Chapter 27: Decisions

Much didn't like the running. He had never liked that part. He also didn't like that they were heading back to the forest now, already missing the bed and food at Locksley. But on the good side, at least all of them were going back, no one was caught or missing, all of them were coming, apart from Allan that was, but who would really miss that man?

They had stopped just for a moment in the castle yard to help Will, Djaq and John with the goods they had retrieved from Prince John's carriage, before heading off for the forest for good.

Much was relieved when they were there, and no guards were on their track anymore. The problem only started when Marian began to argue with Robin. Much wondered why it always had to be like that.

"It is madness to go back to the castle now!" Robin told her.

"I need to find out what's going on," Marian insisted. "Prince John is still there and-"

"Gisborne's going to have you hang."

"No, he isn't," she replied. "He wouldn't harm me."

"Well, apart from that time when he stabbed you," Robin pointed out. "And that's even beside the point, for he said right there today that he was to apprehend the Nightwatchman!"

"Yes, but he didn't mean it like that," Marian still continued the discussion.

Robin looked incredulous and Much could very well understand the sentiment. "How else do you think he meant that? Marian, you can't go back there now."

The odd thing was that Much was sure the more Robin would tell Marian to not go back to the castle, the more likely she would be to actually do so. They always were like that, he figured.

"Maybe we can go to camp and have some rest and some food and a good night's sleep and talk about it again?" Much suggested.

"And we can look at the things we took from the prince," Djaq reminded them.

Robin nodded, looking at Marian, who frowned, but continued walking into the direction of the camp then, the gang apparently having won the argument for now.

When they arrived there, Much could see that John, Will and Djaq had kept the camp well-stocked through the last few weeks, and he nodded appreciatively. The outlaws began going through the items taken from the prince's carriage. There were few valuables as such, but also tools that might come in handy later, as well as letters that Djaq had considered potentially useful. She, Marian and Robin were reading through them now, and Much was curious if they would contain any useful information. He hoped not, for that would probably only mean that Robin would go off on a crazy mission again.

"Prince John is sending a lot of letters," he commented, as the three were still reading.

"This is only the few he had in his luggage," Robin pointed out. "Anything about all the silver that's being collected?" he asked, looking at Djaq and Marian.

The latter shock her head, but Djaq started to read, "More than half the sum is collected for the devil to stay away." She looked at Robin. "What does that mean? It was sent from London."

Robin frowned. "It means John is collecting money for something and we probably would not like what for."

"So the king stays away?" Marian wondered.

"But who would they pay that to?" Much said. "Would they give someone money so he doesn't let the king come back?" After a moment he added, "Oh. Yes, I guess they would."

Robin nodded, too. "This is a problem," he said.

"Which we cannot solve unless we keep track of where the money is really going," Marian pointed out.

"No," Robin replied. "You're not going back to the castle."

"I have to," she insisted.

"Marian," Robin stood up from where he had been sitting, leaving the letters behind to reach for her arms. "Please, stay here."

"Then I'll go there at night," Marian said simply. "I can get into the sheriff's room, find out what Gisborne is up to-"

"Gisborne knows you are the Nightwatchman," Robin reminded her once more.

"That won't be a problem, if he doesn't catch me."

"Then why go in disguise at all?" Robin wondered. "You're less likely to raise an alarm with the guards if you don't."

"So you don't mind me going at all?" Marian raised her eyebrows.

Much decided that this discussion wasn't for him and stood up, walking over to the fireplace to start their meal, while the argument continued. He was still busy cooking, when Robin suddenly walked off, taking his bow and quiver.

"What is going on now?" Much wondered, looking at John, who shrugged, but looked into Marian's direction. "So you are going back to the castle?"

"No," Marian said. "But the Nightwatchman will."

"Alright," Much nodded, turning back to his cooking. "Alright." Maybe Marian would yet change her mind, though he guessed until then a lot of arguing had to be done between her and Robin. Much wasn't actually sure who he wanted to win, but he figured Robin would feel better, if she stayed at the camp with them. Much decided he would prefer that.

