VI

Dead And Gone

Sir Guy returned to Locksley Manor just as night was beginning to tinge the sky gray. He entered in much the same bedraggled state he had left the manor. He did not speak as he stepped into the hall. He did not shout for any servant to come and attend to him. He merely climbed the stairs to his chambers. The servants expected to hear him slam the door, shout muffled curses, toss the furniture around, break plates, goblets and any other fragile objects that happened to get in his way. No one expected the utter silence which followed their master's retreat.

No longer needed for the night, the servants retired to their quarters; although no one was near sleep yet. A few of the stable lads sat about on the long table sipping on ale, keeping their thoughts to themselves. The maids sat upright on their cots and chattered together wildly.

"Did you see that gash upon his face? Wonder who gave it to him."

"Who else, Robin Hood of course! Oh, you weren't there you didn't see! I was in town visiting my mum when I heard the news. The Sheriff found the rest of Robin's men. So me an' my mum went to see if it was really true. An' it was! He was really gonna kill them for sure, but then this monk stood up an' tried to stop the whole thing! Then the sun went out!"

"Ya mean when it got real dark? The sun went out...sure it did, Tess." Another maid giggled, "Probably jus' a bunch of clouds passing by."

"No! The sun really did go out! The monk explained it! He said it was called a...a--well whatever he said it was, it was the truth! Anyway, when the light came back Robin Hood was standing up on the battlements!"

"So it's true then? I heard some other people muttering how Robin Hood's alive. Oh, he's really alive?!" One of the maids bounced upon her cot as she tried to sneak closer to Tess to hear her better.

Tess nodded, "Yes. I saw him! Got a handful o' gold off of him too!" She opened a little pouch revealing four gold crowns. Two of the maids gasped at the sight. "Anyway, I saw him go over to the master and cut him with a knife. Coulda killed him if he wanted, but he didn't." Tess looked up and away from the small crowd of girls about her, ""Surprised you didn't go up and follow the master, Rebecca."

Rebecca was sitting apart from the young girls and with the older servants. She turned to look at Tess blankly when she was addressed by the girl. "I go when I'm needed. The master obviously wants t' be alone. I won't intrude."

"You know it's no longer a rumor 'bout what the master did t' Lady Marian." Tess went on, "It's all over Notingham. The master killed her. Guess you can't go about punishing us for speaking the truth now, can ya, Rebecca?" Ever since Rebecca had threatened the two maids for spreading gossip a few weeks prior to Robin's return tensions had been at an all time high. Tess, one of the girls Rebecca had caught, had been nursing a grudge against the injustice ever since.

"Leave it be, Tess." Thornton sighed.

"No, I won't!" She exclaimed, "I want her to apologize to us! We were right! Say it! Say we were right."

"Tess..." Thornton warned.

"What? Just because she worships the ground the master walks on she can't understand why the rest of us don't. Just 'cause she loves him--"

The furious scraping of the chair as Rebecca rose, shaking to her feet silenced everyone. She stared at Tess, her eyes bright with anger, "You foolish an' bitter girl." She said calmly. "You no nothing of what you are saying."

"Do so. We've all seen how ya are with him." Tess snorted, "D'you think he even cares? Everyone knows you're the only one he's never taken t' his bed. He doesn't even know ya exist. You're the foolish one."

"Ya think it's something t' be proud of? T' be one o' his whores? I know ya, Tessy. You were always a good girl. Hard working, an' kind. When you first came t' the manor ya remember how I taught ya how t' sew? You learned faster than any I'd taught. You were a smart girl. That changed when the master first took ya t' his bed. Ya thought you were special. Ya didn't want help from anyone an' ye certainly didn' like it when the master started to look at another pretty maid."

"You can't speak t' me like--"

"You think you know what rejection feels like, hm?" Rebecca went on, "Or what it feels like t' be abandoned; cast aside, thrown away like ya never mattered?" Her voice was rising in pitch. "Ya naive child, ya don't know the meaning o' the word!" The pain and ferocity in her voice caused even the innocent servants to wince at the sound. "Don't go about spreading your hate an' jealousy just cause you were used like any other servant."

She stared at the other maids who averted their eyes from her gaze, "Don't look down all shamefaced. Ya have something t' say to me? Say it then. I know what you call me when you think I can't hear."

"You know?" Mary looked up rather suddenly, disgrace heavy in her eyes.

"'Course I know." Rebecca grunted, "But what was I t' say about it? Better have ya hate me quietly then openly. Least ya respected my ignorance."

