I want to thank all of you for the continued positive response to this story. xo

partygirl98: I had you crying? Good! :) This chapter is a lot less sad, I promise.

I've got nothing else to say...so, enjoy!

Chapter 22: To Yield

Ajsa followed Gisborne through the forest, watching in bemusement as he scanned their surroundings for dangers. The woods were quiet, save for birdsong, and not even the breeze rustled the autumnal leaves. But from the bow and arrow in his hands, Guy was clearly expecting a threat.

"There is no one else here, Sir Guy." He glanced back at her to flash her an admonishing glare and placed a finger to his lips to silence her. She rolled her eyes. "The only thing you are likely to shoot is a squirrel," she continued in a whisper, "which would actually be welcome, as I am quite hun-"

She was interrupted by another person, one whom both she and Guy instantly recognized.

"Are you realizing now how difficult life can be in the forest?"

"Hood," Gisborne snarled and aimed his bow in the direction of the voice. Robin Hood stood amongst the trees, observing the black knight with amusement. "How long have you and your men been following me?"

"Us," Ajsa corrected him, in a disgruntled tone.

"You're jumpy," Robin remarked. "I have better things to do with my day, Gisborne. I'm alone."

A twig snapped nearby, drawing the men's attention, but neither appeared to be overly concerned by the noise. Gisborne tossed aside the bow and drew his sword.

"Really?" marveled Robin, but he drew his own blade, as well. "You're really sure you want to do this now?"

"Why not?"

"Well, honestly," said Robin, "I don't think you have the energy."

"I don't need food or sleep to drive me," Guy insisted.

"Yes, you do," retorted Ajsa.

Robin glanced at her. Although she looked less bedraggled than Gisborne did, her hair was nevertheless tangled and the bottom of her dress was torn.

"Then what do you need?" he asked the other man.

"Revenge."

"On who, Prince John?"

"Prince John will keep. Isabella will not," replied Gisborne. "And neither will you." He sprang forward, his sword glinting in the wan sunlight. Ajsa rushed to stand between them, but before she could reprimand them for their foolishness, Guy suddenly froze. Accompanying his surprised expression was a small dart protruding from his neck. He crumpled to the ground as a dart was shot into Robin's neck, and he also fell.

"What is happening?" murmured Ajsa, inspecting Gisborne's motionless form. He was breathing slowly but steadily. Removing the dart from his neck, she sniffed the tip and cringed. Whatever the point had been dipped into was no valerian root. Its effects had been too swift for the small amount used.

Then she felt a sharp pain in her own neck and cursed, but was unable to stop her body from slumping forward onto Gisborne's. Her last thought before she slipped into unconsciousness was that all three of them were doomed.

#

When Guy awoke, his hands and legs were tied, and he was lying on the forest floor. He heard the crunching of dry leaves behind him as someone moved around.

"Who's done this?" he demanded, glancing back at the outlaw. "Hood?"

Robin shook his head in negation, and, for once, Guy believed him. Remembering that Ajsa had been in the forest with them, he searched frantically for her and found her lying a few feet away, still asleep. When he tried to move towards her, a hooded figured blocked his path.

"Hood..." he said, trailing off ominously. They watched the stranger step over Gisborne and sit down on a log by the fire.

"Who sent you?" Guy inquired. "Prince John?"

"No, this is one of your sister's tricks," Hood stated. "What does Isabella want with us?"

"I want you to listen and understand. Someone's life depends on it," said the mysterious man.

Guy's gaze flicked to Ajsa again. "Her life?"

"She's not dead, merely unconscious," the stranger assured him. "I was only expecting you and Robin, you see, and the dosage must have been too strong for her."

"If she dies, I'll kill you," Gisborne growled.

"So will I," added Robin.

They struggled against the ropes biting into their wrists, but the knots were tied both expertly and tightly.

"If you expect me to listen," Guy spat, "you're going to have to free me."

"I'll free you," confirmed the man. "I'll free you from the bad blood that shackles you to each other."

