Disclaimer: I obviously will never own anything. Mistakes are all mine!
Hey thanks to Caro A Dale I have uploaded another chapter, I apologize if some people didn't like the last chapter but I thought it was well written, and so did Caro. Well enough of that enjoy the next chapter{More Of Archer}
Chapter 5,
In The Name Of Sport,
The day passed slowly for Robin, he had spent most of his time sitting in the tavern, watching barmaids make fools of themselves, and undressing to entice the men that they sat with, as well as satisfying their own lust. The day perhaps passed even slower for Archer, who was tied in a cell, and was being tortured, with heated metal, and blows to the face and stomach.
He decided that perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to have tried to see Gweneth in the castle, or to have taunted the sheriff like he did, but he was glad he saw Robin in the corridor of the castle, because that told him he had a hope in escape.
Gweneth's day wasn't passing much faster either, because ever since she had seen Archer again, she had been dying to talk to him, and due to his torture she couldn't exactly do that.
Archer hung from the ceiling by a restraints that held both his hands, he was raised off the ground in a most uncomfortable manner, only the tips of his toes could scrap across the floor, and at the present time the torturer had placed a heated bar along his side. This caused him to grit his teeth and moan mildly, Gweneth had ditched her husband that afternoon, to go to the dungeons, she carefully made her way along a string of cells until she came to the end cell, where she saw Archer.
She walked into the cell, "Hello missy what brings you here in such an unsavory place?" The man asked,
"I've come to exact my own punishment against this son of a cur." She replied, "Would you please leave us." She added,
"Allright I'll be just outside." He said, as he walked out of the cell and down the steps, when he left Gweneth instantly cupped his face in her hands, Archer was close to unconsciousness,
"Archer...Archer it's me Gweneth." She said,
"Gweneth I wanted to see you but not like this." He said, as he lifted his head to look at her,
"What are you doing back here?" She asked,
"I came to get you and take you with me." He replied,
"Archer I have missed you dearly but I'm afraid I can't go with you." She said sorrowfully,
"Why not?" Archer asked puzzled,
"I have a life here and I have been thinking I couldn't live in the forest like you." She said,
"But you wouldn't have to we could go away somewhere and start anew." He said,
"Archer you know I want to go but I can't go...I have responsibilities here now." She said,
"But I have come all this way to get you." He objected,
"I know and I will do everything I can to get you out of here...and always remember that I love you and I always will." She said,
"Archer what have they done to you?" She asked,
"Nothing that I would be comfortable to reiterate." He replied, the sarcasm still evident in his tone,
"My husband is going to have you killed tomorrow...I don't know how I am going to save you." She confessed,
"Robin will get me out." Archer assured,
"Robin who's that?" She asked, because she knew not who he was,
"Robin Hood he's my brother." Archer explained,
"You mean Robin Hood the man I've heard so much about in Nottingham?" She asked, making sure she had the right man,
"That's the one." He replied, with a wink of his eye,
"How will he get you out?" She asked,
"I don't know that, I only briefly saw him in the corridor of the castle as I was being led to the dungeons, and that was yesterday." Archer answered,
"Where would he be right now?" She asked,
"Gweneth what are you thinking?" He asked,
"If I can get to him we can organize a plan to get you out of here." She replied,
"I don't know if he will help you but he should be in the tavern." He said,
"Thank you and don't worry I will get you out of here." She said as she kissed him on the lips, and turned to leave; when she left she was replaced once again by the prison guard, who smiled evilly at him as he smacked a metal rod in the opposite hand.
Later that night at the tavern,
Gweneth made her way into the tavern; she shuffled past men and barmaids until she was pulled aside by Robin, who had seen her through the crowd, "You're the sheriff's wife aren't you?" Robin asked,
"And you must be Robin Hood; Archer told me where to find you." She said,
"What are you doing here?" Robin asked,
"I'm here so we can discuss a plan to get Archer out of his date with an execution." She replied,
"I only have several mustard bombs and more than a dozen arrows, what do you have?" He asked,
"Well I know that a ring will be set up in the courtyard, Archer will be in that ring when savage dogs are placed inside, if you can explode several mustard bombs overhead we might just cause a big enough confusion to get Archer out of there." She explained,
"Why did Archer come here when he knows your husband will kill him?" Robin asked, confusion clouding his mind,
"Because Archer loves me and I love him, unfortunately we were caught together once in my bed chamber, Archer protected me and I caused a diversion at your last execution." She explained,
"Why are you here when the sheriff wants you dead too?" She asked, wandering about his motive when he questioned that of his brother,
"Our brother Guy of Gisborne has been wounded and I have reason to think that Archer may be able to save him...and if I don't get him back to Guy soon I'm afraid he will die." Robin explained,
"I see...how did it happen?" She asked, now interested in the happenings of Nottingham,
"Isabella the late sheriff of Nottingham was going to kill me, but Guy stepped in the way and intervened...only when he did Vaisey stabbed him in the side, it was a serious wound, but he walked away from it." Robin said,
"You must feel terrible...he's dying because he saved you." Gweneth sympathized,
"Yeah." Robin replied, as he bowed his head slightly,
"Don't worry I will see to it that Archer is freed so you can save your brother Guy of Gisborne." She said, with a great deal of determination,
"How long does he have?" She then asked,
"A week at the most and he wasn't fairing to well when I left." Robin answered,
"Right I have an idea when Archer's in the ring you explode the bombs overhead, this will cause the dog handlers to start coughing, releasing the animals, and they'll run into the crowd, this will cause the people to flee for cover, as I have seen the dogs and I know they will kill on sight." Gweneth explained,
"I'll be on the roof of a building I'll wait for the right time when this happens you get your husband to safety, this will allow me to move in and save Archer...right its set then." Robin said finally,
"Right the arena will be set up at nine the next morning...don't be late." She said,
9:00thefollowingmorning,
Robin carefully scaled a building that was close to the position chosen for the arena, carefully he chose his position shifting on the straw covered roof, he had a clear view of the whole courtyard, he could see where Gweneth and her husband would sit, and where the crowd would soon gather. Then trumpets sounded, and he could see the sheriff and his wife walk into the cleared area, that wouldn't be clear for long as crowds of villagers started to fill the vacant areas. Gweneth seated herself while the sheriff remained standing to give a speech, he soon raised his hands letting the crowd no he was going to speak, a hush of silence drew over the crowd, the only sound still to be heard was the constant growling, and barking of the savage dogs.
