XI – The Science of Elimination

Whenever Gisborne was summoned to Nottingham, it was usually a sign that he was about to get told to do the Sheriff's dirty work, and it wasn't something he ever looked forward to. Today was no different. When the order came – and this time it was a very clear order and not even a stern request – for him to go to Nottingham, Guy took his sweet time before getting on the road.

A long time ago, when Marian had still been alive, Guy had found Nottingham to be somewhat of a tolerable place. Even pleasant on occasion. But these days he resented the whole town. In fact, if someone did happen to raze it to the ground, he would not mind. Everything about Nottingham, and especially the castle, reminded him of Marian's betrayal. Even now, months after her death, he felt the invisible dagger in his back.

It didn't help that Isabella was now doing what Marian had done. Guy would have been a fool not to notice that his sister was unusually interested in his business. That's how it had always been with Marian: a seemingly innocent question here and there, just to find out information that could be fed to his enemies. Although this time, Guy could not be entirely sure who Isabella was spying for. She could just be trying to collect information for her own benefit. Or perhaps the Sheriff had put her to work. Guy did not want to even entertain the possibility that Isabella was working for Hood; If that was the case, she could only blame herself when the Sheriff eventually caught her.

Either way, Guy allowed it to continue simply because he knew Isabella would not find anything useful from him. Despite them not getting along, they were still siblings, and in memory of their mother, he would not actively do anything that could harm Isabella. He had done it once, and that was a long time ago. Any mistakes she made now would be her own.

Guy rode towards Nottingham as slowly as he could. How had his life even come to this? He was like a dog that came to his master's side whenever he was called to do so. A long time ago there had at least been goals in his mind, and this had been a way to achieve them. But what did he even want in life now? It was a question he had tried to answer for months.

A carriage passed him by, waking Guy from his thoughts. It wasn't a carriage he recognised, but from the looks of it, it belonged to someone who had money. Guy had a sinking feeling that this had something to do with the reason why he was going to Nottingham.

The Sheriff was not jumping with joy for having to summon Gisborne to Nottingham either. Still, there were things that needed to be done, especially now. Unfortunately for Gisborne, the plans Vaisey had now no longer included him.

When the message about the King's capture came, the Sheriff knew there was no time to waste. With any luck, Prince John could become King John any day now, and that meant that things were going to change. Land, money, and power would be up for grabs, and the Sheriff intended on being there to get his share. To do this, he had to eliminate all other distractions and possible obstacles in his way.

He would have gladly started by getting rid of Hood, but unfortunately that was just as difficult as it always had been. As far as the Sheriff knew, the outlaw had not been anywhere near the castle in months and was content with causing chaos in the forest and villages. The Sheriff would deal with him the moment an opportunity presented itself, but there were more important things at hand now.

The first of these was getting rid of Lady Isabella. She had proved to be a lousy spy, who couldn't even get any useful information out of Gisborne. The Sheriff had hoped that by playing the long game he could have eventually found out something he could use, but alas, Lady Isabella had proved to be just as, if not even more, useless as her brother. At least she knew when to stay quiet and keep out of the way. But now her husband was going to come collect his property, and the Sheriff could forget all about his inconvenient guest.

The next on his list was Guy of Gisborne. It was a shame that years of working together had to lead to this, but the Sheriff had no choice. Gisborne's loyalty had for a long time been hanging by a thread because of Lady Marian, and even since her very welcome passing, it had not strengthened again like the Sheriff had hoped. Gisborne had had months to prove himself, yet all the Sheriff saw in him was a shell of a man who could barely function. There was no room in his plans for that.

If the situation had been different, the Sheriff would simply have gotten rid of Gisborne by stripping his titles and sending him away. But now, he could not risk any of his secrets getting into the hands of others. It would be a crucial mistake to allow Gisborne to flee just so that he could be the weapon someone used against him. And there would certainly be many men that would challenge Vaisey when Prince John took his place on the throne. The Sheriff could not allow Gisborne to team up with one of them – or even worse, be one of them.

It was for this reason that Guy of Gisborne needed to die.

"Ah, Lady Isabella! I was hoping to run into you."

Isabella froze in her place the moment she heard the Sheriff's voice. Just his presence made her feel sick.

"My lord," she said as politely as she could.

"I was actually on my way to greet a guest, and now that you're here, I think you should join me," the Sheriff said. His voice carried none of the politeness his words did.

