NOTE: Just an explanation; a month passes between the first part of the chapter and what follows. Enjoy! :)
Chapter Twelve
Allan A' Dale hated the darkness of the Nottingham streets on this particular night. Granted, it was useful, and were it not for that darkness, he would have been imprisoned for multiple times already. He also preferred remaining unseen in the dark than running out into the light for all to witness. However, on this particular night, he was feeling jumpy. And he feared of what the darkness of the streets could be hinding. Who the darkness of the streets could be hiding.
Because those he was meeting were as sneaky as himself.
The Trip Inn was a place that carried along significance; where he had met Guy of Gisborne when he had still been an inside man in Robin Hood's camp. The fact that Robin had chosen to meet him now behind that very establishment was scratching at his mind incessantly, since that had also been where he had finally been caught and branded a traitor. Which was why he was on special guard.
Robin had not been the same since the rape incident; or such a conclusion Allan had drawn from the enclosed evidence. The people would not have lost the faith in him, if he had not given up on them. The death of Marian, combined to him being the one who was blamed for that death, and for the rape of a noblewoman, made him abandon the entire cause, and withdraw God knew where. Last Allan had seen him had been just after the incident, where he demanded to know who had killed Marian. Allan had sworn ignorance on the matter, but in reality he had known-well, guessed that it had not been Robin and the gang. But he swore the Sheriff and Gisborne had had nothing to do with it, either. Not that Robin had bought it.
The fact that the people had lost the faith in him-that they did not see him as their savior anymore-that was what had made him lose the desire for even revenge. After a certain period of time, of course, during which the rest of the gang had probably had to keep him tied up so he would not rush into the castle asking questions and doing something entire Nottingham could regret.
By what Allan knew, the gang was still trying to help the people. But they no longer robbed the Sheriff and mocked him openly. They would occasionally steal a shipment of food here and there, but that was nothing compared to what had been going on before. Enough to cause a tantrum from the Sheriff when he was in a bad mood, but not enough to have him start executing random people. Like he'd once tried with him. Allan could only be glad for that much.
He'd just turned the corner, arriving to the meeting place, when a dagger jumped out of nowhere-that was what he'd meant when he'd said he did not like the idea of others hiding in the darkness-halting before his throat.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He raised his hands, "I come in peace, whoever it is!"
"Oh, yeah?" The voice was familiar, and Allan closed his eyes, "Like you did when you came here to meet Gisborne-traitor."
Allan sighed, "You would not have called me here if you'd just wanted to kill me." He said resignedly. No matter what he said, Robin would never understand why had he betrayed him. Just as he would never value the fact he had never, ever divulged all the information to Gisborne-including that about Marian.
"You're right." The dagger was lowered, and before he could have gotten his bearings, Allan was dragged deeper into the alley, and into the darkness.
"Why did you call me, then?" Nervous, he was, all right. Because Robin was not alone. Shadows that belonged to former gang members were surrounding him. This made him wonder why had he come here, exactly. It was clearly the plain truth the gang was gathering again. They would probably go back into business, and Allan was the only one of the Sheriff's men who knew for certain. He was not sure whether he was going to share that information with his superiors. Nothing seemed certain to him ever since he had agreed to be the spy.
A minor gasp was heard, from the smalles of all the shadows. Djaq. Allan remembered her affectionately, and he was about to say something, though he had no idea what, to her. Robin prevented that.
"Because some of us believe you have a shred of decency within you. Though I lost all hope of that long ago." Here it goes again, "Especially after you let Jack Marson and his father hang when you knew full well they were innocent."
Allan ran his hand through his short hair, resisting the urge to groan.
"Look." He had done that for himself, and for Guy and Elizabeth. If the Nightwatchman had not been caught, they would have suffered. If Allan told Vaisey Marian had been the Nightwatchman, he would have suffered for not telling him sooner; and they would have suffered because Guy's report would have appeared fake, "I had lots of reasons to do that. I couldn't have told him it had been Marian, 'cause then he would've been mad at me for not tellin' him sooner, and…" He hesitated.
"And what?" Much's voice sprung up from the darkness, "We don't see anything just in your other reasons, just that you know, so you might as well spit out the last one!"
A fresh rush of anger coursed through Allan.
