The enchanted circle

,,Gisburne! I know, you‘re trying to sneak away, you bad excuse to a steward!“ The tall, blonde, norman knight ducked under the voice of his master and returned slowly into the cold hall, where de Rainault was systematically getting drunk. Yes, he had tried to escape from de Rainaults icy glances and scornful comments on his work. “What do you think I keep you for? Loitering around in the stables?“ the High Sheriff continued. Gisburne did not dare to defend himself. “No my lord.“ he whispered. De Rainault smiled. After all, it was so easy to intimidate this beautiful whipping toy, his brother had given him. The young knight took a deep breath and tried to say something, but de Rainault interrupted him crudely. “Oh shut up, Gisburne! I‘m tired of your excuses. Listen, dear knight: I want you to carry a message to my brother, Abbot Hugo. That‘s not a task for which explicit wits are needed, so I hope, that you‘ll be able to fulfill it, will you?“ “Yes, my lord.“ „Oh fine!“ Sarcastically, de Rainault raised his goblet towards Gisburne, who felt really miserable. “Then to the very flower of chivalry itself. But as far as I‘m concerned, I don‘t believe that you‘re able to carry a parchment with you without ruining it. So you‘ll have to memorize the message. Too bad, the content of it has nothing to do with neither horses nor harlots. But this time I won‘t forgive you, if you fail again.“ The golden-haired knight bit his lips until they turned almost white. “I.. I won‘t fail, my lord.“ he answered quietly and tried to step backwards. ,,Oh no, you stay exactly, where you are, damn it!!“ de Rainault shouted. “If you fail, you‘ll get the lashing of your lifetime and then you can do the lowest stable work for the rest of your miserable life, understood this?“ Gisburnes head sank down. “But my lord…” The very tone of his voice would have touched any human beings heart... .with one exception. ,,Shut up, I said! Or do you have a sudden urge to feel the whip right now?“ De Rainault knew, that the young man was afraid of being whipped more than of anything else. ,,When I rise tomorrow, I don‘t want to see you anymore.“ he continued. “Dismissed!“ He helped himself to more wine, but a timid voice interrupted his pleasant doing. “But my lord...pardon me...but you... you....““Stop stammering like an idiot, Gisburne!“ “But you did not tell me anything about the message, my lord.“ “Oh, didn‘t I?“ The Sheriff seemed to be uncertain. “Oh, you‘re right, golden boy.“ he said after a while. .“Well, tell him, that I‘m going to send the taxes through his territory next time they‘ll be collected. Ask him for further instructions and now leave and annoy somebody else. Dismissed.“ Gladly, Sir Guy left the Sheriffs hall and headed to his own chamber. He was in a bad mood, no wonder with the treatment he got by de Rainault. Sighing, he tore a rather expensive wardrobe from a case and laid it neatly across a chair, admiring it for a short time. After that he undressed and scrubbed his whole body with cold water and a piece of rather cheap soap. He yearned for being free once, so the ride to Hugo‘s abbey was perhaps going to be a small pleasure, a taste of freedom floating in it. Gisburne snuggled into his bed, shuddering in the cold. Since wood was expensive, de Rainault did not allow him to lit a fire in the chimney any more and he went ill more than one time. Sir Guy did not want to make the Sheriff angry, so he made sure that he was not disturbed by stories of a half-fainting steward, training horses or fighting wolfsheads with a fever that would have forced nearly every other man to stay in bed. Even now he wasn‘t quite well, but decided, shortly before falling asleep, that he would take the shorter way through Sherwood. Gisburne was going to leave Nottingham before sundawn, so hopefully the wolfsheads would still be asleep, when

he passed their territory. Then he would be able to reach this old bastards abbey before noon and to lunch without any mocking or teasing by de Rainault. Slowly his mind drifted away and he finally dreamt of a fine dark grey stallion he saw on a tournament last year and wanted desperately to own. But he hadn‘t been able to purchase it, the horse had been far too dear. Now, in his dream, he had the money and joyfully cantered along a wide alley, hunting the wolfsheads in full joust armour. As he awoke, he smiled because of his silly, twisted dream, dressed quickly and walked towards the stables. His own horse, a dark bay stallion was chewing hay and seemed to be disturbed by his master, who bridled and saddled him and left the cosy stable in a hurry. Reaching the forest, Gisburne carefully slowed down his horse. He did not want to alarm the wolfsheads as he silently made his way through Sherwood Forest. A light fog wavered between the trees and he heard birds chirping and calling quietly. It was a peaceful scene and momentarily, Sherwood seemed to be safe enough for him to ride through. Gisburne sighed and patted the curved neck of the stallion. Suddenly the horse stopped and snorted loudly... a sign of alarm. Sir Guy grabbed his sword, but he knew, with the outlaws somewhere in the trees, aiming at him from the shadows, he would never stand a chance. A laughter proofed, that he was right. “Leave that petty, little meat knife of yours where it is, pretty boy.