The Job
Title: The Job
Author: robinfanatic
Characters: Isabella, Thornton, Carter; mentions Robin
Words: 722
Genre: angst
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: BBC & TA own; I just want to play in their universe.
Notes: for rh_intercomm challenge; many many thanks to wastingyourgum for the plot bunny!! This is a lost scene that takes place immediately prior to 2x08.
Summary: Isabella will do anything to escape...
The Job
by robinfanatic
Isabella listened, barely breathing, from the doorway.
"I will make quick work of it, My Lord," the young man said, his voice sending a shiver up her spine. "Then I'll be off to Nottingham."
"Good. Ten pounds now." Thornton's voice dripped icily. Coins clinked. "Twenty more when the job is done."
Isabella felt her pulse quicken. She hurried to the stable. She might have another way out. A young man could always use more gold in his pocket.
»»----------------»»»
"You have friends in Nottingham?" she asked as Thornton's 'hire' checked his horse's cinch. He was dressed in blacks and grays from head to toe, cutting a very handsome and well-muscled figure. Clean-shaven with golden blond hair that was shorn short, he could easily have passed for a young noble rather than the peasants her husband usually hired.
"I am looking for someone there."
"More...business...with my husband?"
His intense blue eyes caught hers. "Sheriff's business."
"Isabella," she nodded.
"Lady Isabella," he bowed. "Carter."
"I have not been to Nottingham since I was a young girl," she said, running her hand through his horse's dark mane. "I should like to go back but my husband frowns upon any interest I have beyond his bedroom."
Carter did not flinch. He checked his sword, his long blade, inspected his saddle bag, and patted the pouch of coins tied to the belt at his waist.
Isabella brushed the animal's flank. "I grew up near Locksley," she added when he did not respond.
"Did you know the lord of the manor there--Robin?"
She seemed pleased that she'd cracked his cool façade. "At ten years old he was a smug little cocky bastard," she smirked.
"Then he has not changed much."
"You know him?"
"We both served in King Richard's private guard though he left shortly after I arrived in the Holy Land. His reputation did not leave with him."
Isabella heard the snarl in Carter's voice. She smiled mischievously. She'd heard the story of Robin Hood. "You are after the Sheriff's bounty. Your...business." She looked at him coyly and laid her hand atop his on the saddle. "I bet you have other...talents."
Carter gently removed his hand. "I am a soldier, a mercenary, milady."
"A Knight Templar, my Lord. Do not knights help people in distress?"
"Are you in distress, milady?"
"I am like a caged bird here." A tear threatened to slip down Isabella's cheek.
"This beautiful home, everything you could desire?"
"My husband makes my life hell, Carter!" Isabella's eyes grew wild and she grabbed his hands, pressing them against her heart. Her fingers slid up his chest then caressed his face. "Please take me with you. I will give you anything you might desire." She brushed his lips with a kiss.
Carter pulled away. "I was once bedded by a married woman, milady. She had a jealous husband. He merely threw me out of town. Yours would not be so generous."
"Twenty pounds then--"
"And have Lord Thornton place a bounty on my head?" Carter shook his head. "No," he said. "I am the hunter. I have no desire to be the hunted."
"You would leave me to die at his hands!" she half-shouted.
"He loves you."
"How can you say that? You do not know the things he has done to me."
"He told me he has servants who taste your food before it touches your lips."
"That is for his sake," she spat. "He trusts no one."
"He knows you tried to poison yourself and it grieved him greatly."
"It grieved him so much he nearly broke my arm when he found out!" Isabella's eyes grew wide. Why would this knight know so much about her? Her heart pounded in her ears. "What 'quick work' has he paid you for?"
Carter mounted his horse.
"Tell me!" she shouted, grabbing at the reins of his horse.
"I'm to kill the assassin you hired to take your life." Carter whipped the reins from Isabella's hands.
"No!!" she cried, falling to her knees as the knight rode off into the sunset.
