Updated - 12/27/09
My parents got me Season 1 and 2 for Christmas and I have been watching them non-stop to get my energy flowing. I was finally able to bridge what I have posted with the ending I have written.
I will try to get the rest to you.
I hope you enjoy this!
Chapter Forty-Three
Beginning of the End
Dull, numbing ache.
That was what she was feeling. Her shoulders were killing her. They felt as if they were being pulled from their sockets. This was almost as bad as when she was tied to gallows. What happened? Julia tried to open her eyes, but the light made her head throb. She kept her eyes shut as she tried to remember what happened.
Djaq looked over at Julia from the other side of the camp. She had not woken since she had been tied to old oak tree. How could Robin do this? He had been becoming more and more unstable in the last few months and this was a prime example of that. He was turning on his own friends. Djaq understood his need for trust. Allah knows she had to work very hard to trust the gang, but now she would trust them with her life.
But Julia.
She truly loves Gisborne, no matter how strange it may seem. But she gave him up. She left him and came back to the gang. For that, she had Djaq's trust. It was too bad that Robin did not see it that way. Djaq could not imagine giving up Will. She loved him with every breath she took and if she had to choose between him and another. She's not sure she could.
Julia groaned louder as the memory what happened before she awoke came to her. She kicked her feet to try to gain leverage on her restraints. She leaned her head back against the tree and slowly opened her eyes. The mid-day sun shined on her and the light sent pain coursing through her head.
He hit her.
She couldn't believe that Robin hit her.
She looked around as far as her restraints would let her. She could see Much across the camp; tinkering with something.
"Much!" She yelled. Which of course caused her headache to intensify.
"Much!" She yelled again.
"Don't Much me. I'm not cutting you loose!" He responded and shook a cooking spoon at her.
"Much, where's Robin?"
Robin rejoined his battalion just outside the edge of Nottingham. He was going to lead the charge into the town itself. They were going to retake the castle. He crouched down next to grove of trees that worked as cover for him and about one hundred of England's finest. They waited until the church bells inside Nottingham tolled.
As the bell rung out, Robin's army stormed the castle. Most of the guards that the sheriff had in Nottingham were new to his cause and not well trained. Most his better trained soldiers were awaiting the King's arrival in neighboring towns and villages. Getting inside Nottingham was much easier than Robin had anticipated. Several of the sheriff's new soldiers were actually agents of Robin's. Working from the inside.
The sheriff looked down from his quarters and saw the legion of men that making their way towards the castle. He was panicking to say the least.
"GISBORNE!" He screamed over his shoulder, but did not take his eyes off the siege down below. "GISBORNE!"
"The hens are coming home to roost," Gisborne said in a calm voice. He was enjoying the sheriff's little display of fear. It didn't happen often, so Guy was going to relish in it.
"Lower the portcullis and get all the soldiers into the quad!"
"No,"
"No! You dare defy me after everything I've done for you!" He was standing directly in front of him. Yelling straight into his face.
"Done for me!? Because of you I have lost everything. I was loyal to you for promise of power, but no more! I will not die for you!" Guy finally said the words he had wanted to say for far too long. He turned and begun to walk away.
"You cannot have power without sacrifice! You pathetic excuse for a man! I should have killed you years ago!" Guy turned to face the man that had become the living embodiment of everything in this world that he hated and despised. He stepped closer and drew his sword. Holding it out in front of him, he took a couple steps closer.
"I would kill you now, but I think that they will have much more fun doing it," Guy simply said as he gesture toward the open window. They could now hear the army making its way into the castle itself. Gisborne replaced his sword and walked away from the sheriff.
He needed to get out of the castle.
He wanted to go where he belonged.
Guy climbed atop his horse and raced out of Nottingham.
Robin charged into the castle with a small group of men.
"Find the sheriff! I want him brought to the dungeon!" He yelled as he men split up to find their quarry. Robin was going to find Gisborne himself. He wanted to see his face when Guy realized that everything was gone. Everything that he stole, killed, and schemed for was gone. He wanted to look him in the eye before he killed him. Robin ran through all the quarters and down in the dungeon. He looked in every possible hiding place he could think of. As he exited the castle and came down the stairs, one of the local blacksmiths ran up to him told him that sheriff had escaped through an underground tunnel and that Gisborne was seen fleeing Nottingham on horseback.
Robin had an idea of where he would go. He was going to finish this now.
"Much please. Cut me loose. Robin has gone mad, he needs our help!" Much tried to ignore her, but deep down he knew she was right. But what was he to do. He could not and would not defy Robin's instructions, not now. Julia's struggled were becoming futile. Her strength was leaving her as she fought against the ropes.
Just as she was about to give up, she felt them loosen. The ropes were being cut. As they weakened, she pulled and she was able to break free. She pulled herself to her feet and looked around the tree. She saw Djaq standing there. Julia smiled and pulled her friend into a hug. She whispered thank you into Djaq ear and ran towards Locksley.
Much and Djaq exchanged looks. Hers hopeful, his fearful.
Julia ran straight into the manor at Locksley. She ran through every room. Her legs were weak and her head was still swimming from the hit Robin gave her, but she had to find him. She had hoped that he would be here. That he would be able to escape the castle after the siege begun. She took the stairs down two at time and ran into Mary at the bottom.
"Get out of this house!" Mary yelled as she turned and walked into the kitchen.
"Have you seen him Mary?" Julia was close behind her.
"Do you know what you have done to Sir Guy?" Mary had suddenly become protective of her employer. He had changed so much in the months that Julia was living here. She believed that she saw the good qualities of the man. But when she hurt him and fled, that part of him started to die. She watched him become even crueler than Mary thought possible.
"Mary, please. Where is he?" Julia asked as she grabbed Mary's hands in hers. Mary looked into Julia's eyes and saw the young girl that she had come to care about. Mary felt her resolve fade.
"I don't know. He stopped here and said goodbye. He said something about going back to where it started," Julia let go of Mary's hands and she leaned against the wooden counter. Then out of nowhere she knew where he was. She gave Mary a kiss on the cheek and ran out of the house. Mary looked out the window at Julia's back as she ran across the field. She looked up to the heavens and prayed that God would keep them safe.
Guy paced back and forth around the small ruins that had become his and Charlotte's sanctuary. No one knew of this place and what it had become to them. He could remember all the times that they spent here. Their first kiss had been in the bell tower of the defunct church. He remembered how the sun made her eyes glow and how soft her lips were. Also how her soft breath on his face made his knees weak. He also remembered bringing her here to apologize for striking her and how happy she was at his surprise. The other times they were able to hide away here; away from the outside world.
But he knew now it was all a lie.
Her affections were false and she told him such. The day that she tore his heart out. The day she revealed herself to be not Charlotte, but Julia of Devonborough. That she was Marian's cousin and their entire courtship had been a plan to destroy him. She had told him all of this in their sanctuary. She had betrayed him over and over again. The last time was when she told him of her true feelings. That awful day in the dungeon of Nottingham castle. Until then he had hoped that she was pretending to hate him, but she proved to him just how deep her hatred went.
"Guy?" a soft voice could be heard coming behind him. Guy whipped around to face it. His sword was out in front of him. He knew whose voice it was before he saw her face.
"I'm unarmed," Julia responded, her hands out in front of her.
"What are you doing here?" He asked with his sword still out in front of him. He was not going to give her an inch.
There was no way he would let his guard down so easily.
Not again.
Well, short I know, but if I included the next section, the chapter would have been huge!
Keep up with me! Ending is coming.
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Stay Tuned!