There was silence in the room as the girls fidgeted about. Mary was the first to speak, "No one hates you." But the words fell like dust in the silence of the other girls who did not acknowledge this statement.

Rebecca looked at the young woman gratefully, but there was neither a smile nor a word from her. She turned away from the others and went to her cot in the corner. "You'd all best get some sleep." She said hollowly, "It's getting late..."

***

"It's worse than it ever was before." One of the servants commented as she dusted the mantel above the hearth.

"I know." Rebecca sighed as she held two silver candle holders out of the way for the servant. It had been a week since tempers had flown among the staff. While some tried to ignore the whole matter, others tried to mend the gap, realizing that they were all they had in the world and that they had best stick together.

"He still hasn't called for anyone, let alone you." The older woman pointed out. "Aren't you even the slightest bit worried...even if it's for the safety and upkeep of this village?"

"Of course I am!" Rebecca exclaimed, "Believe me when I tell you, I don't know what's going on." She carefully put the candle holders back upon the mantel, "The master he's...he's--it's like he's not there anymore. He's broken.

"He deserves it. Oh, I'm sorry, Rebecca, but it's true." The old maid half apologized to her younger counterpart, but the conviction in her eyes revealed she was not sorry at all. She had been born and raised in Locksley her whole life. Her master would always be Robin and his family.

"I know." She said very quietly, confessing a grave doubt in her heart, "I know he's a harsh and cruel man. I know he's committed crimes, done terrible...unmentionable things." She shuddered, "But...I know him." She looked pleadingly up at the older servant, "I can't explain it...I..." The older woman gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, for which Rebecca managed a small smile.

She shook her head, composing herself as she gathered up the dish cloths she had been using to clean and polish around the hearth, "I do agree wid ya," the older woman said softly, "Something has changed."

"Sometimes, I think it be better if he had never come back." Rebecca confessed painfully, "Seeing how is now. It's killing me. I can only imagine the hell he's in; and I can do nothing!" A sob caught her completely by surprised and she covered her mouth, swallowing any further tears.

"You shouldn't have t' do anything." The old woman grunted, "You've wasted your life for his ungrateful one, Rebecca, and I know if your mother was here today she'd say the same thing. Get away from this place, Rebecca, first chance ya get. Go and find a bit o' happiness. Ya deserve it, same as any."

Rebecca was about to argue that Locksley would always be her home as long as Guy remained there when a guard burst into the hall causing both of the servants to jump. It was a young lad, who couldn't have been more than sixteen or so. He was sweating and panting, he skidded to a halt and placed a hand on his knee to catch his breath. He clutched his helmet tightly in his other arm.

"What's wrong?" Rebecca asked, snapping out of her melancholy haze.

The boy tried to speak, but he couldn't form any words. The old woman went to him, helping to one of the chairs near the empty fireplace. He sat down gratefully. "Rebecca, fetch this boy some water, quickly now." The old woman advised.

Rebecca nodded and went to do the woman's bidding. The boy clutched the old woman's sleeve, "Soldiers..." he gasped, "The Sheriff...I wasn't supposed to see...."

"There now you just rest a while. Get that water in you and then you can talk." The woman hushed.

Rebecca hurried back into the hall, holding a small goblet of water. She handed it to the boy who downed it in one draught. He wiped his mouth upon the sleeve of his tunic, just under his chain mail. "Now," Rebecca sighed, patting the boy's back, "What's got you in such a state?" She said kindly.

"I was supposed to get after Robin Hood to get the prisoners back...for the Irish, but we couldn't find them. Suspect your men will be coming back to Locksley soon." He gasped.

"Well, now, that's a wonderful bit o' news." The old woman grinned even Rebecca managed a smile at that.

"There's more." The boy warned, "As I was crossing back over the ridge I saw the Sheriff and Sir Guy coming down the way as well. I didn't want him to know I had failed so...so I hid myself. The Sheriff was meeting with a troop of soldiers, they were wearing the Prince's insignia. I thought they were going to deliver something to them, but the Sheriff he...he gave them Sir Guy."

"What?" The old woman gasped.

The boy nodded, "I couldn't hear everything, but it sounded like the Prince was gonna have him put in prison, maybe even executed."

"I don' believe it." The woman exclaimed, "What are we gonna do now without a lord of the manor?!"

"I don't know." The boy said, "But I'd get out of Locksley if I was you. Things can only get worse now, I'd best warn the other guards. Thank you for the water." He rose to his feet and quickly hurried out of the manor towards the shed where the other guards were stationed.

"We should tell the others, too." The old woman said, still reeling with shock.

