A/N: Emmithar is once again to thank for the beta :D
Chapter 6: Facing the Storm
"We're too late." Marian wasn't quite sure if she was telling this more to herself or to Will, who stood next to her, staring as she was at the proceedings down in the streets of the town. There were many guards and yet more town's people around them, and in the middle of it all, there was the gang of outlaws, Robin ahead, being led through the town. She saw Gisborne riding before them all, the sheriff following on his horse after the group.
Marian pulled Will away from the window, careful that they were not seen from outside. She knew that nobody would care about her watching the ongoings. If she was seen with an outlaw though, the consequences would be fatal. Even with Will wearing the guard's uniform now and nobody suspecting who he really was, questions might be asked as to his whereabouts inside her room. It was better to be safe than sorry in that matter and Marian took care to ensure he was out of sight of any onlookers.
There was uproar among the people in the streets and many shouts could be heard from among them, but she could not understand what was being called from her position high up in the castle.
"What is going on?" she asked aloud, as the outlaws were moved along and the people kept yelling.
"I don't know."
"They're angry," she noted. "The people, they're angry."
"Because the sheriff caught Robin," Will explained matter-of-factly.
"No, it's something else. Something feels wrong..."
The procecession drew nearer, entering the castle yard and leaving the people of Nottingham and their yells behind. Marian's gaze fixed on Robin. He seemed exhausted, worn actually. If Will, as he said, had been caught the previous morning, the gang had probably been looking for him since then and it was no surprise they were tired. With a pang she realized though that there was more to it; there was also an air of dejectedness in his posture. She wasn't used to seeing this. When things went wrong, Robin usually showed anger, anger that had led him to rash actions, getting him into endless trouble. Now he had been caught again, and almost his whole gang with him, but it wasn't anger she was seeing in him.
"I knew this would happen one day," she whispered to herself. She shook her head, rubbing her forehead, as she watched, feeling helpless.
"Where's Djaq?" Will asked suddenly, and Marian noticed that the Saracen was not with the other outlaws. There was Robin, along with John, Much and Allan, but Djaq was nowhere to be seen.
"I don't know," she answered carefully. "Maybe she got away." They had actually no way of knowing what had happened, but there was no other answer she could give the outlaw next to her either.
"I'm sure she did." Will's words were more hopeful than the tone of his voice.
Down on the castle yard Robin looked up at the gallows. Marian saw that the noose that had been prepared for Will was still ready there. She bit her lip, fearful of what was to happen, knowing there was little she could do at this moment. They could then hear the sheriff taunt Robin about having hanged Will in the morning, could see the glee that went with the mocking. Marian glanced at Will. There was anger in his eyes and she hoped he would not betray his presence to the men below. She would understand it if he wanted to tell Robin that the sheriff was lying, but it would improve neither his nor her situation. Guards would be in her chamber within moments, taking them both to the dungeons, or directly to the gallows below.
Robin stood nailed to the spot now and Marian believed to see fury in his expression, too. It was better than the downcast one she had witnessed before, but she feared what he would do, feared he would give the sheriff a reason to end it here and now. Vaysey would kill Robin eventually, but as she knew the cruelty of the man, she was sure he would not let him die so easily. He would prolong it, enjoy it. She didn't want Robin to suffer through this, but she knew that he would hold on, and as long as he would, she still would have a chance to save him, a chance she was determined to take.
When Robin finally moved, the outlaws were led down into the dungeons and out of Will's and Marian's sight.
They had put him in a separate cell. Despite the dim light, he could make out the faces of John, Much and Allan in the adjoining one. This part of the dungeons was empty save for the outlaws and Robin could imagine that the sheriff would be quick to vacate it again.
Robin looked at his men. Since the dungeons door had closed they were apparently waiting for his direction. Much had complained briefly about the situation, about the sheriff and about the town's people in particular, but had fallen silent quickly on John's grim expression.
Robin wondered what their thoughts were on the sheriff's claim that Will was dead. On the one hand he knew that the man liked to play cruel games and would do anything to get back at Robin by telling him vicious lies. On the other hand, it was very well possible that he had Will ordered to be hanged as he had told them. But there still was no body. Surely the sheriff would have let the man hang there for all of them to see. Whether truth or lie, Vaysey knew that the claim would hit them hard. It had been a shock for them to learn of the execution of Allan's brother and his companions, but the sheriff could very well suspect that Will's death would be a much greater loss for the gang.
Robin was glad that at least Djaq seemed to have escaped capture, if he correctly interpreted her absence. He didn't know what she would be able to do. She was very capable for sure, but at the end of the day she was only one person. She wouldn't be able to fight her way into the castle. Maybe her resourcefulness would help her. And if it did not, if it was too late for all of them, then it would hopefully enable her to start a new life somewhere, probably finally heading back to her native lands.
