~xxxiv~
Your Hands Protect the Flames
"If we're going to work together, we need to leave that behind."
"S' easy for you to say, given your father seduced my mother."
"It's not like she made it a challenge, did she?"
It only took a split second before both men, locked in a tangled mess of angry noises and limbs, went rolling down the side of the leaf-covered incline near the edges of the camp.
Ella groaned under her breath as she dismounted his white horse, "Doesn't Malcolm know trying to keep the peace between these two lugs is extremely difficult…?" She muttered, descending the incline at a calm jog as both of her male companions began squabbling with her husband throwing the first kick.
Landing with little trouble on the more-even ground, she momentarily looked up at the heavens to silently beg God for patience with her companions before nocking an arrow and letting it fly to stick its head in a thin tree yards from the two men as it inadvertently stopped their display of manhood. "Enough, both of you!" She shouted while glaring at both men as they respectively sported matching expressions caught somewhere between surprise and irritation before she strode between them to retrieve her arrow.
"I had it handled!" Robin barked as she passed him and ignoring the withering look from her husband.
"I don't care if you did, I'm finishing it! You're both acting like children, and for the love of God stop mucking about. Your father asked us to fulfill this last wish of his, God bless his soul, to save your brother's life so grow the hell up!" Ella silenced him as she retained the frustrated glare extended to he and Guy while folding her arms at her chest complacently.
If he wasn't on the receiving end of her irritation then Guy would admit she looked rather appealing… He was too familiar with the sound of arrows flying to mistake the sound of an arrow streaking through the air to strike where Ella stood. "Get down!" He shouted as he snatched her out of the way of the arrow so they hit the ground, hearing her slight yelp when he grabbed her before they rolled so he shielded her with his body.
Both Ella and Guy panted slightly before the former glanced away from him to see Robin had also hit the ground safely; she gave a sigh of relief as she let her head droop onto the ground. "I'm starting to get used to you nearly giving me a heart attack." She jested wryly as she looked into his darker blue eyes with a smirk hedging her lips.
Guy laughed slightly at her words before distantly hearing a rushing of feet near the incline as he looked on her, "You all right?" He asked, seeing a hint of surprise flash in her eyes as she heard his concerned tone.
Ella nodded and smiled up at him, "Yeah, thanks for that…"
"Get off her!" Two voices said in chorus, and before she knew it, both Alan and Much had thrown Guy off her to pin him to the forest floor yards away.
"Get off me!" Guy shouted as he squirmed and struggled under both men's hold, perking up as Kate appeared overhead with a sword ready to swing down on his neck.
"Let him go, you lot; he's one of us!" Robin barked as he strode forward to shoo his comrades away from the irate nobleman.
"What!?" The five exclaimed in unison.
Ella sat up slightly to shake her hair of leaves, looking up as Guy pulled her to her feet with a hand, and she smiled gratefully at him before gathering the group's general shock… "Lads, I think this might be a good time to sort things out." She resisted the urge to slap her forehead.
Once everyone was inside the camp –despite five sets of eyes looking on the eighth party member every other few seconds— Robin explained everything despite politely declining Ella's aid, therein leaving her to stand at his right with her husband standing as close to her as possible despite the friction between he and the others.
"We can't trust him!" John concluded once Robin finished the tale as his opinion spoke for the good of the remaining quartet that hadn't gone off on a little venture with the odd trio.
Robin calmly replied, "John, he killed the Sheriff."
Guy commented from his place to the side with Ella, "With a bit of help." He nodded to his wife and earned a small smile from her, before he looked to Robin, "Besides, we're technically family aren't we, Robin? We share a brother, after all." He added.
Five sets of eyes looked between Guy and Robin before Much chose to speak up and wonder, "'A brother'? Both of you?"
"My father, and his mother," Robin clarified as he nodded slightly at Guy while Much began to pace, and he continued, "Our brother is locked up in York, awaiting execution. I promised my dying father I would free him, and I intend to honor it; Gisborne and I will go to York to break him out."
Kate huffed bitterly, "And who'll bring my brother back to me, Robin? There was noone to stop his execution…"
"Look, whether you like it or not we share a common goal, don't we? To destroy Isabella… The enemy of my enemy is my friend; you don't have to like me, and vice-versa, but you lot need me." Guy cut in flatly despite the second woman's stinging glare.
"We don't need you, that's why Ella's here…" Much began.
"Hang on, if both Ella and Gisborne are with us, then it won't be very difficult to get to Isabella…" Alan commented.
"He's pure evil, Robin!" Kate stated as she glared from Guy to Robin.
"Kate!" Ella snapped, ignoring the heated glare on said woman's pretty face as she folded her arms at her chest and continued patiently, "You won't bring your brother back with that whining, so if we're going to bring down that bitch d'jeur once and for all then we need to stop pointing fingers and work together." She looked from Kate to the men, looking now and then at John as his stony face had not wavered an inch before settling on Kate again.
