outlaws. She couldn't see them anywhere. Usually by now they would've seen her from one of their lookouts and come to meet her. She wondered if something was wrong. It was then she noticed the faint smoke trail from a fire. That was very careless of them, she thought, slowing down and trotting towards the source. As she brought Locksley over a mound she caught sight of several outlaws sprawled in a leafy basin. None of them were conscious. Well, she should teach them a lesson.
Carefully she let the horse pick its way down the slope, shifting her balance as it slipped slightly.
"Whoa, boy," she said. She dismounted and slithered down beside the sleeping form of Robin. He looked so sweet. Brown hair sticking up in tufts as he snuggled under a travelling cloak. Shame to rouse him.
"GOOD MORNING!" she shouted in his ear and Robin flew several feet in the air.
"What on earth?!" he yelled, blue eyes wide in shock.
"Very good watch you've got going here," Marian smiled as he spotted her and he gaped.
"What are you doing here? You, you haven't talked to me in years," Robin spluttered.
"I know, I thought it was about time to catch up," she smirked, turning her face to the side to survey the camp and he noticed her red cheek.
"How did this happen?" he asked, concerned, trailing his fingers over the skin of the woman he had missed for all this time.
"Gisborne," was her one worded reply. Robin's happy expression turned dark.
"Why?"
"I disrespected him apparently," Marian said flatly, "But I've had enough. So I came to see if I could join you Robin."
"Join the outlaws?" Robin looked startled by the proposal, "How could I say no?!" Marian smiled.
"But first things first," she declared, as some of the nearby gang sat up, "You really need to improve you're guard."
"What's wrong with our guard? Will was doing it," Robin frowned.
"Well, he wasn't when I arrived."
"In fact, where is he?" Robin, immediately worried, leapt to his feet and scanned the outlaws, "Where's Will?"
"Oh, I think he went to Knighton with Tristan," Allan yawned. Marian froze.
Oooh, duh duh duuuh! is Tristan gonna survive! To find out, review!