He realized that he was thinking in too final terms. It wasn't the first time the gang was in a dire situation; not all was lost quite yet. He figured that it was Will's loss that was weighing on his mind, made him think in these ways that promised no future for the gang.
He moved closer to the bars that separated him from his men and leaned against them, looking at the others.
"Do you think Djaq can get us out?" Allan asked him, it apparently being a matter of fact for him that the Saracen had indeed managed to flee.
"Surely she cannot save us all on her own!" Much answered the question in Robin's stead.
"Well, there's not many other people left," Allan shrugged, but looked uncomfortably at Robin then.
"Robin can get us out," Much declared decidely, nodding.
"If you haven't noticed, Robin's right here with us. Can't do much to get us out, or can he?" Allan shook his head.
"There is going to be a way," Robin emphasized, but knew that it was only stubborness that made him say it. His own earlier thoughts had betrayed that he didn't really believe in his statement.
"Will," John said simply.
Robin nodded. "Will...and Djaq."
"I don't want to be a naysayer," Allan assured them, "but we don't even know that Will hasn't been hanged."
"We don't know that," Robin confirmed. "But we cannot trust the sheriff's words."
"This is... this is..." Much shook his head. "We don't know if Will is alive, we don't know where Djaq is, Robin is trapped here with us..."
"We are going to get out of here," Robin tried again for optimism, a sentiment he didn't feel, especially when he thought of the earlier scenes in town. Toning down his voice, he added, "Maybe Marian can help us. She has got me out of here before."
The other outlaws didn't reply, but Robin could read in their faces that they were not so sure about Marian's ability in this situation.
"So what are we going to do?" Much wanted to know, but nobody got the chance to answer as the dungeons's door was opened. Several guards streamed inside and the jailer followed, an expectant expression on his face.
He pointed at Robin. "Take him."
The guards followed the order, opening the door to Robin's cell.
"Wait! What are you doing?" Much cried.
The jailer turned to the man, looking as if he had only now noticed the presence of the other outlaws. "He is going to provide some entertainment for the sheriff outside." He turned back to Robin, as the guards dragged the man out of the cell.
Robin struggled against the men, hearing Much yelling at them. "No, no, you can't do this!" The outlaw shook the bars of the cell, trying to break them. As they hauled him away, Robin caught a last look at Much's horrified face. "Robin!" The man's yells followed him outside.
The guards brought Robin out into the blazing sun of the chilly autumn day. He hadn't expected this to happen quite as fast. But the sheriff had learned. He would not wait and see if Robin and the gang's discussions about possibilities of escape would prove true. Robin figured there would be little protest from the people of Nottingham either.
The sheriff's men dragged the archer forward and he could see that Vaysey was waiting on the steps of the castle, Gisborne next to him. The gallows were ready and as Robin stared at them, he could only hope that John, Much and Allan would not follow his fate quickly. Maybe Djaq and Will would have a chance to save them. Unless Will was actually dead, executed in a just as speedy manner as Robin was now.
The guards placed Robin several steps down in front of the sheriff whose expression told of this being one of the best days of his life. Town's folk had collected in the castle yard and Robin could almost feel their stares at his back, remembering the earlier outrage he had met when he and his men had been led into the town. He doubted their anger had lifted. The sheriff's lies would still be strong in their minds, their hate at what they believed his gang to have done not tempered. He could almost understand the feelings. If the sheriff's stories were true, they would have every right to despise him.
Robin glanced up at the castle's walls to see who else was watching the execution. Marian was nowhere to be seen. While he would have liked to see her once more, he didn't want her to witness his death either, so he was glad she was not there. He worried what was to become of her though, once he was dead.
"This is the man," the sheriff's voice called Robin back to the present, "who led the gang of outlaws who viciously robbed your supplies. Food that I, the Sheriff of Nottingham, had ordered, paying with your tax money, to keep us fed for the coming winter. But not only that!" the man continued loudly over the people's outraged yells. "He and his gang did not just take the food for themselves, no, they also chose to destroy the supplies they did not need."
The crowd kept shouting and Robin wondered for the first time whether there were any agitators the sheriff had placed in it. It would fit the man's game. Maybe the people were angry enough on their own though, Robin thought bitterly.
"They burned the food!" the sheriff told them. "They burned it, destroyed it, so that you, the people of Nottingham, would not get any of it! It is you who will suffer this coming winter because the stocks are empty!"
The sheriff paused and let the people's shouts fill the void. He signaled his guards and they grabbed Robin even tighter than before, pulling him down the steps.