"Well, maybe there are good reasons for that bad blood," Gisborne muttered, glaring at the man. "What do you know about our lives anyway?"

"More than you do. I know the truth."

"The truth about what?" Hood asked, irritated.

"About how your parents really died."

Guy exchanged a glance with the outlaw. "You know about the fire. So?"

"It was never a secret," said Robin. "Everybody knew that we both became orphans that day."

"There are still things you don't know about your past," the stranger insisted. "Now, I'm going to let you sit up, but you have to listen to my tale."

Once Robin and Guy and were seated in front of the fire, the man explored their shared history, beginning with the affair between Guy's mother and Robin's father.

"My father loved one woman only, and that was my mother," Robin asserted.

Gisborne exhaled a scornful sigh. "That's just what you were told. The truth was kept from you by your precious father."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Robin.

"He shielded you from reality, like he always did," Guy sad, with a bitter smile. "You were never made to face the consequences of your actions."

"You were once on a very different path, Robin," said the hooded figure, forcing the outlaw to remember his misdeeds as a child.

"I was truly sorry for what happened that night," Robin confessed. "It was a mistake, which I learned from, and it was one that made me a better man."

"How touching," Gisborne sneered. "Look, I don't see the point of any of this."

"You need to know the truth to save a life," repeated the stranger. And so he delved into his memories, divulging secrets that not even Guy knew.

"More lies," Robin accused.

"There was never any child," said Gisborne.

The man withdrew his dagger and stood. "If you think me a liar, there's no point in your being here."

"You're going to kill me with no means to defend myself?" Guy asked nervously. "I expected nothing less from you, Bailiff Longthorn." But instead of cutting his throat, the stranger cut Gisborne's, and then Robin's bonds.

Once he was free, Guy untied the ropes around Ajsa's legs and hands. He checked her pulse, and when he was satisfied that she was breathing normally, he hoisted her into his arms, intending to leave this strange day behind him. But he stopped midstride as his gaze met hers.

"You're awake," he remarked quietly, so that only she could hear him.

"Aye," she nodded. Ajsa recalled the pain in her neck, and when she touched her fingers to her skin, she found only a tiny pinprick from the tip of the dart. "What happened?"

Gisborne scowled. "We were kidnapped by a madman, but we're leaving now," he said, following Robin from the campsite.

"If you walk away, your brother will die," the stranger warned them. They paused, turning back towards the man. "Do you want that on your consciences?"

"Keep talking," Robin commanded, and the stranger obeyed.

Huddled close to the fire, Ajsa learned much about Guy and Robin that night. She learned that Guy's father had returned from the Holy Land infected with leprosy, and that he had been exiled from the village because of it. She learned about the terrible decision Lady Ghislaine had been forced to make, and how Robin and Guy had nearly become stepbrothers as a result of it.

"They never married," Hood said skeptically.

"No," affirmed the stranger, "they only ever planned to. Didn't they, Guy?"

Gisborne stopped pacing and crossed his arms over his chest. Ajsa looked up at him, and then at Robin.

"You knew," said the outlaw.

"I found out," Guy corrected him. "I saw my mother making her way into the forest, so I followed her. She still loved him. I was so angry, because she told me I had to forget him, pretend that he didn't exist." His tone grew harsh. "Yet there she was, denying me my father. I confronted her on her way back to the village, and she told me she and Malcolm intended to marry so that he could support us now that my father could not. Then she collapsed in pain, and I ran for help. I ran so fast..." His face changed, his expression softening, and a look of realization flashed in his eyes. "I thought she was ill, but-"

"She had gone into labor," Ajsa deduced.

The stranger nodded, and Gisborne sat down, covering his mouth with his hand. Ajsa recognized the gesture as a sign of distress. She touched his arm, and the contact was enough to make him glance at her, before he met Robin's troubled gaze.

"What happened to the baby?" Hood asked.

"He was early but strong," replied the man. "The baby was to be taken to a safe place, until the parents could marry and reclaim him. But that was the last Malcolm or Ghislaine ever saw of their son."

