~xxix~
Her Middle Name is Chaos


"You'd make a fine Sheriff, Gisborne… I think that."

"Let me go!" A familiar voice exclaimed angrily in French from outside the tent, and the woman donned in a loose blue tunic one size too large was shortly thrown into the tent to land in a slight heap; the amber glow of the lit candles around her highlighted the glare on her lovely face that was meant for the guards outside before she looked at her new surroundings. The glare faltered from her lovely face as she recognized she wasn't the only one who had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night and asked confusedly, "Guy, what're you…?"

"And what is a fine Sheriff without his beautiful wife to support him?" Prince John said as he greeted the woman with a flash of a smile.

"Your Majesty." Ella bowed her head slightly in apology, keeping her eyes lowered to the rug he'd had placed on the tent floor.

"Now then, where was I? Ah yes Gisborne as Sheriff… Does it please you, I wonder, that I have such confidence in you?" He wondered as he looked on the nobleman.

Guy as Sheriff? Not that she didn't doubt the prince's judgement, as there was little room for her to doubt at the moment, but Guy of Gisborne? Her Guy?

"…Robin Hood isn't dead. I've told you both and the Sheriff as well, that I want Robin Hood dead and his blood offered as a gift but noone's seemed to accomplish that for me. The Sheriff claims to love me, but he hasn't given me that gift, which leaves me to believe that he doesn't love me at all! …Well I will have blood: the Sheriff's blood." Prince John stated lowly, causing both of his guests to lift their heads in surprise before he looked on the nobleman, "you will kill the Sheriff for me, Gisborne, you and your dearest Isabella will do this for me. This will be a secret, a private matter between us three… You will do this simply because you love me." He requested quietly.

Well she could kiss a good night's sleep goodbye now, couldn't she?


She would've whined about it if her pride didn't dash that thought as quick as it had come, "How exactly do you effectively wear one of these blasted things?"

"They're about as easy to move in as trousers… Should be relatively easy, anywho." She replied with a chuckle.

Ella grumbled as she took the younger woman's advice and led the way to meet with the men, "They're not that easy… I haven't had to wear a gown in months." She remarked.

Isabella smiled wryly and said, "Yes I've heard tale from my brother that you would prefer jerkins to dresses."

"Did he? Oh I swear, that overtall…"

"Dare I ask what took you so long…?" Speak of the devil; Guy greeted both women and ignored the amused look from his sister as his attention had fallen on his lover who had donned a bluish gray gown much like the former's with her hair partially braided back… Their eyes met and he briefly noted that her paler blue eyes seemed to stand out in comparison to her choice of wardrobe. He cleared his throat and offered his arm, "My Lady."

Ella's eyes softened at his chivalric gesture and took his arm as the fanfare began outside and she fell in step with her lover. She made a mental note to thank Isabella for the advice later when she got the chance.

Isabella followed the couple as her brother led them out onto the castle entrance just as Prince John's carriage came up to a halt before them at the foot of the stairs.

"Welcome to Nottingham, Your Highness!" Vaisey was first to greet the prince, giving a bow at the waist.

Prince John all-but wrinkled his nose at the balding man, "You're still alive, I see… How surprising. I don't really like surprises." He stepped away from his seemingly-gracious host to look on both women present. "Gisborne, you never said your wife would look so gorgeous in a dress like this! My dearest Isabella," he greeted the older woman first.

Ella smiled and bowed her head a smidge, "You speak too kindly of me, Your Highness." She straightened slightly as he turned next to her proverbial twin, seeming to brighten up a smidge at seeing the younger woman; if he was not the Crown Prince and instead some lesser noble, she would have rolled her eyes.


Gem nickered.

"'Italian or Spanish', he says… For the Prince he's certainly missing a few gems in his crown isn't he?" She muttered to her mare as she gave her half of a carrot, letting her gobble the vegetable before she sliced the leaf off the top. "S' no wonder Papa never liked royalty…" She huffed.

