Fic: The Best Thing, Chapter 2
Title: The Best Thing
By: Kegel
Fandom: Robin Hood BBC
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize I do not own.
Summary: As Robin and the gang discover a plot to kill the returning king, confusion is running about as to who is behind it, as Gisborne rules as new sheriff of Nottingham and seems to cooperate with old allies. When the king finally comes to Nottingham, the plot against him as well as his army's mistrust of Saracens, having fought them in the war, bring Djaq in grave danger.
Chapter 2: Unmasked
Marian tried to stay calm when they entered Guy's chambers. She had spent the rest of the night down in the dungeons, and even most of the morning, as the guards hadn't come for her earlier than that, contrary to her earlier expectation. It was almost noon now. She was led upstairs in the castle, still wearing her Nightwatchman outfit, save for the mask that had been taken from her. There was certainly no doubt in anyone's mind now who they had caught.
Marian was anxious as to what Guy would say now. She doubted he would simply let her go; she didn't need Allan's warning to know that. She didn't really think he would have her hang, no matter this was the promised fate for the Nightwatchman, but couldn't help feeling worried she might be wrong about that. Still, her thoughts were more on the question of what else he might do.
As they came into the sheriff's chambers, Guy was sitting at the large table, documents spread in front of him, which he seemed to be busy reading.
It took a moment before he looked up to her, his expression grave.
"So we caught the Nightwatchman," he said.
"Guy-"
"No 'Guy', this is Sir Gisborne to you." His tone was cold.
"Sir Gisborne," she repeated testily.
"Are you ready to confess to your crimes?" he asked.
Marian was not sure what he wanted to hear. He knew she was the Nightwatchman and he probably knew she had been taking goods from the castle and handing them out to the poor.
"You know what I'm doing," she said simply.
"So you admit to being the Nightwatchman and stealing goods from the castle as well as from Locksley?"
"Yes," she said, "And you know I'm doing that to help-"
"What do I have to do to make you stop this madness?" Gisborne asked.
Marian was silent. In the back of her mind, she had started to wonder, if her decision to keep going on was wise. Maybe the time of the Nightwatchman was really over, if his initial purpose to keep her identity hidden was lost.
"Are you still consorting with outlaws?" he asked then.
She said nothing, not denying it either.
He stood up now, walking around the table, coming to a stop in front of her, looking down at her. "This is a hanging offence," he said quietly.
"You wouldn't do that," she said.
She was quite sure of that, but for a long while Marian had figured that there would come the day when Guy would try to stop her with more than talk. She guessed she could talk herself out of most of that, especially now that there was no Vaysey anymore to push Guy around.
He didn't reply, but turned away from her. Taking slow steps back to his seat, he sat down again, and she wondered if letting her wait was some kind of showing her that he was the one who would have his will, or if it was simply him trying to come to a decision.
After some moments he said, "Hood hasn't been seen in many weeks. Where is he now?"
"I'm not going to tell you anything," she shot back at him immediately.
"You are in contact with him, are you not?"
She didn't reply to that, but what else could she say? Guy knew she had been working with Robin at the least, and it had been pretty obvious even that it was more than cooperation. Guy had to be either blind or denying the truth to not know that.
"You have been consorting with outlaws and are doing so still," Guy stated then as a fact.
"I'm not working against you," Marian replied, and it was even the truth. Nothing of what she had done these past few months had actively acted against the new sheriff. She had been focused on helping the poor, sometimes giving information to Robin, but nothing that one could really call harmful to the sheriff, even though she had taken provisions from the castle.
"You leave me no other choice, Marian."
"What are you going to do? Hang me?" she asked boldly, remembering his earlier warning.
"No, but I will keep you from forcing me to do that," he returned, standing up. "Guards!"
"So you're going to lock me up in the dungeons?" she asked as the guards came back.
"No, I'm no fool, Marian," he replied. "I know Hood would come and get you out of there."