Robin let the arrow loose and it flew away wildly, before hitting the ground. He had come here first because of his frustration about the fight with Marian. He feared she would not see it his way. And then there was nothing he could do, for she would always make her own decisions.

Gritting his teeth, he took another arrow, breathing in and out slowly as he set it in his bow. Drawing the string carefully, he focused on the tree in front of him again. He tried to ignore the stiffness of his fingers, keeping his mind on the bow, the arrow and the aim instead. He then let it loose and it flew straight ahead into the tree trunk, off the mark, but at least closer to it than any other arrow before.

"It will get better," Djaq said suddenly from behind him.

Robin turned to her. "My fingers are not doing what they used to."

"They need practise," she told him. "If a man has to stay in bed for many weeks and then tries to get up, his legs will not do what they used to do. But he learns to walk again."

Robin nodded, turning back to the tree to try another arrow.

"Robin," Djaq spoke again.

"Yes?" he asked as he aimed the arrow.

"Will you ever let Allan come back?" she asked him directly, not skirting the issue.

"The lads don't want him here," he replied, "Well, John and Will don't, because they agree he's a traitor. I don't know about Much." After a pause he added, "You want him to come back?"

"I do not know," Djaq admitted. "But he is a good man, I know that. He is lost and he has no other place to go."

Most of them didn't have another place, Robin thought, but didn't voice it. It certainly shouldn't be the only reason his men were with him; just because they had no other place to go.

"It actually seemed like he was trying his luck with Gisborne in Nottingham," he pointed out, remembering the fight at the castle, when Allan had even come to Gisborne's aid, no matter that it hadn't been quite clear if that had been very much on purpose.

"But he helped Much," Djaq reminded him, and Robin knew it was true, though that was no less than he would have expected of any man who he had once called a friend.

"He doesn't really seem to know what he wants. Be with us, fight the sheriff, Gisborne, or maybe just stick up for himself, join that lot even."

"Not all our decisions are easy and clear," Djaq said.

Of course Robin knew this to be true. It hadn't been an easy decision to make that deal with Vaysey, and he was still not sure it had been right. It had saved their lives, his and Marian's at that point, he figured, but else? There was new information he had gained, but apart from that they were not any closer to any real solution than before, the king still being in captivity and a new sheriff of Prince John's liking ruling in Nottingham now.

He didn't so much mind being back in the forest; it meant Locksley was abandoned again and that Gisborne would probably regain it for now, but still, it would not keep Robin from helping there and in other villages. As an outlaw he at least had not to take into consideration any odd agreements with the sheriff.

After he had sent a dozen more arrows flying, he noticed that Djaq had left.

Gisborne liked being sheriff. There were many things he had to deal with, not all of them pleasant, but finally it was him who held the power over those decisions, instead of just having to do the dirty work for someone else's decisions. The prince had left him with instructions when he departed, but the prince didn't care about what Gisborne did in the shire in detail. He only cared that new taxes would be collected accordingly and would safely reach his treasure in London. That this included that the outlaws - that Hood - had to be stopped, was a detail that was left to Gisborne to deal with.

Guy knew that the prince was trying to raise money to keep the king abroad by paying his jailer to keep him captive, unlike the king's mother who was actually collecting the ransom for her son. Guy did not mind the prince's plan. He himself did not have anything to gain from the king's safe return. In the best case, his alliance with the prince, with Vaysey even, might be questioned, but might be considered what a loyal man would do, following orders. In the worst case he might be considered a traitor, it might be revealed that he had once tried to kill the king in the Holy Land, he might lose his position and life; Hood might be reinstated by his beloved king and Guy would lose Locksley to him once again. No, Guy would be happy, if the king stayed away.

It was in the morning a week after he had been made sheriff, that he saw her again for the first time. Well, not her exactly, but that phantom, which she apparently still insisted to represent. He had not expected her to be here again so soon, for he had made himself clear; he was to apprehend all outlaws and criminals, including the Nightwatchman, and that had meant her. It had meant her, but still it was not certain that he was going to do anything, no matter that he kept reminding himself that she was working with Hood. It certainly was what she counted on.

