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Chapter 6,

Sincerity,

She waited a sufficient amount of time allowing Robin time to get back to his awaiting gang, and when she thought she had waited long enough, she walked out into the hall, until she reached the courtyard. She then found the stables where the servants were busy tending to her horse, and when she walked over they all stopped to bow loyally. She then called the youngest boy over and gave him instructions to deliver her invitation to the sheriff of Nottingham.

Later that day in Nottingham,

The messenger walked cautiously up the steps to the castle, he was wary as he had heard many stories about the cruel things that went on behind its walls. Eventually he walked into the heart of the castle looking for the sheriff, he didn't have to look far because she soon found him, he then walked shyly over to her and bowed respectfully.

"My Lady Sheriff." He began,

"What is it I'm busy?" She asked, clearly in a hurry,

"I have a message for you from the Princess in London." The messenger explained, as he handed the letter to her,

"Thank you, you may go now." She said,

"Milady." He said, bowing as he left,

Isabella wasted no time in breaking the seal that was set with a royal insignia; she then unfolded the letter and read it to herself in her mind:

Dear Isabella of Gisborne,

"I have sent this letter as an invitation to a feast that is taking place tomorrow evening, it would be a great pleasure if you would attend, also a mutual friend of our has found our mutual friend. He has a plan on how to get our mutual friend to safety but he requires your help, please come with all haste, and aid in the plan that has been arranged to save our friend. And for all that is good and righteous do not renege on what you said to our mutual friend this morning."

Madison,

The letter was brief and it was obvious the mutual friends referred to Robin and her brother, but by the sound of the letter Gisborne had already been caught and was in London's finest. She was proud that Gisborne had tried to kill the Prince, relieved that he had failed to kill him, but also upset that he had failed, if it wasn't for the open warfare as she had said, she would be standing beside her brother.

By the tone of the letter when she had substituted actually names for mutual friend, it sounded as if she wasn't confident this letter would get to her untouched, and perhaps being cautious was the way to win this game. If this was so that Robin did indeed need her help then there was no time to delay she had to get to London as soon as possible and arrange a meeting with her 'mutual friend'.

"Guards!" She called, and soon a few of them clattered around her,

"Milady?" They asked,

"Gather yourselves and make ready to provide me with an escort, I am to leave for London at once." She ordered, and soon the necessary preparations were being made,

Dungeons,

There was no way to escape it this time, there was just to much pain radiating through his body, the flames from the fire had risen and had begun to lick at his back, due to the way the sticks were arranged. His wails could be heard by everyone in the castle, and wherever Prince John was, Gisborne was sure he was enjoying every last moment of the shrieks that penetrated through the thick wooden doors.

Tears stained his cheeks, and at some point he was sure he heard the sound on his shoulder grinding, as he attempted to left himself up further to escape the heated tongue's that lapped at him. What really were his options in this torture method dislocate an arm or a leg to get away from the fire, or burn you're back so you wouldn't dislocate anything.

No matter what he decided to chose it wouldn't benefit him, no pain was greater than the other, and he soon found himself sitting in the middle of both miseries. The pain soon became so intense that he could feel himself slipping into the arms of unconsciousness, there was no way he could maintain his grasp on reality with conditions such as these.

His eyelids soon became too heavy to keep open and he was willing to be released for at least a few minutes, but before he could even entertain the idea he could hear footsteps coming his way, he soon dreaded ever paying attention. Somehow they sounded different from the man who had put him in this situation, they sounded soft, like it wasn't even a man who was making them.

He soon felt a gently hand on his chest, and to his amazement, he looked into a woman's face, but not just any woman, it was Marian, how could this be was he dreaming? No he couldn't be dreaming because he still felt all manner of pain, in that case was he hallucination, because Marian was dead he had killed her long ago.

But even then that couldn't be because he could feel her touch, what was she? Was she an Angel? Why was she here with him, surely if there was anyone she wanted to be with it would be Robin? All he could do was stare unable to speak because he feared that if he did his trance would be broken and he would find that he was imagining her being there.

She wore a heavenly white dress, with silver lacing on her bodice, several white roses adorned the crest of her urban brown locks of hair, and it continued down to her ears. Her face was just as lovely as it had been the last time she had been near him, the love he held for this woman was sparking all over again, was he falling in love his hallucination?

She who broke the silence, "Do not fear Guy I am really here you are not imagining things." She assured, his heart leapt for joy, but only for a moment, if she was real what was her purpose for being here?

