Hello everyone! Sorry for such a late and sort of short update, but life out of writing just got way more hectic! It's been hard to find time to write, and frankly I haven't written much for any of my other stories. Thief of Hearts will have slow updates after the next chapter (which is still very much in progress) and I haven't even started the newest chapter of Under the Willow Tree if I'm to be frank. This story is my priority because it's my favorite, and though I like those as much this plot is just so enjoyable to write. What I have in store is great, however I want to know what you guys' think or what you all want to happen, so please leave a comment of such in the review!

Otherwise not much has happened, though this chapter introduces a lot of things and ends even more. If you're wondering where Will Scarlett and Robin are don't worry, Will is on the run to safety and Robin... well you'll just have to wait about that. ;3

Anyways, I hope you enjoy because this chapter was very difficult to write. Leave a review if you loved or hated it, I'm open to criticism. But don't flame, I won't tolerate flamers for obvious reasons.

Forgive all grammar mistakes and don't give up on me just yet! I won't ever leave a story unfinished, I just may put it on hiatus. Again, reviews are nice!

-Dev

Chapter 11: Deal With the Devil

The first thing Langley noticed when she woke was the pain in her loins. It felt as if somebody had grabbed her muscles and pulled them beyond their stretching capacity, which was probably why they were as taut as they were. Then there was the ache in her womanhood, which burned awkwardly with want for more and hurt from what it'd gotten.

Then it all came back to her. The previous night, the ball, the plan.

Her eyes snapped open, and Langley went to dress as quickly as she could to only feel something digging into her wrists. One look and she knew what had happened: she'd been played.

A pair of thick ropes bound her hands to the headboard, and fearfully Langley looked at her body, which was thankfully covered in a layer of thin clothes. The idea of being caught naked with her hands bound was humiliating, being covered at least spared her some of her dignity. She'd had sex with the Sheriff, and it never really sunk in, not fully. It didn't feel real, she wouldn't have really let that happen, would she?

Langley struggled before collapsing, wanting to cry into the pillows of the bed - which smelled like the Sheriff, a very conflicting smell at the time - but finding she had no tears to. Crying had never been a solution, and it wouldn't become one now.

She needed to escape, the plan couldn't possibly work now but she would not abandon her men even if it meant her death. After what she did, she could only pray it was penance enough for her sins.

There was no exit, the robes were too tight and her body was too sore to move without wanting to groan. Nothing that could be used as a weapon was in sight, though she briefly considered cutting through the robes with her teeth, but that seemed it would take too long.

Unconsciously her mind had drifted back to last night and how much she liked it. She would be lying if she didn't admit that, but Langley was sure she had things under control, she'd only truly lost control when….

The drink!

The drink he'd given her, yes, that was it! He must have drugged it, because even if before she was attracted, all hell had broken loose after she drank what he'd given her.

Her efforts to escape escalated tenfold as a rage shook over her, she wasn't going to blame the whole ordeal on the drug, but the fact that he'd done it made her pink in the ears. Langley wouldn't have been surprised if she was foaming at the mouth as she struggled, and it only ceased when the doors opened to reveal a group of seven or so guards. Langley bore her teeth at them, ready to snap back at any jeers at her current state but none came. She was surprised when they all came slowly, looking pitying at her with almost soft expressions. She wondered why they looked so soft and human, she preferred them the other way because then she wouldn't regret hurting them, but they didn't cease anything. It seemed they were being sincere.

One came over and carefully untied the ropes, pulling out a thin set of shackles and allowing her time to rub her wrists from discomfort before putting them on. She struggled, but she was no match for six men.

Soon they were out in the hallway, and Langley followed obediently with a taper in her brow, unsure of where this was going or what was to happen. Oh god she was screwed, utterly bound for something horrible. This had happened as a result of her thinking she was able to do something she wasn't, and now she and everyone else would pay.

"Do you know what's going to happen to me?"

Her voice was soft, almost pleading as she looked at the guard to her left. He was holding her shackles, and when he heard her voice he looked over at her with a sorrowful expression. Ha Langley not been on the receiving end she would have weeped for its genuinity, but now she stared back, nearly weeping for what she'd done.

"I do not know, my lady." He replied just as gently, but now Langley scowled at the title.