"Couldn't sleep then?" His voice made her jump and drop the knife, and he didn't make much of an effort to hide the amused snort as he entered the dimly lit stables.

She pursed her lips and replied as her scolding look was ignored, "Not really… Just a bit on edge with the Prince in town. That dramatic fop's muscle might pop in and out like a bloody rabbit." She wrinkled her nose before popping a slice of carrot into her mouth and chewing as she gave the remaining chunk to the chestnut mare. "I imagine you couldn't sleep, either." She looked at him as he leaned his right shoulder against the stall door.

"No, in fact." He replied as he used his free arm to aimlessly brush locks of hair from his brow.

Ella made a face, "Well don't act like you can hide it from me, come on." She folded her arms at her chest.

Guy held her stare for a brief moment to note that she wouldn't let it rest until he spoke his mind, and he exhaled shortly to reply, "I caught Prince John and the Sheriff speaking privately amongst each other, today before the nobles' dinner… I think the Sheriff's swayed his judgement."

Ella frowned and watched Gem slowly succumb to sleep in her stall, and she aimlessly scratched her head. "Or Prince John asked him to keep a closer eye on you, on us… This doesn't spell anything good, Guy."

"Seeking an audience with him would draw attention to us; make us look like snitches or something along those lines… Can't approach him so simply, can we?" Guy said pensively.

"As much as I respect England, I wouldn't wish to get close to that fop… Lest we end up like his physician." Ella shivered at the thought. "S' narcissistic men like him that make me glad I keep a knife on hand." She muttered.

Guy's ears twitched at her words as they brought him to his original plight and he sorely commented, "More than enough reason to refrain from sleeping alone, isn't it?"

"You're a big boy; you can sleep fine without me at this point…" Ella rolled her eyes before arching a brow as he took a step closer to her.

Guy exhaled and paused in replying to her sarcasm as he briefly noticed the black tunic she had 'borrowed' that was rather loose and thus made her cleavage noticeable; he let a smirk slowly cross his lips as his eyes lifted to her slightly tired eyes. "Even though it's bloody cold in there without you." He hummed quietly.

"Surely you know that I'm not easily won with words, my dear lord…" Ella trailed off when his lips descended on hers and she tasted the need that he in turn brought out in her as well as the underlying sense that he did need her not just to warm his bed. She inhaled steadily as her slender fingers wove in his hair and tugged as she felt him hold her tight to his chest.

Guy drew back albeit reluctantly to see the darkened light in her blue eyes between glancing at her lips as he lifted a hand to brush locks from her cheek. "Come to bed, El." He murmured before smiling a smidge as her cheeks warmed in the glow of the lantern.

Ella exhaled the breath she hadn't known was present and stepped away to take the lantern and look at him over her shoulder. "Since you asked so nicely." She mused softly with a smirk on her lips before continuing to leave the stables.


His lips set into a thin line as his sister trodded alongside the prince to go greet the wedding party.

She wrinkled her nose a bit as the Prince spoke quietly with the younger woman, and she gently patted her mare's neck… She had thought for a moment that she could find common ground with her, but the moment was passed.

Up till now, Ella didn't even believe his family had much charm.

I don't like it
, she thought as she flexed her grasp on Gem's reins and watched the younger woman look back at her brother with a sort of smug expression on her pretty face; she kept one brow raised before glancing at said man to note the reflexive tension in his jaw.

No, I don't like it at all
.

The archer straightened in the saddle as Prince John and Isabella shortly returned and kept an eye on the latter as she remounted her steed.

"Once they're inside the church, burn it." Prince John ordered calmly behind his charming smile as he waved to the wedding party that slowly bled inside the small building.

Ella looked at him in alarm and watched four of the guards present obeyed their prince and set to torching the church with the people inside its walls; she didn't know whether to be horrified or to be outraged at his lack of courtesy or decency… She silently swallowed and closed her eyes as soon the desperate cries of the trapped family filled the afternoon air of Locksley.

