Chapter eighteen:
Robin's POV:
Stepping off the boat, I took breath of crisp, fresh air. After four years, I had grown accustomed to the heated climate of the Holy Land, I had forgotten about the cool air of England. Much was practically kissing the floor and John had his eyes closed, letting the breeze waft through his clothes and whip his hair.
"This feels good, it's like actually breathing properly after four years of suffocating heat!" Much was talking, but I wasn't really listening. My mind was purely on finding Marian, I didn't care about anything other than that.
All I needed was her.
We were supposed to report straight to Nottingham castle, to give our notices to the Sheriff and then we could go on our merry way. But we promised John that we could stop of at his village to see Meg, and his mother before we went to see the Sheriff. From what Richard had told us it sounded like Marian's father was no longer the Sheriff, I assumed he had retired after years of hard work.
John's village was very close to Marian's house anyway, so I figured I could go there right after John saw his family. But when we entered the village, it seemed oddly quiet, almost dead.
A piercing scream ran out from the middle of the village.
Confused, we ran towards it and hid behind a small house, poking our heads around slightly, to see what was going on.
What looked like all of the villagers were standing in a long line, facing our direction. But no one looked at us, their widened eyes were fixed on a tall man, dressed in leather from head to toe. There was only one man who would dress so atrociously.
Guy, the Gorilla of Gisborne.
He was about my height, maybe a little smaller. His face was gruffer, and he had the on-goings of a beard growing on his chin. Guy still walked with the same arrogance that he did as a child, strutting about as if he owned the very ground he walked on. His dark hair had grown from the last time I had seen him. It was the day before Much and I left with my father for the Holy Land. Guy and his father claimed they had come to share their condolences, for the death of my mother as well as to wish us farewell.
"You know, it would be such a shame if none of you came back alive. I guess Prince John would have to find someone else to live in Locksley Manor!" Guy had sneered at me when our father's backs were turned.
"Keep you hands and eyes off of my home, Gorilla. It will never be yours. Anyway, you should be coming to fight for you country like Much and I are. Or are you simply too much of a coward to do so?" My fists itched to connect with his greasy face.
His eye twitched slightly, I had clearly touched a nerve.
Raising my eyebrow, I waited for his lame comeback, but began to turn away when none came. I couldn't wait to leave him behind here, I wouldn't have to see him for much longer. My back was completely turned on him and I was about to make my way to the house when he said something that made me stop dead in my tracks.
"Pity that no one will be here to keep Marian company," I couldn't help but face him now. "I wonder who will fill in the empty seat, so to speak."
The tether on my anger broke and my patience was worn thin. There was no self-control in that moment, no regret. Nothing but my eyes seeing red.
Before I could stop myself, I had grabbed the collar of his shirt with one fist, and the other collided with his hooked nose. Normally, after I punched someone, maybe on accident when Much and I were play-fighting, I felt immediate guilt afterwards.
Not this time. This time, I only felt a deep sense of euphoria.
He lurched back, holding his bleeding nose. "What the hell, Locksley?!" red fluid was running down his face.
"Stay away from Marian, or I swear, I will make your life a living hell!" I shouted. "See you when I get back, from doing my duty, Gorilla." With that, I walked back into Locksley Manor.
Now, Guy stomped around in boots much alike the ones his father used to wear. He was shouting at the villagers, gesturing to the guards with one gloved hand, while the other rested on the hilt of his sword.
"Since, none of you see it fit to pay the correct amount of money in your taxes, you will have to pay in a different way." The villagers didn't dare to look him in the eye as he roared at them, forever the wild animal.
Why was he talking about taxes? What was the big deal, and why were they all so frightened?
"Bring forth the girl!" he was speaking to the guards now, who hauled forward a woman, who was out of sight moments ago.
Two guards came forward, holding a woman in their grip. She was rather pretty, with long, blonde hair and a pale blue dress which extenuated her bright blue eyes. Her hands were being held behind her back, but she didn't back down.
John tensed up beside me, holding a massive hand up to his face to cover his gasp.
"Little John, what is it?" Much asked, eyebrows knitted together.
John's eyes were lined with silver as he shook his head in disbelief.
"John, calm down, what's wrong?" Asking, I held his shoulders so he was looking at me.
Gisborne strode over to her and held her face up, "You're a pretty little thing, such a shame that you have too much to say."
"M-Meg! He's got Meg!" John whispered, frantically.
"As in: your Meg?" Much was astonished, when John nodded.
"Don't worry, John! I won't let anything happed to her!" Gripping his hand, I promised.
"Any last words?" Gisborne was still holding her face.
"I have got nothing to say to vermin like you!" Meg launched a massive glob of spit, which landed right in Gisborne's face!
Quickly wiping it away, Gisborne raised his hand. "Why, you little-"
"Oi, Gorilla!" Unable to take any more of this, I began to stride towards him.