“ a raspy voice said. “And what if I don‘t?“ Gisburne snarled back angrily, just to say something. “Oh c‘mon, Norman, you know, what happens, if you‘re trying to be a hero.“ Gritting his teeth, Gisburne relaxed his iron grip around the hilt of his sword. It fell on the soft ground, his last chance to break free. “Well, that‘s a good boy.“ another voice mocked. ,,And now get off the horse. Right now, Gisburne.“ “I‘ve got no money with me!“ he hissed and the horse went nervous by his angry voice. ,,Nobody asked you about money.“ This damned wolfshead, Robin Hood himself stepped out onto the road. “Simply get off the horse, or do you need a little encouragement ?,, The outlaw put his arrow to the longbow and aimed at Disburses heart. After a few moments the young knight sighed and finally dismounted. “Now I‘m off the horse!“ he muttered aggressively. “What else can you want? I‘ve only wanted to pass through here. And I’m alone, you see, wolfshead? Further- more, I‘ve got no money with me, as I‘ve said!“ But Robin only laughed and with a little wave of his hand, three of the wolfsheads overpowered Gisburne after a short but heavy fight and tied his hands up behind his back. Then he was blindfolded and led through the forest for a while. He stumbled over rocks and roots and fell twice, but they did not allow him to slow down a little. Somebody kept pushing and pulling him around, so that he reached the camp battered and bruised, bleeding out of some minor scratches. Blind and frightened as he was, he ran against a tree, causing the wolfsheads to laugh. One of them made him lay down and tied his ankles to his wrists, but the blindfold wasn‘t removed yet. Disburses limbs stiffened and his back started aching. After some minutes he uttered a silent groan and received a vicious blow to his ribs. “Stop it, Will.“ a voice somewhere behind him said softly. “He did nothing to deserve this for now.“ The blindfold was removed, Sir Guy closed his eyes, mostly to protect them against the next blow. His bounds were cut and at once his body snapped back into a normal position. “Get up, Gisburne.“ Robin ordered him sharply. The young knight tried honestly, but failed, until the giant- John might have been his name-lifted him up like a doll and leant him to an old oak. Gisburne shot a hostile look towards his worst enemy. But that didn‘t seem to impress anybody of the outlaws and he was tied to the oak,

· standing face to face with the pack. “Search him for weapons. “Robin ordered quietly. They found his durendart (a knife) and a purse with some pennies. Their leader just raised an eyebrow, when he emptied the money into his hand. “Not much money for a norman knight, Gisburne.“ he said. “Not enough to buy your freedom.“ Gisburne shook his head. “The Sheriff won‘t pay anything for me! Not a halfpence!“ he chuckled. “No luck today, wolfsheads.“ “I wouldn‘t say so.“ Robin replied quickly. “You‘ll pay for your freedom. First with some answers.“ “You won‘t get a single word out of me, Robin Wolfshead!“ Gisburne fumed and tore recklessly at his bounds. “Oh, indeed?“ Will Scarlett asked, putting a dagger against the young knights throat. “Indeed, cutthroat!“ Sir Guy hissed and threw his full weight against the bounds. The knight produced a little cut over his aorta, but he learned, that this outlaw would not care, if he died. At once he calmed down. It was one thing to die in battle, but to bled to death like a slaughtered calf was a completely different thing. “Oh, you‘re getting reasonable , Guy?“ teased Robin and stroke his cheek lightly. “First question then, if this is allright with you.“ “Drop dead!“ the knight hissed furiously, but he gasped in shock, when Will Scarlett ripped off his shirt brutally and hit him hard across the face with the back of his hand. “Hold your tongue, pretty boy!“ he rasped and narrowed his eyes. “Just answer the question, you norman.. .,,,,Shut up, cutthroat!“ Sir Guy shouted. “And after all, stop bothering my horse, you red-haired, half-wit of a millers son!“ Some severe blows landed on his face, blood streamed out of the young knights mouth and he went nearly unconscious. “That’s enough, Will..“ interfered Robin again. “Gisburne, where did you want to go?“ Unappreciative, Gisburne stared at him. “You said, you wanted to go somewhere. Where did you want to go?“ asked Robin patiently, as his captive seemed to have really not understood the question. “Go?“ “Yes. Where to?“ “To. . .no, I told you, I won‘t.. .,,,,Don‘t be so stupid, Gisburne, you know it‘s no use.“ the giant muttered. “You know, you´ll get a thorough beating if you‘re stubborn like that.“ “Well, I don‘t care. “Gisburne declared briefly. “You don‘t want to be free?“ Robin asked, bewildered. “Kirkleys Abbey.“ the young knight answered in a hurry. “Can I leave now?“ “Not so fast, Gisburne. What do you want there?“ Gisburne shrugged his shoulders, as good as it was possible in his position. “Pay a visit.“ he murmured. “You‘re lying.“ Another blow hit his cheek, causing a purple red bruise. “The Sheriff ordered me to go there, all right?“ he hissed .“I surely didn‘t ask for it!“ “What for?“ Will sneered. Guy gave him a quick look of dislike. “None of your business, cutthroat!