"Oh, I don't think-"

"That was not an invitation."

Isabella knew that this was an order she wasn't allowed to refuse.

She followed the Sheriff obediently to the courtyard. She slipped her hand into her skirt pocket and began fiddling with her mother's rosary – a habit she did whenever she was anxious. These days she did it whenever the Sheriff was around. She found it comforting to run her fingers over the familiar grooves and edges of the cross. It was just about the only comforting thing in her life.

When they got to the courtyard, the Sheriff rushed down the stairs to greet his guest. Although the man had his back to Isabella, she recognised him immediately. Her feet seemed to grow roots at the sight of him, and she was frozen, unable to move.

"Lord Thornton! Welcome to Nottingham!" the Sheriff said in an unnaturally cheerful voice.

Isabella wasn't sure if she was breathing anymore.

John Thornton turned around and looked at the Sheriff, and then up at Isabella. His gaze felt like rope that wrapped around her neck.

"Thank you for the invitation, my lord. I was so relieved to hear you had found my lost property."

The two men began walking up the stairs. Isabella flinched away from them. The rosary slipped through her sweaty fingers onto the steps by her feet. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't be here. The Sheriff said something, but to Isabella it sounded like a swarm of buzzing wasps. Waves of heat and chills swept over her at the same time and her heart was beating so hard that she thought it might pop right out of her chest.

"Isabella, Isabella," Lord Thornton said slowly, reaching out to stroke Isabella's cheek. She could not look him in the eyes. "Did you miss me?" His voice was mocking, but Isabella was still in too much shock to understand she was being spoken to.

The Sheriff clapped his hands together gleefully. "Well, as lovely as it has been to have Lady Isabella as a guest, I think it's time for her to go home."

Isabella felt like she was standing next to two snakes, one of which was going to strangle her while the other bit her with its venomous teeth. She could still barely breathe.

She kept staring ahead as the Sheriff and her husband spoke as if she was not even there. She wasn't sure how much time passed – it could have only been a moment, or a hundred years. All her senses were both numb and hypervigilant at the same time.

Then she saw someone ride through the castle gates. Guy! Happiness stirred within her; she had never been this happy to see her brother. Although right now she wasn't sure if even he could help her.

As Guy got off his horse, he looked up at the castle to see Isabella and the Sheriff standing at the top of the stairs with a man he did not immediately recognise. But the look of pure horror in Isabella's eyes told him everything he needed to know.

"Ah, Gisborne! You're just in time to witness a happy reunion!" the Sheriff said.

Guy could see that the reunion was anything but happy.

"I see." He looked at Isabella, who was pale as snow, and then at the man standing next to her. His brother-in-law.

"It's good to see you again, Guy. It's been too long," John Thornton said and offered his hand. Guy felt obliged to shake it, although he didn't particularly want to.

"I assume you're here to take Isabella home?" he asked. He kept his tone indifferent, even when a part of him would much rather have pushed this man down the stairs to get that unbearable smile off his face.

"Indeed. It is time this little runaway comes back to where she belongs." Thornton grabbed Isabella's chin, and Guy saw a single tear run down her cheek.

"Well, enough small talk. Gisborne, I have business with you. Go wait for me in the hall," the Sheriff said. Guy bit his teeth together to hide his annoyance – he hated being ordered around like a child.

"And you," Thornton said to Isabella, "go make yourself look pretty. We're going to have dinner. I don't want you looking like this." He pushed her a little, forcing her feet to move again. Guy watched as his sister blinked away tears and left without so much as a curtsey.

If he had an excuse, Guy would have punched Thornton in the face right then and there.

"You too. Go," the Sheriff said. Guy bit his teeth together, gave Thornton the politest nod he could manage and left.

Isabella ignored the order to "go make herself look pretty". She knew it would backfire on her, but right now she was in too much of a shock to care. She found herself wandering around the castle, looking for something. She wasn't sure what that something was, but she would know when she saw it.

What she really needed was a way out. Not just physically out of this castle, but a way out of this hell that her husband had created for her. Anything would do: a window to throw herself out of, a knife to plunge into her chest, or a vial of poison to drink.

Even if Isabella did manage to find one of those things, she wasn't sure if she could take her own life. The thought had crossed her mind several times over the years, but she had never found the will to go through with it. If she failed, a fate worse than death would be waiting for her. So long as her husband lived, he would find a way to keep her living just to torture her. The only option she had was to make sure she did not fail.

