A week and a half passed and it was the day I was supposed to return to Locksley for the king's birthday celebration. However, here I was stuck, in bed. Yesterday I had come down with a fever, and the physician ordered bed rest until it was gone. It seemed as though ages had passed, and I was not allowed out of bed. Servants would bring food then immediately leave. I found myself thankful for any kind of socialization, which happened to be only the sheriff.
"Well, my lady, it seems that your fever has passed. Though, I recommend you taking it easy for a few more days," The physician told me, giving me a small smile.
"Thank you," he nodded in response then left. I carefully got out of bed, my legs feeling weak. I carefully walked down to the dining hall, where the council of nobles took place. I could see a servant about to take in some wine for them. "Here, I'll take it in, you can enjoy a day off," I told her. She smiled and curtsied, mumbling a small thanks then left. "Open the doors," the guards did so and I struggled walking down the steps with my hands full.
"My lords, Marian," I place the tray on the table and passed out the cups as I filled each one.
"Sable, I would like to introduce the new Earl of Bonchurch, Much, this is my wife, Sable," The sheriff spoke, grinning widely. "By the way, how are you feeling?"
"Fine, now, the physician said that I'm free to move around now."
"Good, now to business," I was shocked at the meetings quickness, it seemed that it was simply to humiliate Much.
It was later that day that the sheriff returned after an outing the maddest I've seen him.
"You idiot!" he screamed at Gisborne before storming up the stairs into the castle.
"Vaisey, what happened?" I followed him, heading into our quarters.
"Robin got to the powder! He destroyed it all!" He threw himself into his chair and put head in his hands.
"Just sit there and relax, I'll be back with some wine," I walked out of the room, then began running towards the kitchen.
"My lady, How can I help you?" a servant asked.
"I need some wine, quickly please," They nodded and quickly got the wine and the glasses ready for me, allowing me to return to the room quickly. When I arrived, I put it down on the table and poured the wine and handed a chalice to Vaisey. "Here, drink this,"
"How could Gisborne let this happen?"
"Vaisey, please," I tried to get him to grab it. He finally did so and drank it down in one gulp. "I'll get you some more," I filled the chalice and handed it back to him, having enough time to pour some for myself. That night was the most difficult for me, as I tried to get him to calm down before we both fell asleep. However, it was a failure and took him days to calm down. It wasn't until he heard that a Saracen prince was coming to try to negotiate peace, was he finally in a good mood.
When the prince appeared the next day, I was just as pleased as the sheriff, because it meant that I could finally relax away from his mood swings.
I was on my way to the kitchen, when I passed the prince. "I'm sorry for my husband, he is rather impatient. Is there anything you need to make your stay more comfortable?"
"No, thank you. Your husband, is he the one with the black hair?"
"No," I laughed slightly. "If you need anything at all, feel free to ask." And, with that said, we split into different directions.
"I see you've met the prince," I heard once I got back to the room.
"Yes, are you really interested in peace?"
"Of course not, he's a captive here, we have a ransom on its way,"
"Why, why is peace so terrible?"
"Peace does not bring money," with that said I stormed out of the room. "Guards, bring her here!" Vaisey called to the guards I had just passed. "You think you can do what you want? This is my castle! Not yours or your brother's, but mine! Leave!" he shouted at the guards who returned to their posts and shut the door. "I need to teach you some respect!" He pushed me onto the bed.
"No, please," I watched as he grabbed a knife and began to squirm.
"Now, hold still, don't want me to cut you, do you?" He traced my neck with the blade then began to lower it, cutting the dress I was wearing. By the time the knife was at my waist, the door was thrown open.
"The prince wants to speak with you," I let out a small scream as the knife cut my flesh.
"Fine," Vaisey stood and walked out the door, Guy paused a moment and looked at me, before following his master. "She is not to leave this room, understand?" The doors slammed shut and I was embraced by silence.
I slowly rose from the bed, the cut on my stomach burned as I tried to find something that I could clean and wrap it with. I grabbed the jug of water and some cloth from my trunk, then made my way back to the bed. Setting the stuff on the bed, I carefully slipped off my dress. After, I sat down and dipped a piece of cloth into the water and put it in the water then onto my wound, hissing as it stung a bit. I worked at trying to clean it thoroughly.