“ The wolfshead lifted his hand again to punish him for his remark, but Robin quickly gripped his wrist “What for?“ he asked. “I suppose, you should surrender a message. Regarding that you‘ve no parchment or anything else with you, I reckon, it‘s a message you know. Perhaps it‘s something so secret, that de Rainault wouldn‘t like to have it written down.“ “As you said, it‘s secret!“ Gisburne answered scornfully. “So what?“ asked Robin. Gisburne cursed him and all wolfsheads, then pointed out once again that he was a knight and wouldn‘t tell secrets to anybody, especially not to a gang of good-for-nothing wolfsheads and cutthroats, loitering around in forests, stealing money and eating the King‘s Meat. “And after all,“ he finished his list of insults. “,after all I don‘t like your tone of voice, Wolfshead!“ Feeling rather annoyed by his ,,guest“, Robin sat down on a bunch of roots, looking up to Disburses angry face and his cold, narrowed eyes, full of hatred and.. .perhaps. . .a spice of fear. He sighed. “Oh, come on, Gisburne, be sensible for once in your life, will you?“ he asked wearily. “Do you think you‘ll come through by insulting us, cursing and shouting? The only reason I may have for not letting my Merries beat the living hell out of you is, that today’s Sunday and I‘m in quite a good mood. Please don‘t destroy it, for your own sake.“ A hissed curse was the only answer, he got out of the blonde knight who had started tearing at his bounds again. ,,He destroyed my good mood years ago!“ Will Scarlett muttered and landed a vicious blow on the Normans half-naked chest. ,,You never had one.“ reminded John and flinched back the cloth of the knights tunic to see, if he had been hurt by this heavy punch. Gisburne definitely disliked being undressed by an outlaw, so he hissed, wrinced and cursed until he was released from the giants grip. Robin rose and searched the horse and the saddle for some clues. ,,Well.“ he sighed when he came back. “Now we should get serious, Gisburne. I‘ll explain the rules of this game to you once again, so be a good boy and listen.“ “God‘s throat! I‘m not going to play any games with you, wolfshead and I‘m not a boy to you!“ Sir Guy shouted on the top of his voice. “Damn saxon serf that you are, for this one you‘ll hang after all of your crew have died!“ “Once and for all: shut up!!“ roared Will and swung a knife to Disburses biceps, leaving a long cut on the tensed muscle. At once, blood stained on the fine tunic and it kept running down for a long time. Of course, it wasn‘t deep enough to lacerate much of the flesh and even without treatment it wasn‘t dangerous, but Gisburne seemed to become more and more frightened. He bowed his neck in a nearly incredible angle to look at the cut and gave a small sigh. Obviously he was accustomed to beatings, but to be cut... The astonishment about his unusual punishment disappeared very fast. ,,No- no.“ he said, nearly laughing. “I‘m not afraid of scars. Each tournament I‘ve taken part, I‘ve got worse injuries than a cut with this ,,petty little meat knife of yours“, cutthroat! And your anatomy skills aren‘t at it‘s best, you know, throats are somewhat higher!“ “Getting witty, Gisburne?“ Robin mocked him. “Tell me what message you had to deliver and you can spend all day being witty. And do it fast, I don‘t want to waste the whole day with this stupid interrogation.“ “Read my lips, wolfshead: I‘m-not-going-to-tell-you! I swear to the Holy Virgin Mary and Saint George, I won‘t tell you!“ This time Robin lost his patience and gave Sir Guy a more-than-hearty slap with the back of his hand right across the chest. ,,And I swear, to Herne the Hunter, you will talk. In a week you‘ll answer any question I want to ask you and you‘ll answer willingly! You‘ll actually beg me to let you answer!“ he hissed. Gisburne started a maniac laughter. ,,You‘re out of your mind, Robin Hood, Wolfshead!“ he managed to reply. ,,Eaten poisonous mushrooms perhaps? Or have you been bitten by a mad wolf? Got the rabies? Herne the Hunter! You swear to an old pagan forest god that something impossible will come true. You‘d need definitely more than a week to break me to your will and I‘d like to know how your false god will help you in this case. Not to mention the fact that he doesn‘t exist anyway!“ Gisburne nearly died laughing. He couldn‘t remember having so much fun listening to the threats of this wolfshead last time. The young knight was laughing that loud, that he noticed neither the fog, rising into the camp, nor the eerie wind howling through the trees. He didn‘t even notice, that the outlaws weren‘t as angry as they should have been, according to his behavior. More. than that, their leader wore a satisfied smile, resembling to a cat that has stolen all the cream... ,,Blessed you be.“ a deep and calm voice behind him said. Guy thought, it was more than amusing than any tournament could be and he laughed even louder, ,,Oh, and of course that‘ll turn out to be Herne the Hunter.“ he teased Robin happily. ,,I‘m curious, tell me, who‘s the poor wretch you‘ve made to wear the costume this time? Let me see.. .the unholy monk is over there, the half-wit, the