"Why are you here…surely if you could walk amongst us once again you would choose to be with Robin?" He asked, she smiled widely at him,

"Not everything I did was for Robin, Guy…I loved you…and I think you knew that despite what you said." She replied, a single tear fell from his face, but that was only because he was stifling cries of pain,

"I know you think that you are dreaming Guy but you are not I am really here." She reassured,

"But will everyone else be able to see you?" He asked,

"No Guy I chose to be with you…and you alone, I have come to reconcile all the wrongs I had done to you." She answered,

He smelt the air, and besides every other unwanted smell that filled his lungs, he smelt her rose fragrance floating softly towards him, was this really happening, had she really come back to be with him. No! Why would she choose him? He must be delirious.

Her smile faded into a sad expression, "Have I really wronged you that much that you cannot believe I would willingly come to you?" She asked,

"I…I have never believed in heaven…not really…I…" He couldn't seem to find the words that he wanted; she had always done this to him,

"I am an angel Guy…I was given a choice on what I wanted to do…and I chose to be with you." She said, "Please believe that."

"Then that means that you are real…it means that you do love…me…you chose me over Robin." It was more of a question then a statement,

"That's because I love you." She said, this time the tears that fell off his cheek were tears of happiness, as the woman he had always wanted had finally chosen him,

"I can now see into you heart and mind Guy…ever since that day you chose to open up to your good side, I flourished, I had accomplished the goal I had chosen, and because I did, I was granted access to you which is why I am here…you see you are the one who has granted me my wish." She explained,

"Does that mean you can do something for me?" He asked skeptically,

"Unfortunately I am unable to interfere with what is taking place, there are some rules that demand to be obeyed or I will be punished more severely than the sheriff could ever dream of." She said regretfully,

"Does that…does that mean…"He hesitated,

"Yes." She simply said, a grin crossing her features,

He smiled briefly, as she leaned over him to give him at least a token of what he wanted, and when she kissed him on the lips, she slipped a small white rose into his hand, and then closed his fingers around it when she righted herself.

"Keep this with you Guy, so you will remember me when I will not be able to be with you." She said,

"But I will see you again won't I?" He asked,

"Of course my love…now sleep." She assured,

And at that moment he gave into the calling of unconsciousness, and when he did she waved her hand over him, this caused the fire to be put out, her figure then disappeared and she was gone. He woke hours later and it was long into the night, regardless of whether he wanted to or not, and the torturer was not in a good mood, but were those kind of people ever happy? He poured a bucket of ice cold water over Guy's face and chest, causing him to be brought back to the land of the living faster than he wanted; he coughed briefly due to the sudden intake of water through his nose, and mouth.

"You're in luck…I would rather leave you here all night, but it appears the Prince wants you to be conscious ready for his plan for you tomorrow night." He snided, Guy said nothing just glared daggers, "If it was up to me I would leave you here all night and all day until the feast was underway." He added,

"Well it isn't up to you is it?" Guy sneered,

"No and you're also lucky the Prince wants you alive because I would enjoy killing." He said,

"And I will enjoy killing you." Gisborne informed, but he refrained from thinking grotesque things because Marian was looking,

"You won't kill me…I'd kill you first."

"Maybe." He offered,

Instead of paying Gisborne any heed he called in the four men that had been there previously and they then begun to add some slack to the ropes so that they could free their prisoner, while the torturer removed the sticks that were now in cinders. When he was flat on the stone floor again, he wasn't sure if his limbs still worked because they were numb as if they weren't even connected anymore.

But there was one thing he could feel, and that was the tiny rose Marian had placed in his hand, this was her conformation, it hadn't been a dream, she was really an angle. And she had decided to spend her eternity with him, he wanted to shout with joy, and smile, but he didn't dare because the men in the room would see fit to exact some other kind of pain against him, so he simply held onto the rose for dear life.

When he was flat on the stone floor again, the tight knots were easily untied, and he soon found himself being hauled onto shaky legs, that didn't seem to remember how to support his weight. Had he really been there that long? He longed for the quite corner of a cell; he didn't care what he was tied to in there as long as he was spared from hanging by his wrists for another minute.

Unfortunately he got no such luck, because he was soon allowed to slump to the floor, and when he did they handcuffed his wrists again, and began to work a crank shaft that then vaulted him off the ground. He glared daggers once again at the men as they walked off, intent on getting as much sleep as they could before their fun started again tomorrow.

When they had left he began thinking about what Marian had said, when she was explaining she would be punished if she stepped out of line, now that she had no choice but to take holy orders. But that puzzled him to an extent because with all the things that he did while under the ruling of the recently discovered to be alive and kicking sheriff, why would god want anything to do with him?

