Chapter 11! I think we're just about there now – only one or two chapters left! Thankyou to everyone who has been reading this, and I'm glad you seem to be enjoying it as much as I am :D
Isabella didn't flinch as Robin took the final step, so that they were facing each other, almost nose to nose. The room held it's breath as they stood there; looking quite steadily at one another, both waiting for the moment Robin would draw his sword.
"Going to kill me, Robin Hood?"
"Yes." He spoke evenly, as if they were discussing the weather, or something just as trivial, but his hand drifted towards his sword as he did so "You have hurt the people, and I defend them. While you rule here, they are in danger."
Isabella smiled, stepping deftly out of his reach.
"Killing me doesn't help them." She smirked, her eyes on the sword that had dropped to his side at her words "My guards are not letting anyone out, whether I live or die. The people will be massacred, trapped in the courtyard. Innocent peasants, Hood. Dying. Because a little group of outlaws want revenge."
Robin shifted his weight to the other foot, biting his lip, trying to think. He could hear the others shifting about uncomfortably too. They were stuck.
"If I let you live, I'm supposed to expect you to let them go?"
"It's the best chance you've got."
One dead beat of silence as everyone contemplated this.
"Tie her up."
Allan and Much both darted forward, securing Isabella to her chair so tightly she could barely move. The thick ropes cut into her arms, making dark pink marks as she thrashed about, trying to break free, cursing and spitting. Much stuffed a tendril of the rope in her mouth too, so she was utterly trapped, unable to say a word. Once powerful, she was now completely helpless, tied up like a bird to be roasted. They left the way they had come, Robin hooking the knife out of her hand as they went.
The group dashed up staircases, along corridors, their feet pounding, no longer trying to be inconspicuous. They burst through the door of a room right at the top of the castle, following Robin and Tuck's lead. Once the last of them had tumbled through the door onto the threadbare rug, Guy slammed the door, and turned the key. If someone was following them, it wouldn't keep them out for long, but they would have some time.
"We need to get out." Robin gasped.
"What about the villagers?" Meg asked indignantly, bending over to get rid of the stitch in her side.
"I know." He looked at Meg his face thoughtful "But I think the guard are more interested in us than in them. If we can get rid of the guard on the roof…all we have to do is open the gates. The guard will be hugely outnumbered by the villagers, and they won't launch a suicide mission against them."
There was a general murmur of agreement as Robin crossed to the window, throwing it open and leaning out to peer up at the battlements. He could see the glittering back of two big, brutal looking guards, and slid an arrow into his bow. They were going to have to be very quick. Tightening the rope around the end of the arrow, he pulled the bow taught, squinting in the bright sunlight. He released it, and it landed on the opposite side of the roof, quivering.
The guards jumped in surprise, and Robin swung himself out the window, scrambled up the rope, and landed on the castle roof, swinging his sword left and right, knocking the guards in front of him to the ground. A moment later Guy's tall dark form landed next to him, also fighting as soon as his feet touched the stone floor. Much, Kate, Allan, John and Tuck appeared within a minute, swords out, snarling as they charged at the guards, until red begun to spatter over the dark grey stone. Only Meg was left, stranded inside the room, looking fearfully up at the battlements above her. She looked terrified, her whole body shaking, but her mouth was set, determined as ever.
"Meg! Are you alright?" Guy yelled, hurling a man over the edge, his body landing with a nasty crunch beneath them.
"Fine!" she screamed back, but her face was white as she begun to climb, her eyes flicking to the ground so far beneath her. She grinned at him, trying to not seem scared when the others had done it so easily. He nodded, returning to the fight as someone ran at him from behind, sword aloft. With a clash of metal they were swirling away. Meg gritted her teeth, wishing he could have stayed. Him being there had helped her take her mind off the task at hand – climb a rope – but at such a dizzying height. Her hands kept reaching nonetheless, and before too long, the lip of the roof was within reaching distance.