Saracen, the spleen of nature you call John, the cutthroat and you, Lord Wolfshead! The only person who‘s missing is your little harlot, Lady Wolfshead! ,, He expected another blow, but it was funny, Robin seemed to be off in dreamland or somewhere over the rainbow. Gisburne lifted his eyebrows and recalled the last seconds of his memory. The voice! It hasn‘t been a ladies voice! It couldn‘t have been her! ,,All right, wolfshead, it‘s a surprise.“ he quoted. ,,It‘s a male, who is it? Another wolfshead in your gang?“ He was really curious but unfortunately, nobody cared about him any more. That was a situation, he was not willing to accept. ,,Hey!“ he shouted. ,,Tell me what‘s going on, damn wolfshead! Come out, you cutthroat or none-ear or whatever you might be, dressed in a deer’s skin and its horns! You see, I‘m tied up to this tree, I can‘t harm you... . momentarily. Show your stupid excuse for a face, coward!“ Robin Hood took a step forwards, facing the person they wanted him to think of as Herne the forest god. ,,Greetings, Herne.“ he said quietly. Gisburne laughed scornfully. “You shouldn‘t be an outlaw but an actor.“ he hissed. “You summoned me up.“ Gisburne bursted out laughing again. “Is he the reason?“ “Aye, he is.“ replied Robin. The norman knights body jerked with the laughter. “For God‘s sake, stop this charade, will you?“ he coughed. “My whole body hurts, I‘ll surely die laughing if you keep this up for long.“ “I see.“ the calm voice behind him showed signs of dislike. “But I don‘t!“ complained Gisburne. ,,Come on, Lord Wolfshead, its only half the fun without seeing him! Tell him to come out there. Or is he that ugly?“ “A week you said. Do you think, he‘s that strong-willed?“ “He‘s stubborn like a mule!“ Will muttered. ,,And you‘re stupid like a donkey if you think, I‘ll believe in this .. …thing!“ Gisburne replied cheerily. “Are the fire-eaters after this?“ “I see.“ the deep voice murmured once again. “He‘ll be save where I will take him to. No beast will do him any harm. His own dark past will do.“ Sir Guy involuntarily shuddered when ice-cold hands grasped his arms and he tried frantically to break free. His heartbeat was suddenly stopping and everything went dark around him.

When he awoke, he had a severe headache. “Man, I can‘t remember, I‘ve drank that much!“ he groaned and tried to sit up, reaching for his blanket. But he found none. His hands only touched grass and earth and suddenly he was fully awake and totally clear. Rode through Sherwood...Outlaws.. .interrogation .. .. .Herne the Hunter! He jumped to his Feet, anxiously looking around. But there seemed to be nothing to be afraid of. He was alone, somewhere in the woods, No wolfshead around him. Gisburne gave a deep sigh of relief. Obviously, after he had refused to take part in their little game, they lost interest in him, knocked him out cold and left him somewhere in the Forest. Quickly he frisked his clothes. No money, no weapons, what else he had expected? He Felt a little sorrow for his horse, but fortunately the outlaws tended to strip them of saddle and bridle and sell them to gypsies, so Gisburne mostly got them back. The young knight felt a little dizzy, so he sat down again, leaning his aching head against an oak. He tried to figure out, where he was and how long he had been unconscious. Gisburne learned that it was about noon and that he was facing east. The moss on the trees showed him the direction very clearly. Perhaps he should go east. The road should be around there and after a while he gathered his willpower and walked off.

But he didn‘t come very far. After some steps a strange feeling ran through him and he stopped abruptly. It was a very strange feeling and he wondered, if he was going ill. Mentally shrugging he took another step, feeling definitely sick now. With every step the pain increased. “That‘s damn weird!“ he muttered and bit his lower hip, concentrating on walking. But after two more yards he Fell down with pain, crying out in agony, winding on the ground like an eel. His uncontrollable movements brought him some inches forth and that fact intensified the agony to an unbearable level. “Oh my God!“ he cried and fainted. When there was neither sound nor movement heft, a tall silhouette appeared next to the unconscious knight, picked up the limp body and laid it back to the place he First awoke. Then Herne disappeared again. After a few minutes, Sir Guy awoke again. This time he needed more time to recover, but stubborn like he was he tried to find a weak part of the spell. OF course there was none and he was clever enough not to go Farther, when it hurts. In the evening he stopped his restless search for freedom and cowered down, tired and frightened. “Now.“ he spoke aloud. “I‘m locked in a circle of about ten yards, though the devil may know why. If I try to leave it by Force, I faint, damn it!“ He laid his chin on his knees and glanced around quite sadly. “But how?“ he murmured. “Don‘t believe it.. .no pagan forest god exists.. .but how is this possible? Anyway, I should look for something to eat or drink, but in a circle of ten yards?