"I'm no longer a lady in any sense, before I had my virginity and freedom, and now I have neither. All thanks to that god-be-damned bastard." She said sourly, though when she looked back at him she felt almost bad for speaking so colorfully. It was appropriate though, and it made her feel slightly more relieved inside.

He opened his mouth to reply, but the guard at the leas beat him to it, and that's when Langley realized they'd reached their destination. Judging by the doors it was a receiving room of sorts, but the guard snapped her out of her stupor with a slow voice. "The Sheriff is waiting, bring the prisoner forward."

The guard to her left carried the shackles forward and handed them over to the man who'd spoken, before she entered the room he muttered just low enough for her to hear. "God speed, Langley." and then hell's mouth closed behind her.

The room was quite lavish, filled with a large assortment of couches and silk tapestries. It even had a throne like chair at the center of the room, but Langley realized this was probably a dining room that was doubling into a courthouse. She would have probably enjoyed the complimentary colors had the situation been different, or had she not been in the presence of the Sheriff - who right now, was not very high on her list of good people.

"Langley, glad to see you've woken. Sore, I presume?"

"Yes, very, my body aches with disappointment that you had to use drugs to get me into bed with you. Tell me, were you so desperate that you wouldn't think I'd find out or are you not the man everyone makes you out to be?" She snapped back coldly, her face a stony mask as she glared into the Sheriff's hazel eyes. He was standing with Gisborne on his right, who now looked slightly shocked with oncoming fits of laughter at his cousin's red face.

George stalked down the heightened platform he'd stood upon and grabbed Langley by the neck, not tight enough to prohibit air flow but enough to send a message. "You enjoyed every moment of it, admit it, both of us did." He hissed, his face a mix of rage and annoyance

Langley refused to admit, but she wouldn't lie either, so she kept her mouth sealed and glared at him. For a moment they stayed locked in a heated battle of only the eyes, then something glinted in George's and he let her throat go, turning to the door where a load of guards stood. "Bring them in." His voice had adopted a cold lilt, one that made Langley's face dip in dread as the doors opened to his command and a group of guards with prisoners poured in. It didn't take long for Langley to pick out a familiar face because they all were.

"John!" Langley cried, taking a step forward only to be pulled back by the roots of her hair. George had buried his gloved hand in her scalp and knotted it roughly in her hair, she yelped in pain at the sudden movement but quickly recovered. The pain in her heart was much worse than the ache in her head.

"I'm sorry Langley, they ambushed us right when we entered the gates-." John began, his voice cracking as he clung to his son who was beside him. Langley was happy to see Wulf, but not in these circumstances.

"Don't be sorry John this is my fault." Langley replied, voice cracking as the odd sensation of pin-pricks settled behind her eyes. She felt water well up, except now she didn't care if anyone saw her crying. She would rather be humiliated a million times over than to see her loved ones, her only real family, get hurt because of something she did.

"It's not your fault lassie, you tried just like the rest of us." His words, though encouraging, didn't reassure Langley a bit. It only made the voices in her head scream louder. YOU FAILED, YOU FAILED! NOW THEY WILL PAY FOR YOUR FAILURE!

"What a touching moment. But we're not here for apologies, but rather to pay penance for your sins. You are all outlaws! And so you shall all meet and outlaws' punishment: death." The Sheriff wrenched Langley's head back from her hair, and she yelped unexpectedly as his warm breath-the same breath that had caressed her so lovingly last night-brushed her ear and sent waves of displeasure over her. "And you are going to watch them all die, helpless, chained and laden with guilt because you failed them."

Langley attempted to free herself, her teeth bore as she resembled a wild animal from her state of dress. "You monster! You know nothing or penance or sin; for if you did only burning in the nine rings of hell could serve you punishment!"

"I never admitted to being anything less than a monster, you assured me that position all on your own. But now you shall pay for defying my rule and bewitching me."

Langley's face broke into one of anger and confusion. "So that's what this was about! You want to make me suffer because I made you sexually frustrated!"