"And before that, we need our brother from York." Guy finished evenly.
Tuck was first to shrug out of the awkward silence between they and the nobleman as he looked to Robin, "what's your brother's name, then?"
"His name is Archer… we've never met." Robin replied with a shake of his head, looking on the group at large and continuing, "He's traveled far and wide, supposedly, carrying with him his knowledge of weapons he's made in the east."
"Isabella's forces are greater than ours, and with Archer's help we'll undoubtedly be stronger." Guy chimed in.
Much stepped up to Robin, "we'll all go."
"And who'll be here to keep the thorn in Isabella's side?" Ella countered calmly as she nodded to Much before she looked from Robin to her husband, "this mission is meant for stealth, and a large group of travelers entering York will tip off the Sheriff. The three of us will go." She looked away from them to the others.
"Why you?" Kate wondered blandly with a scowl as she also folded her arms at her chest.
"Because I've been to York before, twelve years ago actually, and I know how to get in and out without being seen," replied Ella.
Robin nodded. "Ella has a point, so it's only fair that the three of us are meant for the task."
Guy exhaled through his nostrils and looked at said woman, "Ella, may I borrow you for a moment?" He asked before briefly glancing at Robin who nodded slightly in understanding; he then left the camp with his wife shortly following in his wake.
The couple put at least twenty yards between they and camp before he spoke, "Robin and I are less likely to be noticed once we enter York, but you might be a different story… I'm sure you know as well as I that that's a slim chance." He looked at her from under his brow as he folded his arms at his chest.
"It's been over a decade, Guy, I'm sure I won't be recognized that easily… at least if we don't meet the Sheriff." Ella defended as she faced him with a knowing expression on her lovely face.
His blue eyes narrowed a smidge. "The boy you killed was the Sheriff's son." He didn't ask.
Her gaze faltered and she looked away for a moment before nodding. "William was nothing like his father, to be honest; he was more like his mum if anything… You know that you'll need my help. So if you're going to demand I stay behind, don't bother." She looked up at him with that tenacious light brightening her blue gaze.
Guy groaned slightly as his eyes slid closed and he stepped away to loosely run his fingers through his hair, "You can't just breeze through missions this sticky with just confidence, Isabella…" He said.
"Well someone has to have a better idea than just foolishly rushing in, so naturally that's me." Ella stated patiently as she watched him look to her with exasperation in his blue orbs, and she exhaled, "We are in this together, no matter what." She reminded softly as she approached him.
Guy's brow twitched as he reluctantly conceded before he rubbed the same hand over his face. "Do you have any idea of how much I don't want to lose you?" He wondered softly, watching her brow lift at his confession before he continued, "You could have chosen any other man to love, but you chose me, and you could've fled the country when I was sent to die, but you came back for me…" He trailed off when she reached up to stroke his left cheek, and he couldn't fight the familiar tingling sensation her touch gave as her fingers gently traced the thin scar trailing from his jaw just shy of his cheekbone before he looked on her.
"I've seen you at your best and worst, and you should know by now that I would always choose you. You are strong, and confident, and wonderful… You're more than what you believe, Guy." Ella replied softly as she smiled in that way meant for him, and she lifted her other hand to hold his face in her grasp.
His body tingled at her words and Guy inclined his head to kiss her, hearing her sharp inhale when their lips met as he pulled her closer to his chest, feeling her eagerly reciprocate as he knotted his fingers in her mane of hair.
Ella smiled against his lips despite the deepening of the kisses, and she bit his lip on habit as he raked his fingers down her left thigh while his free hand snaked up her back and made her voice a breathy protest that earned a chuckle from somewhere in his throat.
Guy grumbled a curse when she reluctantly drew away before his eyes softened despite the need she brought out in him as their stares met and he fiddled with the belt for her sword at her waist. "I know that I don't deserve you for what you've done for me, but I would be lying if I said I didn't love you…" He reluctantly looked away from her when they both heard the camp door open and he exhaled shortly. "No privacy whatsoever, is there?" He muttered, smirking wryly when she chuckled at the truth of his observations.
"My cot is rather... secluded, if it helps." Ella breathlessly hummed with a coy smirk on her lips despite the flushed heat in her cheeks as she idly curled a finger in a lock of his hair.
"If you two are done snogging, we need to make for York before sunset." Robin commented as he brought the horses out, ignoring the death glare from Guy as he hoisted himself into his stallion's saddle.
Ella stuck her tongue out at him as she strode forward to hoist herself into the second stallion's saddle. "Don't act like you weren't snogging Kate in there, wonder boy." She smiled cheekily when the outlaw's ears reddened at her accusation, relaxing as Guy shortly joined her and then took the reins for their steed.
Guy rolled his eyes despite the rather proud smirk on his lips meant for his fellow rider, "This should be interesting." He urged the white horse gallop away and soon they took off in the direction of York with Robin shortly flanking them.
