Chapter 9

Djaq rubbed her wrists after they were released from the ropes that had bound her to the camp. She took a moment to check over all of her injuries. Brush burns on her wrist from struggling to get free, a few bruises on her abdomen and legs from the bags of coins Robin threw at her, a large bruise on her face, a small cut near her eye, and one eye was nearly swollen shut. There was no mark from him grabbing her between the legs, but that left her scarred on the inside which almost made it worse. She could feel someone's gaze on her and looked up in time to see Robin watching her as she checked on her injuries.

"Can I help?" He asked softly.

"You can help by staying away from me." Djaq reminded him.

"I'm so sorry, Djaq. I…"

"I don't care!" She snapped. "You refused to listen to me. You assumed I was lying just because it was Marian that said it."

"It's not because it was Marian. It's because she had no reason to lie about something like that. If it were someone else…"

"Don't lie to me. If it were someone else, you would have your doubts. You take her at her word. You don't trust the rest of us."

"That's not true."

"Yes, it is." Djaq told him. "How are we supposed to trust you as our leader when you don't trust us?" She shook her head sadly. "I did not betray you, but you did betray me."

"I know." Robin said, looking down with shame.

"Just leave me alone."

"I'm going to find Allan and get to the bottom of this once and for all." Robin said.

"I'll go with you." She announced. He looked surprised to hear her say it. "If I don't go, I will never believe that Allan did this. I will never be able to trust that you weren't lying to protect Marian."

"We all go." John announced. And with that, all six of them headed back to Nottingham.

"We cannot be seen together." Marian said as they approached the edge of the forest. "I'll go ahead. You can see the corridor if you stand on the west side of the tavern. Watch for me and I'll go to the room first and see if either of them are in there. If they are, I'll give you a signal."

Marian took off ahead of the gang who all slipped into the shadows and split up to remain hidden easier to wait for her signal. Djaq hid alone, wondering if she should just slip off while no one would notice and be done with the gang. She imagined sneaking off back to camp by herself, packing a bag, taking enough of the money Robin had thrown at her to afford passage on a ship, and leaving without a word.

And then what? Where do I go from here? The camp no longer felt like home, the gang no longer felt like family, but she had no other home or family to return to. She thought about taking Robin up on his offer and making him leave so she could stay, but it still didn't feel like enough. The gang and the villagers would likely always blame her for being the reason Robin abandoned his cause. And that's what it was, his cause. He was the leader. No one would miss me if I left. Everyone would miss him. We are just Robin Hood's men. Even staying with the rest of the gang felt like little comfort to her. They'd claimed to believe her, but all of them showed signs of doubt. She could never forget that, no matter how much she tried.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Much slid away from his hiding spot to join her in hers. She could tell he wanted to say something to her, but every time he opened his mouth, he shut it again in silence. She grew tired of watching him struggle to conjure up the courage to speak and decided to prod him along.

"What?" She demanded a bit too harshly. She still remembered him insisting that he only believed part of her story. She'd always believed she could trust him, even more than the others in some ways. They were usually paired off together for missions and she spent more one on one time with him than any other member of the gang. Much almost felt like a replacement for Djaq, the real Djaq. He felt like a brother. Annoying sometimes and their relationship was filled with mindless bickering, but he was the one she thought she could count on to always have her back. Now, he felt like a traitor. They all did, but hearing him say that he didn't trust her hurt more than most.

"Djaq, I...I just wanted to say how sorry we all are. How sorry I am. I should have believed you when you said you didn't do it. I knew all of it couldn't be true, but I had my doubts about Allan and…"

"And you were wrong."

"I know that. I was wrong. Robin was wrong. We should have never tied you up, if we hadn't then...well, then he wouldn't have, wouldn't have been able to…" She knew what he was afraid to say.

"I don't blame you for that. I only blame Robin."

"None of the rest of us agreed with what he did. I have never seen him like that…"

"Neither have I. You didn't know." She sighed and took a moment to think over her words. "I don't blame you for what Robin did, but knowing that you didn't believe me...that hurt."

"I didn't know what to believe."

"You didn't trust me."

"We trusted Allan too once. And I really wouldn't have blamed you if that part had been true."

"But it wasn't. I said it wasn't. I don't know if I can forget what happened today. I have forgiven a lot, and I can probably forgive this too, but I don't think I can ever forget it."

Much went quiet after hearing that. He knew they'd crossed a line today that they might not be able to come back from. He was about to respond, to let her know that he understood, but before he got a chance, Robin interrupted them.

"Signal, let's go." Robin whispered as the gang started carefully making their way into the castle. They watched as Marian entered the room next to the one Allan was in and went to meet her there.

"This is an adjoining room. Most people don't know about this, but this closet connects the rooms on both sides. I used to hide here when I was a child." Marian explained, recalling the better days when her father was sheriff of Nottingham.

"Right." Robin said. "Well, let's see what Allan's been up to then." He cracked open the closet door and then very slowly and carefully inched open the door to the other room. Djaq stepped ahead of the other outlaws to peek inside and was stunned at what she saw. It was like looking into a mirror. She couldn't see the woman's face either, but what she could see was almost identical to her. The woman in question was on all fours, still dressed with her trousers simply lowered to her ankles, with Allan kneeling behind her, hands on her hips, thrusting into her hard and fast.

"God, Djaq...you're so tight." He moaned. "Got you dripping wet for me."

What the hell is he doing? Djaq thought to herself and nearly gagged.

"Oh, God...yes, Allan. Harder, harder…" The woman moaned. She had an accent, but her voice sounded nothing like Djaq's. She couldn't even place where the accent was from.

"You like that, don't you?" Allan asked her.

"I don't." Djaq muttered and took a step forward to bust into the room.

"Djaq, wait!" Robin hissed and grabbed her shoulder to stop her. Almost instinctively, Djaq swung around and punched Robin in the face as hard as she could.

"I told you not to touch me!" She shouted.

Allan and the woman jumped away from each other and Allan started shuffling backward away from the closet. "Who's there?" Robin rubbed the spot on his jawline where her fist had connected with his face, but shook off the pain quickly and entered Allan's room.

"That's quite a show you've put on for us, Allan." Robin said with a murderous glare as he stepped out of the closet, bow raised and arrow aimed at Allan and ready to shoot. Djaq followed behind him, tears in her eyes and disgust on her face. She couldn't take her eyes off of him, the man she once considered one of her closest friends, and she just shook her head in silence. Allan could feel his whole world come crashing down around him.

"Djaq…" Allan whispered as his eyes met hers. He saw nothing but revulsion reflected back at him.