Edyn was all but sure she was no longer living. Surely she was living in hell, desperate to escape but with nowhere to run. She had never in all her life felt the way she was feeling now, like nothing mattered. She could feel nothing but a dull ache in her chest. Some of the other kinder castle workers assured her that with time the pain would pass, but she was doubtful. The only way she could rid herself of the agony was to forget Henry, but to forget Henry would be to forget her life up until now. So she accepted the pain as a reminder of what a privilege it was to have known him. And slowly, time was passing.
The morning that followed Henry's death she simply lay in her small bed staring at the wall as she listened to the other castle maids getting themselves ready for the day. She ignored everyone that told her it was time for her to get up; she didn't think it was physically possible for her to move. Her mind was focused only on Henry. Why had she left him? Why did she feel the need to leave and become independent? All that time she was chasing to be one of Robin's gang she could have been with Henry, had some more memories of him.
"Get up!" One of the maids yelled at her pulling the covers away. Edyn didn't even flinch. She then heard other women gathering around her and between them all they heaved her to her feet and clothed her for the day.
Throughout it all she wept silently. She had truly lost all control of her life and she couldn't figure out what she possibly could have done to deserve this. If she were still religious she would have prayed for some answers, but she hadn't been since the day her mother died and now she was feeling as if she were being punished for it.
Marian still was living in the forest, and Edyn was again confined inside castle unable to seek comfort from Sybil. The only friendly face to her was Allan, but with him always trailing behind Sir Guy it was like he wasn't even there. Her tears soon passed but she still struggled to find the strength to get up each day; each day that she spent serving the Sheriff and watching his terrible plots unfold. For some reason his suspicion against Marian made him keep a much closer eye on Edyn; whenever he required something, it was Edyn that was called for.
Slowly as the weeks passed her sorrow turned to anger, her desire to rebel against the Sheriff once again bubbled inside of her. But with Marian gone and Edyn being locked inside the castle there was little she could do. So she bided her time, waiting for the ideal moment to plan her revenge. He was after all the reason behind her brother's death.
On the day of the Sir Guy's birthday the whole of Nottinghamshire was in an uproar about something called Lardner's Ring. Edyn had no interest in it what-so-ever, but when she was roughly pushed against a wall by one of the Sheriff's men who quickly grabbed at her hands to see if she wore a ring, suspicion soon began to rise. Why was the Sheriff so concerned about this ring? She then snuck around the castle in search of Allan hoping for answers but neither he nor Sir Guy was to be seen.
Later in the afternoon she heard of their return to the castle along with two prisoners and her heart sank. Whoever they were the Sheriff was now closer to figuring out what this ring was. Maybe there was something she could do to spoil his plans? She was in the kitchen mulling over several different plans when she was called up to the Sherriff's study to serve him wine. Making her way to his study she waited at the door until she was called forward. The two prisoners both knelt before the Sheriff but she reframed from looking at them and focused her attention on the wine she poured. Everyone in the room knew they would be executed after the Sheriff got all the information he needed. As she turned from the Sheriff she then caught sight of the men and gasped. There Will knelt looking pitiful beside his companion, a fool of some sort.
The room was quiet and Edyn quickly tried to regain herself after she noticed the Sheriff's questioning look at her outburst. "Begging you pardon, my lord. I… Err– The smell came as bit of a shock." The Sheriff said nothing but nodded his head in agreement and she let out a small sigh of relief as she moved to stand at the wall with the half empty wine jug to wait for the Sheriff to request a refill. How she wished to be anywhere but here. She felt her cheeks begin to flush with embarrassment. Both her and Will had not seen each other since her unwarranted behaviour. She listened intently as the fool explained to the Sheriff that Lardner was in fact a bird and his ring was used so the he could carry messages back to the Holy Land, but more importantly to the King. Allan then spoke up that he knew where they could find the bird and she wanted to scream at him. Was it really necessary that he ruin all of Robin's plans? She was both proud and fearful when Will muttered aloud his opinion of Allan and she couldn't help but flinch slightly when the Sheriff stood a gave Will a swift kick to his lower stomach to which he let out a cry and bent over double from the pain. Edyn raised her eyes and looked up at the wall behind where Sir Guy stood. It was not at all a surprise when the Sheriff ordered both Will and the fool to be hung, but hearing the words brought tears to Edyn's eyes. She blinked several times and continued to look up praying no one had noticed her reaction.
