Disclaimer: I do not own Robin Hood or profit from this writing.
This chapter is dedicated to CrazyLilRedHeadGirl for being the only reviewer, and because of her theory ^_^
Chapter 19: Abandoned Eleanor
It was at the midday meal the following day that mercenaries began to trickle into Nottingham. Guards allowed them through the gate and into the Castle as servants placed trenchers of food for them.
"Bloody backstabbing traitor," a burly man muttered. "We had Robin Hood."
"We best still get our pay," others grumbled.
"Robin has been eluding the sheriff for over a year, don't feel too bad," one of the serving girls said as she poured more ale.
"I don't care about Robin and his men getting away so long as we get our money," another said.
"We would have had him had it not been for that backstabbing traitor." The thought mercenaries were bickering about a traitor seemed ridiculous to the servants but they kept their mouths quiet.
Something stirred in Eleanor's gut. "More ale, sir?" she said refilling his goblet. "Who foiled your plans?"
"That man of Gisborne's. Came claiming to take the prisoners to the castle but really wanted to get them to escape," he said.
Eleanor froze in place for a moment. Gretchen and the other servants were placating them with ale. "Are you sure it was Gisborne's man? He left yesterday with Gisborne and the sheriff."
"He may have left with them, but he went back to Hood."
Gretchen stole a moment in the kitchen to pull Eleanor aside. "Elle?"
"We both knew he was going to rejoin Robin."
"If he has rejoined Robin he will certainly come back to tell you," Gretchen insisted.
Something just didn't feel right about the whole thing. "Then why hasn't he returned yet?" Eleanor said.
"I don't know…"
The day dragged on slowly and there was no sign of Robin or Allan in Nottingham. They don't come to Nottingham every day, Eleanor, she reminded herself. When Allan was with Robin she would see him several times a week but not every day. They were probably catching up and enjoying themselves in Sherwood.
Figures. Everyone in Nottingham was being flooded with mercenaries while they were off.
"Are you alright?" Gretchen asked her the next day. "You don't look well."
"I'm fine," Eleanor said dressing slowly.
"Half of the mercenaries must be in Nottingham," one of the maids said as they waked in. "How long are we meant to cater to them?"
"What do they want?" someone asked.
"Free food, ale, women," another woman said darkly.
"They'll just take what they want," another muttered angrily.
That drew Eleanor's attention. How could she avoid so many of them? There had to be scores of mercenaries running around Nottingham. "Won't they stay in Locksley?" Eleanor asked.
"Where they have only themselves for company?" someone scoffed.
Eleanor took a deep breath to steady herself. Allan and Robin would make an appearance soon, that would distract the mercenaries. Surely the mercenaries would get bored…
"If they have to wait to get paid things could get bad," she heard someone whisper.
Eleanor's hands were shaking as she went to knead the bread. No, they will leave. Allan will be back. Gretchen even said he would be back for you… her heart started to return to a normal beat as she focused on that.
"We have more mercenaries today," Griswald ordered. "All you girls will be serving today." Eleanor pulled her shawl more closely around her out of comfort, not cold.
She numbly went through both meals trying to ignore the stares, gropes, and jeers. She didn't realize how much she relied on Allan's presence in the castle before, he had someone made her less afraid and the other men knew not to bother her. But if Allan was gone, especially if everyone knew he was with Robin, she didn't know what to expect.
The days slowly dragged into a week. "Rumor has it the Sheriff and Gisborne have left England," Gretchen whispered to her one night. "The mercenaries are very talkative once they've been drinking all day. If they left England and Marion is with them, you know Robin will go to the ends of the earth to get her back."
"I know, but that doesn't change the fact Allan isn't here," Eleanor whispered. She ran her hands through her hair trying to think. "Everyday more and more decide to come and take part of the sheriff's hospitality during his absence. Everyday there are more of these giant men groping and making obscene suggestions."
"Breath," Gretchen said rubbing her hands on Eleanor's arms. "As long as they think the sheriff could return at any moment they won't do too much damage, and Griswald has made it clear if they expect her to serve them they don't touch the maids."
"I know, I know. I just didn't think I needed Allan's presence so much… I finally stopped looking over my shoulder every moment of every day. I finally felt safe," Eleanor tried to explain. "Now it is like my father's house all over again, always on pins and needles not knowing what is going to set someone off. Only this time there is so many more men."
"We are all scared and nervous," Gretchen admitted. "They say at least a score of the men have gone back home. Not even the food makes up for not being paid. Everyday rumors of not being paid seem to deter more and more of them."
"Some think they will be paid for the entire time the sheriff is gone," Eleanor countered.
"They will eventually get tired of waiting…" whether that meant they left or simply took what they wanted was yet to be seen.
The week dragged on with everyone trying to adjust to the new silent terror in the castle. The third week and impatience was beginning to show on the mercenaries. A few more trickled away each day, but the ones who stayed proved to be growing more and more restless.
After a month Locksley was cleared out as the mercenaries had all either returned home or moved into Nottingham. "I've been thinking," Gretchen said slowly one evening. "Locksley is being opened again to the residents. I am going to go reclaim Samuel's cottage."
"You are leaving?" Eleanor asked in shock.
"Come with me."