Guy lowered his hand slightly, turning to face me. He clearly hadn't heard that nickname in a while.
"Recognise me?"
Marian's POV:
Before I knew it, I was being gently picked up and hastily shoved into Katherine's bedroom, by the very tall outlaw and the one who had snuck up from behind me.
Ugh, I thought I was going to be able to escape! What will happen now? They could easily kill and leave me here, running away with all of Katy's valuables!
When the large man lifted me up, my dagger dropped out of my hand and clattered onto the stone floor of the corridor. There was no way of defending myself with my six remaining daggers, especially when I couldn't reach any of them with my hands held behind my back.
The outlaw set me down onto Katherine's dressing table chair, while another tied my wrists behind my back, and secured my feet to the chair legs. There was no way of running. Even if I was alone in a room without four dangerous outlaws watching me, I wouldn't be able to stand, let alone walk or run!
The four hooded men spoke in hushed voices, so that I
couldn't hear what they were saying.
Their faces were obscured with big masks, covering the lower
half of their identity. Their hoods covered their hair, making
their eyes the only visible part of their face.
I could tell the leader was the one who stopped me from
getting away the second time, because the other three men
all looked at him when speaking. When they appeared to be
done, the leader walked over to the big sack, laying on the
floor. From my limited view, I could see had Katy's
jewellery box inside of it.
"What do we have here?" One of the other outlaws asked no one in particular.
"She saw you two ransacking this room, and tried to get away." The large man answered anyway.
"What are we going to do with her?" The last outlaw questioned. He had a soft voice, like he was very used to talking and laughing. I didn't know why, but it felt familiar.
No one answered that question.
I was frozen with shock and fear, what could I do? I was utterly helpless.
"Hey, you some type of jewellery enthusiast now?" The man with the familiar voice asked the leader, who was looking intently at something from the box.
It was a ring. My ring!
The feeling that washed over me was so strange. Only an hour ago, I had taken that ring off, wanting to forget about that part of me. But now, all I wanted was the comforting presence of it on my finger, when I was wearing it, I felt safe. Now, I was anything but.
"Very funny, it just looked like something I used to have." He looked into my eyes now, and his widened. His apparent bewilderment only lasted for a moment though, before he recovered himself. "We take her back to camp, and keep her for ransom. Who knows how much money the people of Nottingham will get because of her?!" His voice was smooth and melodious, it also sounded strangely like something I had heard before.
"Please, you won't get any money from me! I'm only a prisoner here, really!" Panicking, I blubbered and overshared. Great, now they knew I was of no use to them, they could kill me and leave me for dead.
"You dress would say otherwise, love." The leader turned his attention towards me now, sliding my ring into his pocket. He meant that my dress looked too expensive for me not to be important.
He knelt down so that he was on my level. "Look, we may be outlaws, but we do not rob for the fun of it."
"Well, we do have fun sometimes!" One of the men snickered.
"Shut it, Will." The leader snapped. "The point is, people are starving, children are going hungry and the rich are taking too much! Someone has got to put it right. We do not hurt innocents and we only defend, not attack."
I wanted desperately to wipe the tears, which were running down my face, away but my hands were still tied.
The man with the soft voice also crouched down and added, "We won't hurt you; I promise!" He gave me a funny look, as if he knew me.
Shouts rang from down the hallway; the guards were coming. The outlaws shot up and exchanged worried glances.
"Sorry about this!" The large man cut the rope at my feet, leaving my wrists tied and hauled me over his shoulder.
I tried to keep my eyes open, but couldn't. They were climbing out the window and clambering down a bit of rope. How the man who was holding me did it with one had was a complete mystery to me.
We weren't on the ground for much longer anyway. They had spotted some horses in their stables, in the courtyard and were sprinting towards them. The man's shoulder dug into my stomach, but I could tell he was trying to be as gentle as possible. Still scared, I didn't even try to run when he set me down on the floor.
"How are we going to do this, they will be here any minute now!" One asked, I gathered that his name was Will.
"She can come with me; my horse looks the strongest." The leader concluded and approached me. "Don't worry, no harm will come to you, as long as you grip tight and hold on. Please don't scream!" He gripped my waist, lifting me as if I weighed nothing, and swung me onto his horse.
He climbed on in front of me and quickly untied me hands. There would be no point in running now, they had horses and it was in my best interest to stay on the horse. Falling off would hurt to say the least! The outlaw told me to wrap my hands around him and hold on. Before I could even blink, the stone walls of the castle were a blur and we were racing away.
After a couple minutes of riding, we can to the opening of a forest. The other men dismounted and the leader followed suit, carefully lifting me down afterwards.
Will came up to me, with a long, thin piece of cloth. "Sorry again, it's so you can't track us later on." He sounded sincere, as he tied the blindfold over my eyes.
A pair of warm hands held mine and said, in a calming tone: "It's okay, I won't let you fall." His grip on my hands tightened, "It's nice to see you again, by the way."