Rebecca wasn't listening. She was staring off in silence, her eyes wide and blank. The color had drained from her face and she looked as if she might faint at any moment. "Rebecca!"

"Yes...the others...have to...I need to sit..." She collapsed into the chair, the strength leaving her legs. It was obvious she would be of no further use to anyone. The woman went away to the servant's quarters, letting Rebecca have a moment of privacy.

There must be a mistake. Perhaps the guard had misunderstood what had gone between the Sheriff and the Prince's soldiers. Maybe Guy was perfectly all right and had only been taken to see the Prince for some matter or other. Or maybe he was tied up in chains and being led, even now, to a dungeon where he would be left to die, or wait to be executed. Bile rushed to the back of her throat. She had not the energy to scream in shock, or to cry in sudden grief. She merely slumped over in her chair, head in her hands. She couldn't lose him again.

Early Winter, 1173

Rebecca was out by the water trough. While the other servants carried linens back into the manor she brought out a most unusual load. Isabella's favorite little rag doll was getting too dirty to be tolerated. She carried it everywhere and had been loathe to part with it. Rebecca had had to do some rather hard compromising in order to get her to give it up for just a few hours so that she could wash it and dry it. Isabella had agreed to staying up an hour after her usual bedtime. Rebecca was almost certain the little girl had thrown such a fit in order for her to have to make compromises. She was positive that had been the girl's intentions all along. Clever lass she was too, she thought as she carried the doll over to the water.

She washed the rag doll carefully, rubbing out weeks old stains of mud and grime until the colors on the doll's dress shown just as brightly as the day her mother first made it. Taking one of the pegs she carefully clipped the doll to the line. Job well done, Isabella wouldn't even recognize her own doll now. She had already begun to head back towards the manor when a hooded figure darting across the grounds caught her attention.

He was heading for the door which led into the kitchen and he seemed anything but a servant. "Hey!" She called out dashing towards him, "What d'you think you're doing?!"

The figure turned towards him and Rebecca gasped and nearly fell over from shock, "Master!" She whispered fiercely as she recognized the face of the man. "Master, what are you doing here?!"

"Rebecca." Sir Roger of Gisborne gasped in relief that it had only been her to have caught him, "I had to see Ghislaine." He whispered.

Rebecca nodded and quickly opened the door for him and, peering in she swiftly shut it, "Can't go in this way, place is crawling with servants, come 'round this way, master!" She led him around to the shed that was usually occupied with guards. There was no one there at this time of day. "Through here, there's a door that leads to the back o' the great hall."

"Thank you, Rebecca."

"Master, ya shouldn't have come. Ye could be killed for this! Did anyone see ya?!" She hissed worriedly.

Roger chuckled softly, "You worry almost as much as your father did. Let me be concerned for the consequences. Death is a small price to pay for seeing my family again."

Rebecca nodded, "Be careful, master." She urged as the man hurried into his home.

Rebecca dashed around to the front of the manor, she wrung her hands as she entered, intent upon portraying a relatively calm outward demeanor. She nearly ran straight into Guy as he was crossing the hallway. He looked almost as shaken as she did. "Becca," he seemed almost relieved to see her, "Have you--"

"Guy."

The two turned to see Roger step out from behind the staircase. "Father!" Guy whispered, leaving his friend's side to go this father's. "I knew you'd come. I knew you'd fight for us. Isabella and Mother are upstairs. How did you get in? Did anyone see you?"

"Rebecca let me in." He gestured to the mute and pale-faced girl before them. "Guy, listen to me. I think I was seen when I was entering Gisborne. Take your sister, if anything should happen--"

"Nothing's going to happen, Father."

"If anything should happen; leave the manor immediately." Roger warned.

"No. I want to fight. I can protect us!"

"I know you can, Guy, and you will by looking after your sister. Promise me."

"I--"

"Promise me."

"I promise, father." Guy said hanging his head in disappointment.

Roger took his son's head in his hands, "Make me proud of you, my son."

"Guy?" Little Isabella's voice was a mere whisper of surprise, "Is someone out--Father!" Too young to be aware of the danger, the little girl dashed down the stairs to greet her father. She flung her arms about him and she was promptly lifted up off of the ground in a fierce embrace. "Have you come back now, Father?"

"Only for a while, my darling." Roger said as he held his daughter close for a moment before placing her down once more. "I'm sorry it can't be for longer." He pushed a few locks of her hair back behind her ears. Rising to his feet once more he gave a nod to his son, "Take care of her."

"I will." Guy said fiercely as he watched his father hurry up the stairs.

