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fellowshippers2004-11-22 09:22 am
charlottemay.livejournal.com) wrote in fellowshippers2004-11-22 09:22 am
Deep in the Forest (10/?)
Title: Deep in the Forest (10/?)
Author: Charlotte May
Email:charlottemay43@hotmail.com
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Dom/Billy, Orlando/Elijah, Karl/Miranda
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. I intend no disrespect to Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd or anyone else mentioned in this story.
Warning: AU
Feedback: Always welcome!
Summary: There are some very familiar faces running round Sherwood Forest. Yes, folks, it’s a LOTRPS Robin Hood story! Do I really need to point out that it’s an AU? ;-)
Author’s notes: Sorry for the long delay in posting this part. RL got in the way.
Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
canciona for the wonderful beta and the kind words. {{hugs}}
Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five - Part Six - Part Seven - Part Eight - Part Nine
Cross-posted to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
monaboyd, fellow_shippers and my lj.
Deep in the Forest
Part ten - in which Sean's day gets worse and the Sheriff's getting lonely
Friar Astin rubbed his eyes, trying to get used to the blinding sunlight streaming into the encampment. The noise that had disturbed his quiet contemplation seemed to be centred on a young, familiar-looking woman and – Sean blinked a couple of times in disbelief and rubbed his eyes again – yes, it was Karl of Gisborne. He glanced heavenwards. What had he done to deserve this on top of everything else? He tried to live a good, decent life. Really, he did.
Sean realised the young woman was talking to him. “Could you marry us, father?” She was dragging Karl of Gisborne behind her. He was sporting a rather fixed grin, as if he’d sooner be anywhere other than here.
Pulling his thoughts together, Sean tried to be professional. “Well, yes, I can.” He turned to Gisborne. “Is that what you want?”
Seeming to come to his senses, Gisborne wrapped a protective arm around the woman and smiled. “Yes, I want to marry Miranda, Friar. Can you help us?”
Miranda! Of course! The Sheriff’s daughter. Sean glanced round the encampment. All the outlaws were watching with undisguised curiosity. Dom had folded his arms and tilted his head on one side, staring at Miranda and Gisborne in fascination. Unsure what to do, Sean looked at him pleadingly.
Dom shrugged, and said, “As far as I’m concerned the lady can marry whoever she chooses… so long as it’s not me.” He grinned. “Or Billy.”
Sean glanced at Billy, who’d suddenly developed a keen interest in his shoes. Sean smiled. So that was the way the wind blew, was it? Well, it was nice to see Dom happy again.
“So when can you marry us?” asked Miranda breathlessly. “Can you do it now?”
Sean shook his head. “No, I need time for prayer and preparation. The soonest I could do it would be tomorrow morning, but under the current circumstances…”
Miranda cut him off. “Tomorrow will be fine. Is that okay with you, Karl?”
Gisborne nodded.
Sean started to shake his head, about to explain that until they knew what they were going to do about Elijah, he wasn’t about to marry anyone, when Liv and her companions rode into camp at a gallop. She jumped off her horse and ran up to Dom. Even before she spoke, Sean could tell by the look on her face that the news wasn’t good.
“Well?” said Dom.
She shook her head. “They won’t help. They’ve sent word to King Richard and are waiting for the messenger to return with instructions, which should be by nightfall the day after tomorrow. They say their priorities are to depose the Sheriff and rescue Orlando, preferably legally, not to save some known criminal from the gallows.” She spat out the words with undisguised hatred. “And they said that even if they wanted to help, they don’t have enough men between them to storm the castle.”
“Fuck!” Dom turned away abruptly and strode towards his tent, his face a rigid mask. Sean watched as Billy followed close behind him. He hoped the Scotsman could calm their leader down. In this kind of mood, Dom might do something rash that they’d all regret later.
====
“It’s your turn.”
“No, it’s yours.”
“Is not.”
“Is.”
The two guards glared at each other. “Look, Brad,” said the older one, Bernard, with exaggerated patience, “Gisborne will be down here on his rounds any minute and what’s he going to say when he finds out that the Duke hasn’t had any breakfast?”
“Well, you go and give it to him then.” Brad folded his arms and stared at his colleague.
They both looked at the bowl of porridge, steaming gently on the table. “Oh for fuck’s sake, I’ll go,” muttered the Bernard irritably. “You take him his lunch.” Smiling in satisfaction at his victory, Brad watched him disappear down the stairs and heard the key turn in the cellar door. The next moment there was a scream and the crash of breaking crockery. Footsteps raced up the stairs. Bernard appeared, red faced and panting. “He’s gone!”