"What were you expecting, to have me remain loyal to your cause?" He bellowed, then remembered to lower his voice as it echoed through the empty street, "Look, I told you I was sorry and I wanted to return to the gang and stop workin' for Gisborne. Then you refused me. What was I supposed to do, run after you and beg you more? You said you'd kill me if you set your eyes on me again! Then the gang even…died off! Gisborne was my best chance; or was I supposed to earn my living as a beggar or a tavern trickster when I had something that paid better around?"
"You always have another choice." Robin said. Allan began to question his own, stupid sense of some sort of loyalty to these people. Maybe he should just betray them all to the Sheriff and earn himself a promotion.
"Yeah, and this was my best one. Now, what do you want? I don't have all the time in the world."
"Jack Marson." The answer came as quick as one of Robin's arrows, preventing Much from launching into a litany of curses or whatever he had intended on, "We were there when he was executed." And didn't save him-strange, "We were there when the Sheriff said he had finally been caught thanks to his efforts and all that. Now, what we want to know is how was he actually caught-why was he caught-and why were they looking for the Nightwatchman at all, when he hadn't appeared here since…"
Allan knew the reason to the pause, and for some reason, he found himself alleviating it.
"Yeah, I know. It's a…long story." One I won't be tellin' you, "There were sightings of him in Nottingham, and some townspeople were smart enough to go and report him, hopin' for a reward…"
"Oh, I don' believe this—"
"Shut up, Much!" Robin did something Allan thanked him for, "There were no sightings of him. I have been back longer than you think, and I'd have known. We'd have known. Will Scarlett. Why did you let him hang?"
Pain gnawed at him, but Allan swallowed it down, "Lady Vaisey said he'd been among the ones…" You knew he had not.
"You knew he hadn't!" Much hissed, "You should have tried—"
"I couldn't have!" Allan said, louder than he had intended to, and with more emotion, "I couldn't have, alright? I'd have lost my own head."
"Coward."
No 'shut up' came from Robin at this comment. All were silent, and then the leader of the gang spoke again.
"We know, also, that for some days, you were sent to collect the taxes in Gisborne's stead. Why?"
"I had to prove my worth to the Sheriff." The lie came swiftly.
"How grand! I'm certain you did-"
"MUCH!" A deep voice Allan did not reognize hissed. Someone new? Much shut up, without having to hear the rest.
"All right." There was something different in Robin's voice-something dark. Not as dark as what had been there just after Marian's murder. But enough to have Allan on edge, "Fine. We know Vaisey's wife was banished from London. For attacking Prince John when he tried to take liberties with her. What did that do to Vaisey's relations with Prince John?"
Why the hell should I tell you?
"Nothing." Another lie, "John just told 'im he should keep her in line. I don't see why that matters to you…"
He did not know whether they had believed him or not, and quite frankly, this entire business was becoming more and more suspicious to him, "Look, why did you really call me here? To ask me about things you mostly already know?"
What sounded like a soft, muffled cry came from the direction of Djaq. Frowning, Allan looked towards her, and unconsciouly made a step forward. A burly, extended arm stopped him, bumping into his chest.
"Traitors and liars, we do not like." John had sounded for the first time; he had probably been resisting the urge to strangle him on the spot up until now. Hesitantly, Allan moved backwards.
"Why am I here?" He repeated, feeling his heartbeat increase further. Robin had changed; maybe they did intend to get rid of him-
"Like I said. Because some of us believed that you had a shred of decency within you." Allan still failed to understand, just as he did not understand why had he suddenly switched to past tense, but Robin went on before he could ask anything else, "We know more than you think, you see. You lied to us about the sightings of the Nightwatchman—"
"Hey, that's what I was told!" Allan protested, not knowing why was he trying to justify himself to them at all.
Robin took no heed of it, anyway.
"You," He went on with more ferocity, "Lied to us about Vaisey and John. We know that he messed her up for good after London, and that he wasn't pleased at all with how John reacted towards him after her being banished."
Goddamn it. I should've known better; everyone knew that, everyone heard Vaisey that day. He regretted not being more careful. Though he had no reason for that. He did not intend on working with the outlaws again. The greatest concern he should have had was for them not to kill him.
"You let Will Scarlett die. You led Gisborne to our old camp. You led him to our old hiding places. You, Allan A' Dale, have failed your last test."
"As I knew he would."
Ignoring Much, Robin Hood turned to his men, "We have work to do." His head twitched towards Allan, who was too dumbfounded to speak a word, "Better than dealing with the Sheriff's men."