"My loyal lords and ladies, peasants, and serfs, as you know from experience Archer sold my brother equipment that never arrived; he stole his money with no intention of handing over the merchandise he ordered. And very recently he came into my castle with the intentions of making off with my wife Gweneth; she was able to fight him off long enough before I arrived at the scene, where I found them in my bed chamber." He said, pointing to his wife who seemed very bored by his speech, and wanted to get Archer away from here as soon as possible,
"Now that this man dare show his face in York again, and has been taken prisoner, he will suffer the ultimate penalty for his crimes...death." He said, and at the sound of death the crowd roared with fury, and the lust for blood, he soon hushed them again,
"But we will not do it by mere law alone we will execute him in the name of sport." He shouted, and once again the crowd roared with a fury, this causing the dogs to pull at their restraints, just as eager for blood as the spectators watching.
Robin seeing this as his cue stabbed several bombs onto his arrowheads, if the arrows hit a hard surface the powder would fly into the air, after readying the arrows he heard the sheriff call the prisoner out.
"Bring the prisoner out here!" He shouted,
Archer was brought into the courtyard through a small door that lead off the side of the castle, obviously a direct route to the dungeons. For the first time in days he saw what state his brother was in, his shirt was torn, and smears of blood lined it, his face wasn't in a much better state, even from the distance Robin could see his face was bruised, and there was a large cut above his right eye.
When Archer was walked past the dogs he eyed them wearily, there were three in total, just enough to make it an unfair fight, one was a black, heavily built animal, his sharp teeth showing as he slashed at Archer with his powerful jaws. The second was slimmer but just as savage, he was a patchy brownish-grey, the area around his chest and face, bare and exposed showing his pink skin underneath, this was obviously not the first time he had been in this situation. The third was a grayish snow white color, and a lot quieter than the rest, but as Archer walked by it, it soon turned into a blur of white fur, as it lunged, and barked, and snarled, and snapped his jaws together, trying to taste the blood.
Then just as Archer was lead towards the entrance of the ring, Robin grabbed an arrow and lined his shot to strike by the savage animals, which would soon spar with his brother. He straightened his aim, and pulled back on the string, in an instant the arrow shot from his grasp, flying through the crowd it struck a wooden post above the heads of the dog handlers. Powder shot everywhere it had been a successful shot, the handlers soon began coughing, and then Robin placed another arrow in his bow, and shot it into the walls of the arena, in a matter of seconds another lot of powder shot into the air. During the confusion Archer broke away from his guards, Gweneth hurried her husband away to safety, as the dogs scurried through the crowd, slashing at anything they could get their teeth into. She then abandoned her husband to run over to Archer and lead him to the stables, where their horses waited, several more mustard bombs exploded over head, as Robin threw them into the air then sliced them with a well aimed arrow. All pandemonium had broken loose, the dogs ran through the courtyard now in fear of the crowd and the noise, simply looking for a way out. A yellow haze had dawned over the courtyard, and as Robin descended from the roof he saw Gweneth leading Archer to the stables, so he ran to join them.
Archer was leaning against a post coughing for all he was worth, he eventually looked up at Robin, "I see you found my mustard bombs." He said, rubbing his eyes,
"Yeah and I noticed you didn't say goodbye." Robin said, placing one hand on his hip,
"After what I had done I thought a silent departure was appropriate." Archer answered,
"That's the past Archer we won the battle with the sheriff and we freed England...we couldn't have done it without you." Robin said,
"But I sold the Byzantine fire to the sheriff." Archer protested,
"Yes but you gave it to us too and that's how we won." Robin corrected, "We need to leave now Archer Gisborne is dying." He added, hastily,
"What do you mean dying what happened?" Archer asked, suddenly worried,
"The wound Vaisey inflicted isn't healing and now his body isn't fighting it it's shutting down...we thought you might be able to save him with you're vast knowledge from the East." Robin explained,
"Everything you just described to me sounds like internal damage that you must've missed, we need to hurry back he has internal bleeding, and if we don't stop it he is going to die." Archer said, as he quickly grabbed new clothes from his saddle bag, stripping of his shirt he quickly replaced it with a clean one, he then slipped on a brown tunic, and leather arm guards, a wide belt was then strapped over his tunic, leaving the dirty clothes in the stable he and Robin mounted their horses.
Gweneth grabbed his arm, "I was wrong Archer I'm coming with you." She said,
"Quick get on." Archer said, as he extended his arm and pulled her up behind him,
"To Nottingham?" Robin asked,
"To Nottingham...to save our brother." Archer agreed,
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