"Hang on; they're trying to douse the flames, that's not what I want!" Prince John exclaimed in disappointment as the wedding party finally caused the barred doors to burst open to let them out, looking to both nobleman and Sheriff, "go on, go stop them! Not you, milady, you'll stay here where it's a better view… This should be entertaining!" He said the last part to the archer.

"Y-yes, Your Highness…" Ella nodded even as Gem whinnied and she shushed her before looking at Guy as he and Vaisey began to leave, "be careful, darling!" She said, meeting the nobleman's blue eyes that glanced back at her before she nodded her head and hid the bit of concern from her eyes as he rushed to the scene.

She breathed a sigh of relief when Guy then returned to their company minutes later before her lips pursed at seeing Vaisey shortly on his tail. She scowled slightly when Prince John urged they leave because he was bored and Vaisey was quick to follow him, leaving the couple in the rear of the party. "Are you all right?" She asked softly of her lover as she caught his arm when he sidled to her left.

"I'll tell you about it later." He replied in the same tongue as he met her gaze that concernedly searched his with silent assurance, to which she nodded a smidge.


"Everyone leave us!" Prince John said rather desperately.

Ella was first to leave her chair at the nobleman's right as everyone else left the hall, hearing Guy follow at her heels, and she clipped her shoulder with Isabella's on the way out. Only when Vaisey had left in one direction and she and Guy went down one corridor did she give a growl of disgust. "I knew it." She muttered bitingly.

Guy kept to her left flank and said nothing to her catty grumblings as he knew that she wasn't happy in any sense of the word, if the tension in her stride as they walked to the sanctity of the stables was any indication. "Leave us." He said at seeing a couple of stable hands when they arrived, gesturing to the doors to which the boys wasted no time in leaving them to their privacy.

"'Long Live King John'…!" She imitated in a nasal tone before growling under her breath as she began to briskly pace before her mare's stall and seemed as if she was all-but seething. "She's a complete cow!" She added.

Guy folded his arms as he asked calmly, "How so?"

"Alan's told me before that there were only a few of them, and for God's sake Guy, you saw them when you brought that lion; there was only half a dozen! Tell me you don't think she's full of it." Ella huffed as she briefly looked at him.

"You're asking me to doubt my own sister's word." Of course it's not like he had room to disagree with that, given that he knew his sister about as much if not more than his lover. "She seemed rather shaken when she informed me of being robbed earlier, Ella…" Guy sighed.

"I love you and I know that she's your little sister, but there is something about Isabella that gives me pause and I don't like it." Ella had half a right mind to smack some sense into him but instead she stopped pacing altogether.

"Least she didn't try to stick an arrow in my back." Guy huffed as he thought of the incident at the burning chapel.

Ella snorted, "It obviously missed or your thick skull deflected it… And then there's that problem as well!"

Guy scowled sorely at her, "I am not dense, Ella…"

"No, I'm referring to the Sheriff. Neither of us has fulfilled that fop's request, and then the gap-toothed snake tries to shoot you in the open and in broad daylight, no less! This doesn't make sense because between the two of us, we should've already gotten the job done…" Ella ran a hand through her hair she had braided and groaned exasperatedly as she leaned against the stall door.

Guy pondered on her words with a pensive expression on his face before he noticed her chestnut mare began to nibble on her hair; an amused light shone in his eyes and he found himself smiling as Ella had taken note of her mare's affection and proceeded to giggle softly while gently stroking the mare's long muzzle.

Ella felt his eyes on her and she drew away from petting Gem to reflexively fold her arms at her chest, "What's that for?" She asked with a curious look on her lovely face.

Guy shook his head a smidge, looking away and to the rest of the castle before trodding closer to her and leaning his back against the stall frame. "We can't very well demand Prince John who he wants dead, can we? It's not as simple as one would think…" He mused before rubbing his hand over his face, closing his eyes.

Ella frowned up at him before she leaned onto his shoulder, exhaling, "Regardless we'll pull through, we'll be able to breathe free… won't we?" She wondered softly, daring to look up at him from under her brow.