He left, followed by John and the others closely. Only one figure; the smallest one; went slowly and without much certainity. Just as they were all about to disappear, forever, to Allan, it spun around, and moonlight shone on Djaq's hurt face.It was her. She'd brought them up to take me in again if I proved myself. If I'd known--
"It is never too late…Allan A' Dale."
That sentence haunted him throughout the night.
Robin Hood's return had Nottingham in an uproar. It had all the guards on alert, the Sheriff livid, the servants fearful and it kept everyone as busy as they could have been. While Elizabeth despised Hood, for all the right reasons and for the fact he had robbed a shipment of expensive gifts that had been sent from her father as his latest endeavor, she was glad for one thing-Vaisey was too busy plotting new ways of the outlaw's demise and fuming over the fact Hood had returned despite the people not adoring him anymore. Too busy to pay attention to little things.
Like his wife sneaking into the quarters of his Master At Arms, with Allan A' Dale watching their backs. Or Elizabeth going riding about an hour after Guy's departure to patrol the villages for outlaws, and, unbeknownst to Vaisey, running into him and doing some more riding. They were more than just cautious; they were ever-vigilant, watching their every step for the last month. Meeting during day in the castle, so no one could spy from the shadows, meeting when the Sheriff would not notice both were conveniently absent at the same time.
Like now, when Vaisey lied asleep at his desk. Or, at least, Elizabeth thought he was still asleep, but it did not matter much, since he was unaware of their whereabouts. And since they were, at any rate, done already.
"I'll go visit Locksley tomorrow." She talked low, between the wall and Guy in a most favorable position, "If you come-to see your wife and son-a few days later, we should be safe."
Guy watched the sparkles that were her eyes, cursing the fact he already knew he would say yes. Of course they would not be safe-they would never be safe, but they were both, due to one motivation or another, ready to maintain it and have it remain that way. Guy had had suspicions before-as eager as he had been to see Elizabeth then, if for nothing but for purely carnal reasons. They had all sunk into forget, however, after their last meeting in Locksley Manor, just before Hood's first robbery after his disappearance.
"Very well. Expect me there and then." To rendezvous like they had last time. The time that had made him completely sure he wanted to retain her.
Guy had never spoken to anyone of his family. He had not ever had a simillar conversation as that one. Once or twice, he had divulged smaller details, and had drawn back at the reactions. Or killed at them. Elizabeth's reaction-her unique understanding-encouragement-it was something he had never encountered before in his life. Marian had made him feel better, but the moment she woud look at him accusingly, or when she would leave his side, he would feel all the worse, with her good against his evil. When she would be so good and he so bad. With Elizabeth, he had someone who made him feel better, truly knew what he was thinking and paid heed to that, and who was like him. Her presence, and thinking of her when apart made him think he was not alone.
"Oh, I will. But, do hurry-Ines is my only company over there."
Guy snorted a chuckle, smirking at her; "That's not true-the horses are always there."
"I'd prefer exercising my riding skills on someone else, thank you very much, Sir Guy." She convulsed her head shortly, her lips twitching "At least I'll be there to help remove Roger from the influences of his mother."
"That is a worthy cause." If the child grew to be like its mother, Guy was quite confident his lack of feelings would turn into derision. Veering closer to Elizabeth, he kissed her-a long, passionate kiss after which he produced a make-believe bow and, "My lady.", Leaving her, light-headed still, against the wall. His kisses always left her light-headed.
That night, she slept with Vaisey, after quite a long time. Those kisses did not have any effect-they were merely there when he felt she did not want them. There had once been a time when her husband had respected her-or so it had seemed to her. Now, it only happened on occasion, when she would display special cruelty or sadism. Or when she was especially sharp in her feigned arguments with Guy. Which, lately, she had begun to despise more and more, the arguments. Because of the very fact Vaisey enjoyed them so much.
Elizabeth had never quite stopped to think on what they were doing and why since that one time at Locksley. Once she had realized she loved Guy, she did not care for all the dangers in the world. That had been the answer to all of her 'why's. She had always known that was the way love impacted with her. She did, however, know she had to pay special attention not to have love cloud her judgement completely. Resisting all those urges to embrace him, to smile at him, to kiss him-love made all that harder. Specially when she felt he would have wanted it.
But they had no other plausible choice.
None of them were of the kind to settle for less. No matter how much they might have wanted it.