Robin brought his steed to a halt as both Guy and Ella stopped, and he looked ahead at the intersection that would lead them onto York road, before he looked at the couple. "Why've we stopped?" He asked.
"I'm sure you're already aware that Isabella has undoubtedly sent messengers to the surrounding provinces to state that she wants you two to be handed over to her dead or alive… preferably alive." Ella said as she rifled through the large pouch on the stallion's right flank and withdrew two cloaks –one black and one brown—before she tossed the latter to Robin and offered the former to Guy. "News of the new Sheriff of Nottingham plus her warrant for your arrest will've probably reached York by now. Can't be too careful, can you?"
"She always this sharp, then?" Robin wondered after deeming her precautionary actions to be wise, fixing the cloak and pulling its hood onto his head as Ella hastily tied her hair back in a loose tail before pulling her hood up.
Guy nodded slightly in agreement before following suit, "You have no idea." He earned a shy smile from her before he urged the white horse onward as Robin followed astride his darker steed.
It was minutes later that they stopped just shy of the erected gate that connected to the small shack of a toll house; the odd trio watched the guard let a traveler pass on towards York.
"It's not worth the risk," Ella slightly shook her head before looking at Robin.
Guy commented, "what's life without risk?" He ignored when she slipped her foot free of the stirrup to kick his shin with her heel, looking to the shack before Robin, "Besides, robbing them is robbing Isabella." He added, urging the horse onward towards the toll house.
"Should be interesting." Robin couldn't agree more with Ella's words despite following their lead.
About fifteen minutes later and they had stormed the shack with little effort as Guy and Robin coerced the guard to 'consider' their robbery nicely.
"Don't. move." Guy commanded lowly of the guard he had pinned at sword-point, glancing up at his wife as she had easily located the small box where the money was stowed away, and he asked as she dumped the contents into a pouch Robin had brought, "That all of it, then?"
"All I could find, unless he's hiding some in his robes… but I doubt that. Thank you for your services, dear sir, they'll be greatly appreciated by those less fortunate; lads, shall we?" Ella nodded before smiling sweetly at the guard and ignored the mild look from Robin, before she grabbed Guy's arm to lead him out to their waiting horses.
Ella let her eyes rest on the city's high-rising stone walls that made it look more like a fortress with the tallest towers of the city belonging to the residence of the Sheriff, and she exhaled softly at the sight… Twelve years may as well have vanished as it felt like only yesterday she had seen the city of York.
"Since when are you nervous?" Robin observed as he and Guy slowed their steeds to a trot when approaching the entrance, looking at the woman when he acknowledged her nervous expression.
"It's nothing… I forgot how intimidating York looked from beyond its walls." Ella lied before dropping her gaze to the saddle.
Guy frowned slightly as he recalled the testimony of her first murder and now again she was haunted by her deed.
The odd trio entered the city rather easily and soon located a tavern where they could discuss how to approach their situation.
"Getting your brother out won't be an easy task. The castle was guarded fairly well when I was here twelve years ago, and there's no doubt that it has tripled its numbers by now… Any sort of infiltration will be risky at the least." Ella surmised quietly from her place seated with Guy on one side of a back table with Robin adjacent to them; taking a generous sip of ale from her mug, she ignored the glance Guy shot at her from the corner of his eye.
Robin commented quietly from above the rim of his mug, "one of us will need to be arrested in order to find Archer."
"Not you." Guy cut in when his wife started to open her mouth to volunteer, and he added to Robin even when she kicked his shin under the table, "Per sake of our parents, it should be one of us. Ella would be too easily recognized if she were to meet the Sheriff in person."
Robin looked at the woman again with a slight frown as the pieces were slowly coming together. "It would be too close-to-home for them to meet again, then." From what he knew of her thus far, her occupation as a hired markswoman for the former Sheriff, that would've undoubtedly entailed assassination if given the order, he suspected that she had killed someone close to the Sheriff of York.
Frankly, he was mildly impressed that she had slipped out of York in one piece, given their tight security.
Ella sniffed with a brief scowl extended to both men, "Getting in isn't as fun as getting out."
"Well as we've solved one problem, the second and more pressing problem is that we don't know what he looks like..." Guy rubbed his bruised shin absently, pausing when he was being ogled by the archer at his side, and he felt his brow twitch, "What is it now?" He asked in slight confusion.
"If he's your half-brother, then he probably looks a bit like you and also like Robin, save he's got that birthmark on his chest." Ella guessed as she ignored the slight scowl from her significant other, looking at Robin and staring at him for a brief moment before nodding and adding pensively, "Though hopefully he hasn't taken after Robin too much."
Robin glared slightly at her and ignored the nobleman's amused smirk before he began to open his mouth to retort when he caught sight of the stool being thrown in their direction, "Oi!" He barked as he, Ella, and Guy simultaneously ducked the thrown object.
