Lady Locksley

Chapter 45

Chaos in the Castle

Sir William of Bridlington was growing tired of Nottingham. He was growing tired of being so far from home. And, most of all, he was growing tired of Vaisey's mood swings. If he hadn't been related to the Sheriff by blood, he would have offed him days ago, and took great pleasure in it. But, as it was, William held family in high esteem, even when said family was a power-crazy psychopath. Murdering blood relations was against the rules - that was, unless his father ordered it. And William made a habit of following Devereux's instructions to the letter.
William respected his father, but he also feared him at times. Yet he had to admit that things had an unerring way of turning out as planned when Devereux was around. Back in Yorkshire, William had snagged himself a wife-to-be at his father's behest. Admittedly, he hadn't been entirely ready to marry - he was far too busy sowing his wild oats. But, as Devereux assured him, marriage didn't have to put a stop to that, as long as he was discreet. Plus, Lady Roana had been a tempting offer, one that he would been happy to break in.
He had first spotted her when she was thirteen year-old, a slight, wiry youngster with a fierce glare and an aptitude for riding. She had dressed like a boy, and was spirited yet distant, seemingly uninterested in boys or betrothal. William had busied himself with more accommodating girls, and there were plenty of them. As eldest son to the revered Sheriff, he had had his pick of the local girls and threw himself enthusiastically into sampling their wares. What he lacked in chivalry and romance, he made up for in rapaciousness, and his lovemaking was brutal, fast, and unbridled. He gained himself quite a reputation, so much so that his father was forced to step in and curb his licentious son. But William refused to claim accountability for his promiscuity, blaming it on alcohol, of which he consumed in large amounts. There were many vices in life, and William embraced as many of them as he could with gusto.
He was also fertile, and, after Scarborough Castle lost yet another servant girl to an unwanted pregnancy thanks to William's virulent seed, Devereux had given him Bridlington and chivvied him out of Scarborough and off his hands. Then, he had set about finding William a wife.
By then, Roana had grown into her looks, and had become a beautiful young woman, one with an impressive dowry. Filey had long since been in Devereux's sights, and he was keen to connect the two families as part of his plan to extend his already flourishing empire. William, who had been actively avoided by Roana since their early teens, liked a challenge, and saw marriage to her as the perfect opportunity to punish her for her past disrespect. He was nothing if not petty and vengeful, but also saw the benefits of having such an attractive wife on his arm. Roana would have been the perfect foil for his status as Lord of Bridlington, and the perfect front for his increasingly unruly secret life. His boozing and whoring was out-of-control, but he wasn't willing to stop. Not by any means.
Discovering that Roana was in line for Locksley and Huntingdon as well as Filey was a pure stroke of luck, and had quickened William's desire to marry her and possess both her and Nottinghamshire land. The fact that she was related to a known outlaw was neither here nor there in William's quest for power. However, events had quickly deteriorated the longer they remained at Nottingham until, eventually, she had escaped from the castle with other known outlaws, and that was the last he had seen of her.
By William's reckoning, this would never have happened if they had remained in Yorkshire. Vaisey had no real control of Nottingham, and it showed in the way outlaws were allowed to run riot, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. It would never happen in his father's shire. This Robin Hood was making his cousin look like a fool, and even Prince John was beginning to notice. Whether Vaisey hung the miscreant or not, the damage to his reputation had already been done.
William had decided that it was time for him to leave this chaos behind and join his father and Prince John in Scarborough. He knew where his loyalties lay, and it wasn't here in Nottingham alongside Vaisey. 
Draining his fifth goblet of red wine, William slammed it onto the table and went to track down his cousin. Earlier, Vaisey had given him a dressing down in front of that imbecile Gisborne, and William felt it was nigh time he gave the mighty Sheriff a piece of his mind before he left for Scarborough the following morning. Nobody made a fool of Sir William of Bridlington.
As he came out of his chambers, William glimpsed a whisk of skirts at the end of the corridor to his right as a maid went about her duties, and the blood began to collect in his nether regions, as was often the case when he had been drinking. Vaisey could wait. He was probably too busy patting himself on the back for catching Hood anyway. William could take a quick detour by the laundry room, catch a maid unawares, and have a little fun; by that time, all thoughts of returning to Yorkshire so soon would probably have left his mind.
With an urgent itch to scratch, William set off after the maid.