The one-month old Roger liked being in Elizabeth's hands. Ines liked this in the afternoon, when she fancied a nap ever since she had given birth. Elizabeth had rarely been the one to waste afternoons that way unless thoroughly exhausted, and Roger was also difficult to get to close his eyes, at all. So she saw it as no problem to take the child along during her riding trip. Not that Ines would have liked that bit much, but she was already asleep.
The last time she had felt jealousy for Ines had been, realistically looking at it, just after London. As soon as she had heard from Guy exactly what he thought of his wife, all of that had gone away. That he had not been the one doing the actual chosing had helped, too. So, there were no negative feelings she harbored for Roger, either. The only fault of the child was being Ines', and it was easily forgiven once Ines was far enough. Beisdes, Elizabeth remembered her promise to Guy-the one conerning the influences of the mother. Of course she did, when the baby had eyes like its father-in color, if in nothing else.
Ivana, Ines' former governess, and now the one in charge of Roger's well-being, had insisted on going with them. Elizabeth had agreed, waiting for the other woman to change into a proper riding outfit and have her horse saddled. Now, she somewhat regretted her decision, because she could have heard Ivana's mare come closer to the one carrying herself and Roger.
"Milady, if you pardoned me, I believe it to be highly unsafe to be venturing so with the infant. If he happened to catch a cold—"
"Oh, he won't!" Elizabeth shook her head impatiently, "With all that clothing on him, I think he would survive a snow. And they day is unusually hot." It was. And Roger's hands were warm as he shifted happily on her lap, producing gurgling laughter as they approached a river. Not a river-a stream, very small.
"My lady, I must say that the Lady Gisborne would not have appreciated knowing that—"
"Lady Ines will know of all that happened once she is awake. Do not concern yourself with that." No, this was definitely the last time she took Ivana along. If Elizabeth was ever to have a child-not that, with Vaisey, she would have looked forward to it-she was going to be thankful that baby would be taken care of by Matilda Carnan. Matilda knew how to be strict, but she also knew not to worry about the most trivial of things.
As a matter of fact, Matilda was returing in a few days, from Croatia, where she had gone three mongths ago with the news of Elizabeth's status. I'll have to be mindful-Matilda can smell lies. Just as she has eyes that manage to see everything. It was good she had been away for as long, indeed, despite the fact Elizabeth did miss her to an extent. Not that Matilda would have ever been able to command Elizabeth-she had not had that power when she'd been just an unmarried girl. Now, Matilda held no jurisdiction over her whatsoever. Her discretion was also reliable. But she could see without Elizabeth wanting her to, and that was what the Lady did not like. For once Matilda saw, Elizabeth would have to deal with silent scolding, which was a specialty of the former governess. And capable to annoy the hell out of one it was directed towards.
One the one hand, Elizabeth had always liked defying those who had once been a figure of some dose of authority. Also, the fact that someone who she knew would be silent about it would find out about her and Guy as well made her feel rather excited. She had always liked talking a lot, and keeping secrets had never come naturally to her. Talking about it with Matilda, even if all she ever got from the other woman was an opinion completely different from her own, would be fun.
Roger laughed again. It was not full laughter, but it was strange enough for a child his age. Smiling widely, Elizabeth tickled him, and patting his head contently as he produced more of the sound, "That's the boy, Roger. I have never trusted people who did not laugh when tickled." Your father included, she thought amusedly.
"My lady—"
"Roger." Elizabeth ignored Ivana this time, raising her voice, her eyes lingering on the stream. It would be easy, yes. Almost like walking over. And it would scare Ivana out of her wits. Nearly laughing at the thought, she looked at Roger's curious eyes, "How would you like to have us jump over that stream, mhm?" She began directing her horse towards it.
Ivana exclaimed in horror, "No! My lady, I cannot let you!"
But she found her protests ignored, as Elizabeth dug her heels deeper into the mare's sides, having her trot faster. The trot became faster and faster, and with each new step, the pitching of Ivana's exclaiming grew, until it finally turned into screams. Elizabeth could have heard Merrick emit a disgruntled sound, and now she did laugh. They were nearing the stream, and the horse rose up in the air. Roger's chuckling became stronger, and Elizabeth grinned at him, hardly able to wait to see the expression on Ivana's face. Ines' too. And then, she would tell Guy of it, and he would smirk at her or give her a mock lecture. They had been to this stream together, and he knew the jump was not dangerous at all.
The horse landed, safely, and Elizabeth turned her head backwards to catch Ivana's expression-which was, unfortunately, hidden by a bush. Sighing, she turned back to Roger with satisfaction.