“ This new task found his interest, so he spent a couple of hours looking for berries or hare lairs in ,,his“ area, before he encircled it again and again. But after all he was only a human being, needing sleep from time to time. Gisburne finally found a nice bush that promised a little shelter against the chilling wind and at once he laid down there. He was death tired, but Found no sleep. This environment was far too scary to forget about it. After a while the young knight fell asleep, but a short time later a vicious kick into the stomach made him nearly threw up.. He looked up to the person and tried to get up, but some kicks held him down. It was ,,cutthroat“, Will Scarlett. His hatred for the young, arrogant Norman had made him search the forest, after all his companions had Fallen asleep. Now his eyes sparkled with delight to have Gisburne completely at his mercy, but he wasn‘t the man to risk anything. He would beat him up enough that Gisburne was completely defenseless and then he would kill him. This cruel, treacherous, beautiful bastard! Will wanted to mash in this pretty boys Face, tear out this golden, silky hair and break those slim but well-trained limbs. Gisburne writhed but he still hadn‘t cried out in pain. He even managed to land a kick in Wills stomach that forced him to stumble back. He even fell over a root, but instead of attacking him at once, Sir Guy cried out in pain and went unconscious again. Bewildered, Will looked at the tall body, thinking of a goddamn norman cheat. ,,He‘s really unconscious.“ a grave, deep voice explained. Will turned around, ready to defend his prey, but he relaxed, when he recognized the silhouette of Herne. “Will Scarlett.“ the Hunter spoke. “This place is sacred.“ “So what!“ the outlaw replied in a rage. ,,He won‘t care!“ “Well, I know.“ Herne sighed. “But he‘ll learn it.“ “Oh no. ,, Will shot a deadly glare towards Sir Guy. “He‘ll have no time to learn anything

.´e deserves to die.“ “How many others deserve to die more than he does and still live?“ Herne asked. “By the way: You don‘t want to kill him at all, do you? You want him desperately to live. Because if he were dead... you couldn‘t get him.“ Will blushed like never before in his life. “He deserves to die!“ he repeated, ,almost as stubborn as Gisburne himself. ,,Are you sure you don‘t want to kill him merely to kill your own desire for him?“ the pagan god asked quietly. “It‘s a sin!“ Will shouted, even more blushing. ,,I won‘t commit such a sin and there’s no way, I‘m bedding this. ....this norman bastard!“ He pointed to Gisburne with the peak of his sword. “Put your sword back!“ Herne ordered him. ,,And turn the boy around. Look at his Face. Remember his eyes. The way he throws his head back when he‘s disturbed or puzzled.“ Will pushed the sword back. “But.. .but it‘s a sin!“ he repeated miserably. ,,This is a sacred place. It is the place of the goddess. Everything in here belongs to her. She is the Goddess of Love. Love is eternity. Love is everything. Love knows no such thing like ,,sin“. But unfortunately... err.. ahem.. .,,,,C‘mon Herne, what is it?“ Will shouted even louder than before and Gisburne started to move. A quick gesture by Herne and the golden-haired knight was stunned again. ,,What is it?“ Will demanded. “He doesn‘t know anything about this.“ Herne replied, somehow reluctantly. “He hates your guts.. But it has to be, whether he likes it or not. Future depends on it.“ ,,I don‘t understand that.“ growled Will. “I mean, I physically can‘t impregnate him, there will be no. · .err. . .result, y‘know, And ´e would kill me somehow for this, well, ´as promising it all the time, but if something does not fit in ´is ,,chivalric code“...´em’s a madman!“ “In here he can‘t harm you.. ,, Herne explained. “If he tries, there will be no effect, except of him Fainting with pain. But you can. As long as you spare his very life.“ Will shook his head. ,,You know, Herne, I‘m not quite the man to rape somebody, even if it‘s Gisburne.“ he said. Slowly, the Forest god lost a bit of his patience. ,,Oh man, no one told you to rape him!“ he shouted. ,,Oh no? But it damn sounded like it!“ Will yelled back. “Oh, you‘ re already protecting your little sweetheart.“ teased Herne. “I‘m not!“ Scarlett defended himself. “I just.. .just meant. . . I ...I wanted to beat him up ,till he. .. .,,,,Well then, do as you please.“ Herne was a little bit offended. “But remember. . .you must get him somehow. And it would be hardly possible within a week without frightening him. I mean. . .any frightened human being. . .,,,,Well, but it‘s Gisburne.“ “Well, any very frightened human being. . .,,,,It‘s Gisburne!“ Will insisted. “My Throat!“ Herne cursed. “Even Gisburne will seek someone to comfort him, if he‘s afraid.“ Will shook his head, knowing that he was right. ,,Not Gisburne.“ he replied. “Besides, even such a simpleton like he is will find out that it is not very clever to go to the person who‘s causing him all this trouble. And he‘s just cold-hearted and doesn‘t give a damn about himself.“ “But he is surely hungry and thirsty by now..“ Herne murmured. “So what? Am I to feed ´im?“ Will asked, crossing his arms in front of him. “If he‘s a good boy, why not?“ Slowly Will understood. “But if he‘s a bad boy...“ he continued slowly, thinking really hard about it. “Then what shall I do? Give ´im a slap on the nasty fingers?“ “Yeah, something like that.