“Gone?” Brad stared at his colleague in disbelief.
“Gone. As in ‘not there’, ‘missing’, ‘somewhere else’. Gone.” He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. “What the hell are we going to do?”
Brad’s mouth dropped open in horror. “We are so fucked.”
They stared in disbelief at each other as the truly appalling nature of their predicament sank in. “Do you think we ought to go and tell someone?” Bernard asked, trying very hard not to think of the fate that usually awaited incompetent employees of the Sheriff.
“No.” Brad shook his head. “Gisborne will be here soon. I bet he’s late because he’s with that high maintenance girlfriend of his.” He thought for a moment. “Let’s hope he got his leg over and is in a good mood.”
“Pretty one, she is,” agreed Bernard thoughtfully. “Thick as a brick, but very decorative.”
They lapsed into silence again.
“What do you reckon the Sheriff will do to us?” asked Brad, trying to keep his voice steady.
Bernard winced and went pale. “We could make a run for it,” he suggested.
“I don’t think the wife would like that.”
“I doubt if she’d like you being hung, drawn and quartered either.”
Brad gave Bernard a look. “You don’t know my wife.”
====
Lord Bean drummed his fingers on the table impatiently. Where was everybody? It was almost ten o’clock and he hadn’t seen Gisborne or Miranda. He frowned. Gisborne was probably down in Nottingham checking on the Duke of Mansfield, though he was usually back at the castle by nine. And Miranda? She wasn’t in her room; he’d already sent a servant there. Then he had a thought. Of course! After their conversation the previous night, Miranda would be with her fiancé. She might splutter and bitch, but in the end she always did what her father told her, though it was usually with appallingly bad grace. He winced. He’d never known anyone who could sulk for so long.
Coming to a decision, he stood up abruptly and left the Great Hall heading for Orlando’s room. He had perhaps been a little harsh with his daughter. Perhaps a very small apology would be in order... just to smooth the waters, of course.
When he reached Orlando’s room, he nodded to the guard on duty and opened the door. His prisoner was standing by the window when he entered and turned round at the sound of his footsteps. “Sheriff,” he said curtly, glaring at Lord Bean.
Bean hesitated. He had truly expected Miranda to be here. Where on earth could she be? “I was looking for my daughter,” he said carefully.
“As you can see, she’s not here,” replied Orlando, turning back to the window.
“Not hiding under the bed? Or in the garderobe?” asked the Sheriff, glancing round the room. “I really won’t be angry if I’ve disturbed you having your way with her.”
Orlando swivelled back to face the Sheriff, tipped his head on one side and rolled his eyes. “Not a snowball’s chance in hell.”
There was a pause. Bean walked across the room and checked the garderobe, just to be sure.
“Have you tried Gisborne’s room?” suggested Orlando, smiling sweetly.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” snapped the Sheriff, turning and sweeping out of the room.
He knew Orlando’s comment was intended to annoy him, and therefore he didn’t take it seriously, but as he walked back to the Great Hall, he couldn’t stop the nagging suspicion that something funny was going on. Both Miranda and Gisborne were missing. They couldn’t be together, could they? After all, Gisborne had asked for permission to marry her. Then Miranda’s voice echoed in his mind. “I’m not going to marry Orlando. I want to marry Karl.”
He shuddered. Should he perhaps check Gisborne’s room? No, he thought. He was just being paranoid. There was no way Miranda would defy him… was there?
He squared his shoulders. This was ridiculous. He was Lord Bean, Sheriff of Nottingham, and he was going to stop trying to second guess himself. It was time to find out what the fucking hell was going on around here.
=====
Billy lifted the tent flap and stepped inside after Dom. After a moment his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, and he could see Dom lying on his back on the bed, staring into space. Billy sat down next to him. “Dom?” When he got no reply, Billy reached out and gently stroked the other man’s hair. Dom jerked away, rolling onto his side turning his back to his lover. “Dom?” repeated Billy.
“Leave me alone. I need to think,” mumbled Dom, hunching his shoulders.
“Dom?”
“Fuck off, Billy! Can’t you take a hint?”
Billy flinched at the brutality of Dom’s words, but he wasn’t about to leave Dom alone at a time like this. “No,” he said quietly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You don’t understand… you don’t know him… he’s so young… so innocent…,” muttered Dom, rolling onto his back and shaking his head.