Isabella found herself in a small room with no windows. The only light-source was the crack in the door. Shelves lined each wall, and on the shelves were small jars and bottles. Medicine, most likely. But medicine could be misused, and because this was Nottingham, it was more than likely that one of those bottles contained something that could kill a person.

Isabella saw her chance and began to shift through them. One of them had to contain the key to her freedom. Most of the bottles were poorly labelled, and since Isabella was not an expert in remedies and poisons, she had no idea what most of them even were. Yet she was sure that she would find what she needed here.

Her mind became focused on this single task. It was a much-needed distraction from the reality that waited for her outside this small room. Isabella opened each bottle one by one, smelling them in case one of them just happened to have a smell that would indicate that it was poison. She considered just mixing some of them together and hoping for the best, but hope was not enough for her. She needed results.

Isabella was almost about to give up, when she closed another bottle. It had no smell at all – would she even know what poison smelled like? Before she set it back on the shelf, she turned it around in her hand. The label on the other side told her that she had found what she was looking for.

Gisborne leaned against the table with his arms crossed and eyes looking up at the ceiling. There was only so many times he could count the stones on the wall before getting bored. Once again, the Sheriff had ordered him around like a child. Do this, Gisborne. Wait here, Gisborne. What was it all even for?

Finally, the Sheriff burst through the doors, releasing Guy from his boredom.

"Pleasant man. Your brother-in-law, I mean," he said.

Gisborne did not share this opinion.

"So what am I here for?" he asked.

"Oh, Gisborne, you need to relax! No need to get right down to business," the Sheriff said and strode over to the table. "Sit down, have some wine."

Guy sighed and sat down. "Why did you tell Lord Thornton about Isabella?" He doubted that Lord Thornton had just happened to stumble into Nottingham on his own, so the only explanation for his sudden appearance was that someone tipped him off about Isabella's whereabouts.

"I think she's been my guest for long enough. Besides, important things will be happening soon, and I need her out of the way," the Sheriff said and poured them both some wine.

"What important things?" Guy asked.

The Sheriff took a sip from his goblet. "Did you hear that the King has been captured?"

This piqued Guy's interest. "Captured?"

"Yes. He was on his way back to England, but lucky for us, he never made it home. This means that we may soon be celebrating the crowning of King John." The Sheriff raised his goblet with a smile on his lips.

Guy wasn't entirely sure what to think about the news. King Richard coming to England would have meant certain death for him, but this new development would surely mean a lot more scheming and plotting from Vaisey.

"So the King is going to be killed?"

"No, there is a ransom for him, but I'm sure that with a little bit of persuasion we can make sure that the King never makes it home," the Sheriff said.

Gisborne just nodded and took a sip of his wine. This was good. This was what they had worked towards. When Prince John took the throne, Gisborne would get rewarded. That had always been the plan. So why did that goal suddenly feel so empty?

The Sheriff noticed Gisborne's lack of excitement. "Oh, cheer up, Gisborne. This is good news! Well, for me at least. Not necessarily for you."

Guy frowned and looked up at the Sheriff. "What?"

"Well, King John will obviously reward those that have stayed loyal to him. That includes me, of course. And those people will reward those that have been loyal to them. But your loyalty… Yes, it hasn't been as solid as it could have been, has it?"

Gisborne gritted his teeth together. "I have always been loyal to you."

"Have you? Then why have you failed me so many times?"

Gisborne tightened his grip on his goblet. "There have been obstacles-"

"Obstacles? You mean a few pitiful outlaws and a woman who didn't even care about you?"

"Do not talk about Marian!" Gisborne said and slammed his fist against the table.

"Why not?" the Sheriff asked, and walked to stand right behind Gisborne. "She is the reason why your loyalty towards me wavered in the first place, isn't she? And why you have now become so useless to me."

Anger was boiling inside Gisborne. He downed the rest of his drink in one go.

"You had so much potential, Guy," Vaisey said and leaned in to talk unnervingly quietly into his ear. "Do you remember? You had nothing – you were nothing – and I gave you a chance. I can take everything away from you if I want to. I made you what you are."

The Sheriff sounded like a snake hissing into Guy's ear. And now, Guy had had enough.

"Do you expect me to thank you? I hate what you have made me into."

"Well, then this all becomes a lot easier."