Ella darted to be behind Guy as she acknowledged a bar fight had begun, and she groaned, "Maybe Meg had a point after all…" She yelped slightly when the table fell onto their side due to the possible drunk who had been thrown at the table, causing the odd trio to duck behind the table and toss what bits of their spoiled lunch that remained at the ones who started the squabble.
"I think I've got a plan!" Robin said as he and Guy stationed themselves at the ready should there be another thing thrown at them.
"Shoot," Ella urged from her place hiding between the two.
"I'm listening," Guy chimed as he and Robin had lifted a precautionary hand on reflex.
"You get arrested, Gisborne; find Archer, get taken to the dungeons, and Ella and I'll grab the guards to go see you!" Robin proposed.
"And then what?" Guy asked.
"And then we have fun getting the hell out of here!" Ella answered as she and Robin had come to the same conclusion.
"How exactly?" Guy demanded.
"I haven't got it completely sorted just yet!" Ella declared defensively before their eyes met when they ducked behind the table for a moment, and she leaned in to briefly kiss him. "I do believe in you, you know."
"You I trust, but I dunno if the plan will work with him," Guy stated as the guards had swarmed in and chucked the rowdier patrons out of the tavern and left them to resettle the table so they could sit for a moment, looking to his wife before gesturing to the outlaw.
"Why not?" Robin demanded.
"Because you'd leave me in the bloody dungeons, for all I know!" Guy replied pointedly.
Robin snorted, "Like your wife would let that happen; she'd sooner kill me than let us leave you behind in this place." He pointed out and ignored the cheeky smirk from the lone woman as he added, "You have my word."
Guy felt his brow twitch again and he huffed with a flippant gesture to his comrade, "and that's what this boils down to."
"Fine, then I'll get myself arrested." Robin scoffed.
"That's a better plan, actually…" Guy nodded.
"Then you come and get me out, both of you." Robin stated.
Guy paused to look at him as he deliberated on the pros and cons.
Ella rolled her eyes, "Guy…" She began.
"I am sorry darling, but it's not such a good idea after all." Guy lamented with a quick smile to his wife before looking away with a slight wince when she kicked his shin again. "And don't tell me you keep your knives in your bloody boots…" He muttered with a slight scowl at the complacent 'humph' from the woman.
Robin chuckled dryly as he addressed the nobleman, "I've come to the conclusion that I don't trust you just yet… But we're about to test that, aren't we?" And with that he lifted the large loaf of bread that remained and proceeded to chuck it right at one of the guards near the doorway, causing the guard to grimace in pain.
Ella snorted and started to follow Guy as the latter rose to leave the tavern before Robin caught her cloak's hood and pulled her back, "H-hey…" She started to protest but stopped when two guards seized her husband by the back and then dragged the protesting nobleman out of the tavern. She rubbed her hand over her face and gave a shallow sigh before turning to her companion, "Could've warned me." She sniffed.
"Nonsense, you would've ruined the fun," Robin smirked at her as he started to leave and slightly flinching when she slapped the back of his head. "Oi, that hurt!" He complained.
"Be lucky I didn't stick an arrow in your back instead." Ella rolled her eyes again prior to throwing her hood back on once they greeted the bleak-skied afternoon and linking her arm with his when they came upon the busy streets, "Pretend you're courting me." She hissed.
Robin resisted the urge to snort in amusement, "I imagine you've done this before… Well darling, which way should we go now?" He wondered jovially.
Ella wrinkled her nose briefly before sighing, "I must first visit my darling friend first, you know, before fretting over the day's events…" She replied sweetly even though the notion of being more than friends made her physically ill.
The odd couple continued until Robin stopped them as he gently pushed her to duck behind a wall before poking his head out to look into the next street; at spotting two noblemen speaking amongst each other, an idea came to mind.
"And visit your 'dear friend' we shall."
"I find it strange that you not listening to your husband's advice doesn't faze me, you know." He said as he fixed the fur-lined collar of the 'borrowed' maroon coat.
She pulled her mane of black hair into a messy bun and then lowered her hands to huff at his new outfit with mirth flickering in her eyes. "He's less likely to recognize me if my hair's up, and that color does nothing for you, by the way." She said as she wrinkled her nose.
Robin smirked cheekily, "S' only temporary. Come on, I'm sure he's prolly found Archer by now." He offered his arm to her to keep up appearances after she fixed her coat collar so her overall wardrobe looked presentable; their arms linked again, and the odd duo continued on to the high-rising castle.
"The truth be told Gisborne just had a bit too much to drink and I'm sure he's pretty apologetic by now, especially so to his wife, as she's the one who tried to talk him out of that little squabble… didn't you, my lady?" Robin admitted to the Sheriff, a short gray-haired man that looked to be in his late fifties, before looking to said woman at his side.