"Why can't Father stay, Guy?" Isabella pouted.

Guy took her by the hand led her over to one of the chairs by the fire, "I don't know, Isabella, but everything's going to be all right. You just sit here, hm? And I'll sit with you and you can tell me about all the adventures you had today with Becca." He smiled comfortingly at his little sister.

"Until Father comes back?" Isabella said hopefully.

"Yes." Guy nodded, "Until Father comes back."

"Guy." Becca said, placing a hand upon his arm, "Tell me what to do." Already she could hear shouting mounting in pitch from beyond the manor. She could see from the panic in Guy's eyes he could hear it as well.

"Warn the other servants. Tell them to get out if something happens." He whispered to her.

She nodded and turned to go. "Becca!" Guy grabbed her arm and pulled her back. His lips claimed hers before she could say another word. Their mutual panic receded for a moment in the shared comfort. "Thank you." He said softly as he released her.

As Rebecca ran to fetch her mother and the other servants she could already hear the mob of angry villagers approaching the manor. "Mother!" She shouted.

The servants were already outside of the manor, milling about in a worrisome flock. Some were moving to join with the other villagers. "Mother!" Rebecca shouted again, hoping to find her mother over the chaos.

A loud crash and plume of smoke appeared over the manor. Rebecca turned back around to see flames beginning to flicker out of an upstairs window. Then, all hell broke lose. The rest of the villagers grabbed torches and began to set the manor ablaze. "No!" Rebecca screamed as she frantically tried to claw her way through the crowd back to the manor.

"Becca!" It was her mother. She grabbed her arm and reeled her back to her side. "Praise the Lord, you're all right!" She hugged her daughter to her tightly.

"Mother! Mother, they're burning the manor!" Rebecca found herself babbling, "We have t' stop them! We have t'--"

"And get ourselves killed in the process, are you out of your bloody mind?! These men are out for blood now, there's nothing we can do!" Gemma shouted.

"But Guy's inside!" Rebecca wailed.

"There's nothing we can do!"

"Of course there is!" Rebecca shrieked, her voice cracking, "Guy! Guy!" Her mother had to hold her back in order to restrain her from rushing into the inferno the manor had become. "Let go of me!" She raged, "Let me go!"

It was like holding down a raging animal and the inhuman cries her daughter made tore through Gemma's heart, but her daughter's life was worth more than her master's or his children to her. She knew if she let Rebecca go she would be killed. She couldn't allow that. As the manor collapsed inward upon itself, Rebecca's struggles lessened as the strength left her. She sank to the ash strewn ground, sobbing.

As the smoke began to clear, Gemma forced her daughter to her feet. She coughed, her eyes watering from the fire and the smoke. That was when she saw him standing across from her. "Guy..." He was alive, and so was little Isabella.

She tried to run towards them, but her mother held her back. "It's not your place!" She hissed.

"Mother, what are they doing?" Rebecca croaked, "Why...why is he turning away? Mother? What's going on? They're letting him go, but...but these our his lands. They can't...Guy!" Finally she managed to tear free of her mother's tight grasp.

"Rebecca!" Gemma shouted, alerting the others of her daughter's attempt to flee, "Rebecca come back!"

Naive confusion and panic made her incoherent of what she was doing. She shoved others aside in order to get to Guy and Isabella, they were fleeing to the forest. She had to get to them. Cries of 'Stop her!' went out and two men came up from behind her and grabbed her by both arms.

Another scream tore through her as she kicked out with both legs to force her captors to let her go. "Stop struggling, girl, are you mad?" One of the men grunted.

"Let me go." She pleaded, "I have t' get t' them...Guy!"

She was knocked over the head by one of the men and she fell forward onto her knees. Her vision blurred as she stared at the fading forms of Guy and Isabella. Then everything went black.

A/N: And that's how that started....or ended. There's actually a lot more to this particular scene as a lot of things were mentioned that have so far gone unexplained. Answers will come in due time. :)

On a side note. I never understood why Guy and Isabella just walked away and I never understood why Robin went to reclaim Gisborne for himself and not for Guy. From what I understood in the episode. Gisborne used to be a part of Locksley before it was awarded to Roger. I know that Malcolm signed over the lands to Longthorn for the time being until he and Ghislaine could marry, but we never actually saw the deeds drawn up and I certianly don't know if Malcolm or Ghislaine told Guy what had happened. Did he know he had been disinherited? Anyway, I found it hard to try and rationalize something I couldn't wrap my head around. If anyone wants to throw light on the situation, this is an open invitation!