The rope jerked, and Meg struggled not to scream. She felt so vulnerable, hanging off this treacherous cliff face, with nothing but a rope. It jerked again, and Meg realised what was happening. Someone was cutting the rope. She had to climb up and join the others, but she was utterly paralysed with fear. One more hack, and she would be on the courtyard floor, dead beside that guard. The rope jerked for the third time, and Meg felt herself begin to drop, almost in slow motion. So this was how it ended.
Strong hands were suddenly holding hers, dragging her up the wall. The jagged stone cut her arms, and grazed her face, but right then she didn't care. Looking up, Guy's face swam into view as he lifted her the final few inches onto the roof. She collapsed into his arms, shaking and crying. He hugged her close, and she noticed that she wasn't the only one who had been scared. Although they were holding her so tightly, Guy's hands were shaking too.
Robin Hood's gang were still finishing off the last of the guard, but it somehow didn't seem to matter so much anymore.
"I thought I was going to never see you again." Meg mumbled into his chest, now having regained enough composure to hug him back.
"Me too." He admitted, "But I wasn't the one who decided to hang off a rope that someone was cutting through, was I?" his voice was light-hearted, teasing now.
She poked him as hard as was possible in the back.
"I'm afraid of heights." she muttered, so that her voice was barely audible.
"I noticed."
By this time, Kate had just finished off the last guard, withdrawing her sword from his chest, and wrinkling her nose at the amount of bright crimson that was coated on it. They all joined Meg and Guy, both of whom were extremely reluctant to let go of the other. They stood there, cut and bruised, all grinning as they surveyed the scene in the courtyard. The guards were looking up, stunned that the outlaws were alive. There were only sixteen of them in contrast to hundreds of peasants, pushing as shoving, most oblivious to the confrontation up above. The guards seemed to realise they were hopelessly outnumbered, and as Robin's arrow landed millimetres above their heads the creak of ancient, heavy wood indicated that the gates were being opened. Everyone on the roof seemed to be grinning and jumping up and down, Guy had released Meg by now, only to pick her up and spin her round as the gates opened. The only problem yet to solve was that of Isabella's fate, which sobered them pretty quickly.
They scrambled back down the wall, Meg refusing Guy's offer that he could carry her, sliding down faster than anyone, and smirking happily when her feet met the floorboards with a soft thud. Slowly, they made their way back to the "chair room" as Kate had christened it, John and Tuck leading the way. There was no need to rush – most of the guard were dead on the roof, and nobody really wanted to have to think about murdering Isabella earlier than they had to. She was twisted, horrible, vindictive – but the deliberate murder of her still silenced the group as they strode towards the room.
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"Isabella Gisborne, you have been sentenced with high treason against King Richard and the mistreatment of the people of Nottingham." Robin declared, shouting to make himself heard over the scrum of villagers, and leading Isabella, her hands tied together securely with rope, up the steps, so they were visible to everyone. "For these crimes, you shall hang tomorrow at sun-down." He looked around at the gathered people at the foot of the steps. "Does anyone disagree with this sentence?"
"I do." Meg's voice sounded from above him, and Robin whirled around. She was running towards them, Guy standing motionless behind her, looking completely stunned "I know I wanted her dead, Robin, but I don't think she deserves it. She was good to us once, which the old sheriff never was. She saved me when I was to be condemned."
"She also condemned you to death." Guy's voice joined hers, as he joined Meg, glaring at Isabella. "Her crimes outweigh any good she has."
"What about you, Guy?"
Meg's eyes met his, and for the first time he was sure that her thoughts were exactly in line with his. He had committed so many crimes that any glimmer of goodness was completely obscured by them. He had expected this, but he hadn't known that it would come so soon. The bubble of happiness that had expanded inside him when he had saved her from falling to her death had burst. She saw him for what he really was, she saw that while he might have managed a few good deeds, overall he was bad. Evil.
Next chapter coming ASAP! Review and let me know what you think :)