Ella maintained her lowered gaze as she lamented, "I did indeed, sir, but it's just that my husband tends to be a bit hot-headed and raucous when he's out of sorts." She gave a soft and sad sigh as she added, "I shudder to think what I'll be telling his mother, as we're supposed to visit her in Lincoln this Saturday…"
"An assault on one of the Sheriff's men is a direct violation against the Sheriff." The Sheriff stated as he brushed off the mild sensation that he knew the Lady from somewhere before.
"I completely understand, sir, but as his oldest friend, I wonder if this would be enough to erase such a travesty…?" Robin chimed with her before he withdrew the pouch on his coat's belt and offered a considerable amount of gold coins.
The Sheriff looked at the gold before he looked on both archers, and a smile forced its way onto his bearded face, "It is but a distant memory now, my good sir and lady." He nodded and added as the woman bit her tongue to withhold a relieved smile, "I thank you both for your profound sympathy… Please escort them to the dungeons where they may collect their boisterous friend." He nodded to the nearby guard to do as he instructed.
Ella bowed her head to him in courtesy, "Thank you for your kindness, my good man." She sidled to Robin's side as they followed the guard to the lower echelons of the castle and pulled her coat's collar up as she heard a guard announce that an emissary from Nottingham had come to York; she kept her eyes down even though curiosity demanded she spare a glance at the esteemed guard.
"Gisborne, visitors!" The guard announced once they found the large cell that held their companion, letting the odd couple inside before stepping out to the entrance of the cell to give them some privacy.
Guy let a relieved smile cross his face at seeing the brightened blue irises of his wife before accepting the embrace as she threw her arms around his neck. "Why do you never listen to me?" He wondered quietly as he squeezed her hips before reluctantly letting her go.
"Would you still be alive if I did?" Ella returned with a smirk as she watched him consider her words for a moment before he gave a wry scoff in reluctant agreement; she glanced over her shoulder at the door, "Isabella's sent one of her dogs here." She added softly.
"He's over here, then," Guy nodded to both she and Robin, sidestepping as Robin moved past him towards their brother who was chained to stand at the far end of the cell and reflexively holding her hand as they looked on their intended person.
Robin and Archer assessed one another before the former lightly patted the latter's right cheek, "Brother." He said.
Archer frowned slightly before commenting, "All of a sudden I have so many brothers; and one sister…? I surely hope not… You're much too beautiful to be related to these two." He nodded slightly to both men after momentarily looking the woman down and then up with a slight smirk on his lips.
Ella slightly tilted her head as she acknowledged his green irises before his short brown hair and lanky frame before she wrinkled her nose at his charming words. "Isabella of Gisborne, happily married. You're obviously the one, then… you're as unbearably confident as Robin."
"That almost smarted, actually… Well done, brother; she's as charming as she is beautiful." Archer smirked at the nobleman as he ignored her jab; he then nodded to the other brown-haired man, "So, who're you?" He asked.
"Robin Hood." He nodded back.
Archer chuckled slightly, "Robin Hood really exists, then."
Ella shot another glance at the guard before exhaling slightly, "One moment." She winked at both of her comrades before turning to address the guard, "Guard!" She declared as she watched him start and turn to her from lingering in the doorway and she stepped up to him; she said sweetly, "Sorry but this is an emergency." Her left fist slammed right into his nose and knocked him out before she caught him from falling to the stone floor and creating a ruckus. "Robin!" She hissed before the aforementioned outlaw came to her aid and gently set the unconscious guard down on the floor as she aimlessly shook her hand.
"I suppose that was something else you failed to mention," Robin smirked at the woman as he tossed the guard's keys to have her catch them with an expert hand.
Ella shrugged, "You didn't really ask, did you?" She returned the smirk before stepping away to begin setting Archer free.
"That looked too easy, should I be worried?" Archer wondered cheekily as he ignored the scowl from her husband.
"Dunno, depends if you value your jewels as much as I think you would." Ella replied flippantly as she stepped away once he was free, smirking when the younger man gave her a look before she tossed the keys to him. "Come on, then, unless you want to keep that date with the executioner." She added as she shed her cloak and revealed her quiver plus the daggers strapped to her back. She tossed Guy's sword to him as he caught it quickly before fastening the belt at his waist and followed Robin out of the cell with her husband at her side and Archer at their heels.
Archer then stopped to look at the men he shared his cell with, causing the trio to also halt as he said, "I'm not going, lest we all go; either we all go or noone goes."
Guy had half a right mind to clock him but he noted the resignation in both Ella and Robin and he groaned slightly, "Make it quick." He complied.
In no time the remaining prisoners were free of their shackles and followed Guy, Ella, Robin, and Archer's lead out of the dungeons and onto the other corridors of the castle.
"I suppose you know where you're going," Robin wondered of the nobleman.
"No idea, do you?" Guy replied blandly.
