When Gisburne awoke, he didn't quite understand at first what was wrong with him. Recognizing his problem also took longer because he had a rather severe headache. For this reason, it was not surprising that he did not immediately grasp why he was unable to move. Some more time passed before he realized that he was tied to a tree, and then he still hadn't figured out that he was in the camp of Robin Hood's gang. The moment he finally understood that, he cursed himself for getting so terribly drunk the previous day.
Then he also had to realize that he had not even accomplished what he had actually wanted to achieve with the heavy drinking. He had wanted to avoid remembering the previous day, but unfortunately, he couldn't deny that he hadn't forgotten any of what had happened yesterday. On top of that, he was now beginning to feel nauseous as well. Once again, he had to conclude, his decision to drink himself almost to the point of unconsciousness on that particular day had done nothing to change his problem. He just couldn't manage to get rid of the void he felt inside. And now he had also exposed himself to ridicule in front of the outlaws.
He felt so miserable that he did everything he could not to draw attention to himself. As soon as he lifted his head even a tiny bit, he immediately had the impression that he was going to throw up. In addition, the light - even now early in the morning - made his eyes water, although it was dimmed by the foliage of the trees, and he had a terribly foul taste in his mouth. It occurred to him now that getting the strong liquor had turned out to be a very bad idea, for his hopes had not been fulfilled that this stuff could do what Gisburne had never been able to do in the years before. He had simply wanted to forget that day, but now he realized this was not possible. Nor was he now sure whether he should actually wish for it. He couldn't figure out what to make of the whole affair, though, but he longed for a way to fill the void inside him.
Although he had tried hard to remain silent, a low groan suddenly escaped his throat, and this was of course enough to draw the eyes of all the outlaws who happened to be in the camp. It was only when Gisburne made the effort to look around that he noticed that both Scarlet and the Saracen were nowhere to be seen, but neither was Robin Hood. At that moment he remembered that he hadn't seen the man the previous day either, and he immediately wondered what that meant. Did their absence have something to do with him?
"Robin didn't return last night", he heard a voice at his side. Because he wasn't feeling well, he couldn't remember who that voice belonged to right now, and for the same reason wasn't able to turn his head enough to look around for the person.
When he turned his attention forward again, he saw the monk approaching him with a bowl in his hand. In a friendly manner, the monk told him that this would help him and then held the bowl to his lips. Gisburne noticed that there was water in it and he was grateful for this gesture, because his throat actually felt terribly raw. He was careful not to show this gratitude, however, for after all he was the sheriff's steward and the monk was an outlaw.
"You'd get along better with people if you'd say thank you for once", the voice of the unidentified man at his side rang out again, but Gisburne simply ignored those words.
"Where are Nasir and Will?" demanded John suddenly to know. "They've been gone for hours and should have been back by now."
"I'd rather they be gone longer and then come back with Robin", Marion replied. She couldn't hide that she was worried.
"Maybe it just took him longer to find the messenger, Little Flower", the monk tried to reassure her. At that moment, the three of them seemed to have forgotten that they had a listener in front of whom they didn't really want to air their concerns.
"Nothing happened to him, did it?", Much anxiously wanted to know. And then he quite unexpectedly turned to Gisburne. "Did you do something to him?"
The knight eyed him. He was not sure what to make of Much. What irritated him so much was the fact that the young man was an idiot in his eyes, but the other outlaws seemed to see more in him. Gisburne couldn't understand that, and when he didn't understand something, he reacted to it with force. He had never learned that there were other options and only in the last few months had he begun to reflect on his reaction.
"I don't know what you're talking about", he finally answered him in a harsh voice.
"He wants to know if the sheriff has planned something to get his hands on Robin", the bearded giant harangued him. "And I wonder so, too."
Gisburne frowned. As far as he knew, there were no special plans for Robin Hood at the moment. But was that what he was supposed to tell the outlaws?
"You're also annoyed that de Rainault is ignoring you", he heard from the side. He nodded involuntarily, for that was quite true. The sheriff had not taken him into his confidence for weeks, so why should he feel obliged to keep quiet. Especially since, after all, he couldn't reveal what he didn't know.
"I'm not aware of anything", he then admitted, though rather unwillingly.
The outlaw obviously hadn't expected to get an answer, and especially not this kind of response, as Gisburne could tell from his expression.
"Let's wait until ...", the monk started, but at that moment Scarlet and the Saracen entered the camp. Marion immediately jumped up expectantly, but then she had to realize that no one else came but the two of them, and right away a quite miserable expression appeared on her face.
