A Tale of Love and Woe (Fanfic)

Chapter 14

"Where have you two been?" Robin demanded as he glared at me.

"We were um..." I started but was interrupted by Will.

"I decided to take her for a walk. I'm sorry."

"Fine. Let's go. I need you back at the camp Will," Robin said.

Without another word Robin turned on his heel and walked away from us.

"Sorry," I murmured to Will.

"Don't be." Will replied before taking my hand into his.

I was a little taken back by his gesture but quickly relaxed. The warmth of his hand sent tingles through my body and felt comforting. We walked back to the camp like this but quickly broke away before we came into sight over the hill. 

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"I think we ought to kill him!" Little John roared.

"No John, we're not going to kill him," Robin replied.

"He'd do the same to us if he had one of us in this position," Alan protested.

"What about torture him?" Little John tried again.

"No!" Robin screamed.

"Then Robin, what are we going to do with him?" Much asked innocently.

"I don't know Much. We can't kill him, and we are definitely not torturing him!"

"You could ransom him," I offered.

All eyes turned to me and I could feel myself getting nervous.

"Ransom? No. The Sheriff would never pay. Then ransom me with him. The Sheriff will pay. I'm not sure if you heard, but Prince John is in town," I replied.

I held my breath as I watched Robin's brow furrow. 

"Fine. We ransom them both," Robin decided.

So it was settled. Robin set off to Nottingham with a ransom note attached to an arrow. When he got  close enough, he fired the arrow into the courtyard of Nottingham castle. Then he left and preparations were made for the exchange. I sighed as the time drew nearer. The note Robin had written said:

I have something precious of yours. I will exchange it for a price. Meet me at the entrance of Sherwood Forest  in two days at dusk. Come alone.

The plan was Robin would wait at the entrance of Sherwood forest with Gisbourne and I tied together. Under the cover of the trees his men would lay in wait with bows drawn in case the Sheriff tried anything. 

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The time had come for me to go back to Nottingham. I practically cried at the thought. Before I was collected by Robin Will came to see me. He stared at me for a while before speaking.

"You don't want to go back there do you?" he asked me gently.

"No," I replied on the verge of tears.

"Hey don't cry, shush," Will said comfortingly as he took me into his arms and let me cry into his shoulder.

I embarrassingly enough cried and cried for a long while, unable to pull myself back together again. Will gently patted my back and rocked me like I was a small child. Once I had gotten my fill of tears I pulled away and wiped my eyes. 

"I feel a strange connection to you," Will whispered in my ear.

I looked at him with my mouth gaping wide as I tried to process what I had just heard. 

"Let's go," Robin said as he tore me out of my state of shock.

I felt the ropes being tied to me once more and was soon back to back with Gisbourne. He looked rattier than usual and he seemed to be weak. A blindfold was tied around his eyes. As we were forced to attempt to walk I kept stumbling and soon Gisbourne and I were on the ground on our sides. Little John glared at us as he hauled us back to our feet. We continued like this all the way to the edge of the forest.

Once we had arrived everyone took their positions leaving Robin, Gisbourne, and I standing at the entrance to the wood. 

As the sun began to set in the sky loud horse hooves could be heard as the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John approached. I held my breath as I saw the vast numbers of the King's guard right behind them. This exchange was not going to be an easy one.