Chapter 25

"Gisborne!" The sheriff shouted furiously over the crowd of people in Nottingham. "Where are you? Gisborne!"

Marian heard the sheriff's shouting and looked out at the group that had just returned to the castle. The sheriff was there with some of the guards, though there were fewer guards than had gone out on the mission, and Djaq was noticeably absent. Robin did it, she thought with relief.

"Yes, my lord." Guy addressed him with mild annoyance as he approached the sheriff.

"Hood got her! Hood got the girl! He moved the Pact, it wasn't in the camp anymore, and he took the Saracen back!" The sheriff was nearly growling at this point.

Wasn't in the camp? Marian thought to herself. She actually took him to the camp?

"Hood rescued her?" Guy asked with surprise.

"Rescued her, killed her, I don't know and I don't care!" The sheriff growled. "He still has the Pact!"

"He killed her?" Marian asked with feigned surprise and horror in her voice as she approached the screaming man.

"He knew she was going to bring us there." The sheriff shouted. "He moved the Pact before we arrived."

"Is she dead?" Marian asked with concern, knowing full well that Djaq would be fine.

"Probably. Do you think I care? A clue!" The sheriff stormed off. "Where's your boy, Gisborne? Hmm? Get him out of the dungeon and bring his little whore with him. I want a hanging!"

"My lord," Guy started nervously, hoping he could talk the sheriff down without having to put his plan into motion.

"What?" The sheriff growled as he turned on him.

"My lord, if Hood killed the girl, then Allan was telling the truth."

"Your boy," The sheriff snarled, "knew where the camp was and never told us. I could have had the Pact months ago."

"He tried taking me there before. Hood nearly killed us."

"Yes, well...too bad he didn't succeed." The sheriff replied.

"He believed it likely that Hood would have moved campsites anyway after his attempt."

"It was a permanent camp, Gisborne."

A permanent camp? So she did take him there. Robin will have to move now. Marian thought to herself. It isn't her fault, she probably thought Robin would find them first.

"I don't want to hear your excuses, Gisborne. Your plan failed." The sheriff said with disdain.

"I know, my lord, but at least we got the Saracen to make her speech before he took her back."

"La dee dah dee dah." The sheriff said, emphasizing each syllable, before storming off into the castle. Guy groaned at the predicament he had found himself in.

"Marian, will you do something for me?" Guy asked softly, his voice laden with anxiety.

"What is it?" She asked curiously.

"Will you go ask that a horse be readied for me?"

"Yes, of course, but why?" She looked up at him curiously and he gave her the most distraught and pained look in response. "Is the horse for you?" He didn't answer, just looked like he wanted to lash out and punch something. "Allan isn't still in the dungeon, is he?" Guy gave a slight nod. "I thought you were going to get him out!"

"Marian, it is more complicated than that!" He whispered furiously.

"Are you going to let him out?" She asked in a panic.

"I will try." Guy replied. "I will try to talk sense into the sheriff first if I can. I would prefer to not go against the sheriff unless absolutely necessary."

"And if you cannot?" Marian asked, her heart in her throat.

"Marian…" Guy sighed in frustration. "I will do what I can. Just have the horse prepared, Marian, please…" Marian nodded in agreement and Guy took off after the sheriff, hoping he would be able to convince the sheriff to drop the matter and save his right hand man legally.

Marian made her way to the stables as quickly as she could, but before she arrived at her destination, someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her into an alley. She spun around and found herself, unsurprisingly, looking into Robin's face. The rest of the gang were hidden in the shadows with him.

"Where is Allan?" Djaq asked, her voice thick with worry.

"Still in the dungeon." Marian answered her.

"Is the sheriff planning on hanging him?" Robin asked. Marian nodded.

"Guy is going to try to talk him out of it as we speak. He said he might try to release Allan on his own if he can't, but I don't know if…" Marian trailed off. "If he has to put himself at risk…"

"Gisborne won't risk his own neck." Robin finished. "So that's where we come in."

"Guy sent me to ready a horse for Allan if he's able to help him escape. If he can convince the sheriff not to do this, it won't be necessary. If not, watch for him to leave the stables and cover him while he runs. Otherwise…"

"We'll watch for him to be brought out to hang and rescue him then." Robin finished.

"If he's brought out," Marian added. "I have a feeling he may not make it that far."

"The sheriff said he would torture him." Djaq reminded Robin.

"Guy may convince him to show some mercy." Marian added hopefully.

"Well, let's hope Gisborne is good for something." Robin replied bitterly before Marian left them to head to the stables to fulfill Guy's request.

Guy was still following the sheriff, urging him to show mercy to his right hand man and fretting about what he would be willing to do if this attempt failed. The sheriff, furious about not having the Pact, was barely listening to his pleas.

"My lord, the plan did not entirely fail. We still used the Saracen to turn the people against Hood. If we announce that Hood killed her in retaliation for her speech…"

"They'll what? Turn him in? Hungry people want food and he's the one giving it to them. They won't care what he does unless he turns on them. Do you think they care about some Saracen? Hmm, Gisborne? Half of them have family in the Holy Land right now fighting them."