Ajsa listened as each man recounted his role in the tragic fire that orphaned young Robin, Guy, Isabella, and Archer.

"I should have saved them," Gisborne whispered, staring at the ground in despair. "I should've braved the flames."

"It would have been too late," the stranger told him. "She was already dead from the blow she suffered to her head. Robin's father...," said the man haltingly. "It was an accident, but he-"

The stranger was unable to finish, for Guy had pinned Robin to the forest floor and was choking him.

"Stop it!" Ajsa cried, struggling to pull Gisborne off the outlaw. "You will kill him!"

"That's how Ghislaine died," the man calmly reminded them. "She, too, was trying to stop a pointless fight."

Guy came to his senses and released Robin's throat, but he retained his position above the outlaw.

"His father killed my mother," he snarled, readying his fist to punch Robin. "And as his father is dead,-"

"No, he isn't," the stranger cut in.

Guy's head snapped up, and he stared at the man in a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"Explain yourself," he demanded.

"Your father spared his life, allowing him to escape."

Robin pushed Gisborne aside and shoved the stranger up against a tree.

"My father would never have left me alone!" he bellowed.

The man finally removed his hood, revealing a scarred and weather-beaten face. But the outlaw recognized it.

"I'm sorry, Robin," he said. "How could I be your father after what I had done, after all I had taught you about honor? I couldn't bear to see the shame in your eyes."

Robin's features contorted from the tumult of emotions he was experiencing. Ajsa felt a deep sympathy for him, and even Gisborne's anger towards him softened in the face of such a heartrending discovery.

"You killed her," Guy sad flatly. "All these years, I thought it was my fault, that my parents had died because of the fire I'd started. But it was you." He walked towards Malcolm, his rage returning at the crime committed against his parents. "That guilt was with me every day!" he roared and grabbed the man by his shirt.

Robin intervened, pulling Gisborne away from his father.

"Can't you see he deserves this? He's betrayed us both," shouted Guy.

"You're right," Malcolm agreed. "Death would be a release. There have been many times that I've been tempted to do the job myself."

"And you expect us to feel sorry for you?" retorted Robin.

"Of course not."

"Then why tell us after all this time?" Guy asked, suspicious.

"Because of your brother," Malcolm explained. "I need you to forgive each other." Robin looked at Gisborne and scoffed at the request. "You must unite if you are to save him."

"He is right," Ajsa remarked, startling both Robin and Gisborne. She had been so quiet during the discussion that they had forgotten she was even there. "Your fathers destroyed each other and the families they loved. Do not repeat their errors." Ajsa glanced at Malcolm, expecting him to react angrily to her words, but he merely gave her a grim smile.

"Both of your lives could have been so different, were it not for the mistakes your parents made," Malcolm said sadly.

"We can't change that," said Robin, "and I can never forgive Guy."

"Why not?" his father asked.

"Because he showed no remorse for what he did to Marian."

Gisborne shook his head. "You know nothing."

"You worked and killed for the Sheriff for years," Robin accused him.

"And you'd still be living under his power, were it not for me."

Robin's eyes narrowed in confusion, and then widened in understanding.

"You killed the Sheriff."

"And I intend to kill the new one, too," vowed Guy.

"First you must join together to save your brother," Malcolm insisted. "I searched for many years, but I've finally found him. I thought if I could tell him the truth about who he was... It seemed like the right thing to do," he said, his gaze flicking to Gisborne, "for Ghislaine."

"Where is he?" Guy asked.

"York jail," Malcolm replied. "He is to hang." Gisborne's lips parted in concern, and he looked at the outlaw. "I'm too sick to help. I'm dying, Robin. You and Guy are my last chance. Together, I know you can both do this. Remember the birthmark, shaped like an arrowhead." Gisborne raised his head to the dawning sky, overwhelmed by all that he had learned. Malcolm watched him, knowing he had successfully convinced him. "It is why your mother named him Archer."

"I won't let him die, Father," said Robin, also moved by his half-brother's fate. He hesitated before he embraced Malcolm for the first time in over a decade.