>>>---> >>>---> >>>--->
(whole conversation speaking Arabic with each other)
Djaq looked at the man who stood before her in the castle's corridor, having surprised her as he had come up from behind. She might have expected anything when being caught in the castle, but not simply being asked for her name.
"I'm Djaq," she replied almost instinctively to his question, yet backing away from him.
"Oh, don't go. I mean you no harm," he said. "I am only surprised to find another countryman here in this cold place," he smiled again.
"Are you working for the sheriff?" Djaq asked directly, looking back and seeing that she now also had the attention of the other two men. It was probably best, if she managed to leave as quickly as possible and found Will again.
"Working for the sheriff? No. We are simply his guests." As the other two men stepped towards them, he said, "May I introduce my friends Aalam and Hafid? And my name is Qusay."
Djaq noticed that he had not mentioned their families, but then she had not mentioned hers, not even giving her real name, the real one no one was calling her anymore these days. Who knew if those were the men's real names.
"What brings you to this country, my friend?" the other asked her then.
Djaq felt uncomfortable under his look, wondering how long they would need to realise that she was, in fact, a woman. She could not even imagine their reaction to such a realisation. Her hair was longer now than when she had first come to England, come to the forest, and her clothes did not try to hide as much that she was a female as they had done before, though their practical use was still a priority, so it was still what would be called men's clothings. With the winter weather, her coat was wrapping her body, so at least this would hide her identity for now.
"I-" she began, but what could she really say? That she had been brought here as a slave? That she was now living with outlaws? She did not want to mention the way she had come here; it was past and she was no prisoner anymore, had sworn herself that she would never be again, so she did not want these men to see her as that.
"Where do you come from?" Aalam wanted to know then.
"I have to go," Djaq decided, not answering the questions. "I am sorry, but I cannot speak to you here. I cannot be here." It was stupid even to talk to these men, just because they were from her home. It did not mean she knew them and it did not mean that they meant well. Djaq moved as if she had to flee from them, but they gave her no trouble in letting her pass.
"Ma'a salama," they called after her, but she did not reply or look back, as she raced down the corridors, hoping to find Will. She then remembered that she had been looking for Allan, but there had been no trace of the man.
When she finally came up to Will, running up to him from behind, he almost jumped.
"Djaq!" he called. "I was worried."
"Sorry, I did not find Allan."
"Neither did I," Will said, clearly disappointed, and Djaq wondered why he was so keen to talk to the man, who he had just a few months ago considered a traitor who he never wanted to see again. Of course, she also knew he had met the man once in the tavern here in Nottingham, and they had talked, but she did not know how much this had changed Will's mind. "Let's go," Will said then, looking at her curiously. "Is something wrong?"
Djaq shook her head, leading the way down the stairs. They made their way through the kitchens and were just about to leave, when they heard a call, the alarm was raised and guards came up to them. Djaq broke into a full-fledged run,Will right behind her. Out on the street, the cold wind hit her hard in the face as they rushed along back to the meeting place of the outlaws, taking a few extra turns to get rid of the guards. It had started to snow again.
They slowed down then, the guards not following anymore. Neither Robin nor Much or John were back yet, so Will and Djaq stood huddled in their cloaks, waiting, on the look-out for their friends.
"There are Saracens at the castle," Djaq said then. There was no reason why she should not tell Will about them, and maybe the information would prove useful, if they were indeed guests of the sheriff. It was a good question why they would be guests of the sheriff at all.
"Saracens?" Will asked surprised, rubbing his hands to warm them.
"They said they were the sheriff's guests," she explained.
"You talked to them?" Will wondered. "And they're Gisborne's guests? Not prisoners?"
"I spoke to them only briefly," she said. "They did not look like prisoners to me."
Will nodded, and it was then that John and Much returned.
>>>---> >>>---> >>>--->
The way into the castle was routine, no matter that he had to take care not to be seen by guards. Gisborne didn't seem to have revolutionised their guarding scheme though since he had become sheriff, so Robin didn't meet any unexpected hurdles on his way in. It was on a hunch that he had decided to check the dungeons.
