XXXVIII

"I'm getting too old for this!"

Allan was attempting to clean a wound on his forearm and muttering to himself. Little John wordlessly took the cloth off him and moved his friend to where the light was better before taking over.

"We're all getting too old for this!" Much declared to no one in particular, though the comment was probably aimed at Robin.

"We shouldn't have left her!" Will had been lost in a silent fury for their return to camp and now it was coming to the surface.

"We had no choice. We were outnumbered." Robin replied tightly.

"We should've done something!" Will hissed.

"What could we have done? There were too many and I had my hands full with her." Robin gestured to Francesca, who was sitting under a nearby tree, fiddling with the bonds on her wrists and ankles.

"We could've traded her for Djaq!" Will glared at their unwelcome addition.

"Yes and I would've but it's not like they gave us chance."

"Yeh, one of 'em went for John and then it was mayhem after that." Allan chipped in and Little John grunted an affirmative.

"And you…" Much rounded angrily on Will, "don't you ever make me have to drag you out of a fight again!"

"He took Djaq!" Will declared, as if this was the explanation and answer to everything, which for him it was.

"Yes he did, but we wouldn't have been able to help her if they'd taken all of us would we now?" Robin knew that Will had long since realised this but said the words anyway.

"We should go back for her!"

"No Will, it won't do any good right now…"

"Please Robin!"

Robin shook his head and gave his friend an apologetic look.

Will nodded but didn't break eye contact. "I think… I think I love her."

An awkward silence followed as all digested this information before Allan finally said what needed to be said: "We'll get her back y'know?"

"We will..." Robin confirmed and then turned his eyes to their captive, "and it wouldn't surprise me if Gisborne comes to us to make a deal."

"So err… what's your story then?"

Francesca didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this question from a curious outlaw with a freshly bandaged arm.

Well… where do I start!?

She was in a daze.

Had been ever since she'd laid eyes once more upon the man she loved.

Actually, it was more accurate to say that she had been ever since her father had declared that he'd found her a husband. She'd remembered him of course, the man she was to marry, it had been a long time since he'd last come sniffing round her sister but he was in possession of a particular brand of creepiness that one didn't forget so easily.

Something else she hadn't forgotten was the argument between him and her father concerning his interest in Natalia – it was the reason he'd stopped visiting them all those years ago and no one in the Cavendish household had been sorry to see the back of him.

Then all of a sudden, he was back and the two lords were as chummy as ever. No one bothered to tell Francesca why, just as no one bothered to explain to her why a man who had barely registered her existence back in the day was now seeking her hand in marriage. Or why her father, who'd been so utterly horrified at the prospect of Winchester marrying his eldest daughter, had agreed to let him wed his youngest with heartfelt best wishes. She had always felt inferior to her sister and here was yet another reminder of her low worth in her father's estimation. Nothing new there then.

Still reeling from the shock of her engagement, Winchester had then suggested that they accompany him to Nottingham to 'tend to a matter of importance for Prince John'.

That had been the kick whilst she was down.

As if it wasn't bad enough that she was to be so intimately connected to a man who, quite frankly, revolted her, now she was going to have to face the man she loved as Winchester's future spouse.

And so it came.

In the worst possible way.

The journey to Nottingham had been torture enough, what with her father and Winchester in good spirits, thoroughly unaffected by her withdrawn demeanour. Then at the castle, they had not been permitted to see Vaisey who was, according to a surly guard, "in a meeting and would be for the next hour" so Winchester had suggested a detour to visit his old friend Sir Edward of Knighton for he was keen to tell him the 'good news'.

It was there that Francesca's heart finally splintered into a million tiny fragments upon learning from a chatty servant that the lord and lady of the house were at Locksley "celebratin' the king's birthday an' there's talk of Sir Guy makin' an announcement 'bout 'imself an' our good Lady Marian if yer know what I mean…" *wink wink*

So this is how it feels when all hope is lost.

If she'd been alone, Francesca would've curled up into a ball and wept an ocean, she was sure of it. She'd been steeling herself for heartbreak the entire journey; ignorant as she was of Guy's situation, she'd been left to imagine the worst, but it is one thing to imagine, it is another to know. Her impeccable self-control had stopped her from collapsing but then again she'd been sitting in the carriage as she'd heard the words, had it been otherwise, she's not sure how she would've fared.

After that, all was a blur. Deep in thought and trying to keep a grip upon her emotions, she remained oblivious to the whirl of activity around her. It was only as the carriage jolted forwards once more that she wondered where they were going. As they approached the castle again, she gave a sigh of relief only to learn that they were not stopping, no, her father was to fetch Vaisey whilst they continued on to the party at Locksley that Winchester was suddenly most eager to attend.

As they approached Locksley, she'd felt herself becoming more and more agitated, desperately looking for a way out. An excuse to get away. Some way, any way to remove herself from what was about to happen. She considered leaping out of the carriage and running away. Or throwing herself under the carriage wheels to save herself the pain of what she was about to go through. It was overdramatic she knew, but her heart was in pieces, her stomach in knots and every bone in her body was willing her not to go inside for she would surely die if she did and what was left of her poor soul would surely perish upon seeing him happy with another. She could not bear it. She would not bear it. She would pretend illness…

Her future spouse didn't give her the opportunity. Indeed, she doubted he drew breath once the entire journey, wittering on about what an "excellent evening it was going to be" and "how much he was going to enjoy announcing their betrothal and steeling Gisborne's thunder".

As they came to a halt, he frowned, his eyes fixed upon the entrance to the manse. Then suddenly, without a word, he rushed out of the carriage and directed his men to surround the building. She didn't understand this. She hadn't understood why he'd brought the men in the first place and when asked, he'd given a vague answer along the lines of 'you can't be too careful these days'. She knew the men belonged to Prince John and so just assumed they had something to do with the mysterious 'matter of importance' Winchester was tending to for the regent. She watched a few of them tangling with an imposing giant of a man at the entrance to the house, subduing the rough looking fellow whilst the rest of their ranks surrounded the house, except a small group who stayed to keep an eye on Winchester and herself. Apparently satisfied, Winchester decided it was time to make his entrance and unceremoniously dragged her out of the carriage and to his side, leaving no room for protest.

Then before she knew it, she was on the doorstep of his house, about to gatecrash his party and she was frozen in a strange agony, the kind one feels just before something is about to happen and you don't want it with every part of you.

Then she heard his voice. The voice she had longed to hear for so long. The voice that had been/was/always would be her undoing in every sense of the word and her legs went to jelly. She propped herself up against the door frame and was grateful that Winchester had seemingly forgotten her for the moment to make his entrance alone. She kept her eyes to the ground and was oblivious to all but the sounds coming from inside so did not notice the big man who was staring at her nearby, peeking through the rows of guards keeping him captive.

Then Winchester began.

And lord how he began….. and she hated him so much for what he was about to do….. and then the moment she had dreaded for so long arrived and he dragged her inside, parading her in front of everybody to make his grotesque announcement.

And Guy was standing in front her. Staring at her.

Oh God help me.