“ Herne agreed. “But if I were in your place, I‘d rather buy a whip or something similar. He‘s no child and he‘s used to pain. Unjust pain, that‘s the problem. Hake him forget this. If you behave like a rational man, he‘ll understand it after a while. Being de Rainaults whipping boy isn‘t a good way to learn the difference between good and evil. Leave him for today, he‘s still too puzzled to learn anything now. I‘ll make him sleep for some hours. Think about it.“ Herne created some smoke and wanted to disappear. “Herne, wait!“ Will yelled. “I‘ve got a question. This Gisburne. . .what is he like? Really like, I mean.“ But Herne was gone and Will returned to the camp with great disappointment. He promised himself to stop drinking too much ale. This was too wonderful a situation to believe, but nevertheless, his first way the next morning lead him to a farrier, who also sold leather. He asked for a whip. The farrier looked at him in blank astonishment. “You need a whip?“ he asked, as if Will asked for something strange. “Yes, a whip. ,, the outlaw replied firmly. “Whatever. What for?“ the man asked, rapidly loosing interest in the matter. “Err. . .for whipping.“ Will replied, quite uncertain what to say. “I thought so. For whom?“ “For a n...err...for a human being. . ..more or less.“ The farrier nearly dropped his heavy hammer. “Look, most whips aren‘t made for horses.“ he explained. “They just have trouble to hold them. But tell me, which animal are you going to lash with it.“ ,,Gisburne.“ “You‘re kidding!“ The hammer fell, fortunately not on somebody’s toes. “You mean. .. .you have got. . .this blonde, norman steward of de Rainaults? Blue cape, chain mail, rather pretty, good rider?“ “Yes. Gisburne. Don‘t ask me the whereabouts, just sell me a whip, will you?" “But... why do you want to beat him up?“ “Why? Because it‘s Gisburne, goddamn it!“ Will fumed. ,,Don‘t tell me that I shouldn‘t! `e just needs it!“ “Well, but....““No but!!“ Will yelled desperately. “Listen, I just want to give ´im the lashing of ´is goddamn life, please ´and me a whip!“ “Do you want to give him more or less little slaps or do you want to beat him to death?“ the farrier asked. ,,Nope. Just hurt him a little bit if he‘s too stubborn. Not injure ´im badly, but ´e should feel it.“ “Well, take this one, then.“ The farrier chose a dog-whip and handed it to the outlaw. “´ow much is it?“ “Oh, nothing. IF you don‘t need it anymore, bring it back. I‘d like to keep a whip with Disburses blood stains on it.“

The said Gisburne awoke in the early afternoon, cold, hungry and thirsty. When he remembered, where he was, he tried to Flee again, this time by running out of the circle, but he Fainted just at the usual limit. The knight tried to forget about this attempt and searched for some water, before he Fell asleep again. Fighting against this invisible border was hard work. Dimly he remembered the cutthroat, trying to beat him up, but that must have been a dream. He was still alive, because corpses usually weren‘t hungry and definitely not shuddering and coughing all the time. A short time after midnight, another kick waked him up.. At once he tried to attack the cutthroat but gave a sharp cry, when he Felt the pain floating through his whole body. It was the same pain he endured, when he tried to escape, so he stopped the resistance at once. Gisburne only tried to protect his face and his stomach by forming a ball with his body. After a while the cutthroat stopped .“Get up, you norman dirt!!“ the man hissed. The young knight did not move. “First of all you have to learn to obey, pretty boy.“ Will stated and produced the whip he bought. “I repeat it for you once again! Get the hell up! Stand up!“ Gisburne hissed quietly but he didn‘t get up. “Oh well, you‘ve asked for it, pretty boy.“ Now the whip was set into action thoroughly, until Guy couldn‘t help but cried out in pain. His shirt was shredded to rags, his back, his sides were bleeding and he was hardly conscious. “Enough, pretty boy?“ Will asked and touched him softly with the whip. “Get up, or you‘ll get the same again.“ Gisburne has startled when the leather had touched him, but he had no intention of getting up. He was fully aware of the fact that, as long as he laid there, his face, his eyes were save. So he wouldn’t do a damn thing to risk this safety only because his back was Flayed alive. “Well, once again, you seem to like it. But that‘s the hast time, all right?“ This time, Sir Guy bit into his wrist. He did not want to scream again, this would put insult to injury. Even after this lashing he refused to raise. “Pretty boy, I‘m getting tired of being friendly.“ Will pointed out. “If you‘re not going to obey, I‘ll have other means to punish you.“ No reaction at all. ,,Now I‘m Fed up with that. I‘m going to tie you to the ground and...hmmm...left or right? One of your eyes, pretty boy. I‘ll burn it out. Do you think you‘ll like to be blinded?