Looking at the expression on Dom’s face – grief-stricken, anguish-filled, utter misery – Billy suddenly realised what was causing it. “You’re still in love with him, aren’t you?” he asked, trying hard not to sound jealous. He wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded. The green-eyed monster had flared up in him at the thought of Dom still caring for Elijah.
Dom looked up at Billy. A frown creased his forehead. “What?”
“You’re still in love with him,” repeated Billy. He waited, holding his breath, for Dom to confirm what he was already sure was the truth.
“Perhaps a little.” Dom sat up and his expression softened as he looked Billy in the eye. “But I’d like to think I’d feel like this, whichever one of my men was captured and condemned to death.” He took a deep breath. “There’s no need to be jealous, Billy. You’re the important person in my life now.” Dom reached out and stroked Billy’s cheek, a ghost of a smile flitting across his face. He leaned in and gently brushed Billy’s lips with his. “I love you, you daft Scotsman, and don’t you forget it.”
Billy felt his heart do a strange flip-flop. Dom loved him. God. Why was it hard to breathe? Oh yes, Dom loved him. He realised Dom was watching him, waiting for him to say something. Billy smiled shyly. “I love you too.”
They sat in silence for a few moments. Billy dragged his mind reluctantly from all the interesting erotic things he’d like to do with Dom and turned it back to the matter of Elijah. “So we need to rescue Elijah ourselves,” he said tentatively.
“Yeah. But I don’t see how we can possibly…” began Dom.
“We have the Sheriff’s daughter outside… and that guy with her?”
“Gisborne. He’s the Sheriff’s right hand man.”
“Well, surely they can get into the castle?”
“Probably not once Bean realises what they’ve done. And it won’t take long. Someone will have seen them and news travels very fast in Nottingham.”
News travelling fast? Andy! “Do you think Andy could help?” asked Billy.
For the first time since Liv had returned, Dom looked hopeful. “He might, though I don’t think he’d be able to get us into the castle.”
Billy smiled. “What about that passageway you mentioned? The one from the brewhouse to the castle?”
Dom grinned, grabbed Billy and kissed him full on the mouth. “I knew there was a reason I loved you, apart from your incredibly sexy body… and your eyes… and your accent…” Billy blushed but found himself laughing at Dom’s outburst. “You’re a genius!”
=====
Author: Charlotte May
Email:charlottemay43@hotmail.com
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Dom/Billy, Orlando/Elijah, Karl/Miranda
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. I intend no disrespect to Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd or anyone else mentioned in this story.
Warning: AU
Feedback: Always welcome!
Summary: There are some very familiar faces running round Sherwood Forest. Yes, folks, it’s a LOTRPS Robin Hood story! Do I really need to point out that it’s an AU? ;-)
Author’s notes: Sorry for the long delay in posting this part. RL got in the way.
Thanks to
canciona for the wonderful beta and the kind words. {{hugs}}Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five - Part Six - Part Seven - Part Eight - Part Nine
Cross-posted to
monaboyd, fellow_shippers and my lj. Deep in the Forest
Part ten - in which Sean's day gets worse and the Sheriff's getting lonely
Friar Astin rubbed his eyes, trying to get used to the blinding sunlight streaming into the encampment. The noise that had disturbed his quiet contemplation seemed to be centred on a young, familiar-looking woman and – Sean blinked a couple of times in disbelief and rubbed his eyes again – yes, it was Karl of Gisborne. He glanced heavenwards. What had he done to deserve this on top of everything else? He tried to live a good, decent life. Really, he did.
Sean realised the young woman was talking to him. “Could you marry us, father?” She was dragging Karl of Gisborne behind her. He was sporting a rather fixed grin, as if he’d sooner be anywhere other than here.
Pulling his thoughts together, Sean tried to be professional. “Well, yes, I can.” He turned to Gisborne. “Is that what you want?”
Seeming to come to his senses, Gisborne wrapped a protective arm around the woman and smiled. “Yes, I want to marry Miranda, Friar. Can you help us?”
Miranda! Of course! The Sheriff’s daughter. Sean glanced round the encampment. All the outlaws were watching with undisguised curiosity. Dom had folded his arms and tilted his head on one side, staring at Miranda and Gisborne in fascination. Unsure what to do, Sean looked at him pleadingly.
Dom shrugged, and said, “As far as I’m concerned the lady can marry whoever she chooses… so long as it’s not me.” He grinned. “Or Billy.”