He was worried about Marian. He knew she often went out at night as the Nightwatchman, though she hadn't for a time due to the bad weather. Apparently she had disregarded that the last night. He wished she would have at least told him, so he would know where to look for her. But the discussions with her about that matter had been endless, and mostly pointless.
She had been thinking she needed to do more on her own, needed to help more on her own, needed to get information they would not get if they worked together in the gang. He also knew she was still waiting for letters, but he doubted they would reach her one way or another. If they came to the castle, Gisborne would confiscate them anyway. Marian had written to Count Friedrich many months ago, asking if the Bavarian noble could give them any news about their king, who was being held captive in Austria, but so far they were still waiting for any reply and didn't know if one would even come at all.
She had sent the letter via a relative, who had sent it on to the continent and the idea was that the return letter would take the same way, so any letter Marian might receive would by its appearance come from her distant family member, not from a European count. Marian had been hoping that this would be enough to keep Gisborne out of her private mail. But now that Marian was living with them in the forest, even that hope was moot. Gisborne would happily look into any of her correspondence, if only in the hope to find anything that would lead him to where she might be hiding.
Making his way down to the dungeons, Robin sneaked around the place, always on the lookout for the jailer or any guards, while looking through the cells that were surprisingly empty. It was probably a good thing, for it was awfully cold down here, too, though Robin wondered if the dungeons were as empty as they were because Gisborne recently had refrained from jailing all too many people, or because he had gotten rid of them quickly. Robin checked the cells one by one. He had been almost certain to find Marian here if not at any other place, so it was even with something of disappointment that he found the last cell empty of her as well. He hoped she never again would have to be down here in a place like this, but then he wished she had been here, just so he knew where she was and that he had found her and could help her escape.
He left the place and looked around the castle some more, but nowhere did he see or hear any sign that told him that the Nightwatchman had been caught, which was so far his only explanation for Marian not having come back. But then, she had maybe come back to camp in the meantime and all his worry was for nothing. He shook his head, deciding to get back to his men for now.
When he came to their meeting place, he saw that all of them were back. He heard Much complaining about the weather and doing his best to pull his hat over his ears that had turned a sharp shade of red in the cold wind. They stood there, waiting. Robin knew it was time to leave. If the group continued to stand there for very much longer, especially considering how cold it was, they would draw unwanted attention. Of course, the guards were probably in little mood to go out and check for suspicious activities in this weather, too.
"Did you hear anything new? Anything about Marian or the Nighwatchman?" Will asked, but John shook his head.
"Most of the people stay indoors, if they can. They don't run around in the cold like we do," Much said. "We should be back at the camp where it is warm."
"We have stayed at camp long enough," Will pointed out. "And tomorrow we will go to the villages, no matter the cold. The people need the help." Much no longer complained, just wrapped his cloak tightly around him. Will continued then, "We saw Allan, he's still in the castle. Djaq and I tried to follow him, but he got away."
"Allan," Much muttered briefly, "I bet he's warm. And he probably has plenty of food. I want some food; maybe I should join him."
"He's working for Gisborne," Will said darkly. "We can be happy Gisborne hasn't come round to camp yet." It had been a contested issue between them, if they should give up camp, as Allan knew where it was. But over the past few months, it had still been a safe refuge.
"Allan would not tell him of our camp," Djaq said. "He just wants a place to stay."
"He shouldn't be able to come back to camp," Much frowned. "Not after what he's done."
"After who's done what?" Robin said aloud, announcing his presence to the group, no matter that he had already listened to their conversation and knew well enough they were talking about Allan.
"Master!" Much turned, "There you are. I thought you had gotten caught again."
"We're talking about Allan," Will filled Robin in unnecessarily, ignoring Much's statement. "He's in the castle...I don't know what he's up to though."
"Playing Gisborne's dog body," Robin replied bitterly. "I haven't found any trace of Marian. We should go, before we're seen here. If she's not back at camp yet, I'm going to the villages."