She had forgotten that there were others in the room when she said this, as all propriety had truly been lost and she could care less if the world knew he'd stolen her virginity as long as John and his family were safe. George's face turned red, even his ears becoming the embarrassed color as the veins in his neck bulged in anger. "SILENCE!" The roar even made the confident smirk on Langley's face wilt as he seethed right in her face, and what little murmurs circulated around died on the first syllable of the word. He looked up at the guards who seemed confused of what to do, holding their sword towards the ground as the prisoners huddled together. "Well, what are you waiting for? Kill them now!" His voice had become more exasperated and less angry as he tried to brush off what had just happened, but Langley wouldn't have it.

"No! John! Wulf! Let them go!" Her cries were unheard, and Langley felt stupid for pleading, but it was all she could do in the moment. The guards approached said men and tore them apart, ignoring John's cries as Wulf was tore from him. "Oh god please no!"

"Kill the boy first."

Langley let out a sob, a true, real sob. She hadn't cried in forever, she had only truly cried when Robin died. She had managed to keep a facade of stone for her people then, but now she was so tired. So broken and tired that she couldn't help but sob. "No… Please, I'll do anything." The guard raised his sword and Langley's pleas became more desperate, only drowned out by John's screaming for mercy, though the Sheriff heard her just fine. "Please… please. I beg of you."

George held up his hand and the executioner stopped, Langley briefly mused where Eldric was, but the Sheriff's low voice that was right in front of her snapped her out of her thoughts. "Anything you say? Are you truly sure you'd give anything to save these people?"

He knew the answer, she knew the answer, but he teased her nevertheless. Langley was too exhausted to react with anger, she could only stare up at him with a sullen sadness that had seemed to consume what other emotions she could possess. "Anything. Just release them and I will do anything."

Langley knew she'd just sold her soul to the devil, but it was with good intentions for the family that had been there for her. Ready to fight alongside her, ready to die for her…. And she would do the same for them, even if it meant hell.

"You will stay as my prisoner until you are willing. Whatever may happen, even if the opportunity arises for your escape you must stay."

Langley swallowed her tears, now born of fear. "Willing?"

The Sheriff chuckles darkly, his gloved finger tracing down her tear stained cheek. She shivered under his touch. "Why, what else?" He began like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Until you are willing to be mine."

"B-but, I thought-."

"You thought I was done with you?" His eyebrow quirked, and suddenly his face contorted into rage and his hand slithered around her neck. "You've made me burn, its only fair that you burn with me."

Langley choked as his grip tightened, and she wondered how she'd gotten there from becoming an outlaw. Everything had gone so fast, spiraled downwards too quickly for her to understand. This man had corrupted her with desire, anger, sin… and it seemed she'd done the same to him. They were both slowly cooking in their emotions, the ones that lashed out and struck at the most inopportune moments. The ones that tied them together.

"Did you really think I'd allow you to walk away unscathed when my thoughts are tainted with iimpurities of you?"

"Y-your thou-thoughts would be untainted even if it weren't f-for me you b-bastard."

The Sheriff released her, and when Langley went to suck in a breath of air his cold hand hit her face and she was thrown to the ground. The taste of blood filled her mouth, and she scowled despite herself. She was asking for it, but she didn't regret it. The taste of blood reminded her that she was alive.

"You are going to release the prisoners and escort them from the grounds, if they are to be seen by the end of this night you will capture them and bring them here for execution. Your dear leader has given you a chance, but if you are seen on any lands of mine nothing will protect you."

The guards hefted up the prisoners, and Langley briefly heard John and Wuld and Bull shout for her to not do it, but she knew they'd be thankful, it was just hard to concentrate with the ringing in her ears. After all she'd been through that smack had hurt the most, she was thinking perhaps it had been the straw on the camel's back and everything was broken.

"Bring her to the dungeons, beat her, whip her… Do as you will, but no one shall touch her in any other way or they won't live to see the day of tomorrow. Understood?"

The whole room echoed a 'Yes sir' before hands clamped on her arms and began dragging her away. Over the jeers and spits of the nasty guards Langley heard the Sheriff, saw his smirk that belonged to the devil.

"I will have you willingly."

Langley smiled back at him, blood staining her teeth and her eyes already blackening from the power behind the blow he delivered to her face. Her green eyes glinted, and he caught them right as the doors closed. Her lips twitched, and he saw her mouth 'Good luck' before the door closed and she was out of sight.