When his mother had told stories about heaven, he thought that was all they were stories, he had never taken into consideration that what she was saying was actually a very true fact. But if god did decide to look upon him, what reason could he possibly have for doing so? Surely he would not want someone as black as him to be living as a next door neighbor when he died.

But if Marian could get to his heart in time before he died perhaps she would be able to change it tarnished color, which had to be the reason for why she was here with him now. She genuinely cared enough to bless what little time he had left with her company in the effort to change the way he looked at things, to transform him into a good man.

But wasn't he already that good man? Surely when he had joined hood and his gang it had entitled him to the title of a decent man, because he helped the poor he robbed from the rich, to give to them. And despite the cowering anger filled glances that he felt from all the peasants he still insisted on helping them, so didn't this grant him at least something?

And another thing that his mind wandered onto while he was deep in thought was the fact that Marian had told him her punishment would be severe if she interfered too much with his life. Did that mean that she had already crossed a fine line and that she was warned not to do it again, or she would be punished? It was hard enough looking after her when she was in the castle, but now there was no way he could protect her, he couldn't even protect himself at the present.

And what could be her punishment anyway? Surely helping someone out of the kindness of your heart wouldn't merit punishment but praise, but then again he didn't know how the rule system worked up there…somewhere. He only prayed that Marian would do as she was told because if her punishment was so bad it might just take her away from him, and now that he had found her, he didn't want to lose her, also because he knew someone would be listening he was going to pray now on a regular basis.

The next morning approached slowly for some and too soon for those who weren't morning people, and early the next day Isabella's carriage was just pulling into the castle's courtyard. Because she had stopped at an inn that night when the hour was too late to continue, the outlaws had spent their night in the tavern with a bit of help on Allen's behalf.

Isabella walked into the castle to be greeted by Madison who was obviously a morning person, she was happy to see that Isabella did care about her brother because for a moment she wasn't sure if Robin's plan would follow through, or fall through.

"Isabella it's good to see you…my sincerest apologies for the last time we met." She said,

"I heard that our mutual friends were in a spot at the moment." Isabella informed,

"Yes your brother's in the dungeons; he's been tortured yesterday to what extent I don't know." Madison explained, "Shall we talk about it over breakfast you must be famished, and I was just heading there myself." She offered,

"I'd be glad to but tell me as much as you can." Isabella agreed, and soon the two women headed for the great hall to have breakfast, and talk over what was definitely on a need to know basis,

Back in the dungeons,

Vaisey was apparently a morning person as well, because he made a trip to the dungeons to have a word with Guy while the Prince was indisposed, and his kind of talks were renowned. Gisborne had his head bowed, and appeared to be asleep, but Vaisey assumed he was just enjoying the kind hospitality that had been appointed unto him, but in actual fact he was sleeping, he was resting in the thoughts of his Marian.

"Gisborne, Gisborne, Gisborne." Vaisey tutted, breaking Guy from his thoughts,

"What do you want?" Guy demanded,

"Oh, oh what's this is our little Gizzy angry, aw maybe I should get the Prince to lighten the torture…a clue? No! Infact I'm here on a special request actually." He rambled,

"Really?" Guy asked in a forced husky voice,

"Really…I asked the Prince if I could personally see you bleed, because you were the one who betrayed me…who tried to kill me." He replied, emphasizing 'tried',

"I will try and kill you again only this time I will succeed." Guy warned,

"Yes…well shall we make sure the chance never arises?" He asked, not expecting an answer, "See I'm bored with the Prince's punishment, no I want something new, something classical but different…shall we say…a flogging?" He continued,

"I was a fool." Guy began,

"I'll agree with that."

"I should have seen it long before I did…I should have seen what kind of a man you were long before this…you're not even a man you're a monster, the devil…and I regret not running you through sooner…the only regret I have is not checking to make sure you were truly dead." He explained,

"You know Gisborne if there was one thing I didn't like about you before you tried to kill me is the fact that you got to emotional…well me on the other hand." He crowed,

"When I kill you…this time I will make sure I condemn you to the deepest darkest corner of hell." Guy vowed,

"You know Gisborne you almost destroy the poetry of revenge, and gloating, with your pitiful attempts at self assurance…I am going to be sitting at the right hand of Prince John watching you die…and then I hope you save me a seat by the fire." Vaisey mocked, "Now if you don't mind I have an execution to prepare for." He added, as he then strolled out of the dungeon, allowing the hard faced torturer to walk back in, only this time he held a cat o' nine tails,

When Vaisey had left, Gisborne was lowered and then tied to a long plank which he rested his forehead on, his recently burned back exposed ready for a flogging, one the way he had dropped his rose, but when the man stood on it, it didn't even crumple, instead it bounced back to life. His hands were tied above his head, and he had to stand on the tip of his toes to relieve the rope burn, that tore at his already torn skin.