By: Kegel
Fandom: Robin Hood BBC
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize I do not own.
Summary: As Robin and the gang discover a plot to kill the returning king, confusion is running about as to who is behind it, as Gisborne rules as new sheriff of Nottingham and seems to cooperate with old allies. When the king finally comes to Nottingham, the plot against him as well as his army's mistrust of Saracens, having fought them in the war, bring Djaq in grave danger.
Chapter 2: Unmasked
Marian tried to stay calm when they entered Guy's chambers. She had spent the rest of the night down in the dungeons, and even most of the morning, as the guards hadn't come for her earlier than that, contrary to her earlier expectation. It was almost noon now. She was led upstairs in the castle, still wearing her Nightwatchman outfit, save for the mask that had been taken from her. There was certainly no doubt in anyone's mind now who they had caught.
Marian was anxious as to what Guy would say now. She doubted he would simply let her go; she didn't need Allan's warning to know that. She didn't really think he would have her hang, no matter this was the promised fate for the Nightwatchman, but couldn't help feeling worried she might be wrong about that. Still, her thoughts were more on the question of what else he might do.
As they came into the sheriff's chambers, Guy was sitting at the large table, documents spread in front of him, which he seemed to be busy reading.
It took a moment before he looked up to her, his expression grave.
"So we caught the Nightwatchman," he said.
"Guy-"
"No 'Guy', this is Sir Gisborne to you." His tone was cold.
"Sir Gisborne," she repeated testily.
"Are you ready to confess to your crimes?" he asked.
Marian was not sure what he wanted to hear. He knew she was the Nightwatchman and he probably knew she had been taking goods from the castle and handing them out to the poor.
"You know what I'm doing," she said simply.
"So you admit to being the Nightwatchman and stealing goods from the castle as well as from Locksley?"
"Yes," she said, "And you know I'm doing that to help-"
"What do I have to do to make you stop this madness?" Gisborne asked.
Marian was silent. In the back of her mind, she had started to wonder, if her decision to keep going on was wise. Maybe the time of the Nightwatchman was really over, if his initial purpose to keep her identity hidden was lost.
"Are you still consorting with outlaws?" he asked then.
She said nothing, not denying it either.
He stood up now, walking around the table, coming to a stop in front of her, looking down at her. "This is a hanging offence," he said quietly.
"You wouldn't do that," she said.
She was quite sure of that, but for a long while Marian had figured that there would come the day when Guy would try to stop her with more than talk. She guessed she could talk herself out of most of that, especially now that there was no Vaysey anymore to push Guy around.
He didn't reply, but turned away from her. Taking slow steps back to his seat, he sat down again, and she wondered if letting her wait was some kind of showing her that he was the one who would have his will, or if it was simply him trying to come to a decision.
After some moments he said, "Hood hasn't been seen in many weeks. Where is he now?"
"I'm not going to tell you anything," she shot back at him immediately.
"You are in contact with him, are you not?"
She didn't reply to that, but what else could she say? Guy knew she had been working with Robin at the least, and it had been pretty obvious even that it was more than cooperation. Guy had to be either blind or denying the truth to not know that.
"You have been consorting with outlaws and are doing so still," Guy stated then as a fact.
"I'm not working against you," Marian replied, and it was even the truth. Nothing of what she had done these past few months had actively acted against the new sheriff. She had been focused on helping the poor, sometimes giving information to Robin, but nothing that one could really call harmful to the sheriff, even though she had taken provisions from the castle.
"You leave me no other choice, Marian."
"What are you going to do? Hang me?" she asked boldly, remembering his earlier warning.
"No, but I will keep you from forcing me to do that," he returned, standing up. "Guards!"
"So you're going to lock me up in the dungeons?" she asked as the guards came back.
"No, I'm no fool, Marian," he replied. "I know Hood would come and get you out of there."