Ella started to open her mouth and say something when the distinct sound of guards approaching caught their ears and she hissed, "Stay low!" Being pulled against the left wall with Guy by his grab for her sleeve, she watched the others plus Archer follow suit as a few guards passed by their path to go in another direction.
Robin poked his head out to find they were clear before looking at the lone woman, "lead the way, then."
Ella nodded to him before looking to the men, "Keep on my tail, gentlemen, and be as quiet and quick as you can." She instructed as she briefly prayed that she still knew the way out before taking off at a jog down the opposite direction the guards had come with the men following her lead.
"So you're a noble, turned outlaw, without a cent to your name?" Archer asked of the nobleman as they crossed through another unnervingly-quiet corridor.
"Aye," Guy nodded slightly as he kept to his wife's heels, his sword on hand as he noted she had lowered her bow with an arrow nocked and ready should they meet any resistance.
Archer scoffed slightly, "how does that make sense, exactly…?" He wasn't given an answer as they finally came across a small batch of guards, drawing the swords he kept as he and Guy cut down one or two guards.
Ella had to admire the Saracens for crafting such lovely weaponry as a sharp 'whack' sounded when her bow solidly collided with a guard's nose and sent him reeling, leaving her to let her arrow fly at his jugular and cause him to fall back. She set another arrow in place and noted they were clear for the meantime before exhaling in relief. "I almost forgot how much fun it was to kill these fools." She mused before turning to look at the men plus her comrades to take account that all were safe, noting the rather grand brandishing Archer did with his sword and she nodded her chin at him, "don't tell me you learned that from the Orient." She wondered.
"No actually, s' just pure English." Archer said nonchalantly, earning a soft huff from the woman, and he nodded to her dark-brown bow. "Saracen make; seems you've put it to good use." He returned.
"A gift." Ella smiled even though her eyes were on her husband before nodding at the rest of the corridor. "Come on, lads." She urged, lightly hopping over the dead guard in her way before continuing on as Archer instructed the men at the tail to place the bodies on the side of the corridor, and she heard him shuffle to walk at her heels with Guy flanking him.
"Dare I ask, dear sister-in-law, if you don't have money as well? You act a bit like you come from it." Archer asked as he fell in step with her due to his long legs, looking at the woman from scanning the corridor on his side as she did the same with hers.
Ella scoffed, "I was born a poor farmer's daughter in Auvergne, actually; what money I have, which is very little, I only use in emergencies." She explained patiently.
Archer paused for a moment at hearing he wasn't the only one without a pedigree before nodding slightly. "That explains why you're so beautiful, doesn't it? You manage to speak English well, despite your being French." He mused.
"You really are related, though I wager you're closer to Robin than Guy. Your father, Malcolm, told me I looked like your mum when we met; ironically, she was also French." It was somewhat like she and Guy, save Guy was moreso English and she was moreso French; she shot a glance at said man only for her lips to fondly quirk up.
"What was her name, then?" Archer asked quietly as he absorbed the information and stowed it away for later.
"Ghislaine." It was Guy who answered him in a pensive voice, and the younger man looked at him to see his eyes had not strayed from the markswoman; the younger man smirked a little as he knew that look too well and his thoughts briefly strayed to his tryst with the Sheriff's wife, Gwyneth.
It was another fifteen minutes or so before they came across a fork in the corridors. Ella paused to think just which corridor to take as Robin and Guy walked ahead of her for one to look down one corridor and the other to look down the other corridor.
"It's this way." Both Robin and Guy said in chorus as they pointed down opposite directions before they looked at each other and matching scowls fell on their brows.
"Don't argue with me." Guy said annoyedly to the outlaw.
"Gisborne, it's this way." Robin argued.
Archer looked at the lone woman who was looking at both men with a bemused smirk on her lips. "Are they always like this?" He asked.
"Where do I start…?" Ella softly snorted before giving a brief whistle to dispel the scowling match between the two, and she nodded her head in the direction of the corridor that was on her right. "This way, children." Amusement danced in her eyes before she looked away and nodded to the men with them to then continue leading the way.
Guy caught the amused smile on the younger man's face as he shortly followed his wife and he sniffed, "I had it sorted." He defended.
"Aye, we can see that." Archer hummed with a smirk as his brother gave him a glare before shuffling to flank his wife, and he paused to see they were one prisoner short. "Hang on, stop, we forgot the Old Man." He said as the others came to a halt with him.
Ella groaned under her breath and stiffened when they heard a few guards talking in the corridor they'd abandoned, poking her head out from around the corner to see said prisoner cornered by three guards, and he proceeded to plea with them to not kill him.
She steadily inhaled as her lip curled as she heard the guards cut him down in cold blood, and thought to let her own arrows fly when Archer sought to stride past her into the open to avenge his friend; she yanked him back by the leather of his brown jerkin. "No!" She hissed before speaking into his ear as he began to protest, "We must go, Archer… Come on." She felt him exhale shakily as she let go save her grasp on his left sleeve as he turned to them, looking down at her as green met blue. "Come on." She shoved away the notion of pitying him as she imagined his pride wouldn't let him accept it, reluctantly letting go of his sleeve to urge they continue before a yell of anger came from him as he charged the cowardly guards. "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" She groaned before Robin ran after him and Guy shortly followed, leaving her to rush after the brothers into the fray and switch from her bow to her daggers.