"But I am going to show you how we deal with men like him, men who make the people suffer so he can come along and pretend to help them, wanting to gain power over them!" Vaysey continued and it was at this that Robin once again struggled against the guards, yelling at the people at the same time.
"These are lies!" he shouted, but was punched in the stomach at the same moment. "The sheriff had the food poisoned," he added as loudly as he could manage after he had caught his breath, only to be silenced again.
"Poisoned? They poisoned the food?" the sheriff said in a pretendenly surprised manner. "Did you hear that? He just confessed that they had planned to poison the food!"
The shouts of the people seemed to become even angrier, if that was even possible. The guards dragged Robin on, but he wasn't led to the gallows. They were pulling him towards a large post that had been fixed at the castle yard. Over the yelling of the people they pushed Robin against it and pulled his arms around in front of him, binding them firmly behind the post.
Robin now realized what the sheriff was doing and stared in shock at the angry mob in front of him. The guards stepped away and Robin tried to struggle against the rope that held him. The men placed themselves a few feet away from him, watching the crowd as well as the outlaw.
Something nasty hit Robin even before the sheriff picked up his speech again.
"This is the man who stole the food supplies, who destroyed them, who is the reason the people of Nottingham will starve during the winter! This is the man who opposed the law, claiming to do this for you!" More refuse was thrown at the outlaw, as Vaysey paused, and Robin tried ducking it as best as could with the limited movement that was possible. "I am going to leave him here, to face you for the crimes he committed against you," the sheriff explained further. "But don't forget," the man added in a mocking voice, "He needs to stay alive for the time being, so he can face true justice later on."
Robin wasn't sure if the people had even heard the last part, as their shouts had risen in volume once again. He turned his head to look behind himself and saw the sheriff leaving and entering the castle with energetic strides. The guards remained at Robin's side. When he turned back to face the crowd again, something wet and mushy hit him, sticking to his skin before falling off with a plop. What it was he wasn't sure, and that was probably a blessing in disguise. He tried once again to duck the next.
He was surprised the people hadn't charged at him yet, but guessed that it were the guards who kept them from doing as much. They kept throwing and yelling though, and Robin now started to make out words they were using against him. Trying to tune it out again, he tried to focus on dodging the foul things coming for him.
It went on and on. Robin was soon tired, his whole budy hurting, both from the frequent hits the crowd made as well as the strain from being bound to the post but moving around to duck. At some point Robin simply stopped, hoping the crowd would do the same when they saw that he wasn't trying to avoid it anymore. He closed his eyes and it kept raining down on him, and he told himself that he had faced worse, much worse.
The sheriff had manipulated the people. Some of the ones who were casting foul eggs now were maybe even sheriff's men. The people didn't hate him. They hated what they believed he had done. Robin kept telling himself that over and over and finally the crowd seemed to become quieter and no more objects were coming at him.
Robin opened his eyes, realizing only now that there were some tears in them. He wasn't sure if they came from the pain of his body or the hurt inside. He knew he should feel ashamed if he wasn't even able to stand that little, that which was nothing compared to how other people had fared on the sheriff's hands. Maybe he wished that the man simply had him hanged. He knew Vaysey would do so later on, but not before he had shown Robin how low he had sunk in the people's eyes.
As the day moved on, Robin thoughts went to his his men who were still down in the dungeons and probably believed him to be dead by now. He thought of Marian who he hadn't seen earlier but who would surely get to see the scene at some point. She had often called him a fool. Now she would see how right she had been.
Robin was thinking of her, when the day was coming to a close. A small boy was moving towards him then and Robin wondered wearily if the guards would keep him away. He doubted the boy was of any danger to him. The guards didn't move though and the boy stepped close to Robin, looking at him curiously. He crouched down then and looked at Robin's feet.
"Hello there," Robin said tiredly. His voice was dry. He was thirsty beyond measure, but knew he wouldn't get anything to drink anytime soon. He could not even be sure he would get anything ever again. The sheriff would surely not offer him anything, and neither would the people of Nottingham who believed after all that he was reponsible for the hunger that was to come in the winter.
The boy didn't answer, but instead moved to touch Robin's shoes. The next moment he pulled, trying to remove them, holding tightly to one. Robin was surprised and didn't know what to say. He had made the shoes himself and they were probably better than most the boy had ever seen. "Take them," he said then, his voice even hoarser than before.
The boy stood up, but before he left, he spat at Robin, who was painfully reminded of the day he had saved Will, Allan, Luke and Benedic from being hanged to death at the same place he was at now. People had then spat at him because they believed him to be the man behind the executions. Now they were shaming him for a whole different matter, a matter as little true though as all that time ago. Now there was no action he could take, no rescues he could do, no arrows he could shoot. He could only take and bear what was coming. And soon, the sheriff would end it.
TBC