The Sheriff then left with Sir Guy and his guards, as Allan tried to leave the fool leapt at him begging for his life. Allan responded by striking him and followed Sir Guy out the door although pausing to look at Will. Edyn turned to follow but then glanced back at Will who was already staring at her. She tried to distinguish his expression but it was so muddled, his face was stern, but his eyes showed fear. What could she do? She couldn't let him be murdered. "Madam?" The jailor was waiting by the door for her to leave so that he could then remove his prisoners. She gave Will one last pitiful look before she turned to the door and left. Robin will save him, she told herself. Robin would not let him die.
Late in the afternoon she heard of the Sheriff's return to the castle and strangely she was called outside to meet them. She frowned but followed the guard that had ordered her to follow him. Once outside she was stunned by what she found. The Sheriff was the first person she saw seated upon his horse handing his buzzard to his bird handler with a gleeful smile upon his face, even after he was told his prisoners had escaped and two of his guards killed, it didn't spoil his mood. But what surprised Edyn was a very dishevelled Marian was climbing down from the back of Sir Guy's horse looking more miserable than she had ever seen her before.
"My lady!" she exclaimed as she rushed to her side, pulling the shawl from her shoulders to wrap around her mistress.
"See that the Lady Marian is fed and washed so she may rest," Sir Guy ordered. Edyn bowed her head and led Marian inside knowing best to leave her questions until they had privacy.
After food had been brought up Edyn then poured Marian a steaming hot bath and helped her strip down and climb in. The entire time Marian remained silent, refusing to answer any of Edyn's questions. She seated herself behind the bath so she was able to comb oils and perfumes through Marian's hair. She noticed Marian's left hand was bawled tightly into a fist and Edyn got the idea she was hiding something from her. "You're almost looking like you again," Edyn muttered softly as she got the remaining of the tangles from Marian's dark hair. "Do you want to talk about what happened?" she asked softly.
She watched as Marian slowly shook her head. "Not yet," she finally whispered.
Satisfied that Marian had finally spoken Edyn went about the rest of her jobs in silence overjoyed that she was now back with her mistress. That night she left Marian sitting by her window staring out into the darkness of Nottingham. As she was leaving she noticed Marian finally opening her clenched fist and she caught sight of a green gem of some kind. Edyn simply brushed it off, Marian would tell her about it when she was ready.
Returning to the servant's quarters she was stopped by a castle guard. "The Sheriff wants to see you," he grunted at her.
Edyn sent him a questioning look but followed him willingly. Perhaps he wishes to talk about Lady Marian, she wondered. Surely he couldn't expect her to continue her kitchen duties while she worked for Marian.
Inside the Sheriff's study Sir Guy could be seen leaning against the wall in the corner while the Sheriff was reading over some documents. Edyn stood in the middle of the room silently waiting for the Sheriff to look up at her. The longer he kept her waiting the faster her heart began to beat. Had she done something wrong? Finally he looked up at her, his eyes roaming up and down inspecting her fully through narrowed eyes. Her breathing then became shaky.
"My lord?" she heard Sir Guy ask, clearly bored from waiting.
"This girl," the Sheriff said pointing at her without looking at Sir Guy. "This is the Lady Marian's maid, am I right?"
"Yes, my lord," Sir Guy answered suspiciously.
"And your name?" he then asked her.
She looked at him nervously and he raised an eyebrow clearly agitated by her hesitation to answer. "M-my name is Edyn, my lord."
"Eden?" he scoffed. "As in garden?"
Edyn's lips pursed slightly at his mocking tone. "As in beauty," she replied, suddenly hating her mother's choice in naming her.
"Oh," the Sheriff taunted, "if only that were true."