                                      ******

It was market day in Nottingham, and the outer bailey was a riot of activity with traders plying their wares, and patrons browsing the stalls. In their hooded cloaks, the outlaws managed to pass through the gates with only a cursory glance from the solitary guard, who was too busy talking to the buxom barmaid from The Trip to Jerusalem Inn.
Once in the market place, it was easy to blend in with the crowds, and they made for the alleyway behind the Trip. It backed onto a minor guardhouse, and two guards were stood chatting to each other, leaning casually against the inn wall. Allan and Will easily overpowered them, sneaking up from behind, and Much and Little John helped to pull them into a secluded side entrance while Roana and Djaq kept watch.
"I should be used to this by now," Allan joked, appearing a short while later, dressed in chainmail and a helmet. He grinned at Roana, who smiled back, recalling his last outing as a guard. She touched her hand to his, briefly.
"Please be careful," she said, referring to both him and Will, but holding his gaze with meaning.
"And you too, beautiful," he replied in an intimate tone, just for her, and Roana flushed, beaming at him.
"Alright, let's go through the plan again," Little John said, gruffly. "We need to get this right first time, because it may be our only time."
The others nodded in agreement. Robin's absence was felt by them all. He was their leader, the man with the plan, and without him, they could have floundered, uncertain of their next step. But that wasn't an option. Rescuing him was paramount.
"I'm the prisoner," Much spoke up, firmly. "Allan and Will are guards, escorting me to the dungeons."
"Once there, we will take down the jailer and steal his keys," Will continued.
"If all goes well," Allan interjected.
Little John acknowledged that. "Just in case it doesn't, we," he indicated himself, Djaq, and Roana, "will enter the castle by the side entrance and make our own way to the dungeons, as back up."
"We get Robin out, and we get out," Djaq finished.
They all looked at Roana, who nodded in approval. "Good luck, everyone."
They parted ways, and Roana followed Little John and Djaq through the throng. The crowd was beginning to disperse very slightly as evening approached, but there were still enough people to hide amongst. Reaching the curtain wall to the upper bailey, they slipped in beneath the raised portcullis. It was a hive of activity, with workers busy erecting gallows for the following days entertainment.
Roana eyed the instrument of her brother's impending demise. The Sheriff was clearly intending to make a show of it; the infamous Robin Hood, finally captured and strung up for all to see.
Shuddering, Roana hurried after Little John and Djaq, who were heading up the steps into the side entrance to the keep. She ran the last few steps to catch them up, but they had already disappeared into the castle, and there were guards approaching from the opposite direction. Roana stopped abruptly and ducked behind a corbel, shrinking into the shadows. The guards paused and lingered in the entranceway for a short moment, discussing Robin's capture, before they turned and headed back into the keep, in the direction that Little John and Djaq had taken. Cursing under her breath, Roana darted in the opposite direction. It would lead her to the dungeons, but in a more circuitous route; if she hurried, she could catch up with them before they made a move.
Keeping to the shadows, as Alice had taught her, Roana moved as quickly as she could. Being back in the castle infused her with a mixture of different emotions; the discomfort and distrust she had experienced around William; the excitement of exploring with Alice; the illicit attraction between her and Allan; their first kiss. William's attempted rape. There were so many memories, and it was a little overwhelming. Her nerves were taut, yet the corridor was mercifully deserted, and she quickened her pace as she came to a junction, taking a sharp left to head back to the dungeons. Here, the corridor was narrower and dim, with fewer lit candles in the wall brackets. Because of this, she didn't notice William until he stepped out from the shadows and rammed into her.
With a cry, Roana was knocked off balance and fell against the opposite wall. As she fought to regain her feet, her hood fell back to reveal her features, and William was upon her in an instant.
"Look what we have here," he snarled. "I knew you'd be back."
Slamming her back against the wall, he clamped a hand on her left breast and began to knead her, painfully. At the same time, he kissed her neck wetly, his tongue a wet slug against her skin. Roana could smell wine on his breath; he was drunk, again.
"William, no!" She struggled against him, desperately, but to no avail. Drawing back a foot, she kicked him sharply on the shin. Yelping, he drew back, glaring at her furiously before he punched her, hard. His fist connected with her cheek and she bit down on her lip as her head smashed into the wall behind her.
For a moment, Roana swooned, and William saw his chance. He pounced on her, beginning to rip at her clothes.