The first strike was quick and painless, and Guy barely had time to brace himself for the impact, he wouldn't have known he was struck if it wasn't for the crack of the whip, and the blood that he felt trickling down his back. The second strike was significantly noticeable, he jolted from the painful impact, and clenched his teeth, and fist till his knuckles turned white, the whip dug deep into his back, causing more blood to trickle down his back.

Ten minutes later, elsewhere in the castle Madison is leading Isabella to the dungeons when Tuck walks up beside them.

"I see you got in." Madison said,

"It didn't take much convincing, it only took a confession." Tuck replied,

"I'll see if I can you lot into the dungeons Guy will be happy to see both of you." She continued,

"Can we count on you to follow through on the plan Robin has made?" Tuck asked,

"I assure you I am on your side now you have nothing to worry about…besides getting my brother out of here, I brought my best physician with me just in case." Isabella assured,

"If we can trust you then as soon as we leave Gisborne you must follow me to where Robin is waiting." Tuck insisted,

"I will." She agreed, but just as they were walking down the hall Prince John came out of his room with a guard following him close behind,

He was startled when he saw Isabella and a man walking beside her that had his face concealed with a deep hood, a crucifix hung from his waist, but he wasn't sure this was a priest, because Robin was a clever man, even though he hated to admit it. Isabella curtsied respectfully, as the Prince simply looked on, in bewilderment, because he had not invited her, so why was she here?

"Sheriff?" He began,

"Prince John." She acknowledged,

"What are you doing here I don't remember asking you to come?" He asked,

"Forgive me brother I forgot to tell you that I invited her, she is a friend of mine, I knew here a long time ago, and thought this would be a good opportunity to catch up with each other…I hope you don't mind." She apologized,

"Not at all Madison, as I said this castle is your castle and you have just as much power as I do, and if you want to catch up with the Lady Sheriff then by all means do so, and she can sit next to us at the feast tonight." John reassured,

"Thank you John." She accepted gratefully,

"So what do you want me to do with the prisoner my lord?" The guard behind the prince asked,

"If Vaisey is finished, with him then throw him into a cell, give him some food and water, and allow him to get his strength back, before his execution." The Prince ordered in a whine,

"Yes my lord." The guard acknowledged as he clattered down the hall towards the dungeon,

"So who's your friend?" He asked, after turning his attention back to the intruder,

"I am merely a man of god requesting permission to hear the condemns last confessions." Tuck replied,

"There is no need for a holy man in here nothing can save his blackened soul, so you can just turn around and go back to whichever abbey you came from." John said, so Tuck merely bowed, and walked out of the castle, intent on letting Robin know Vaisey is still alive,

"Well Isabella no doubt my sister has filled you in on the situation with your brother so if you want to exact any of your own torture on him try to be a little gentle, I need him conscious for the feast tonight, I'm going to execute him in front of the nobles." John said,

"I didn't know my brother was here…as far as I knew he was still in Sherwood forest looting unsuspecting strangers, but I thank you for your permission to see him I do have a few things I want to get straightened out." She thanked,

"If you will excuse us Madison the sheriff and I will talk for a while." John excused,

"Of course, brother, Isabella." She said with a curtsey before she left the two alone,

"So what sorry state is my brother in?" Isabella asked, with forced enthusiasm,

"Nothing that a good execution won't fix, after all he did betray us both." He replied,

"How's he going to die…I hope it's good." She inquired,

"Well I recently bought this rather odd killing machine, it roasts you from the inside out, but it's also a musical instrument, the Greek really were advanced in their methods, it completely made of brass." John explained,

"Brass must be knew I have never heard of it before…tell me what does it look like?" She asked, becoming faintly interested,

"Well it looks like a bull…and when your brother screams from the pain that noise will be transformed into the bellowing of the animal, it appears that the brass tubing inside is quite sophisticated…I promised my technicians I'd let them have a look at it before I used it." He explained,

"Sounds intriguing I almost can't wait for tonight…may I see it?" She asked,

"If you must, but try not to trip over everybody in the process." He warned,

He then led her into what appeared to be a storage space in the castle, it had been specifically cleared so his new machine of malice could fit, when he opened the door, she was taken back by what she saw. There before her stood a surprisingly beautiful recreation of a bull, its head, body, tail, and legs were perfectly sculptured, its mouth was slightly open and he assumed that was where the tubs were.