Something flashed in the corner of Guy's eye, and a moment later metal clashed against metal as the Sheriff's knife met Guy's sword. The world stood still for a moment as the two men stared into each other's eyes.

"You were going to kill me," Guy said in disbelief.

The Sheriff let out a sigh and took a step back. "Yes, unfortunately this is where our partnership has to end." He tossed away his knife and reached for his sword, which Guy had not even paid attention to before now.

"I have given you years of my life, and you're just going to stab me in the back?" Guy growled.

"Oh, you've brought this on yourself, Gisborne. If I could count on your loyalty and competence, I would have let you live. But you've become too unpredictable. I can't risk you switching over to someone else's side at a crucial moment."

The Sheriff tried to stab him with the sword, but Guy was quick to block the attack.

"I have done everything you've asked! My own life has been ruined because of what you've made me do!" Guy said and tried his own attack, which the Sheriff blocked all too easily. Guy was out of practice.

"Ruined? How about all the things you have ruined for me?" The two swung their swords at the same time, and they met in the air, clashing against each other loudly. "All this time I thought that the enemy was Hood and his meddling outlaws, but what has really halted my plans has been you and your incompetence!"

The two were now engaged in a proper duel. Although Guy was the better swordsman of the two, Vaisey was surprisingly quick on his feet and managed to dodge most of the attacks against him. With each failed blow Guy's fury grew. He did not deserve this disrespect after all the years he had dedicated to Vaisey. Perhaps he really would have been better off being penniless and alone than joining Vaisey and becoming what he was now.

Gisborne pushed the Sheriff back towards the stairs. Neither of them had yet to land a single blow on the other. The stairs provided a slight challenge for Gisborne, since his movements were hindered by the wall to his right, but he drove Vaisey up while trying to block his blows.

Finally, as they reached the top of the stairs, he managed to grab Vaisey's wrist and held it up while pushing the man against the railing. A slight look of panic flashed on the Sheriff's face. Gisborne twisted the sword from his hand and it fell to the ground below them. He pressed his own sword against the Sheriff's throat, but Vaisey held him back with his free hand.

"You're not going to kill me, Gisborne," the Sheriff said, panting slightly.

"What makes you think that?" Guy growled, pushing him harder against the railing.

"Because if you were going to, you would-"

There was a loud crack as the wooden railing gave out under their weight. Guy managed to let go of the Sheriff just in time and take a step back, but the Sheriff's arms flailed in the air as he fell. It all happened so fast that Guy barely had time to register what was happening. The cracking of the wood was quickly followed by a loud thud as the Sheriff fell to the floor below.

Everything went quiet.

Gisborne peeked over the edge of the stairs. The Sheriff laid motionless on the ground. It took a moment for Guy's mind to catch up to what had happened.

I just killed the Sheriff, he thought to himself.

A part of him felt strangely relieved. Another part of him began to slowly realise what this would mean for him. Guy stood, walked down the stairs, and crouched over the body. Vaisey's body was bent slightly over the broken railing, chips of wood surrounding him. His left leg was grotesquely twisted at the ankle. Blood dripped from the back of his head onto the floor. Vaisey was not a young man anymore – there was no way he could survive this.

Guy knew he had to act fast. His mind didn't allow him to think too far ahead to the consequences of his actions, but he understood that he had to hide the body. He grabbed the Sheriff's body under the arms and dragged him to a nearby cupboard. What now? he asked himself. A guard or a servant might walk in at any moment and discover the blood and broken railing. Guy had to get as far away from this place as he could. He pushed the Sheriff's body into the cupboard and closed it quickly.

Guy rushed out of the room and into the courtyard. His heart was thumping loudly in his chest the entire time. I have to get away, was the only thought he had. He tried to appear calm, as he saw a couple of guards walking across the courtyard. Slowing his steps slightly, he began walking down the stairs, until he noticed something on the ground.

Isabella's rosary. Guy picked it up and turned it around in his hand. He knew he had to leave; he had to get as far away from the castle as he could before someone discovered that the Sheriff was dead. But his feet wouldn't move. Guy glanced up at the tower where Isabella's chambers were, and then down at the rosary.

Abandoning all sense, Guy turned around and ran back into the castle.

"Where were you? I thought I told you to make yourself look pretty."

Isabella refused to look her husband in the eyes as she closed the door behind her. She felt like she was locking herself in a cage with this horrible monster.