Sean glanced at Billy, who’d suddenly developed a keen interest in his shoes. Sean smiled. So that was the way the wind blew, was it? Well, it was nice to see Dom happy again.
“So when can you marry us?” asked Miranda breathlessly. “Can you do it now?”
Sean shook his head. “No, I need time for prayer and preparation. The soonest I could do it would be tomorrow morning, but under the current circumstances…”
Miranda cut him off. “Tomorrow will be fine. Is that okay with you, Karl?”
Gisborne nodded.
Sean started to shake his head, about to explain that until they knew what they were going to do about Elijah, he wasn’t about to marry anyone, when Liv and her companions rode into camp at a gallop. She jumped off her horse and ran up to Dom. Even before she spoke, Sean could tell by the look on her face that the news wasn’t good.
“Well?” said Dom.
She shook her head. “They won’t help. They’ve sent word to King Richard and are waiting for the messenger to return with instructions, which should be by nightfall the day after tomorrow. They say their priorities are to depose the Sheriff and rescue Orlando, preferably legally, not to save some known criminal from the gallows.” She spat out the words with undisguised hatred. “And they said that even if they wanted to help, they don’t have enough men between them to storm the castle.”
“Fuck!” Dom turned away abruptly and strode towards his tent, his face a rigid mask. Sean watched as Billy followed close behind him. He hoped the Scotsman could calm their leader down. In this kind of mood, Dom might do something rash that they’d all regret later.
====
“It’s your turn.”
“No, it’s yours.”
“Is not.”
“Is.”
The two guards glared at each other. “Look, Brad,” said the older one, Bernard, with exaggerated patience, “Gisborne will be down here on his rounds any minute and what’s he going to say when he finds out that the Duke hasn’t had any breakfast?”
“Well, you go and give it to him then.” Brad folded his arms and stared at his colleague.
They both looked at the bowl of porridge, steaming gently on the table. “Oh for fuck’s sake, I’ll go,” muttered the Bernard irritably. “You take him his lunch.” Smiling in satisfaction at his victory, Brad watched him disappear down the stairs and heard the key turn in the cellar door. The next moment there was a scream and the crash of breaking crockery. Footsteps raced up the stairs. Bernard appeared, red faced and panting. “He’s gone!”
“Gone?” Brad stared at his colleague in disbelief.
“Gone. As in ‘not there’, ‘missing’, ‘somewhere else’. Gone.” He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. “What the hell are we going to do?”
Brad’s mouth dropped open in horror. “We are so fucked.”
They stared in disbelief at each other as the truly appalling nature of their predicament sank in. “Do you think we ought to go and tell someone?” Bernard asked, trying very hard not to think of the fate that usually awaited incompetent employees of the Sheriff.
“No.” Brad shook his head. “Gisborne will be here soon. I bet he’s late because he’s with that high maintenance girlfriend of his.” He thought for a moment. “Let’s hope he got his leg over and is in a good mood.”
“Pretty one, she is,” agreed Bernard thoughtfully. “Thick as a brick, but very decorative.”
They lapsed into silence again.
“What do you reckon the Sheriff will do to us?” asked Brad, trying to keep his voice steady.
Bernard winced and went pale. “We could make a run for it,” he suggested.
“I don’t think the wife would like that.”
“I doubt if she’d like you being hung, drawn and quartered either.”
Brad gave Bernard a look. “You don’t know my wife.”
====
Lord Bean drummed his fingers on the table impatiently. Where was everybody? It was almost ten o’clock and he hadn’t seen Gisborne or Miranda. He frowned. Gisborne was probably down in Nottingham checking on the Duke of Mansfield, though he was usually back at the castle by nine. And Miranda? She wasn’t in her room; he’d already sent a servant there. Then he had a thought. Of course! After their conversation the previous night, Miranda would be with her fiancé. She might splutter and bitch, but in the end she always did what her father told her, though it was usually with appallingly bad grace. He winced. He’d never known anyone who could sulk for so long.
Coming to a decision, he stood up abruptly and left the Great Hall heading for Orlando’s room. He had perhaps been a little harsh with his daughter. Perhaps a very small apology would be in order... just to smooth the waters, of course.
When he reached Orlando’s room, he nodded to the guard on duty and opened the door. His prisoner was standing by the window when he entered and turned round at the sound of his footsteps. “Sheriff,” he said curtly, glaring at Lord Bean.
