"We call this room the vault." the sheriff told Robin. He was chained standing up, and his head was hanging down, his chin almost touching his chest. "One door, solid oak. Three locks, no windows, just...lost of stone." As he moved about the room, I spotted Guy in the door way. Tiernan and the leader of the Celtics, who was, as I learned later, Finn, Tiernan's older brother, were just behind Guy.
"A challenge." Robin said simply. The sheriff chuckled.
"This is the last room you'll ever know." Guy said, walking forward. The sheriff moved past him as Guy stood just behind Robin. "You should have killed me when you had the chance." he told him. "I'm going to make you suffer before you die."
"Just like you're suffering, Gisborne?" asked Robin, turning his head to look at him. "You know you could kill me a hundred times over, but the pain you're feeling now, the hatred, the self-loathing, it's never going to go away." He shook his head and looked back in front of him.
Guy grabbed him from behind and hit him. Robin groaned. "You'll never hate me as much as you hate yourself." he told Guy as he was leaving. Guy drew his sword and turned back.
"Oh, put it away." said the sheriff, sounding bored, his arms across his chest. "Always in such a rush. Sometimes I don't think you appreciate the poetry of pain." Guy sheathed his sword. "Something clearly Robin Hood does."
The sheriff and Guy turned and left. "So, how about the death of a thousand cuts?" suggested the sheriff. Finn was just staring at Robin, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Just as long as he dies." said Guy as the door slammed shut.
I sighed. Typical. The sheriff and Guy never changed. They were so predictable! They never killed Robin once they caught him. They preferred to gloat and have him face his death slowly. A mistake, as it always turned out.
Robin struggled with the chains, but to no avail. He breathed, deeply. The door opened again and Finn entered the room. He nodded to the two guards posted outside the vault and they closed the door behind him. Robin turned to face him as he entered. "A visitor? I won't shake your hand, if you don't mind."
"They tell me you were once a nobleman." said Finn. "That you gave up your title, lost all your lands, lost all your wealth."
"The people have endured far worse." Robin told him.
"That you lost the woman you loved."
"What do you want from me?" asked Robin and not all together kindly. "Irishman."
"We're the same, you and me. We both have cause, but you, Robin, you inspire men. I've seen it, right here. You see, my people, well, my people are as oppressed by this Prince John as your people, yet they will not rise for the call of Finn MacMorough."
"And you want my help." It was a statement, not a question.
"I want you to join forces with me. We can learn from each other, you and me. Together we can smash this Prince John and the sheriff. All of them. I'll help you free England, you help me free Ireland. We can both be kings. Now, what do you say to that?"
You can't be serious! Richard is a good king. No one in their right mind would even think of replacing him.
"England already has a king." said Robin, getting right in Finn's face. Then he punched him in the chest and grabbed a decorative pin from Finn's belt. He wrapped the chains around Finn's neck and held him up to his side. "Richard. His name is Richard."
"I only have to shout." Finn told him. "There's half a battalion out there." Robin let him go.
"You think over what I've said to ya. Perhaps you don't want a crown, but a just and fair country? If that's what you want..." Finn knocked on the door, then approached Robin again. "I might be the only chance you have left."
The door opened and Finn left. Robin was still breathing heavily and once the doors closed, he let out a deep breath. He laughed looking at the pin he held in his hand. "Thank you very much." he said, using the pin to unlock the chains around his waist.
I chuckled. That's my Robin! He always finds a way out.
"...so they tried to fight their way out," said Much,"and that's when her brother was killed. And then all hell broke loose! And Gisborne found out Robin was with them, and so the sheriff has Robin in the castle, heavily guarded."
"Right." said John grabbing his staff. "We go to Nottingham." The rest of the gang all turned to follow him.
"We'll be back." Much told Kate.
"What about the village men?" she demanded. "They're shipping them out to Ireland today."
I felt torn. I wanted them to go to Nottingham to rescue Robin, but Kate was right. The village men were also important. They couldn't allow the sheriff send those men away.
"Robin is our priority." Tuck told her, turning back to face her.
"Losing an entire generation of men will kill all the villages for miles around! You put one man before stopping that?"
She's right, I realized. Surely even Robin wouldn't put himself before all the village men who had been taken.
"Kate," said Tuck, not unkindly, "villages are dying across England. The only thing the people have is spark of hope called Robin Hood. He is important than any one man. He is an idea, something the people can believe in." He turned to leave again.
"I gave up Robin to Gisborne." Kate said, stopping all four men in their tracks.
"You what?" asked Alan, aghast.
"You didn't say that." said Much, both hurt and shocked.
"I'd do it again." she said, unrepentantly. "To save my little brother. He wasn't important enough. He was just a village man who wanted to raise a family and live an honest life. Well, I believed in him! Now he's dead. And you think that the idea of Robin Hood is more important than his life." She shook her head. "You make me sick." She turned and walked away.
I felt for her. She had just lost someone she loved and I knew how that felt. Matthew is important, I wanted to tell her. Everyone is.
Much made a move to follow her, but Tuck stop him and shook his head. With a sigh of disappointment, he and Tuck watched her leave.