"Enjoying my last moments of freedom," she replied quietly. She watched as he strolled slowly around the room, touching every object as if he was measuring its worth. This room had been her sanctuary ever since arriving in Nottingham, and now he was tainting it with his presence.

"Well, I hope you had fun, because from now on you will be under constant supervision. And when we get home, I will chain you to a wall if I need to."

Lord Thornton walked over to Isabella and stared at her face with his cold eyes. Isabella met his gaze with her own defiant look but said nothing. Being in a closed room with him was like being in hell, but she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing the weakness in her.

"Nothing to say? You're not going to try to explain why you ran away? Do you know how humiliating that was for me? Having people think I can't control my own wife?" he asked.

"You know why I left," she said.

"Well, one way or another, I will have you begging for forgiveness." He stepped away and Isabella let out a shaky breath. He began to walk around the room again. "We're going to have dinner and then we'll discuss what an appropriate punishment for being disobedient is." He gestured towards the table, where two plates full of food were already waiting for them. There was also a wine pitcher, and Isabella went to pour herself a drink right away. She really needed the courage now.

"Pour me a drink as well," he commanded.

Isabella glanced at him angrily. This was what he always did: ordered her around as if she was a servant. Fortunately, he had his back turned to her as he looked outside the window. She hated to think what he would say or do if he saw the look on her face.

Isabella downed her own drink in one go before pouring one for her husband. He did not even look at her as she handed it to him. He sipped it calmly. Isabella almost wished he would just snap already so that she wouldn't have to wait for that inevitable moment.

They sat down to have dinner, but Isabella struggled to eat. The tension around them made her feel sick. Lord Thornton told her about life back home so casually that it was chilling. Isabella knew that this was just a part of the game for him: try to get her to relax so that he can find a weakness in her.

She was barely even listening to what he was saying. All she could hear was her own heart beating in her chest. Her hands were so sweaty that she struggled to cut the meat on her plate. She stopped to look at the knife in her hand, while he just kept on talking. All she had to do was reach over the table and stick the knife through his eye right into his brain. That would shut him up for good. But she knew she did not have it in her to spill blood like that. Instead, she used her words to interrupt him.

"I am not coming back with you."

He stopped speaking and set his own knife slowly on the table.

"You and I both know that you do not have a choice," he said and cleared his throat. This time Isabella did not avoid his eyes. She would finally speak her mind.

"No, I do. And I will not spend another day of my life being terrorised by you."

Lord Thornton stood up quickly, and Isabella did her best not to flinch. He strode around the table and grabbed her chin.

"Have you lost your mind? You are my wife, and you will do as I say!" With his free hand he reached for his wine and drank while still holding tightly onto her face. Now this was more like what Isabella was used to. She waited patiently as he finished his drink and poured himself another one.

"You're a monster. I hope you know that," she said quietly. He pushed her back. She would have fallen over in her chair if he hadn't still been holding onto her.

"Oh, you've seen nothing yet. You don't know what I'm capable of," he growled. He let go of her, and she managed to grab onto the table just in time to keep herself from falling over.

"And you have no idea what I'm capable of," she hissed back at him. A strange look flashed on his face before he laughed.

"You are capable of nothing." He returned to his seat. Isabella did not even pretend to eat anymore. She held her hands in her lap and watched him.

"What?" he asked, irritated. "Eat!"

But Isabella did not eat. She just waited. This seemed to annoy Lord Thornton even further.

"What's so funny?" he asked and cleared his throat again.

Isabella had not even noticed that she was smiling. There was nothing funny about the situation, but she couldn't help herself. She was too nervous to keep a straight face.

He reached for more wine.

"You still haven't noticed, have you?" she asked.

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Noticed what?"

She nodded towards the small bottle on the shelf next to them. He frowned and got up to take it, but before he could reach it, he winced, as if he was in pain.

"I put it in the wine," she explained as he examined the label. Realisation washed over his face, and he turned to look at her in shock.

Before he could say anything, he doubled over in pain and leaned against the wall for support.

"What have you done?" he asked, slowly falling to his knees. He sounded far less confident now. Isabella did not mind it.

"I've done what I should have done a long time ago," she said and stood up. Finally, it was her turn to stand over him as he squirmed on the floor like a worm.

"You bitch!" He spat the words at her and tried to pull himself up, but another flash of pain forced him back down. Isabella knew it would not take long now. She'd used the whole bottle just to make sure she would succeed.