Bean hesitated. He had truly expected Miranda to be here. Where on earth could she be? “I was looking for my daughter,” he said carefully.
“As you can see, she’s not here,” replied Orlando, turning back to the window.
“Not hiding under the bed? Or in the garderobe?” asked the Sheriff, glancing round the room. “I really won’t be angry if I’ve disturbed you having your way with her.”
Orlando swivelled back to face the Sheriff, tipped his head on one side and rolled his eyes. “Not a snowball’s chance in hell.”
There was a pause. Bean walked across the room and checked the garderobe, just to be sure.
“Have you tried Gisborne’s room?” suggested Orlando, smiling sweetly.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” snapped the Sheriff, turning and sweeping out of the room.
He knew Orlando’s comment was intended to annoy him, and therefore he didn’t take it seriously, but as he walked back to the Great Hall, he couldn’t stop the nagging suspicion that something funny was going on. Both Miranda and Gisborne were missing. They couldn’t be together, could they? After all, Gisborne had asked for permission to marry her. Then Miranda’s voice echoed in his mind. “I’m not going to marry Orlando. I want to marry Karl.”
He shuddered. Should he perhaps check Gisborne’s room? No, he thought. He was just being paranoid. There was no way Miranda would defy him… was there?
He squared his shoulders. This was ridiculous. He was Lord Bean, Sheriff of Nottingham, and he was going to stop trying to second guess himself. It was time to find out what the fucking hell was going on around here.
=====
Billy lifted the tent flap and stepped inside after Dom. After a moment his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, and he could see Dom lying on his back on the bed, staring into space. Billy sat down next to him. “Dom?” When he got no reply, Billy reached out and gently stroked the other man’s hair. Dom jerked away, rolling onto his side turning his back to his lover. “Dom?” repeated Billy.
“Leave me alone. I need to think,” mumbled Dom, hunching his shoulders.
“Dom?”
“Fuck off, Billy! Can’t you take a hint?”
Billy flinched at the brutality of Dom’s words, but he wasn’t about to leave Dom alone at a time like this. “No,” he said quietly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You don’t understand… you don’t know him… he’s so young… so innocent…,” muttered Dom, rolling onto his back and shaking his head.
Looking at the expression on Dom’s face – grief-stricken, anguish-filled, utter misery – Billy suddenly realised what was causing it. “You’re still in love with him, aren’t you?” he asked, trying hard not to sound jealous. He wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded. The green-eyed monster had flared up in him at the thought of Dom still caring for Elijah.
Dom looked up at Billy. A frown creased his forehead. “What?”
“You’re still in love with him,” repeated Billy. He waited, holding his breath, for Dom to confirm what he was already sure was the truth.
“Perhaps a little.” Dom sat up and his expression softened as he looked Billy in the eye. “But I’d like to think I’d feel like this, whichever one of my men was captured and condemned to death.” He took a deep breath. “There’s no need to be jealous, Billy. You’re the important person in my life now.” Dom reached out and stroked Billy’s cheek, a ghost of a smile flitting across his face. He leaned in and gently brushed Billy’s lips with his. “I love you, you daft Scotsman, and don’t you forget it.”
Billy felt his heart do a strange flip-flop. Dom loved him. God. Why was it hard to breathe? Oh yes, Dom loved him. He realised Dom was watching him, waiting for him to say something. Billy smiled shyly. “I love you too.”
They sat in silence for a few moments. Billy dragged his mind reluctantly from all the interesting erotic things he’d like to do with Dom and turned it back to the matter of Elijah. “So we need to rescue Elijah ourselves,” he said tentatively.
“Yeah. But I don’t see how we can possibly…” began Dom.
“We have the Sheriff’s daughter outside… and that guy with her?”
“Gisborne. He’s the Sheriff’s right hand man.”
“Well, surely they can get into the castle?”
“Probably not once Bean realises what they’ve done. And it won’t take long. Someone will have seen them and news travels very fast in Nottingham.”
News travelling fast? Andy! “Do you think Andy could help?” asked Billy.
For the first time since Liv had returned, Dom looked hopeful. “He might, though I don’t think he’d be able to get us into the castle.”
Billy smiled. “What about that passageway you mentioned? The one from the brewhouse to the castle?”
Dom grinned, grabbed Billy and kissed him full on the mouth. “I knew there was a reason I loved you, apart from your incredibly sexy body… and your eyes… and your accent…” Billy blushed but found himself laughing at Dom’s outburst. “You’re a genius!”
=====