Malcolm's eyes closed, and he hugged his son with one arm, while the other arm surreptitiously reached for his blowpipe.

"I wish I could see you three together at last," he said wistfully.

"Surely we have more time."

Malcolm looked pained as he brought the blowpipe to his lips. "I'm sorry."

An instant later, Robin was sprawled unconscious on the ground again. Guy watched him fall and raised his hands to show he posed no threat.

"Look, I really have no desire to see you again," he said to Malcolm, in an attempt to get him to lower his blowpipe. But Malcolm blew into it, and a dart flew into Gisborne's neck.

"Was that really necessary?" snapped Ajsa, as she examined Robin and Guy.

"I couldn't risk either one stopping me," Malcolm answered. His voice tinged with regret. "I'm dying, and I'd rather die alone."

Ajsa glared at him. "So you are abandoning your son a second time."

"It's better for him," Malcolm assured her, but she merely gazed up at him skeptically. "Please ensure that they save Archer," he pleaded. "And that they save themselves, as well."

Despite her irritation, she nodded. "Is that why you have not stuck a dart into my neck, too?"

"That's one reason, yes," said Malcolm, with a brief smile. A tortured shadow descended upon his face, and Ajsa understood the other reason he had spared her.

"You are not responsible for Ghislaine's death," she reassured him.

"I am," he said softly, "but you're kind to say so." Malcolm wrapped his tattered cloak around his body and set off into the woods. Glancing back at Ajsa, he quipped, "Keep them from killing each other."

"I will," she promised him and smiled down tenderly at Gisborne. "Of course I will."

Half an hour later, Guy awoke with his head in Ajsa's lap. Although it felt like his skull was trying to crush his brain, as he gazed up at Ajsa, he thought there were certainly worse ways to recover from a drug-induced sleep.

"So, what now?" wondered Robin, with a groan of pain. Sitting up, he looked dazed as he tried to collect his wits.

Gisborne stood unsteadily and helped Ajsa to her feet. "Enough," he barked. "No more talk."

"Then what do you think we sh-"

"To York?" Robin regarded Guy with an inscrutable expression, then nodded his assent. Guy proffered his hand to Robin and pulled him up. "We're going to need horses," he said.

"And my men," added Robin.

"And me." Robin and Gisborne shared a wary glance, but before either could voice his protests, Ajsa said, "Your brother is due to hang, yes?" They nodded, uncertain as to her meaning. "If he is due to hang, he must have done something very bad or made someone very angry with him. Whichever it is, you are putting yourselves into danger to rescue him, so you will need a healer with you, in case the situation turns sour."

Guy was firmly against Ajsa's participation in the jailbreak, but Robin considered her reasoning.

"Can you fight?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "I can break a man's nose."

"Well, that's good enough for me," announced Robin, grinning at Ajsa. "Gisborne?"

"How I feel is irrelevant, because she's going to do what she wants to anyway," Guy said dryly, giving Ajsa a pointed look. She offered him a small but self-satisfied smile. "My only condition is that you always stay with one of us. Don't wander off alone, and don't get overconfident. You're not that good of a fighter."

"How would you know?" she challenged him. "You have never seen me fight. I prevented that brute from raping me, did I not?"

Gisborne rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but only because he wasn't expecting a kick to the nose. In a real fight, I doubt you'd last five minutes."

"It is a damn shame I do not have a gauntlet to throw down," she said coldly, "for I would wipe that smug smirk off your face."

"Now, now, let's play nice," Robin chided them. Guy scowled at the reprimand, but Ajsa took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and forced a smile.

"You are right, Robin," she apologized. "We have a more important task to do than to engage in petty squabbles." She held out her hand to Gisborne, her eyes twinkling with a mixture of mischief and warmth. "Truce?"

He sighed. After countless lost battles, he knew when he was beat.

"Truce," he relented and shook her hand. Instead of releasing it, however, Guy held onto it as the three of them headed for the edge of the forest. He had yielded to Ajsa this time, but he suspected he would do so many more times to come.