She said nothing, and instead just watched him writhe in pain. The novelty of the situation was wearing off, and she found herself getting no pleasure from this. He grabbed onto her skirt and used it to claw himself up onto his knees. His breathing was heavy, and drops of sweat glistened on his forehead.

"You… You will burn in hell for this!" he managed to hiss at her. The wheeze in his breath told Isabella he could not breathe properly.

"Then I will see you there," Isabella said. He kept gasping for air, all while looking up at her. Then his grip on her skirt loosened, and he fell back down onto the floor. Isabella watched as the life drained out of her husband's eyes.

Then it was all over. The room was silent except for Isabella's steady breathing. She looked down at the unseeing eyes of the man that had tortured her for years. He could no longer hurt her.

But she did not feel happiness, or joy, or even relief.

All she felt was emptiness.

I just killed a person, she thought. It did not matter that the person in question was the one person she hated the most in the world – she had still committed murder.

Isabella felt her legs give up under her, so she sat back down on her chair. What would she do now? For years, her only goal had just been to survive. After running away, that goal had turned into surviving and staying hidden. And since the moment she laid eyes on her husband out in the courtyard, that goal had once again transformed, this time into ending the cycle of misery for good.

Now she had achieved it. And through murder, no less.

Isabella buried her face in her hands. She really hadn't thought this through.

She wasn't sure how much time passed, but the knock on the door made her jump up from the chair and out of her thoughts. She would get caught. There would be no way to explain why her husband laid dead on the floor. Her heart began racing again. She would have to do something quickly.

The door swung open. Isabella met her brother's eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before Guy saw the body on the floor. He was holding her rosary in his hand.

"Guy… Help me," Isabella managed to say. Her voice was nothing more than a squeak.

Once Guy recovered from the initial shock, he quickly slammed the door shut behind him.

"What have you done, Isabella?" he asked and crouched to look at the body.

"I… I had to… I couldn't go back to that life…"

The room was spinning around her. She leaned against the wall for support.

Guy was quiet. Isabella worried that he would storm out of the room and get the guards to come drag her to the dungeons. Or maybe she would be executed right away.

Instead, Guy stood slowly and turned to look at his sister.

"Get your cloak," he said.

Isabella was confused. Why would she need her cloak if she was about to die? "What?"

Guy grabbed her wrist and pressed the rosary into her palm. "We need to leave. Now."

Isabella was still having trouble following his logic. "Where are we going?"

Guy saw her hesitation and sighed in frustration. "Anywhere! As far as we can! Just take your cloak. There's no time to start packing."

Now she finally realised what he was saying. He was trying to help her to get away with this. She turned to find her cloak but stopped before she could do so.

"Wait, we?"

"Yes, we. Now, quickly, or I will leave you here to deal with this on your own!"

She found her cloak but did not put it on just yet.

"Why would you come with me?" Isabella had trouble believing that Guy really cared about her so much that he would drop everything for her.

He let out another sigh. "I just killed the Sheriff!" he cried out in frustration. "We're both going to be killed if we don't leave right now!"

Isabella squeezed the rosary in her hand. The beads dug into her palm, but they didn't hurt.

The forest was dark and eerily quiet as Guy and Isabella moved away from Nottingham. The escape had been hurried and not very well thought through. A few of the guards had given them strange looks as they both climbed on Guy's horse – there had been no time to saddle a second one.

They rode on top of a steep hill that followed the river downstream. The reality of what they both had done had yet to hit them. Neither of them was sure where they were going, but they knew that right now they just had to get as far as they could before someone came after them.

Guy was trying to think rationally. It was difficult since his head was filled with images of the Sheriff and Lord Thornton lying dead on the floor. Guy and Isabella needed a place to sleep – the forest would be freezing at night. They needed food. The horse would not be able to go on forever either. If only Guy had taken a little more time to think before they left, because now they had nowhere to go.

It was all horrifyingly familiar. Once again Guy was responsible for his sister with no money or connections to help them forward in life. Except this time, they were both murderers.

The cold air around them made Isabella shudder behind him. Guy cursed the winter for coming so early this year. Disappearing from the world would have been far easier in the summer. Now they had to deal with the cold and the snow that fell slowly in large snowflakes on the ground and refused to melt just yet. In a few days it would be gone, but right now it presented a problem.