“ A sudden kick to Will‘s head, Gisburne jumped to his feet and tried to escape again. But he kept shying back from the border, so he decided to get away as Far as possible From this brutal cut- throat.. Will got up and detected Sir Guy easily. Slowly he walked towards him, the young knight backed up a little bit, then broke away like a terrified horse. Unfortunately ( for Gisburne, this is ) he underestimated his steps and went unconscious again. When he gained his wits again, he laid on his back, spread- eagled tied to some trees. Some yards away there was a Fire hit up. The cutthroat was gone, but after a Few moments he heard a crack in the bushes and Scarlet reappeared with a little iron bar. Gisburne remembered the horrible threat of this cutthroat and tore at his bounds like a madman. Will pretended not to see the desperate resistance and put the branding-iron to the Fire. Seeing this, Gisburne silently doubled his efforts to break Free. Will only laughed without even turning around to his captive. ,,That‘s no use, pretty boy.“ he commented the terrified struggle. “Lay quiet and save your breath for screaming.“ Gisburne tried even harder. ,,These chains are made for bulls.“ Scarlet told him. “You don‘t think that you‘re stronger than four adult steers, do you?" The young knights wrists were already bleeding, but he kept tearing at the chains. “You can‘t escape, Gisburne. No way. But come on, try it. The irons not hot enough yet.“ After a while Sir Guy stopped the useless Fight and closed his eyes. He knew, he was helpless. Completely at the mercy of this cutthroat and he was sure, that nothing could keep this bastard from burning out his eyes. Why didn‘t he kill him at once? Oh, yes, the answers, Robin Hood demanded. If he’d tell them everything he knew, perhaps. .? But de Rainault would kill him For this. So what was worse? While he was still contemplating, Scarlet got up and walked over to him, the red- hot iron with him. He showed it to Sir Guy, who started again rearing up against the chains, throwing his head from side to side. A thin layer of sweat made his chest glow lightly in the flickering light from the fire, the muscles flexed and relaxed, flexed and relaxed in the rhythm of his panting. He was nearly crying, biting his lips. Scarlet knelt down beneath him and gripped his jaws Fiercely with his heft hand. ,,Now stop Fighting.“ he ordered, but there was no way. Gisburne hissed and fought on. ,,Or do you want to annoy me even more, pretty boy?“ The young knights eyes were firmly closed and Will grinned. He flipped the iron and touched Disburses brow with the cold part of it. “Nooo!“ the blonde norman howled and started crying desperately. He was absolutely sure, that his heft eye has been burned out. He never begged for mercy, he never expected it. “Hey!“ Scarlet tried to get his attention back. ,,Hey, cry-baby.“ The golden-haired boy trembled all over, silent tears ran down his cheekbones. His body was limp, completely relaxed. There was nothing left to fight for. The once red-hot iron cooled down and carefully Will put it aside. The silky hair was soaked with blood and sweat and the outlaw reached out for it, caressed it shyly. Gisburne didn‘t respond at all, so Scarlet bowed down to him, kissing away the hot, salty tears, one after another. “Jesus Christ, stop crying.“ he murmured and straightened his neck again. ,,Damn, the iron went cold, pretty boy.“ He got up and pushed it back into the fire. ,,Gisburne, look at me, you norman dirt.“ he ordered, after he came back. The young knight said something, but Will couldn‘t hear it. “What did you say?“ ,,I won‘t!“ Gisburne hissed, as stubborn as ever. ,,C‘mon, pretty boy, or do you want to make me even more angry now? You know I can deliberately punish you again, don‘t you?“ “Don‘t care!“ answered the knight, but he opened his eyes - both of them. Will covered his right eye with one hand and enjoyed the Feeling of the long lashes tickling his palm. Gisburne was thunderstruck to see, that his eye wasn‘t even hurt after all. ,,But... but why... how..?“ he gasped. ,,Well, I just aimed at the target.“ Will lied. ,,The iron wasn‘t hot enough last time and I put it back into the fire. Next time it‘ll be allright.“ The young knight stared at him in bewilderment, tears still sparkling in his lashes, blood dripping from his lips. ,,No.. .don‘t!“ he pleaded quietly, still trembling. ,,Please don‘t brand me.“ ,,Oh!“ Will showed surprise. ,,You can actually speak? Well, pretty boy, it‘s a little late for that. I‘ve got the iron in there already.“ He pointed to the fire with his chin. ,,And remember, you did not obey me, you did not answer Robin‘s questions, you attacked me. . .you‘ll just get what you deserve. You deserve more punishment than a mere whipping!“ Gisburne startled. ,,Do whatever you want, but don‘t do that!“ he said, biting his bloody lips over and over again. ,,Don‘t do what!“ Scarlet asked, teasing the arrogant knight a little more. Gisburne closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ,,Don‘t burn out my eyes.“ he answered quietly. ,,Oh, afraid of that, norman dirt?“ Scarlet scorned him mercylessly. ,,You‘ve asked For it, so you‘ll get it.“ He Fetched the red-hot iron again. ,,Gisburne, left or right?“ Will asked to lengthen the pain of his captive. Gisburne stared at him anxiously. ,,Don‘t!“ he repeated with such a sad glance, that Will was tempted to throw away the branding iron and to kiss and caress the young knight until the expression of his Face changed. He