Archer made to cut down the two guards before him that lunged before being yanked back by the scruff by both Robin and Guy, watching Ella lunge at the two guards to block their descending blades with a snarl before she viciously cut down both men, to which the brothers shortly joined her.
"Come on, girls!" Ella taunted playfully as two more guards that weren't busy with the brothers hesitated to attack her, brandishing her daggers before both men flew at her. She twisted out of the way of one guard only to slice at the soft flesh of his left leg with one dagger and ramming her right dagger's blade deeply into the sternum of the second guard before yanking her blade free to let him fall, twisting on her heel to slash at the first guard's neck with a sharp flick of the wrist so he also fell at her feet while she softly huffed.
"Ella, fall back!" Robin barked as she started to attack the five new guards that came to the scene before Archer grabbed her arm to drag her with the brothers so they could run.
Ella perked up as one of the men identified Robin behind them as they ran for the great hall as fast as they could and she growled an oath in frustration.
The odd quartet skidded to a halt inside the hall as the voice of the Sheriff commanded they be stopped. Bowstring creaking, the woman held fast to her bow as she looked from the guards to the emissary to the Sheriff with steely blue eyes and her lip curled with a mirthless smirk.
"Stop, the Sheriff of Nottingham wants them alive, all three of them! Robin Hood, Guy of Gisborne, and Isabella of Auvergne!" The emissary cried as his men also surrounded the quartet, pointing a finger at the named outlaws before he added to the Sheriff, "One hundred crowns each for Hood and Gisborne, and eighty crowns for the French woman!"
"It might be worth more to watch them die… especially that murderous French witch!" The Sheriff snapped, venom in his voice as he gestured to the woman who had slain his son many years ago.
Ella faltered a little before she chuckled darkly. "It's been so long that I almost didn't recognize you, Lord Harold… I'm insulted that that little bitch d'jeur only offered eighty crowns, I thought she hated me more than that!" She drawled with venom in her cold voice before adding in the same tone, "If I recall, you offered one hundred and eighty."
"Three hundred and eighty, to be exact, preferably dead rather than alive." The Sheriff growled icily as he glared at the woman with mild loathing darkening her piercing glare. He added bitingly with a slight nod at the black-clad man behind her, "And from what this man tells me, you've found love in the arms of that murderous scoundrel you call your husband…"
Ella's lip curled with a sneer, "I have yet to kill you per my respect for William, and I would happily loose my arrow at your fat skull mind you, but I simply must ask that you don't drag the man I love into your vendetta." She drawled dangerously as she flexed her grasp on her bow.
A rueful smirk threatened to show on his handsome face as Guy knew beyond anything that she meant every word, yet he hated that it was because of him she returned to a place that haunted her, that she was going to die.
She was beautiful, dangerous, and her heart was bleeding… And he loved her so.
In a fluid gesture, Archer had turned on them and yanked Ella towards him, causing her to yelp slightly before he had drawn a knife from his jerkin to threateningly point it at her throat.
Ella squirmed slightly in his grip, accidentally letting the arrow that had been held in her bow's string fly to find its mark in the emissary's chest; she paused slightly in her captor's grasp to watch the man collapse in a heap on the floor.
"Let her go!" Guy snarled as he reflexively lunged at Archer when one of the guards broke rank to disarm him within seconds; he fought and protested as two guards seized him from behind. "Isabella!" He exclaimed between protests and curses.
"Dare I ask what you're doing?" Ella hissed as she glared up at the younger man when he pressed the blade closer to the soft skin of her throat.
Archer spoke in her ear, "Just go with it, and we might escape here alive." He felt her stiffen a smidge against his body before giving a momentary tilt of her chin down in understanding, and he addressed the Sheriff, "gentlemen, I offer you this charming and gorgeous French woman along with Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, in exchange for my freedom!"
"Traitor!" Guy rumbled angrily as he squirmed in his captors' hold.
Ella growled under her breath before hissing to the younger man, "Join us." She felt him stiffen for a moment and she glanced about to add softly, "Get us out of here and return with us to Nottingham. After you help us throw down the Sheriff, you can go wherever you so please. What gold I own is yours… if your word means anything, do I have it?" She briefly glanced up at him.
Archer pondered for a moment that might as well have been an hour, and he agreed in a hiss, "Yes."
"I am deeply sorry, but the price for your freedom is too high!" The Sheriff snapped coldly as the odd quartet looked at him as he added, "seize them!" He watched as both Archer and Ella were yanked away from each other and into the respective grasps of two guards as the third guard reprimanded Robin. "You four miserable fools can die, and those of you with the emissary of Nottingham go tell the Sheriff that she can keep her money; I'll send their severed heads as a gift!" And with that, the quartet were led out of the hall and on to the gallows.