Author: robinfanatic
Characters: Isabella, Thornton, Carter; mentions Robin
Words: 722
Genre: angst
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: BBC & TA own; I just want to play in their universe.
Notes: for rh_intercomm challenge; many many thanks to wastingyourgum for the plot bunny!! This is a lost scene that takes place immediately prior to 2x08.
Summary: Isabella will do anything to escape...
The Job
by robinfanatic
Isabella listened, barely breathing, from the doorway.
"I will make quick work of it, My Lord," the young man said, his voice sending a shiver up her spine. "Then I'll be off to Nottingham."
"Good. Ten pounds now." Thornton's voice dripped icily. Coins clinked. "Twenty more when the job is done."
Isabella felt her pulse quicken. She hurried to the stable. She might have another way out. A young man could always use more gold in his pocket.
»»----------------»»»
"You have friends in Nottingham?" she asked as Thornton's 'hire' checked his horse's cinch. He was dressed in blacks and grays from head to toe, cutting a very handsome and well-muscled figure. Clean-shaven with golden blond hair that was shorn short, he could easily have passed for a young noble rather than the peasants her husband usually hired.
"I am looking for someone there."
"More...business...with my husband?"
His intense blue eyes caught hers. "Sheriff's business."
"Isabella," she nodded.
"Lady Isabella," he bowed. "Carter."
"I have not been to Nottingham since I was a young girl," she said, running her hand through his horse's dark mane. "I should like to go back but my husband frowns upon any interest I have beyond his bedroom."
Carter did not flinch. He checked his sword, his long blade, inspected his saddle bag, and patted the pouch of coins tied to the belt at his waist.
Isabella brushed the animal's flank. "I grew up near Locksley," she added when he did not respond.
"Did you know the lord of the manor there--Robin?"
She seemed pleased that she'd cracked his cool façade. "At ten years old he was a smug little cocky bastard," she smirked.
"Then he has not changed much."
"You know him?"
"We both served in King Richard's private guard though he left shortly after I arrived in the Holy Land. His reputation did not leave with him."
Isabella heard the snarl in Carter's voice. She smiled mischievously. She'd heard the story of Robin Hood. "You are after the Sheriff's bounty. Your...business." She looked at him coyly and laid her hand atop his on the saddle. "I bet you have other...talents."
Carter gently removed his hand. "I am a soldier, a mercenary, milady."
"A Knight Templar, my Lord. Do not knights help people in distress?"
"Are you in distress, milady?"
"I am like a caged bird here." A tear threatened to slip down Isabella's cheek.
"This beautiful home, everything you could desire?"
"My husband makes my life hell, Carter!" Isabella's eyes grew wild and she grabbed his hands, pressing them against her heart. Her fingers slid up his chest then caressed his face. "Please take me with you. I will give you anything you might desire." She brushed his lips with a kiss.
Carter pulled away. "I was once bedded by a married woman, milady. She had a jealous husband. He merely threw me out of town. Yours would not be so generous."
"Twenty pounds then--"
"And have Lord Thornton place a bounty on my head?" Carter shook his head. "No," he said. "I am the hunter. I have no desire to be the hunted."
"You would leave me to die at his hands!" she half-shouted.
"He loves you."
"How can you say that? You do not know the things he has done to me."
"He told me he has servants who taste your food before it touches your lips."
"That is for his sake," she spat. "He trusts no one."
"He knows you tried to poison yourself and it grieved him greatly."
"It grieved him so much he nearly broke my arm when he found out!" Isabella's eyes grew wide. Why would this knight know so much about her? Her heart pounded in her ears. "What 'quick work' has he paid you for?"
Carter mounted his horse.
"Tell me!" she shouted, grabbing at the reins of his horse.
"I'm to kill the assassin you hired to take your life." Carter whipped the reins from Isabella's hands.
"No!!" she cried, falling to her knees as the knight rode off into the sunset.