Deception

Chapter 76

- Chapter 76 -

It was early midday when we finally officially arrived in Nottingham Town. Half the soldiers had ridden ahead to clear the path in the village, the other half following behind as I rode beside the Prince in his open carriage. His sickening smile glued on his face as he waved to the cheering crowd that threw rose petals on the streets in front of him.

I rolled my eyes as we drew closer to Nottingham castle. Seeing it made my heart squeeze with joy to see something so familiar. I was home in a way, back to being a spy on the inside for Robin and for King Richard. As we drew inside I saw the Sheriff step out of the main doors with Guy behind him. I gulped slightly as I knew that seeing the Sheriff alive once again would anger Prince John and make my job harder to keep Guy alive and in his good books.

As we stopped in the courtyard I saw a young woman with black raven hair with a low cut purple gown step outside and stand beside Guy. I almost did a double take at the obvious family resemblance. Guy had never talked much about his family but I knew that had to be his sister Isabella. I dismounted and handed the reins to the stable boy as I glanced up to see Prince John scowling at the sight of the Sheriff.

"Welcome to Nottingham, Your Highness." The Sheriff smiles as he skips down the steps with his arms outstretched before he bows with respect as Prince John stared at him in disgust. Like dung under his boot.

"You're still alive." He growled as the Sheriff stands and coughs looking awkward and unsure of what to make of the Prince's announcement.

"Yes, of course." His smile fake as he shifted on his feet slightly.

"How surprising. I don't particularly like surprises." He growled looking over in Guy's direction as I could see Guy's strained voice at having failed the Prince. I growled and folded my arms over my chest and angled my leg to show off the handle of my sword. I watched with joy slightly at seeing the Sheriff squirm. The Prince had gone up the steps to flirt with Isabella, which made both Guy and I cringe and wish to be sick.

"Sheriff I'm sure you've met my commander and right hand man Wolf." The Prince spoke as the Sheriff eyed me in my direction and bent his knees in an attempt to try and see my face.

"Yes..." His voice trailed.

"He's a man of few words, but then most assassins are. Don't look at his face!" He shouted causing everyone around him to jump before he chuckled looking in my direction. The threat he had told the Sheriff was evidently clear as he took a cautious step away from me.

"Last man to try and look at his face was....how do you put it Wolf?" He asked in his childish voice as I growled in response as he clapped.

"That's right. He ended up dead!" His voice going sour as the mood seemed to darken around us. The dark silence was broken with the sound of horseshoes on the cobblestones as I instinctively drew an inch of my sword out of it's scabbard before I saw on of my soldier's bring Palmer's the Prince's physician on a horse, who was face down with his hands tied and a cloth tied over his face.

I pushed my sword back as we watched the soldier untie him and Palmer stands facing the Prince. He takes off his blindfold and chuckles nervously before quickly bowing as though he had forgotten the 'manners' that were needed when you were in the presence of the Prince.

"Speak." Prince John commanded as he rose up from his bow and began to nervously play with his fingers. A habit I noticed that he constantly did when he was in the Prince's presence.

"Congratulations. We were ambushed, not you. Y—y—your plan worked, Your Highness. Y—your brilliance is unsurpassed." He stuttered as I saw that this annoyed Prince John.

"Who attacked you?" He questioned getting impatient.

"Robin Hood." He quickly answered as I bit my lip nervously before glancing up at Prince John who closes his eyes in fury, then turns around and heads for the castle door. The last time the name Robin Hood was mentioned, was when Guy had left London in a plan made by Prince John to kill him. Though anything Prince John plans is a sure fail.

"Sir Guy." He bluntly called as Guy follows the Prince as the Sheriff watches them go. I quickly race up the stairs two by two and end up walking beside the Prince as he leaned over towards Guy to hiss a warning in his ear.

"Prove your loyalty to me. Rid me of him." He growled as I grew uneasy as I knew that he wasn't happy with Guy, which only meant one thing. He would ask me to kill both the Sheriff and Guy for him. After we were shown to our chambers in the castle, mine happened to be the very same I used when I was here, I was summoned to the Prince's chambers and I knew what this conversation would be about. Knocking on the door I waited until I heard him shout for my entry before stiffly bowing and closing the door behind me.

"Wolf! I need you to get rid of Gisborne for me! He's disappointed me one to many times!" He growled as he paced in his room as I watched him like a cat to his prey.

"No!" I hissed as he paused his pacing to look at me shocked that I defied his command.

"You've taken a liking to Gisborne haven't you wolf?" He watched me with narrow eyes as I folded my arms over my chest, allowing my cloak to brush out of the way slightly so Prince John was able to see the handle to my sword.

"I have" I truthfully spoke as I felt my face heat up in a blush and I was thankful for my mask and my hood.

"Why?" He whined as I stormed up to him and grabbed hold of his collar lifting him up slightly and slamming him up against the wall behind him as he whimpered and closed his eyes, as though if he couldn't see me I wouldn't hurt him. He wished!

"Know this your majesty, I will NOT kill Sir Guy of Gisborne!" I growl dangerously low as he flinched by my hard aggressive voice.

"Don't you love me wolf?" He tried playing me with that sickly sweet voice as I let out an animalistic roar and drew my hand up, my hand clenched tightly in a fist as he flinched and held up his hands in surrender to prevent me from damaging his pretty face.

"Alright! Alright! I'll have someone else kill your pet for me!" He agreed as I dropped him to the ground before storming out of the room, knowing that I would need to warn Guy. If I knew the Prince he would be true to his word and find someone more than willing to kill Guy for him. And I knew exactly who that one person would be.......