Guy stopped the horse abruptly.

"What is it?" Isabella asked as he looked over his shoulder.

He dismounted and handed the reins to Isabella. "Ride ahead along the river. There should be a bridge not too far from here. Wait for me on the other side."

"Wait, where are you going?" she asked.

"The snow," he said and nodded at the tracks they had left behind. "I need to cover our tracks before someone finds them. It should buy us some time."

"Guy-"

"Just go, all right?"

He turned and began walking back. Isabella hesitated before parting in the opposite direction.

Guy ran back along the hill, knowing that he had to find a spot where the snow was as shallow as possible. Isabella would be fine, but Guy was risking his life by turning back. It was possible no-one was looking for them yet, but it was equally likely that there was already a search party in the forest hunting them down.

Guy had made it only about a few hundred yards back when he felt a sharp pain as an arrow landed on his right shoulder. He spun around to search for his attacker among the dark trees. It had to be Hood. A second arrow flew right past his ear, and as he moved to dodge it, he felt the ground give out under his foot.

The next thing Guy knew was the throbbing pain in his head. He was lying on the ground right by the river, looking up at the sky and the hill that he must have rolled down. The arrow in his shoulder had broken in half, and his other arm was in an equal amount of pain. He tried to get up, but something must have broken when he fell, because the pain was unbearable, and he couldn't put any weight on his arm.

He had no option but to just lie there and wait. Would his attacker come to finish the job? Or would he just have to stay there, and hope Isabella disobeyed his order and came looking for him?

Guy didn't have to wait long. A cloaked figure approached him with a bow in his hand. Guy tried to move again, but his body refused to work. Both of his arms were in too much pain for him to reach for his sword.

As the figure got closer, Guy felt his blood run as cold as the snow around him.

The Nightwatchman.

Surely this had to be a nightmare. He would wake up soon in his bed in Locksley, and this would all be over. But the pain was far too real for this to be a dream.

The Nightwatchman threw his bow to the side and straddled Guy's chest, trapping his arms painfully under his knees. Then Guy felt a knife against his throat as the Nightwatchman reached up to take off his mask. It was difficult to see in the dark, but when the Nightwatchman's hood fell down and revealed a blonde braid, Guy recognised his attacker. This was the girl from Locksley that had tried to kill him before.

"Do you have any last words?" she hissed at him. Guy felt oddly calm. He might as well die now.

"Just get it over with," he said. His voice sounded rough and choked.

The girl hesitated.

"Kate!" someone called out. A young man – he looked vaguely familiar – ran to them and put his hand on the girl's arm. "Don't do this, Kate."

"He killed my brother," Kate said. She kept the knife on Guy's throat but eased a bit on the pressure.

"I know, but you'll regret it if you do this," the young man said gently.

Kate looked down at Guy and raised the knife up. For a moment he thought she might just stab her, but instead she threw the knife to the side with a frustrated cry.

"You're an evil man, Guy of Gisborne. I hope you know that. My brother had a mother, sisters and friends that miss him. Do you have anyone that would miss you?"

Guy did not reply. He did not want to think about the answer.

"Everything was fine until the day you came to Locksley," Kate continued. "You've brought nothing but pain and suffering to us. A lord should protect those that serve him, but you were the one we needed protection from. My father died because you and the Sheriff viewed us as nothing more than expendable peasants that only exist to make you money. You murdered my brother right in front of me. I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone. But you didn't even hesitate."

Guy wondered if she was going to kill him or not. His arms were going numb. It was somehow worse than the pain.

Kate looked up at her friend. Guy could not quite read their faces as they had a wordless conversation – most likely a debate on whether he should live or not.

Kate turned back to him. "I won't kill you, because I'm better than you. I won't do what you've done." With that, she stood up and picked up her knife. "But you'll have to make it out of this forest on your own. Maybe if God has mercy on you, you won't bleed out or freeze to death. But I wouldn't count on it."

She walked off, picking up her bow as she went. Her friend lingered behind. Guy was not sure if it was the blood loss and cold messing with him, but it seemed almost like the boy was feeling pity towards him.

"I wish you could have been better. I'd like to have known you then," the boy said. Guy had no idea what this meant. Their eyes met for a brief moment, before the boy ran after Kate.

Guy was left on the ground, with snow falling slowly on his face. Maybe, if he was lucky, he would be so cold by the time he died, that he would not feel a thing.