Blue met blue and held to each other's stares for a moment that might as well have been an hour, before Guy reached with his left hand to lightly brush some locks of hair from her brow, that strangely-soft manner he reserved for her alone seeming to lessen the weight his conscience had on him and make him look younger than his actual age. "If anything happens, know that my only regret is dragging you into this." He returned in the same tone.

Her chest ached at his words and she closed her eyes with a weary exhale, praying to God and pleading with Him to not take him away from her, whatever may happen.

The last count of months they stood alongside each other may as well have been twenty years because she couldn't fathom a day without Guy of Gisborne in her life.


Well that had gone well!

Even as Prince John had been fooled before his very own subjects by Robin Hood and his men –and if the outlaws were predictable as she believed they were, he was most likely being robbed during his little tantrum—, Ella couldn't fight a smirk as she quietly slipped out of the hall to leave a distraught Prince John yelling at the nobles gathered in her wake.

She jogged through the halls leading away from the great hall in search of Guy as he had gone to trap the Sheriff somewhere in the castle, and began to hear the sounds of a struggle ensuing from the depths of the dungeons when she passed them. Skidding to a halt, she flinched when distinctly hearing a yell of pain from him before she ran into the darker corridors at top speed only to come across Vaisey as he had cornered an injured Guy near one of the cells.

Guy refrained from hissing in pain as the pain from his stabbed thigh radiated up and down his body, glowering up as Vaisey advanced on him only for a streak of black and blue to appear from out of nowhere and knock them both to the stone floor as well as knock the sword from the Sheriff's grip. "Ella!" He had half a right mind to kiss her for her intrusion for a split second, watching both of them roll about as they exchanged blows with the Sheriff being scratched and kicked by the woman's well-placed counters.

Being punted off only to fall back onto the floor, Ella grimaced and felt blood drip from her busted lower lip before Vaisey threw his weight ontop of her, attempting to choke her before she rammed her right knee into his groin and shoved him off with a snarl. She spotted the discarded sword, and unfortunately so did Vaisey; they both scrambled for the sword before she shoved him off only to feel him grab onto her left leg, and she sharply kicked the right side of his bald head hard with her boot heel to give her a few precious seconds to grab the sword. With loose locks of black in her vision, she scrambled to her feet to bare the sword defensively as she shielded her lover, watching Vaisey stagger to his feet and rub his head. She smirked viciously at him and drawled with venom, "You've done enough damage, to both of us… now try to forgive me as I ram this blade into your godless heart."

"Your threat would be fool-proof if you didn't remember that if I die Nottingham dies too, you deluded wench! You of all people should know to never bite the hand of your master, shouldn't you?" Vaisey spat a wad of blood to the side, sneering coldly as her smirk faltered to be replaced with a stony expression, and his sneer broadened as he added and edged closer by a couple of steps, "Yes, I knew of that too… Oh what was the poor bastard's name…? Charles, no, it must've been Eric… I know, now! Young Lord William, of York… Yes, you even loved him, and then ripped his throat open like the bitch you really are!" He tutted in feigned disappointment. "It's any wonder you haven't killed off dear Gizzy just yet! You, my dearly deluded French bitch, you're just drenched in so much blood…"

"SHUT. IT!" Ella yelled as she lashed out and sent him skirting away as she swung down on him; for that moment she forsook all that she had learned years ago if only to gut the godless snake and rip out his blackened heart. She loathed him so, she loathed the very sight of him, she loathed that she had had to work for the godless monster and keep her mouth shut… But above all she downright loathed how he had treated Guy. She could never do anything aside from standing aside to watch the torture go on… Not anymore.

Seeing she had him cornered by one cell's bars with his back to the closed cell, she swung down with a grunt of exertion before perking up as the sword's tip caught on the iron of the lattice; much to her horror, she realized that it was stuck. She froze for that moment and looked at Vaisey has he had flinched slightly at her would-be death blow and now looked from the sword to her. A cold and ruthless sneer slowly formed on his face, and she tried to yank the sword free… Damn it!