"Now, where were we?" Vaisey's voice came as he opened the door then shut it again. I put down the bloody cloth and began to wrap my stomach with the longer piece. "What did I say about moving, hmm?" he asked, coming up in front of me, and knocked the pitcher onto the floor. "Now, is there anything you have to tell me, or should I continue where I left off?"
"I'm sorry I disrespected you," he gave me the motion to continue, "and, I make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Good," he grabbed the ends of the cloth that I had wrapped around my stomach and tied it tight. "There you are,"
"What did the prince want?" I asked as he sat in his normal chair.
"To find his carriage,"
"Will I be allowed to leave the castle ever, alone?"
"Why?"
"This place is like a prison, I'm not allowed to leave, and I'm hardly allowed to roam about!" I took a breath, "Please, at least allow me to go out riding with Lady Marian,"
"I'll think about it,"
"Thank you." I stood and grabbed my robe, putting it on the went by Vaisey, and kneeled by his side. "and thank you for helping me bandage my wound, and not going any farther than you did before." He was an evil man, but I was beginning to think that there was a softer side to him, there had to be. "When will the prince be leaving?"
"The ransom will be here tomorrow," I nodded, standing and offered my hand.
"What?"
"Come," he grabbed my hand and stood up, and I led him to the bed. "Lay on your stomach." He did so, but not fully trusting me. I sat down beside him, my arms going to his shoulders. "Please, start relaxing,"my fingers worker at his muscles, "I get scared when you are so angry, I never know what you will do," I kept my voice soft.
"It is your brother that makes me so angry,"
"He cares about people, why is that so bad?"
"He steals taxes!"
"I can see we will never agree," my hands moved down his back. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."
"Tomorrow, you can go visit Marian, alone," he mumbled, as I continued my work.
"Thank you," I smiled, "I have a feeling Sir Guy will be coming any minute," Just after I spoke, Guy entered the room.
"What now, Gisborne?" the sheriff shouted while I let out a sigh, seeing as the anger was back.
"I'll go check my horse," I quickly left the room, allowing Vaisey to take out his anger on Guy. I returned when it was dark and crawled into bed.
The next morning, Vaisey and I were both awoken fairly early because of the prince. While he was going to see what the prince wanted, I changed and made me way to the stable. I had a guard saddle Summer for me as I grabbed an apple for breakfast. By the time Summer was brought to the courtyard, I had finished the majority of the apple.
"Thank you," I grabbed the reigns from the guard and got on her. I gently nudged her side making her walk out of the courtyard and quickly out of Nottingham. Once I left, I could feel freedom. I was able to spend some time with Marian, but most of the day was spent galloping through the forest, from town to town. It wasn't until the sun began setting over the horizon that I realized that it had gotten so late.
"Come on girl, I suppose we should head back," with that said, she galloped towards Nottingham, only slowing down when we were approaching the bridge.
Upon our return, I immediately noticed the amount of guards had been severely decreased. A stable boy was waiting for me and I handed him the reigns before heading inside. I wandered though the castle before heading to my chamber. There, Vaisey and Guy were talking. I softly knocked on the the open door before entering.
"What happened to the guards?"
"They were killed," Vaisey let out a sigh, "we didn't get the ransom, they were a team of assassins sent to kill the prince."
"Is everybody all right?"
"Except for the dead guards, yes, thanks to Robin Hood and his gang of outlaws," I smiled at the response, surprised to see that the two could work together. ''
"I'll be leaving now," I watched as Guy passed me, shutting the door behind him.
"Thank you for letting me leave the castle today," I turned back to the sheriff, "I'm heading to bed, night." I walked over to the bed where my nightgown sat folded. I felt somewhat uncomfortable changing when he was in the room because it really had never happened before. The one exception was when he helped bandage the cut.
I brought the dress over my head and slipped into my nightgown, my back to Vaisey. I turned around to see him blowing out the candles on the wall, signalling that he was also headed to bed.
After that night, the next week, it seemed that I was getting closer to Vaisey. I couldn't explain how or why because I didn't exactly understand myself, especially because we didn't show the same views on anything. That entire week I also had to listen to him and Guy talk about the new taxes.