Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
✣ BROTHERS IN ARMS
FINGERS WERE TWISTING THE PENDANT that she wore around her neck, carefully tracing over the delicately carved arrow. The rope burned her skin as she played with it but the Lady of the castle didn't seem to care. She jumped when there was a knock at her door, the pendant falling back to rest against her chest -- immediately she adjusted her dress so that the light blue fabric hid it once more.
"Who is it?" Her voice called softly, moving so that she could open the door. A guard, clad in yellow and black was standing there -- he took a step back, he appeared rather shy in the presence of the Lady.
"My Lady, your father requests your presence."
"Tell him I'll be there immediately." She carried herself as quickly as possible to the main room, walking in on her father and Gisborne already speaking to a man there.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
"An outrage!" And he was already complaining. Fantastic. "Innocent man. Robbed. Whilst going about his legitimate business."
"I need more guards." The mysterious man spoke, and by the time he did - Krystyna was at her father's side.
Gisborne was the first to reply, moving slightly as to stand closer to the blonde. "Out of the question."
"You shall have them."
"'Bout half a dozen should do. Oh, uh, I need a new carriage and all." This man was still talking, demanding things and her father seemed more than willing to give them to him.
"Of course. See to it, Gisborne."
The man in mustard put on his hat and began to walk out of the room, a raised brow followed him until he was out of the doors. Who was this man? And why was her father so keen on helping him?
"Hm, man's worth his weight in gold, hm? He makes a profit and we get our taxes. It's good. A public-private partnership. What happened, Gisborne?"
At this point, the tall, dark man was pacing around the room. It felt empty, the only sound being his footsteps once her father had finished speaking. Empty chairs were set out, where nobles would sit when called to a meeting -- but apart from that, it was too empty.
"Robin Hood must've known George's whereabouts. Only once. Once! He risks the forest and immediately he's robbed. Coincidence? Hm, clue. No. Hood knows more about our business than we do. The question is ... how?"
"I don't know." Sir Guy sighed, a gloved hand moving to rub over his face.
"I do. We have a spy amongst us."
The blonde shuffled uncomfortably as she stood beside her father's chair. Of course, from time to time - she would pass on information to Robin about anything she seemed necessary for him to know. However, her friend, Marian, was more than happy to tell him everything that went on in the castle.
Krystyna played on both teams, she was careful that her father never found - nor suspected her. If Marian wasn't careful, she would get caught out; and there would only be so much that Krystyna could to do protect her.
"Do you know what we have to do to catch a spy?" The Sheriff grinned, eyes seeming to lighten up with the idea he had come up with.
"No."
"I do. I set a trap - or rather, you set a trap."
A deep sigh came from Gisborne, and he left without another word. After the room was empty, apart from the guards, her father stood and turned toward his daughter.
"I do trust, that it is not you that is passing on information to Hood." He took a few steps closer, fingers taking hold of the string around her neck and pulling it up so that he could see the necklace she wore. Of course, he had known about it -- the Sheriff had seen her put it on after it had left Roy's hands.
"Of course not, father. I have been with you or Gisborne these past few days -- have I not?"
"Hm... you have. Best watch yourself." And without any further words, he left.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Later that same day, the Lady returned to the same room -- it seemed as if everything was repeating itself, just with different people. She saw her friend and Gisborne talking, a necklace being given. More presents. How predictable.
A guard walked down the stairs, addressing Sir Guy.
"You wanted to see me, Sir?"
"Cancel the guard for the consignment from Rotherham." Gisborne began to speak, and immediately Krystyna assumed that this was the trap that they had been talking about earlier in the day.
"No guards?"
"No guards. Guards attract attention, and why would we want to attract attention to a chest full of silver traveling through Sherwood Forest?"
"Yes, Sir."
"And tell no one. No one. Not even the guards themselves."
"Yes, Sir."
Even from where the eldest maiden was standing, she knew that look upon Marian's face. One that was of determination -- she couldn't tell Robin. This must have been her father's trick he had been previously talking about. A chest was full of silver. No guards.
It had to be her.
Her friend went to leave the room, the blonde grabbing her wrist and pulling her close before she could warn Robin.
"Marian. You cannot." Krystyna's voice was hardly above a whisper, a look of concern hiding behind her features.
"How can you even think that? Think about how much help that silver would be to everyone." The grip was snatched from her, the concern changing to hurt. Without another word, Marian left. Instead, the Maiden went to look for a conversation with Sir Guy.
"I was going to give that to you, you know." He commented, and immediately the Lady of the castle assumed that he meant the necklace.
"Oh."
"But, you are already wearing one. One you never take off."
"Ah, that is true. It ... means a lot to me." Subconsciously, fingers fiddled with the string of the necklace - her deep brown hues turned to look up at Sir Guy with a smile.
"Perhaps, I can offer something which could mean more. In time."
"Sir Guy, if you do not mind me saying -- you should really make up your mind on which one of us it is, that you want to pursue."