"I…" she wanted more than anything to leave but needed the pay. "It is the middle of winter, Greta."
"If I wait I won't be able to reclaim it," Gretchen explained. "Someone else will become a squatter and claim it."
"And I need the pay," Eleanor said. One of them needed to have an income.
"You have Allan's money," she reminded Eleanor.
Eleanor simply gave a 'hmph.' "Don't remind me. Take it."
"What?" Gretchen asked, shocked.
"I said take it. You are going to need to purchase food to last you through till summer."
"I can't take it, Elle. He gave it to you. If anyone spends it, it is you."
"If you are going, you can not go without some," Eleanor insisted.
"I have a couple pounds left from what Allan gave me for Ygrainne," Gretchen countered.
"Then take a few pounds more," Eleanor insisted, digging for the pouch. She placed several pounds into Gretchen's hand. "No arguments."
"I don't know who is going to have a tougher time," Gretchen said, frightened. "Come with me."
"I'm going to try to work through the winter. If the mercenaries are still here I'll come to you in the spring," she promised.
"If they get to aggressive, Elle, come to me. Promise?" Gretchen asked and Eleanor nodded.
Gretchen carried Ygrainne out the next morning. She turned back at the gate and waved to Eleanor who waved back from the steps. Eleanor wiped away a tear that had fallen. She was alone now in a castle overrun by mercenaries. How on earth am I going to survive?
She numbly worked through the day, still feeling tired. She entered the kitchen the next morning to find that the last of the slaughtered pig was being carried in. The smell of the raw meat made her stomach churn and she barely made it to the outhouse to purge.
"Eleanor?" Sarah asked as she came in. "You alright? You looked ill."
"I am, but I'll be fine," she said. She couldn't take time off, there was always to much work to do. And she didn't have Allan to make sure she kept her place in the castle.
The smells in the kitchen made her stomach churn again. "Go clean upstairs," Griswald ordered.
Upstairs? Where the mercenaries were? The last thing she wanted was to go into the rooms they had accommodated. "Are there any outdoor chores? Anything?" Eleanor pleaded. With a frown Griswald gave her a list of things outdoors to finish before dusk. She gladly took it, hoping to get away from the smells of the kitchen and the mercenaries.
Her stomach was still queasy the following two mornings. "Oh bloody hell," Eleanor whispered as she leaned against the door of her bedchamber before the other girls came in. She placed her hands on her stomach. "no. no no no," she muttered.
If she was still purging in the morning she would ask Sarah for advice.
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"Well, this certainly isn't how I planned things," Robin said as they were strung up in the desert. "You are dying for England."
"I'm not being funny, but it was the king of England who strung us up," Allan reminded him.
"If we can just make it till nightfall," Much tried to be optimistic. "It will be cooler."
"It will be freezing," Allan pointed out.
"Much, we don't have till nightfall," Djaq told him.
He was going to die in the middle of a dessert across the world from Eleanor and she wouldn't even know. That was the only thought running through Allan's mind. Yes, he was dying with the gang, they were all back together again, but Eleanor wouldn't even know any of this. He wouldn't even get to say goodbye.
"We don't have till nightfall, and I didn't even know her name," Much muttered. "This is unbelievable."
"Much?" Robin called back to him. "Who?" What was Much going on about now.
"I'm saying I love you all, even you Allan, but I would have liked to have at least have known her name. I think she even fancied me, but with you always interrupting it was hard to tell," Much told Robin.
"Who?" Djaq asked. "Eleanor's friend?"
Allan tried to turn around to look at Much. "Did you fancy her?" Allan asked.
"I did," Much admitted. No use in lying now. Not when they were all so close to judgment, he thought.
"Gretchen," Allan muttered.
"What?" Much asked.
"Her name is Gretchen," Allan told him.
"Gretchen," Much repeated to himself with a small smile. "Well…"
Time lingered on. "Marion?" Robin whispered.
"Someone is coming!" Much yelled.
"Ey, he's right!" Allan said surprised. If they were all seeing Marion, then it had to be Marion, right? His morale sank when he saw the sheriff. "It's the sheriff," someone spat out. Allan heard Robin give a frustrated growl next to him as he saw the sheriff with Marion.
"This is the trouble with foreign travel," the sheriff drawled as he inspected them as a sergeant would inspect his troops. "You run into the same people from back home," he cackled.
"You let the black knights buy you!" Much yelled to the crusader. "That's despicable."
"Yes, and life is usually so much fairer," the sheriff tisked. "To think all this time we had a spy in your camp," he said walking up to Allan. For good measure he backhanded him. "When you had one in ours!" he said angrily, directing the crusader to string Marion up. "Ah, yes. Is there a message you would like me to pass on? Anyone in particular back home, hmm? Perhaps a pretty but timid little serving girl? She will probably get along fine with all my mercenaries," the sheriff addressed Allan, clearly enjoying seeing Allan struggle against his bonds at that announcement. "No? No message? Well then," he tutted as he moved on to antagonize Robin.
They watched him ride off. "Well, say the words, handsome," Marion smiled as she leaned against Robin.
"Words?"
"The ones that start with 'I, Robin, take you, Marion.'" Allan turned to look at them. Was that what he wanted? Yeah, he wanted to get out of this desert that was as hot as purgatory. He wanted Nora.