It could be so easy. He could have her arrested and hanged, could conclude that part of his former life, no matter how much it hurt. It would be done and over with.

But as he watched the Nightwatchman sneak over the castle yard, he knew that was not what he wanted to do. But what else could he do? He could apprehend her, ask her to swear off on any of her doings with the outlaws, but would he be able to believe her, considering all the lies he had believed before? Would he really be able to believe a change of heart?

That man, Allan, who had been working with Hood before, had come to him, wanted to work for Guy now that he had no place with the outlaws anymore. Guy hadn't really cared either way. He didn't believe the man would be able to give any more worthwhile information, but maybe he would be useful at some point. So he had agreed and the man was now employed at the castle.

But what was he to do about Marian?

He let a few more moments pass, knowing her in a place where she could run, before he called, "Guards! The Nightwatchman! Get him!"

He didn't know what she wanted here this time, if it was simply a tour to sneak around the castle or if she was looking for something.

For a moment he wondered where she lived now, as he watched the guards stream onto the castle yard, the Nightwatchman already retreating.

She had no other home but the castle. Knighton Hall still lay in ashes, uncertain to ever be rebuilt, and Locksley could not be home to her either, now that Hood was back in the woods. Unless she agreed to marry Guy, but he had lost all hope for that, knowing she was with Hood.

"I have declared that I will apprehend all outlaws, including the Nightwatchman," Guy called over the yard as if as a reminder, unnecessarily. He had still not made it public that she was the disguised man. Vaysey had her hunted after her father's death, but he had never declared her outlaw, and Guy had not done so either. Yet.

Would she go against him again and again? Was she working with Hood still? It was likely. She probably even lived with Hood in the woods now, a sour taste appearing in Gisborne's mouth at the very thought. He knew she was with the man, maybe loved him even.

He could arrest her, keep her at the castle. He wouldn't have to hang her. No one would question the sheriff. And he was the sheriff now.

He saw the Nightwatchman vanish into the small alleys of the town, the guards now unlikely to catch her at all.

Guy sighed, closing his eyes. For now, this was it. Still, another solution had to be found, and he feared it would end in him having to apprehend her after all.

It was there where his personal life, the thing that was in his heart, was confronted with being a sheriff, that he would have the greatest trouble.

He found her a good distance away from camp. She had a bow with her and was testing it, aiming an arrow, but not letting it fly.

"Robin," she smiled at him, and he was relieved that their earlier fight seemed to be over.

"So is the Nightwatchman to be on the go again tonight?" he asked. He feared for her safety with Gisborne being in charge in Nottingham now. Vaysey had been dangerous, especially as he had detested Marian, but Gisborne was dangerous, too.

"Not tonight," she said.

"How long is Gisborne going to put up with what you're doing?" he asked. "I know you want to help, but the Nightwatchman's time is over, if the sheriff knows who he is..."

"So you want me to get another disguise?" she gave him half a smile.

"That's not what I meant," he shook his head. "If you want to help us, you have to work with us." At least then he would know what she was doing, and if something happened, he would know, too, and not have to wonder constantly if she was still safe or if Gisborne had decided after all to send her on her way to the gallows.

"There are some things I can do better on my own," she insisted, drawing the bow she held once again as if in confirmation of what she had said. She let the arrow fly this time, it hitting a tree some yards ahead.

"It's not worth risking your life for it, Marian."

"Look who's talking," she said.

Taking her into his arms, he asked, "Please take care." He kissed the top of her head.

"I'll take as much care as you do."

"That's not a very promising prospect," he grimaced, letting go of her.

Holding out the bow to him, she asked, "You want to try this one?"

He shrugged.

"It will get better," she said.

"That's what Djaq said," Robin nodded, taking the bow in his hand.

"Then listen at least to her, if you don't want to listen to me."

Robin drew the bow, carefully setting the arrow. "Then I'll best believe the both of you."

A/N: That's it! Thanks to my beta Emmithar for sticking with me through this long story that took even longer to write.

I have a new fic coming up which continues the story. I'll post it in the course of the next two weeks (depending on how quickly I'm writing ;-) ).

Thanks for reading!

The Best Thing

Story 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.