"Come now, Ella dear, you should have thought that one through!" Vaisey said loudly as his sharp kick he delivered to her stomach sent her flying back with a grimace of pain, watching the woman who had fallen on her left side lift her head and wheeze, glowering up at him with defiance screaming in her eyes before he landed another kick in her ribs; she gasped a curse in pain and fell back with a cough, and he could see tears in her eyes as his blows left her in pain. His sneer shifted to a cruel smile as he drew away only to yank the sword free of its place in the lattice as he slowly approached the injured woman. "My dear sister's teachings didn't sink in, did they now? You're about as worthless as they come, and I have half a right mind to let you live with the rest of your pathetic life… But generosity is not one of my strong-suits. Au revoir…!" He swung down on her head even as her piercing eyes continued to glower up at him.

A snarl of exertion sounded as the sword clattered to the stone floor, and Ella's eyes widened in shock.

"You can beat me around all you bloody-well like… But don't ever. believe I will let you kill her." Guy rumbled coldly as he held fast to the dagger's handle with the blade stuck in his former employer's torso, his free hand having seized his coat scruff. He heard the slight gasp of pain from Vaisey before yanking the dagger free of its place as he drew away and glowered at the balding man, and then turned to where Ella had sat up and to try and regain her breath.

Slipping closer to death, Vaisey rasped out as he blearily looked over at the couple, "Don't trust him… Prince John, is not what he seems." And with that he slightly rolled onto his back, dead.

Ella gave a shuddering exhale before flinching slightly when he cupped her cheeks in his hands and she tilted her head slightly in his gentle hold, looking up at him as his blue eyes searched hers for any indication that she had broken a bone; she shook her head. "I had it handled." She defended softly.

Guy chuckled wryly and smirked at her vain comment, running his fingers through her hair. "Of course you did… Just needed someone to save your arse for once." He murmured, watching her lovely face brighten a smidge with a sheepish smile that tugged at her lips, and he pressed his forehead to hers in relief.

Frankly he didn't know how he could go on if she weren't at his side… She was the only woman who saw him through his pain and loved him all the while, who remained with him not for her own gain… And now they were free.

At long last they were free.

He felt her shiver again and he gave a breath of relief that their turmoil had ended, pressing his forehead to hers again with a chuckle, hearing her softly laugh with him even as she clung to his neck and relaxed in his grip. "We did it, Ella… He's dead." He said quietly, watching her look up at him from having been staring at the body.

Ella gave another soft laugh before she buried her face in his neck as he held fast to her back. "We're free, oh Guy, we're free…" Ella sniffled as she dug her fingers into his shoulders.

Moments after they gathered their wits, the tired couple exited the dungeons and Guy called for the guards to dispose of the body as he sat down in a nearby spare room with Ella's help.

Ella looked down at his injured leg and then looked up at him from her crouched position, "On three." She instructed.

Guy gave a curt nod, inhaling steadily as they both silently counted to three, and he shut his eyes as she yanked the blade out of his thigh; he hissed slightly between his teeth at the fresh air that prickled at his injury before his shoulders slumped with an exhale as she straightened to sit with him on the table. He couldn't help but notice that she looked at peace with herself, possibly the happiest he had ever seen… "Marry me." He said quietly.

Ella's surprised expression faltered and she paused for a moment, thinking that this time it was different: there was no threat steadily approaching them, he was not being hasty as he had been before, there was no other obstacle that stood in their way… She exhaled softly and nodded her head. "You are by far the most romantic, chivalric man I have ever met, Guy of Gisborne." She smiled at him, and at his dry scoff regarding her sarcasm she laughed again.

Guy leaned in to press his lips against hers, a chuckle bubbling in his chest when her fingers stroked his cheeks and eagerly reciprocated, feeling her grin against his lips before she giggled and hugged his neck tightly, to which he held tight to her waist.


an: well this chap ended well.. or did it? can our two lovebirds finally have a happily ever after? stay tuned for the next installment, if you will! also i edited this so hopefully it makes sense and you're welcome :)