Taking a deep breath, Edyn tried to calm herself. "Is there anything you need, my lord?"
Slowly he stood moving closer to her and looking her up and down. "No, leave," he said abruptly.
Both grateful and confused, Edyn hurried out of the room and back to the servants quarters, her new sanctuary it seemed.
Sheriff Vasey watched as the young maid left the room, obviously reframing herself from running. "My lord," he heard Gisborne say beside him, "what was all that about?"
Raising a hand he pointed at the door the girl had just disappeared through. "I always had my suspicions about Marian… But after everything today I may have been wrong. And yet I never even considered the girl. She had freedom the entire time. Marian had left us, yet Hood still deceived us."
"But my lord, the girl has now been denied access to leave the castle," Sir Guy argued. "And what proof is there that she has dealings with Hood?"
"That young man that was brought in earlier is a part of Hood's gang…?"
"Yes, but what has that got to do with–"
"He got away. Have her watched, Gisborne," the Sheriff spoke over him. "Give her back her freedom and we'll see where she goes. If I am right, she may just lead us straight to Hood's camp."
A smile slowly grew upon Gisborne's face. "I will organise it right away."
Vasey then let out a low chuckle. "Good."
Walking through the darkness, Gisborne looked up from under his hood at the sign for the Trip Inn. He had many dealings here before; the owner had always been very obliging for only the cost of a penny. He hoped tonight he would be as helpful.
Inside he was as always repulsed by the stench of the dirty drunk peasants that filled the small room. He quickly spotted the small squat man that owned the establishment and squeezed his way through the crowd towards him. Quiet as always about his business he clapped the man on his shoulder and jerked his head towards one of the back rooms so that they may talk.
"Since when do you ask to take your business out in one of my private rooms?" Joe asked.
"Well, tonight you are part of my business so I would appreciate it if you lead the way," Gisborne sneered.
The barman scoffed. "Why would you need my help?" Tiring already from pleasantries Gisborne took out his dagger and swung his arm around the man's shoulders so the blade was just touching the skin under his jawline. "Whoa, whoa! Alright," Joe said leaning away from the weapon. "You want to talk business, let's talk."
Gisborne released his hold on the barkeep and followed him into a back room. Before he closed the door he quickly scanned the room checking they were not being watched by anyone. "Right, now what is this all about?" Joe asked.
"As I understand it you had a misunderstanding with a young woman named Edyn a little while back," Gisborne drawled.
"Oh, aye," Joe replied. "Little wench stabbed me in the arm when I demanded payment for her protection and–"
Gisborne held up his hand to silence the man. The man's story would be a bore and he didn't want to hear it. "So am I to understand that you would be seeking revenge against this girl?"
Joe scoffed. "What are you implying?" he asked narrowing his eyes slightly.
"Well, as the owner of this… establishment," Sir Guy said lamely eyeing the dirty interior of the building, "you would surely have eyes and ears throughout all of Nottinghamshire."
"Your point being?" Joe asked irritably.
"My point is I need this girl watched. And you can organise that. There is only so much my men will be able to see without suspicion falling," Gisborne explained.
"And what will I get in return?"
Gisborne smirked. "If your information proves useful then the Sheriff may get his reasoning for having the girl executed. A public execution which I can assure you, you will have the best viewing point."
By now the barkeeps eyes were glistening with excitement. "I'll begin asking around straight away."
"Good," Gisborne grinned while tossing a silver coin at the large man. "If the information is good you may expect gold later."
A:N/ Hi everyone! I owe you all a huge apology! I've left it so long. With my previous job I was working an average of 12hrs a day and whenever I got a day off motivation was just not there. I did start writing again at the end of last year but when two friends where involved in a serious car accident I got a major wakeup call about everything. I guess you can say when it came to hospitals and death I was very naïve and for a while I seriously didn't think I would write again. But I did! Yay! And hopefully I should have the next chapter up within a week, it's written just needs some serious editing, I'm very out of practise.
Please, please review! It's been a while so I might need a few wake-up calls from where I've gone wrong.