"Well, we certainly gave them a fright, now didn't we?"
Progressing towards a small grove, she decided there was no point in waiting for the rest of the escort. They would catch up soon enough. Merrick would leave Ivana behind with pleasure. The grove was the beginning of Sherwood forest. It looked nice enough, and she chose to slow down once they were in there. Perhaps they would encounter an interesting animal for Roger to observe. No wild boars, I hope, She thought with a portion of the back of he mind, chortling out loud at her own jape. Wild boars, indeed.
"If we do encounter a wild boar, we will kill it, right, Roger?" She sounded serious as she looked down on the baby.
"And if you encounter an outlaw, my lady?"
Elizabeth's head snapped to her left, where she had expected to see Merrick. However, in the process of gyration, she already knew that was not the voice of her captain.
The man who stood before her was shorter than Merrick, he had no horse, had lighter hair and was carrying a bow. Merrick only ever used a sword.
Uneasiness crept into her, but she fought it away, looking at the man with her brow up. Whoever he was, she would not give him the pleasure of mocking her on her own-well, on Guy's-territory.
"The same would go for outlaws, then." She smiled, "I hope you are not one."
He did not reply, and she was becoming more and more certain of the fact that he was one. Well, she had a horse, he did not, and her escort had lagged behind only shortly. In a few moments, Merrick would charge in here with the guards, and Ivana-Ivana would make the most experienced of outlaws sick. It did not make any difference who this was.
"Your reputation preceeds you, my lady Vaisey." The outlaw-man-outlaw-ah, whatever he was-made a couple of steps forward, but stopped before his movement would alarm her, "I hear that you attacked Prince John himself."
Prince John? Elizabeth had to admit she liked the way this sounded, once she managed to stop that train of thoughts leading her to Vaisey's punishment and her own softness. The stranger, perhaps, did not know anything of that-she hoped he did not, even if he represented nothing in her life. Reputation was important.
"I do not see how that is any business of yours." She countered, noticing Roger had gone unusually silent for him, "Who exactly are you and what do you want?"
The stranger's eyes lingered on the child she was holding.
"It is dangerous to jump with an infant on the horse, no matter how small the stream may be."
Elizabeth frowned, her look turning into a glare, "You have been watching us?" She demanded.
He laughed, "Yes. Otherwise, ma'am, it would have been very difficult to know when exactly to…incapacitate?...your guards."
An outlaw. Robin Hood himself, perhaps.
Robin Hood. Of course! Realization burst within her-how could she have been so stupid? Who else could it have been? She cursed herself for choosing to go into the grove. With Roger, of all people. Guy of Gisborne's son must have sounded like a very appealing target to Robin of Locksley.
But she couldn't let him have him. She was the only one there, to stop it.
"Stand back." It came as a growl, cold and angry, as she maneuvered her horse backwards, "Do not come closer." If anything happened to Roger, it would be her fault, "I warn you, my husband will burn down Sherwood forest if anything happens to me." Lies, Vaisey would have welcomed her demise.
The stranger-Hood-laughed, steadily approaching her. Elizabeth, hoping he would not place an arrow in her back, turned the horse rapidly, ready to go into gallop. However, a huge man with a stick spawned in her way, having her horse raise high in the air.
Instinctively, she freed her hands in order to grab the reins better, trying to steady Roger with the upper part of her arms.
She failed.
The baby flew into the air.
Elizabeth heard herself scream as the hooves of her horse hit the floor again, and she slipped off, ungracefully falling on her bottom. Pain streamed through her elbow, but the shock acted as medicine. Her eyes had attempted to follow Roger, but the fall had had her looking the other way. Roger was nowhere to be seen.
"Roger!" She shouted, getting to her feet, barely noticing that there were three more outlaws surrounding her save for the huge one and Hood. Bewildered, she gazed around. If anything had happened to Roger…Guy's son…Guy would never forgive her. No; maybe he would. She would never forgive herself, "Where is he?!" She yelled at the outlaws, her voice more high pitched than that of Ivana or even Ines at the moment.
A hand landed on her shoulder, and she grabbed it, spinning around, to be brought face-to-face with none other than Hood-holding Roger and smiling.
"You! You!" She seethed angrily, laying hold on the baby. He was, surprisingly, not crying-he had cried when Guy had held him, and he even sometimes cried in Ivana's arms, "Look at what you have done! If Roger had been harmed in any way, I swear I would have…dug out your eyes, personally!" He wasn't releasing Roger yet, so Elizabeth tugged at him harder.