>>>---> >>>---> >>>--->
(whole conversation speaking Arabic with each other)
Djaq looked at the man who stood before her in the castle's corridor, having surprised her as he had come up from behind. She might have expected anything when being caught in the castle, but not simply being asked for her name.
"I'm Djaq," she replied almost instinctively to his question, yet backing away from him.
"Oh, don't go. I mean you no harm," he said. "I am only surprised to find another countryman here in this cold place," he smiled again.
"Are you working for the sheriff?" Djaq asked directly, looking back and seeing that she now also had the attention of the other two men. It was probably best, if she managed to leave as quickly as possible and found Will again.
"Working for the sheriff? No. We are simply his guests." As the other two men stepped towards them, he said, "May I introduce my friends Aalam and Hafid? And my name is Qusay."
Djaq noticed that he had not mentioned their families, but then she had not mentioned hers, not even giving her real name, the real one no one was calling her anymore these days. Who knew if those were the men's real names.
"What brings you to this country, my friend?" the other asked her then.
Djaq felt uncomfortable under his look, wondering how long they would need to realise that she was, in fact, a woman. She could not even imagine their reaction to such a realisation. Her hair was longer now than when she had first come to England, come to the forest, and her clothes did not try to hide as much that she was a female as they had done before, though their practical use was still a priority, so it was still what would be called men's clothings. With the winter weather, her coat was wrapping her body, so at least this would hide her identity for now.
"I-" she began, but what could she really say? That she had been brought here as a slave? That she was now living with outlaws? She did not want to mention the way she had come here; it was past and she was no prisoner anymore, had sworn herself that she would never be again, so she did not want these men to see her as that.
"Where do you come from?" Aalam wanted to know then.
"I have to go," Djaq decided, not answering the questions. "I am sorry, but I cannot speak to you here. I cannot be here." It was stupid even to talk to these men, just because they were from her home. It did not mean she knew them and it did not mean that they meant well. Djaq moved as if she had to flee from them, but they gave her no trouble in letting her pass.
"Ma'a salama," they called after her, but she did not reply or look back, as she raced down the corridors, hoping to find Will. She then remembered that she had been looking for Allan, but there had been no trace of the man.
When she finally came up to Will, running up to him from behind, he almost jumped.
"Djaq!" he called. "I was worried."
"Sorry, I did not find Allan."
"Neither did I," Will said, clearly disappointed, and Djaq wondered why he was so keen to talk to the man, who he had just a few months ago considered a traitor who he never wanted to see again. Of course, she also knew he had met the man once in the tavern here in Nottingham, and they had talked, but she did not know how much this had changed Will's mind. "Let's go," Will said then, looking at her curiously. "Is something wrong?"
Djaq shook her head, leading the way down the stairs. They made their way through the kitchens and were just about to leave, when they heard a call, the alarm was raised and guards came up to them. Djaq broke into a full-fledged run,Will right behind her. Out on the street, the cold wind hit her hard in the face as they rushed along back to the meeting place of the outlaws, taking a few extra turns to get rid of the guards. It had started to snow again.
They slowed down then, the guards not following anymore. Neither Robin nor Much or John were back yet, so Will and Djaq stood huddled in their cloaks, waiting, on the look-out for their friends.
"There are Saracens at the castle," Djaq said then. There was no reason why she should not tell Will about them, and maybe the information would prove useful, if they were indeed guests of the sheriff. It was a good question why they would be guests of the sheriff at all.
"Saracens?" Will asked surprised, rubbing his hands to warm them.
"They said they were the sheriff's guests," she explained.
"You talked to them?" Will wondered. "And they're Gisborne's guests? Not prisoners?"
"I spoke to them only briefly," she said. "They did not look like prisoners to me."
Will nodded, and it was then that John and Much returned.
>>>---> >>>---> >>>--->
The way into the castle was routine, no matter that he had to take care not to be seen by guards. Gisborne didn't seem to have revolutionised their guarding scheme though since he had become sheriff, so Robin didn't meet any unexpected hurdles on his way in. It was on a hunch that he had decided to check the dungeons.