It was perfect, even the sagging skin of the death trap was made to resemble the real thing, John lead her over to it, and when he did he realized that it was huge just a little shorter than her, and no doubt it weighed a lot too. She wandered how they planned to get Gisborne out of it if they could, or how they were going to carry the thing out of there, the nearly didn't want to see anymore.

He opened up the back of the bull, to show her what it looked like inside, she was amazed at how the tubing was set, in a significant spiral pattern that eventually lead to the mouth of the animal. She also saw that the brass was not at all that thick, and when he told her that it wasn't as heavy as it looked, she breathed a mental sigh of relief, maybe this would work out after all.

"Well that was most impressive." Isabella complemented, as she walked back into the hallway with John,

"Thank you, at least you showed a little more sense unlike the rest of the men in that room fawning over it." He thanked,

"Well I have to see to it that Vaisey as sent out all the invitations, I'll take my leave and you can visit your brother, I'm sure he'd just love to see you." John snided,

"Of course…I await the feast intently." She said, as she watched him go,

This was her chance, he had left her, there were no guards that she could see, her squad of men and a physician were safely situated in a camp not far from London, and Robin was on the mark ready to go. But at the present Tuck was hurriedly making his way back to Robin to tell him the grim news, that their worst enemy former sheriff Vaisey was still alive, he ran through the courtyard towards the tavern trying his best to avoid running into people along the way.

"What?" Robin demanded,

"It's the truth; the Prince is talking about him like he is alive and well…so well that he is torturing Gisborne." Tuck insisted, as he tried to catch his breath,

"No, no, no this can't be true you told us that Gisborne told you he killed the sheriff." Much protested, addressing his master,

"Well that's because that's what I thought, but if he's alive we have more to do then rescue someone we have to kill someone as well." Robin explained,

"So did you actually get into the dungeons Tuck?" Allen asked,

"No such luck the Prince told me that there was no one who could cleanse his blackened soul." Tuck replied,

"So what about Isabella?" Robin asked,

"Well the last I heard was that she was discussing her brother, with the Prince." He answered,

"If she follows through on our plan then she should meet us here when she has finished meeting wither brother." Robin explained,

"That's if she follows through." Kate said,

"Look Kate we need her help, I want you to put your hatred toward her aside for now and just grant her your assistance." Robin nearly ordered,

"That's the last thing I have to do." Kate said snootily, this made everyone stare at her in amazement,

"Look I don't like her and I don't trust her, she's going to betray us all again like she did before, she's nothing but trouble." Kate defended, but it didn't seem to do any good, so instead she stormed out of the taverns spare room where they had all slept the previous night,

Much started to go after her but Robin stopped him, "Leave her she just needs to cool off…she'll be back." He said flatly, John then called Robin away from the others so he could speak to him privately,

"Robin, she's angry because she has an eye for you." John stated,

"What you must be wrong." Robin protested,

"I'm not wrong; usually I wouldn't say anything but I think you already know." He insisted,

"She knows I like Isabella." Robin said, "And she also knows that we love each other even though we cannot marry…because of me." He continued,

""I know." John informed,

"And now that she's decided to help us for real this time, we can be more that friends again, and I need her to realize that, because unless she does she will always be unhappy…you should tell her." Robin explained,

"No…you should tell her." John corrected, before he walked away, giving Robin zero chance to protest,

Meanwhile in the castle, Isabella is making her way into the dungeon; she heard wails of pain coming from the different cells and couldn't be sure which one belonged to her brother. She finally found his cell, and hanging on the wall just outside the door, was the whip a 'cat o' nine tails', and underneath it was a small still forming blood pool.

"You can leave I want a word with my brother in private." She said, dismissing the guards, and after they were gone she walked into his cell which was not locked, they obviously assumed he wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon,

He was half lying and half resting himself on his left arm, trying anything to keep himself from lying on his back, he was facing away from her and she could see the injuries that were still fresh and bleeding.

She slowly walked towards him.

"Please…kill me if you must…but don't make me go through that again…Please." He begged,

She faltered the sincerity in his plea, made her eyes sting with tears, she opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out she was too overwhelmed by the current situation. He sank to his chest, and she then moved swiftly behind him.

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