Robin freed himself of the chains around his hands and waist. He had just bent down to undo the chains on his legs when he saw a rat chewing on a piece of food. It was sitting just under one of the stones that made up the wall. Robin crawled over to it, going as far as the chains would allow.
"Hello, little fella. Hey." he reached out and petted it with one finger. "Where did you come from?" The rat ran away and Robin managed to pull himself forward a little more. "You might just have found me away out of here, you." he told the rat as he began scratching at the stones and the dirt around them.
You can do it, Robin. I know you can!
"Just ran that by me again," said Tiernan turning to his brother in disbelief. "We're gonna do what?"
"We're going to break Robin Hood outta here." Finn told him.
"Then it must be all this English air because you're not thinkin' straight!"
"Tiernan, for once in your life, will you stop lookin' for an easy ride and see what's staring you right in the face." He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Robin Hood is no ordinary outlaw. He's one of us! He's fighting a tyrant, the sheriff!"
"You told me to do the deal! We had nowhere else to go."
"But now we do! Robin Hood. Look, with a man like that along side us our Irish people will rise and fight." Tiernan shook his head. "I'm sure of it!" Tiernan remained silent. Finn looked at him in disappointment. "You've lost the fire, baby brother, if you really ever had it."
Tiernan just looked at him. "Are you with me?" Finn asked him. Tiernan stood there in silence for a couple of seconds before turning and walking away.
"Tiernan!" Finn called after him.
Robin continued to scratch at the wall, and soon was able to remove one of the smaller stones from the wall, revealing a hole. For a moment it gave him hope, but when he put his arm in there, he realized there was just more dirt. He looked over at the rat, who just sat there as if watching him. "I never would have fit through there anyway." He closed his eyes and shook his head, forcing himself to think.
"Come on, Robin, come on! Think." He looked behind him and then back at the stone he had just removed. He twisted around and moved his legs so that he was in a sitting position. Then he took the tunic and hood Matthew had given him.
He lifted the stone onto the tunic and looked up. "Please God. Come on." He folded up the ends of the tunic so that it completely covered the stone. He looked over at the rat again. "Ready?"
He lifted the tunic/stone and brought it down on the chains on his legs. He paused listening for signs that he had been heard. Obviously he hadn't been because he it did again and again, finally breaking the chains on his legs.
"Yes!" he pulled the broken chains apart. "You little dancer." He pulled the chains away from the shackles around his legs.
Finn placed a bucket against one of the walls. Smoke started to rise from it. He covered his mouth with his arm and coughed. With his other arm, he waved the smoke around, causing it to spread. "Fire!" he shouted. He coughed again.
"Fetch water! Fire!" He moved towards the man guarding the vault. "You, get the prisoner out of there!"
"Open up!"
"No, no, no, no, no." said the sheriff suddenly appearing from around a corner with several guards behind him. "I'm afraid your privileges in my castle cancel, my friend." He smiled. "An old trick." He pretended to cough, as Guy walked behind him. "But a very good one."
Tiernan entered the room and Finn saw him. "Tiernan."
"Sorry, brother. The sheriff here made me realize the problem," he said as he approached Finn, "you know it's not with our cause."
"No," agreed the sheriff, "though a very worthy endeavor."
"It's with the man who's leading it." said Tiernan gesturing to Finn.
"You fool." said Finn.
"I found a really ally right here."
"Hmm..yes," said the sheriff coming forward, "in exchange for a few small trifles. A county called Way, I believe."
"You haven't the sense to lead an army," said Finn, "let alone a nation."
Tiernan chuckled. "Says you." He spat on the floor. "But the men are with me. It didn't take much persuasion mind, but then again, all you offered them was a glorious death in the name of the cause!"
Finn rushed forward and grabbed Tiernan by the shoulders, but two guards quickly pulled him away. "When, I'm king," Tiernan told him, "they will be well rewarded." He patted his brother than walked away as the guards began to drag Finn to the vault.
"Are you gonna leave me here?" Finn bellowed. "Tiernan!" Tiernan turned around to face him. "I'm your brother! I'm your king!"
"Chain him up and throw him in there with Hood." ordered the sheriff. "They can die together." Finn continued to shout his brother's name as the door to the vault was opened and the guards took him inside.
Robin stood, seemingly still chained. "Tiernan!" shouted Finn as the guards chained him to the wall. "Get back here and set me free!"
"Save your breath." Robin told him as the guards left.
"I'm selfish, greedy little brother." said Finn. "By the time he's bored of this new game, he'll have ruined our last chance to free Ireland." He pulled against the chains. "We should never have come here. Our cause belongs to our people. Yours... yours have trouble enough with this poisonous sheriff. "
"Perhaps we can be allies." said Robin. Finn looked over at him and Robin threw the chains away from himself.
"How did you do that?" asked Finn as Robin approached him.
Robin held up the decorative pin. "You helped me. Now I'll help you." He set to work freeing Finn from his chains.
I smiled. An alliance! I was glad. Robin needed as many allies as he could get, and Finn seemed genuinely concerned about his people. The two men needed each other. I felt certain that together they would succeed.
Author's Note: So sorry for the long wait between updates, but classes started last week and I'm just now starting to get into the swing of things. So hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently again.