He was worried about Marian. He knew she often went out at night as the Nightwatchman, though she hadn't for a time due to the bad weather. Apparently she had disregarded that the last night. He wished she would have at least told him, so he would know where to look for her. But the discussions with her about that matter had been endless, and mostly pointless.
She had been thinking she needed to do more on her own, needed to help more on her own, needed to get information they would not get if they worked together in the gang. He also knew she was still waiting for letters, but he doubted they would reach her one way or another. If they came to the castle, Gisborne would confiscate them anyway. Marian had written to Count Friedrich many months ago, asking if the Bavarian noble could give them any news about their king, who was being held captive in Austria, but so far they were still waiting for any reply and didn't know if one would even come at all.
She had sent the letter via a relative, who had sent it on to the continent and the idea was that the return letter would take the same way, so any letter Marian might receive would by its appearance come from her distant family member, not from a European count. Marian had been hoping that this would be enough to keep Gisborne out of her private mail. But now that Marian was living with them in the forest, even that hope was moot. Gisborne would happily look into any of her correspondence, if only in the hope to find anything that would lead him to where she might be hiding.
Making his way down to the dungeons, Robin sneaked around the place, always on the lookout for the jailer or any guards, while looking through the cells that were surprisingly empty. It was probably a good thing, for it was awfully cold down here, too, though Robin wondered if the dungeons were as empty as they were because Gisborne recently had refrained from jailing all too many people, or because he had gotten rid of them quickly. Robin checked the cells one by one. He had been almost certain to find Marian here if not at any other place, so it was even with something of disappointment that he found the last cell empty of her as well. He hoped she never again would have to be down here in a place like this, but then he wished she had been here, just so he knew where she was and that he had found her and could help her escape.
He left the place and looked around the castle some more, but nowhere did he see or hear any sign that told him that the Nightwatchman had been caught, which was so far his only explanation for Marian not having come back. But then, she had maybe come back to camp in the meantime and all his worry was for nothing. He shook his head, deciding to get back to his men for now.
When he came to their meeting place, he saw that all of them were back. He heard Much complaining about the weather and doing his best to pull his hat over his ears that had turned a sharp shade of red in the cold wind. They stood there, waiting. Robin knew it was time to leave. If the group continued to stand there for very much longer, especially considering how cold it was, they would draw unwanted attention. Of course, the guards were probably in little mood to go out and check for suspicious activities in this weather, too.
"Did you hear anything new? Anything about Marian or the Nighwatchman?" Will asked, but John shook his head.
"Most of the people stay indoors, if they can. They don't run around in the cold like we do," Much said. "We should be back at the camp where it is warm."
"We have stayed at camp long enough," Will pointed out. "And tomorrow we will go to the villages, no matter the cold. The people need the help." Much no longer complained, just wrapped his cloak tightly around him. Will continued then, "We saw Allan, he's still in the castle. Djaq and I tried to follow him, but he got away."
"Allan," Much muttered briefly, "I bet he's warm. And he probably has plenty of food. I want some food; maybe I should join him."
"He's working for Gisborne," Will said darkly. "We can be happy Gisborne hasn't come round to camp yet." It had been a contested issue between them, if they should give up camp, as Allan knew where it was. But over the past few months, it had still been a safe refuge.
"Allan would not tell him of our camp," Djaq said. "He just wants a place to stay."
"He shouldn't be able to come back to camp," Much frowned. "Not after what he's done."
"After who's done what?" Robin said aloud, announcing his presence to the group, no matter that he had already listened to their conversation and knew well enough they were talking about Allan.
"Master!" Much turned, "There you are. I thought you had gotten caught again."
"We're talking about Allan," Will filled Robin in unnecessarily, ignoring Much's statement. "He's in the castle...I don't know what he's up to though."
"Playing Gisborne's dog body," Robin replied bitterly. "I haven't found any trace of Marian. We should go, before we're seen here. If she's not back at camp yet, I'm going to the villages."