"Where is he?" she wanted to know.
"We should ask that bastard there." Scarlet stormed angrily towards the captive. He already held his dagger in his hand and drove its point into Gisburne's neck so hard that he immediately began to bleed.
"Will, what have you found?" asked Marion again. She had turned very pale.
"No Robin", replied the Saracen. "There was a fight."
"A trap, Nasir?" The other nodded.
"Was that your plan? Were you going to trap Robin on the one day he would definitely be alone?" Scarlet pressed the dagger a little harder into Gisburne's skin, so that the knight had to pull himself together not to react to it. And then he surprised himself by answering Scarlet, because he hadn't really intended to.
"I wasn't involved in any plan. And the sheriff has no idea what this day means, because he doesn't care about such matters."
The point of Scarlet's dagger dug painfully into Gisburne's neck, but he would never show that to the outlaw.
"You can tell us a lot of things. I don't believe a word you say!" the outlaw brought out.
"Then why do you even ask me?" the knight wanted to know, and was even a little amused at that moment. This man just didn't know what he wanted.
"Let him be, Will" Marion suddenly interfered. "He already told us a moment ago that he doesn't know anything."
"That doesn't mean anything. He's probably lying to us." Scarlet obviously had no intention of letting go of Gisburne.
"That's possible, but if you cut his throat, it won't do us any good either, Will." The monk tried to bring some calm to the whole affair.
"What difference does it make? He won't tell us anything!"
"Do you think the sheriff would have let him out of the castle yesterday if he had planned to use him for this trap?" the Saracen surprisingly contributed. The knight had to admit to himself that the infidel was quite right. De Rainault would never have let him get away if he was supposed to help him capture Hood.
"Tell them about the stranger!" At that moment Gisburne would have liked to look around for the speaker, but of course he was in no position to do so.
"The sheriff has taken a man into service with whom he has been discussing his plans lately!" he heard himself remark.
"What kind of a man? Where did he come from?" the monk inquired.
Gisburne just managed to suppress a sigh. Why had he even brought it up. Now he probably had no choice but to keep talking, even if he didn't know where that would lead.
"I don't know where he came from. I'd never heard of him before. But the sheriff seems to have confidence in him, because since he's been there, de Rainault hasn't discussed any plans with me. At least none concerning Hood."
Now that he said it like that, it struck him that it hadn't bothered him so much. It was true that he had been annoyed because the sheriff preferred the other to him, just as he had been with Ralph at the time. But if he was honest, he had enough to do with the other outlaws who haunted the woods, though he had been quite successful in their pursuit as well. He found this a pleasant change from his unsuccessful attempts to catch Hood and his gang. And then he suddenly had to smile in spite of his current situation, because he still found himself a captive in their camp again. However, he definitely had himself to blame for that. On the other hand, he was aware that he had had to come to the forest on the previous day.
"What's so funny now?" Scarlet sounded even more annoyed than before, if that was possible.
Gisburne couldn't hold back anymore, he had to laugh, which then turned out to be painful because Scarlet was still holding the dagger to his throat. He probably hadn't sobered up yet after all.
"Didn't do me much good to stay away from you guys", he tried to explain his reaction anyway. Why did he bother with them at all?
"Maybe because you want to leave the forest alive again?"
Gisburne snorted. He could have come up with that idea himself. But he still had a headache, so thinking was even harder than usual.
"I don't think this worthy noble is really with us anymore", Scarlet had obviously had enough of putting the dagger to his neck. Or maybe it was just his arm growing weary, because he suddenly put his weapon away.
"Oh yes, he did", the knight contradicted him. Scarlet simply had no sense of humor.
The outlaw also immediately reacted angrily again. "The way you acted here yesterday, you should definitely back off. I wonder what the sheriff would say to what you let out."
Gisburne frowned. Was that supposed to be a threat now?
"The sheriff won't be interested in what I gave of myself when I was drunk", the knight tried to defuse the situation. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure that the sheriff would not be very pleased if he found out what he had said about Loxley.
Now it was Scarlet's turn to snort in amusement.
"Why don't you offer them a deal?"
What could he possibly offer the outlaws? Suddenly Gisburne had an idea. But would they go for it? And then how much did he have to reveal about himself? But did it even matter in his situation? He had already told them everything that was on his mind last night. More than he had wanted to admit to himself in recent years. And in any case more than the sheriff was ever allowed to know. He couldn't get out of it just like that. Once again, he had tripped himself up and he was so tired of that. Even worse, though, was what he had to suffer under the sheriff. Maybe he could make up some ground in that regard?
