Chapter 7

"What's going on?" Robin mumbled as he finally came to. He tried to stand before he realized there were ropes fastening his limbs to one of the wooden beams that held up the frame of their camp. "Why am I tied up?"

The events of the day came flooding back to him all at once, including what had happened just before John knocked him out. Not my proudest moment...he thought to himself. He looked over and was relieved to find that Djaq was still tied up too and glaring at him hatefully.

"Well, uh...master, we thought, we all thought, that it would be best if…"

"You were crazy and out of control so we knocked you out and tied you up." Will answered firmly.

"Yes…" Much supplied. "What Will said."

"And tied up, you will stay. Both of you." John added. Robin considered this for a moment before nodding his agreement.

"I was out of control. You did the right thing." He confessed. "Djaq, I should have never hit you with the coins or touched you like that. It was wrong. Undeniably wrong. I am sorry for that."

"Do not ever touch me again." She replied, her voice shaky and without ever softening her glare. The bruise he'd left was now fully formed on her face, ugly and purple, forcing her left eye to remain partially closed.

"Has someone looked at that?" He asked her gently.

"I did." Will answered. "I used some of the herbs she gathered last night to make a paste for it."

"How do you know that she didn't already have them?" Robin countered.

"They were freshly picked, Robin. I can tell the difference."

"So you still believe her." Robin said with a grimace. "I should've guessed."

"We all do, master." Much spoke up. "Unless you have real evidence…"

"Explain what Marian saw then!" Robin interrupted, struggling to keep his voice calm.

"Maybe Marian should explain it to us herself." Djaq spoke up. "I certainly have questions for her."

"If you untie me, I'll go and fetch her." Robin suggested.

"No." John gave a short, gruff laugh. "Nice try."

"John, we still don't know what really happened. Djaq won't tell us what she told them because she's still denying that it's true. Marian could be in danger!"

"Then one of us will fetch her." Much suggested.

"You wouldn't be able to get into the castle." Robin argued.

"Marian is aware of the risk. She's the one who made the accusation, so if she really did see something, then she knows better than anyone of the danger she's in." Will explained. Robin sighed in frustration and rolled his eyes.

"Are you all willing to just leave her in danger?" Robin argued.

"No, but if we untie you, then we're putting Djaq in danger and we're not willing to do that either." Will argued back.

"Fine." Robin sighed. This is my own fault. If I hadn't touched her, they'd still trust me, Robin realized. Although, I don't see what difference it makes. If dozens of men have already gotten between her legs, how is my hand so much worse? He knew it was different though. Even as the bitter, angry thoughts crossed his mind, he knew what he'd done was wrong. I'll just have to take a different approach.

"The last time we learned we had a traitor in the gang, I gave him a chance to come forward and confess. One chance to tell me the truth about what happened and I promised to listen." Robin began speaking with a steady voice. "Djaq, I want to offer you the same chance now. If you want to tell me the truth about what really happened and what you told them, I will listen and I promise that I will stay calm and you will not be harmed, no matter what you tell me. I just need to know the truth, so I can keep all of us safe."

"I've told you already. I have nothing to confess." Djaq said. "I didn't do it. I didn't do any of it. I don't know why Marian told you that I did." She paused for a moment, sickened at his words and how he tried to make it sound like he was being the reasonable one out of the two of them. "And it's a little late to claim that I won't be harmed because I already am."

"I know." He said with rising irritation before taking a breath to calm himself. "And it won't happen again, I swear. Just tell me what happened."

"Nothing. Nothing happened. I didn't do it, Robin. Can't you understand that? I did not do this."

"Did it start with just Allan?" Robin asked, trying to make sense of what she'd done and praying that there might be some sort of reasonable explanation behind her actions that he'd missed before. "Did Gisborne catch you with him and threaten to arrest you or coerce you into sleeping with him in some way? Were you afraid to tell us you'd been forced by the rest of them because you'd gone to Allan willingly?"

"No." Djaq answered firmly. "I never slept with any of them."

"Djaq," he sighed miserably. "We both know that's not true. Just tell me. Did he offer you money for information on us in exchange for letting you go? Was he blackmailing you? How much did you tell him?"

"Nothing. I told you already. None of this is true."

"Very well," Robin said, giving up. "I gave you a chance, you chose not to take it. If you change your mind and decide you want to confess, the offer still stands. I won't harm you, but that's all I can promise."

"I won't confess to something I didn't do." Djaq replied.

"That's enough! Both of you." John interrupted. "It's enough."

Djaq and Robin sat in silence, both tied up and staring each other down, while the rest of the gang worked on meaningless tasks around the camp without putting any thought into what they were doing. It was impossible to think of anything but the problem at hand. Nearly an hour and a half went by in uncomfortable silence before a distraction came from the forest. The sound of a bird call, but they were all familiar enough with it to know that the source of the sound was no bird.

"Did you hear that?" Robin asked. "That's Marian. Untie me! I need to speak with her."

"Then she can come to you." John answered.

"John!"

"She knows where the camp is, Robin. She can come here. We all have questions for her." Will said. A few long minutes passed before Marian finally approached the camp.

"Is Robin here?" She asked Will uncomfortably. He glared at her but jerked his head back toward the camp.

"In there. We all need to talk."

"Yes, we do." She agreed as she followed him in. She noticed Robin first tied to a wooden beam near the entrance to the camp.

"Robin!" Marian exclaimed. "What happened?" She turned to Much. "Why is he tied up?"

"He was out of control. He needed to be." Will answered for him. "Tell us what you saw."

"And please, tell me, what did I ever do to you to make you hate me this much?" Djaq asked tearfully, though she was struggling to hold them back.

"Djaq!" Marian exclaimed as she noticed the woman tied to her bunk. "You're here." How did she make it back here before me?

"Where else would I be?" Djaq asked scornfully. "Allan's bed?"

"Djaq, I...I'm sorry. I had to tell him the truth about what I saw. I didn't mean for it to come to...to this." She said as she gestured to the two restrained outlaws.

"The truth?!" Djaq exclaimed. "What truth? You lied and you know it. I just want to know why. What did I ever do to you?"

"Djaq, I saw you last night."

"No, you didn't!" Djaq's voice broke and the tears finally spilled out onto her cheeks before she quietly added, "Why are you doing this?"

"And I saw you again today. I'm surprised you made it back so quickly."

"Today?" Much asked. "What do you mean you saw her today? She's been here since she woke up this morning."

"No, she hasn't." Marian insisted. "She was just in the castle before I left." The entire gang went silent.

"You just saw me in Nottingham?" Djaq asked her to clarify.

"Yes, not more than a half hour ago!" Marian answered. "I saw you, I know exactly what you were doing and that's why I came to get Robin. I don't know how you made it back here before I did, but…"

"Marian…" Robin said quietly, his cheeks flushed red with shame as he realized his mistake. "We've both been tied up here for the past three hours."