"My lady." Hood seemed almost amused, "Let me hold the child; it's obviously safer here than with you."
This made her fume particularly.
"Safer? Are you not Robin Hood, the famed outlaw? You were the one responsible for the near death of this—"
"You were the one to drop him."
Elizabeth stared into Hood's face.
It was not a necessarily ugly face; as a matter of fact, he could have passed off as handsome. But there was such arrogance on it. The eyes-blue-were looking at her with such mockery and such a holier-than-thou attitude that made her want to have a lightning strike him down immediately. As soon as he let go of Roger.
This was, she reminisced, the man she had once claimed she would kill. Now, face-to-face, she caught herself asking herself whether she would have truly done it. Yes. She remebered Guy telling her of Hood drawing the villagers to Gisborne Manor as a child. Oh, yes, of course I would kill him. On the spot.
Which was why, when she felt Hood pulling further away, put her knee to a very common use, aiming at his groin.
Roger was let go of immediately, and she jumped away from the bent-over Hood with him, twirling in the direction of Locksley and running as fast as her feet could have carried her.
Calling for Merrick occurred to her, then she remembered he was incapacitated, as Hood had put it. Dead, or merely unconscious? Elizabeth doubted Hood would have killed Ivana, a mere woman, though it would not have been—
"OI!"
Now, she began to verily panic. They were closing in on her, and while she had managed to flee with the element of surprise on her side, they were the ones used to running through forests, not her. She could not let them catch her. But they would, in all probability, do exactly that.
My dagger.
She only recalled that bit when someone grabbed her by the arm. Groaning, she tried to get away, but whoever it was possessed strength greater than her own. Plus, she was holding Roger. She could not have gotten to her dagger. No, no and no. The man who had caught her had been the big, burly one.
"Foul play, we do not like." He stated. Scowling, Elizabeth jerked away, to no avail. Roger was, by now, she noted suddenly, wailing at the top of his lungs.
"Release me! Or is it not foul play to capture a defenseless woman?" Abruptly, it was not below her to claim she was defneseless.
"I wouldn't call you defenseless." The voice belonged to a strong-looking, dark-haired and dark-skinned man, and it did feel nice hearing that. Sneering at him sarcastically, Elizabeth let her eyes land on Hood, who was limping over.
"My lady…" He panted, and she was pleased to see the pain in his eyes, "If you'd let us explain…we hzad no intention on capturing you. We merely wanted to…talk."
That was a surprise, "Talk?" They were at the edge of the forest. They would certainly be seen if anyone came, especially with her new, crimson outfit. Stalling for time was a good strategy, "You have a strange way of talking."
Hood smirked, and she wished to take back whatever had made him do that, "You were the one to begin with the violence, milady." Ceaseing to lean over, he removed his hands from his knees, wincing still but now standing straight. A short man with something weird on his reddish hair was switching between concerned looks for Robin and murderous ones for Elizabeth. His boyfriend, perhaps.
"You were the one to harm my guards."
"You will find," Hood laughed, "That they are not dead. We haven't harmed the lady with them, either-we tied her up."
Roger seemed unable to calm down, and Elizabeth began rocking him impatiently with her free hand, "Gagged her, I hope. Will you have your men release me?"
"No." Robin shook his head, "I can't. You'd run away."
Elizabeth pursed her lips, craning a brow, "If I gave you my word of honor?"
The small man snorted, "You're the Sheriff's wife." He said, not meeting her eye, "Your word of honor means as little to me as 'is. In fact--"
"Of course." Elizabeth snapped, "You are outlaws, after all, and have no idea of how a lady should be treated."
"Hmph. A lady—"
"Shut up, Much!" Hood raised his voice at the man, who withdrew immediately, "My lady," He looked at her, and his expression melted into coldness, "You look surprisingly calm around men who had raped you."
Jesus Fuckin'…
At times like these, Elizabeth was glad she had been friends with a stable hand. Curses did come in handy, even if just in thought.
The fact that Hood had supposedly raped her with his gang had dallied at the back of her mind, but with all the other events, she had not paid it much attention. Now, when four pairs of accusing eyes stared at her, she realized what they must have wanted. A member of their gang, innocent for that crime, had hung for raping her. They must have been quite displeased with her.
"What exactly do you wish?" She repeated a question, jutting out her chin. They would most certainly not have her feeling remorse. For a gang of stinking outlaws.