For more than a decade she believed she would meet her death.
She had murdered several more times after William, but when she took another life she couldn't help but wonder when fate finally turned on her and forced her to greet death face-to-face.
The fact that she was due to hang left her at peace with herself, because she had at least done the things her mother had hoped she would do.
She had found and fought for her love, and now she was to die alongside the man she was bound to in the eyes of God… Yes, she finally knew peace.
"Are you hurt?" He asked quietly at her right.
Stirred from her thoughts, she glanced at him to see he was glancing at her and she smiled. "No… I suppose this was fated for us from the start, wasn't it?" She wondered in a surprisingly calm tone.
If she were a lesser woman he would have expected her to weep for fear of death, but she was as calm as a clear day; she actually sounded at peace with herself.
"You're not afraid." Guy didn't ask.
Ella gave a soft snort, "I have never feared death since I began this life. And I will die today at your side, as your wife… I can ask for nothing more." She replied gently.
Guy caught the softened light in her blue irises and his chest ached. Perhaps this was to be the last time he saw her smile, to hear her say his name in that way that only she could say it, to watch her beautiful face soften with the love she had for him… "Know that I have loved you, Isabella."
Ella smiled an actual smile at his confession, and she replied softly, "I have loved you too, Guy."
After the Sheriff and his wife took their seats the drums of the execution began to pound rhythmically from the side of the platform.
"The drums are never meant to be a good thing." Archer commented as his confidence had seemed to flee in the face of death.
"It was lovely to meet you, Archer, even though you probably never expected to find a family at the end of it all." Ella glanced over past Robin and Guy at the younger man, before she glanced forward at the crowd and spotted a few familiar faces in the onlookers as a bitter smile lightly tugged at her lips while the part of her that wanted to live hoped to God that their friends would get them out of here alive.
"Proceed with the first execution!" One of the guards called as the noose was fastened around the woman's neck.
Ella did not look at Guy as she felt his eyes on her with every second that passed and she didn't look at the Sheriff's satisfied smile as she was brought to justice for the pain she had caused him, instead closing her eyes and lifting her chin up in a last measure of defiance.
If she was to die today then so be it…
An explosion sounded from nearby, making her eyes snap open as the crowd quickly scattered in surprise and left Robin, Guy and Archer to get free as their friends came forward to help them with their bindings.
Guy borrowed a knife from Archer to sharply sever the rope and catch Ella as she gasped for both air and relief as he held her in his arms while rushing to their friends' side.
Ella looked up at him as he paused to let her down and briefly kissed him before she yanked the rope off and hopped down from his grasp to catch her weapons from Kate with a quick smile. "You lot sure took your time!" She said to the group with relief.
"I'm surprised Archer is still here, after all that… What did you say to him?"
"We struck a deal when he was trying to bluff our way out of an execution. He helps us defeat Isabella, and I give him what gold I have as payment… of course that means he also gets to spend time with his newfound family."
Guy stopped walking to watch her pause and look at him, and he folded his arms at his chest. "I'm not sure if that is the most ingenious plan I've heard yet, or if you really are half-mad to actually promise such a thing to a man you hardly know. You didn't need to do that, El." He said with a shallow exhale.
"It's not a crime to have compassion for someone who was once like me, is it? He's still blood by your mother, Guy." Ella argued calmly, starting to walk away before adding over her shoulder, "And to be honest, I think he'll get used to having two lugs for brothers who've honored their parents by snatching him from death." She felt his fingers tug on her belt from behind and she turned to face him with softened blue eyes and an equally-soft smirk on her lips.
The longer their stares held, he once again recognized that there was no arguing when she stood her ground, and he would admit she had a point.
"You're rather sure of this, then." Guy mused softly as he looked down at her and kept a curious brow arched.
Ella shrugged a smidge and gently squeezed his arms, "if he's anything like you, the you that I love, then he'll stay and see this through." To whatever end they would meet when they would face Isabella.
Guy searched her eyes for a moment to confirm her resolution, and he gave a low chuckle. "You know, I think I'm actually starting to get used to you nearly giving me a heart attack." He hummed as he held onto her waist.
Ella laughed quietly before shoving his chest only to receive a kiss, and she shivered slightly as he held her close with one hand and lifted her up a little while holding her close. She drew away from his kisses for a moment and ignored the grumbled comment from him as she pressed her forehead to his, blue holding blue, as she smiled happily and he returned the smile with a soft huff.
Both reluctantly returned to the safety of the camp as dusk started to seep into the forest with Guy's arm slung over her shoulder and a content smile on Ella's lips.
"So where is this luxurious cot you mentioned?" Guy wondered sardonically.
an: i regret nothing :)