"I'd rather the sheriff didn't find out what I've been talking about ...", he began, only to wait to see what the outlaws would say.
Scarlet snorted again in amusement, but the others looked at him with interest.
"What would we get out of it?" Marion wanted to know.
Gisburne closed his eyes for a moment. If he went on now, he wouldn't be able to step back from this. If the sheriff ever found out, he would most certainly consider it treason, but he was sure the outlaws would not betray him, for they wanted their precious leader back.
"I could look around Nottingham. I mean, I could check to find out if the sheriff has brought a prisoner back with him", he offered them.
"Are you just offering to spy for us?" inquired Marion in amazement.
"I'll do it if I can be sure the sheriff won't find out about what I did yesterday. It's none of his business and he wouldn't understand."
"And how are we to get the information?" the monk wanted to know.
"The easiest way would be for someone to come to Nottingham." Before any of the outlaws could protest, he continued. "I'm in the forest almost every day, so it shouldn't be difficult for one of you to meet me."
"Are you actually going to get involved with this?" wanted Scarlet to know from the others. "That's just a bunch of crap."
"You haven't convinced them yet!"
Since when had the other actually been around him on a daily basis? And why hadn't he noticed before.
"What have we got to lose, Will?" Marion wanted to know from the redhead, and Gisburne could only agree with her. But he remained silent, because he didn't believe it would do any good if he spoke up again now.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"He's not in the castle!" The voice came from one of the chambers located behind Gisburne.
"How do you know?" replied the knight, who was busy searching the rooms on the upper floor of the keep. However, these had been vacant for quite some time and were accordingly rather dusty. He had sneezed a few times because of this, but that would not stop him from continuing. May the outlaws think he would not keep his word, he was not interested in that. Although he was aware that they would have been right about that some time ago. But things had changed for him since then.
"Did you actually ask me that now?" The other appeared to be amused.
"I still have to search the castle. I have to be sure when I tell his people he's not here." When had he started arguing with the other?
"Probably that's better, really", his counterpart agreed with him. "You can't blame them for being suspicious, though. You haven't given them any reason to trust you most of the time."
As awkward as Gisburne was about the whole thing, he couldn't deny that the other was right. But then, it wasn't his place to gain the trust of the outlaws. He had been tasked with catching them, and after all, it had not bothered him. It had taken him a long time to realize that he was damaging himself first and foremost.
"Let me go on searching unmolested. The castle is large and I don't have forever. Besides, I must be careful that neither de Rainault nor fitz Edgar catch me at it. I wouldn't know how to explain to them what I'm doing here."
"I'll warn you if they get too close. You know you can count on me."
Gisburne nodded. He was quite sure that the other would not betray him, and he was glad to have him by his side. After all, he had had to cope alone for far too long.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Gisburne was sitting under a tree at the side of the road, talking to his horse. At least, an uninvolved observer passing him had to get this impression. His companion, however, had assured him that there was another one listening, besides Fury. As always, since he had the other at his side, he trusted that he had told him the truth.
"I've searched the entire castle, but I haven't turned up anything. The sheriff and that Walter fitz Edgar guy are disappearing for a few hours every day, though. They take the Great North Road, with an escort of soldiers, but these soldiers don't accompany them the entire time. There is a spot where they vanish and later they return to there. They leave the soldiers there on a regular basis. The sheriff still hasn't filled me in, so all I can say is that he seems extremely content since Hood's disappearance. The same is true of fitz Edgar. I therefore assume that they have indeed gotten their hands on him. But they must have hidden him somewhere in the woods. I have talked to the soldiers, very cautiously, and I believe I can find the spot where they went into the forest. I made up my mind to look around there right away."
He hoped the other listened to him carefully. He didn't feel like telling it all again.
"After all, it won't escape your notice when I find the place. Alone, I probably won't be able to do anything there."
He rose, grabbed the reins of his stallion and mounted. He had his work cut out for him today, but he couldn't take too much time doing it if he didn't want to make de Rainault suspicious. He couldn't rely on the sheriff continuing to pay as little attention to him as he currently did. The man could be as moody and as fickle as a woman. And as jealous, too. Gisburne had always had the impression, in all the years he had been in the sheriff's service, that the man had no intention of sharing him with anyone but his brother. Sometimes the knight had even felt that this went beyond the actual service, but fortunately it had not actually gone further. Gisburne couldn't say whether he could have resisted it when he was younger. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to put up with it now, though.