Robin Hood stepped forward, now a few paces away from her, no more.
"We understand, Lady Elizabeth." His voice did not fit his expression, and he was not making a lot of sense, "We understand that the Sheriff might've coerced you into saying things you didn't want to say—"
"Coerced me?"
Haughtiness spoke first, and she could have hardly stopped herself at all the surprise, "You think my husband coerced me into admitting a man had raped me?"
"'Told you so." The annoying little one murmured. He was silenced by a glare from the dark-skinned one.
"My lady, do you even recognize any of our faces as the faces of the people who raped you? Honestly?"
Elizabeth looked at them. Of course not. The men who had raped her had been completely different. Their stench had not been as bad. All had been white men. And there certainly had not been a woman among them. She had known this before even giving them a second glance. Hood, however, did not know of the fact Vaisey had hired her gang. Nor was he supposed to know.
"I recognize all save for you." She looked Hood in the eye, working on steadying her voice completely, "You did not even show your face."
The burly one increased the pressure on her hand, nearly having her grimace; "Rapists, we are not, no matter what they might tell ya!"
"Well." Elizabeth did not know what else to say. Her breathing became faster. Hood went on, decreasing the distance between them further. Roger was still crying. Good. When would someone hear him, already?
"You can tell us. We know how cruel the Sheriff can be." So do I. The difference is, you deserve the cruelty, "We are willing to believe that you are a good person who was just faced with bad circumstances; your marriage. We can protect you."
"Protect me?" Elizabeth spat, "Where? In the forest, sleeping with animals and living on dirt?"
Hood must have taken it as a sign that she needed protection. Now, he was inches away from her, placing a hand on hers. The big one still was not releasing her, though.
"Lady Elizabeth." Pity? Was that pity on his face? "The forest may not be the only option you might have. There are convents. Good people; good nobles who would be willing to hide you." His voice was becoming gentle, "Hide you from the Sheriff, hide you from Gisborne, hide you from the world. Vaisey could never harm you again, Gisborne could never harm you again." His look became bleak, "Vaisey must have scared you with Gisborne, but we can protect you from him, too. We can get rid of him. Eventually. No monster cannot be destroyed. The two of them are no exception."
Gisborne to harm her? Hide her from Guy? Hood was offering to hide her from Guy? Elizabeth was torn between laughing, screaming and crying out loud. This outlaw was convinced that she feared her husband and Guy. He was convinced that they had coerced her to do whatever she might have done, they(the gang) were convinced that their cause was the only just one and that all who chose something else were pure evil. Monsters. Vaisey may have been one, but he did have some smart points. And Guy-Hood, of all people, saying such things of Guy made blood run hot in her veins.
Preserving the role of a woman raped by these very men became second or third on her brain's list.
For Robin Hood deserved a lesson; and he deserved his illusions broken.
"Hide me!" She huffed indigantly, "Hide me!" She wished to say Guy would move heaven and Earth to find her, but she did not believe that to be true-the fact actually made her feel a tad hurt, "You want to hide me from my husband and Sir Guy? Hasn't it ever crossed your mind that I might not want to be hidden from them?" Roger's saliva was wetting her shoulder, and she moved it gently, "You dare say such a thing, Robin Hood. Calling," Guy, she had wanted to say, "Calling my husband a monster. You say that you know how cruel he can be-has it ever crossed your mind that people like you might deserve some cruelty? Oh, but no, you must believe your cause to be so high and so mighty that anyone who goes against it is right away the foulest thing on Earth. Your beloved King Richard. And England. Your land and the King who has abandoned it. They disagree with you-they want King John. I want King John, too. Not because I like him, though. They don't like him either, necessarily. They want him because he will bring them power, wealth, status-important things. Things good for them-and their families."
She raised her head. Oh, if she had only been able to tell them the truth-tell them, in the following lines, that she loved Guy of Gisborne and was proud of that. But they had to get an amended version of the lesson,
"You cannot imagine, Robin of Locksley, that there are people out there who value different things-things such as their family name, or themselves, more than they value a stupid King they had never even talked to properly. People who have more important things in life-and who have lost more important things in life. People I call normal people. That is why I am proud to be the wife of Sheriff Vaisey." That was the amended bit; though the title did bring her pride, "You, who I suppose would condone of…massacres and…murder of those you love for no other cause, but just for an idiot named Richard Plantagenet-you are the monster."