"True, but…"

"But what?" The sheriff growled. "Your boy knew where the camp was all along. Hood didn't move a building just because of one traitor. I want the Pact, I don't have the Pact, so now I want to hang the person responsible for me not having the Pact! Be grateful that person isn't you."

"The Saracen held up her end of the deal. She didn't run off and she wasn't rescued. She didn't lie."

"No, but Allan did. This isn't about some stupid deal anymore, Gisborne. Can't you see that you've been tricked?" The sheriff finished as he stalked his way through the dungeon. Allan saw them coming and jumped to his feet.

"Where's Djaq?" He asked nervously.

"Your little Saracen friend?" The sheriff asked. "Dead, most likely. Hood took her back." Allan fought the urge to sigh in relief that she was safe. "But she did take me to the camp first."

"Did you get the Pact then?" Allan asked with a glimmer of hope. He didn't care about the Pact at all, couldn't care less about whether Robin or the sheriff was in possession of it, but if the sheriff did have it, he might have a chance of surviving this mess.

"No…" The sheriff drawled. "Hood suspected we were coming and he was ready for us. Funny thing is, the camp that you claimed Hood had probably moved is a permanent camp."

"Yeah, one o' the outlaws was a carpenter. He built it, but it's not much of a camp. I thought Robin would've moved on after I tried to take Giz there before."

"He didn't." The sheriff confirmed. "Though, I'm guessing you knew that."

"I didn't know anything, I swear." Allan denied. "If it's in the same place and you let me go, I can go back there and get the Pact for you."

"Are you deaf?" The sheriff growled. "Hood knows she took us there. He moved it! You could have taken us back there all along and you didn't. You failed me." He stopped to glare at Guy. "You both did."

"I thought he…"

"You thought. No...what you thought was that if you tried again, Hood would put an arrow through you. You were afraid."

"Well, yeah…"

"Now I'm really going to give you something to be afraid of." The sheriff threatened before turning to the guards. "Take him."

"My lord, please." Guy begged one last time. The sheriff turned on him, furious, and Guy knew he had to tread carefully. "All I ask is that you spare his life."

"He has outlived his usefulness, if he ever had any use to begin with."

"My lord sheriff, please." Allan begged.

"How can you be of any use to me? Hmm? Why should I spare you? This whole time we've had a member of Robin Hood's gang in our castle and what did you do for us? Did you take us to the camp? No. Did you help us get the Pact? No. Did you give us any of Hood's connections? No. Did you tell us who the Nightwatchman is? No. What use have you been?"

"I told you how Robin got in and out of the castle! I tried to take you to the camp. I had no idea where the Pact was and I never met the Nightwatchman."

"Gisborne said you were there the night he robbed his house."

"We were, we could see all the commotion going on so we went in, but he never took off his mask. I've never seen him without the mask on. None of us have." Allan lied. "Maybe they have since I left, I don't know, but back then we had no idea. We used to talk about it all the time, making guesses, coming up with theories. We didn't have a clue!"

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" The sheriff asked.

"I'm bein' honest! Look, he has nothing to do with the gang. None of us wore masks. Whoever he is, he works alone. We always thought that meant that he probably wasn't an outlaw. Outlaws don't have anything else left to lose." The sheriff and Guy both considered this for a moment.

"So who did Robin suspect?" Guy asked. Allan immediately got nervous and knew he had to give them something, but not enough for them to figure it out.

"Maybe a peasant with a family, didn't want his family to be punished for what he was doing. Or someone respectable in the community, like a merchant or a physician or a priest or something like that. Maybe even a noble. It would have to be someone who wasn't outlawed or someone that had a lot to lose by being discovered."

The sheriff went silent for a moment, thinking this over. "He does have a way of getting around the castle...he's gotten in and disappeared again without a trace...someone who works in the castle?"

"It would not be the first time we were betrayed by someone in our employ." Guy remarked. Allan tried his hardest to hide the fear he felt that they would figure it out, wished that he could will his body to stop sweating, and wiped the guilty look off his face.

"That's all I know, I swear. I don't know anything." Allan said.

"So again I ask, why should I keep you alive?" The sheriff asked.

"He could lead us back to the camp. If we capture Hood or one of his men, we could torture them for information about the Pact." Guy offered.

"I can find my own way back." The sheriff responded.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Allan insisted.

"You didn't do anything right either."

"I still can."

"How? What can you offer me?" The sheriff asked and Allan began racking his brain for anything he could come up with.

"I know the gang's drop off spots, unless they changed...and I know where some of their stores are!"

"And you never told us about them before because…?" The sheriff asked. "You are proving my point."

"Well, I assumed they probably changed things after I left. But if they didn't move the camp, then maybe they didn't change anything else either." Allan explained. "Look, it's worth a shot."

"Last chance." The sheriff agreed. "The last chance. You have a week to give me something of value, something I can actually use."

"Thank you, my lord. I won't let you down, I swear." Allan sighed in relief.

"Gisborne, get him to a room and have guards posted day and night until he fulfills his promises."