bit on his upper lip until the pain flooded those thoughts away .“Left or right, pretty boy?“ he teased him again. ,,Please stop it.“ said Gisburne suddenly. “Do what you want to do, but stop torturing me like that. If there‘s anything you want me to tell you or Robin or this pagan forest thing or to do, then name it. But if I‘ve just. .if I‘ve got no chance, then stop teasing me.“ “Ah, you want to be branded? In that case...“ Will rose the iron. ,,No I don‘t!“ shouted Gisburne terrified and closed his eyes. Will sighed and pushed the iron back into the fire. ,,Damn look at me!“ he snorted and kicked the norman against his shoulder. ,,The iron‘s back into the fire.“ Gisburne gave a sigh of relief. ,,Stupid wretch!“ Will muttered. ,,You‘ll be branded, no matter what.“ He paused, focusing the slim silhouette of the young knight. ,,But there are two possibilities.“ Yes, left or right, Gisburne thought with an attempt of dark humour. ,,First one: I burn out one of your eyes. Stop, say nothing; I know, you don‘t like this particular possibility. But I‘ll give you another one. If you want to be a very good boy from now on, I‘ll spare your eyes and you‘ll get another branding. Perhaps on your shoulder or somewhere else. It‘ll hurt of course, but nothing more. Now pretty boy, what do you think?“ Gisburne sighed, then he nodded. ,,Yes, what? Eyes or being tame?“ asked Will. ,,You have to say it.“ “But that‘s ridiculous!“ Gisburne complained. “I‘m a knight! I can‘t...“ Without a word Will fetched the iron. ,,Allright, pretty boy!“ he rasped. ,,Though you never deserved it, I wanted to show mercy, but if you think you can make fun of me, you‘re wrong. Now I‘ll take both of your eyes. Lets see, what a blind knight can do.“ He knelt down and took a fistful of the silky golden hair. Gisburne looked up once more, then he laid back, silently. ,,Don‘t do this to me.“ he said. ,,I‘ll promise.“ ,,What do you promise, pretty boy?“ ,,I will behave.“ he promised, like a little boy who was caught with his Fingers into the honey pot. Will ripped off the remains of the linen shirt. ,,No, that‘s not enough.“ he replied. ,,You‘ll tell me, that you‘re going to be a very good boy from now on, otherwise...“ He caressed the slashes on Guys shoulders, touched his neck and his ears. Gisburne closed his eyes again. ,,I‘m going to be a good boy.“ he repeated shyly. ,,Ah-ah, that ain‘t enough.“ Will traced the elegant line of Guys neck with his Finger, but the young knight didn‘t resist. ,,What was it?“ ,,Oh... to be a very good boy?“ Will thrusted his thumb deep inside the golden boys mouth. Suddenly getting anxious, Gisburne tried to get rid of it, but he didn‘t dare to bite, ,,No, no, is that a good boy?“ Will asked innocently and removed his thumb. You‘re thick as a brick, Will Scarlet, he thought. That‘s definitely not the way to tame him. But he started soon tickling the Normans sides, Feeling the sweet resistance of his muscles against his touches. ,,Come on, Gisburne, what do I want to hear?“ the outlaw asked patiently. ,,I‘m. . . I‘ll... I‘m going to be... a very good boy from now on.“ ,,Well, that would be nice, but I‘m not as stupid as Robin is. If you ,, forget ,, to be a good boy - a very good boy - I‘ll simply bring back that iron. Oh shit, it‘s cold again! I‘m going to heat it up.“ He rose, but Gisburne stopped him. ,,Wait!“ ,,For what, pretty boy?“ ,,You. . .you don‘t need to.“ he tried to convince the outlaw, more or less half-heartedly. ,,You should be glad that I promised not to blind you!“ Scarlet shouted and gave him two or three heavy lashes across the chest. Frightened by this, Gisburne tried to protect his face at his shoulder until Scarlet rushed off, muttering about ,, unthankful norman bastards“. When the outlaw returned, he had found his temper again. ,,Well, pretty boy, d‘you remember what you‘ve promised?“ Gisburne nodded. ,,Repeat it then, I just love to hear it.“ Will ordered him, despite of Sir Guy’s clearly visible dislike of it. ,,I promised to. . .be a very good boy.“ the knight answered, sighing. ,,So.. .what do you think... shall I brand you shortly or full? If you‘re a very good boy?“ Will couldn‘t resist to caress the bruised cheek with his free hand. Gisburne glanced distrustfully

d‘you know that?“ he asked the unconscious knight. “But after all you deserve punishment and you‘ll get a hearty one.“ Moaning and swearing Will tied Disburses wrists to a tree, his ankles to another one to stretch him out n the hard ground. After a while the golden-haired knight started to move again and groaned .“Did it hurt?“ Will teased him. „You should‘ve known better than that... even you, Gisburne.“ Gisburne snorted, tore For a moment at the leather straps, then he yielded to his bounds. “Angry, pretty boy?“ Will kept on teasing him and touched the lacerated skin with the whip. Gisburne tried to escape from the leather lace but a heavy blow made him hiss and snuggle to the ground again. He bit his lips thoroughly but couldn‘t help to curse his torturer. “Drop dead, cutthroat!“ he muttered and regretted it an instant later when he received another merciless lashing. The young knight wrinced and reared up until his wrists started bleeding again but he refused to cry out with pain. He wished the agony desperately to stop, at least for an instant, but it didn‘t. And since he refused to scream, Will thought, he wasn‘t going to submit. After a while the whole body stiffened, then it relaxed completely. Will stopped and grabbed a fistful of hair to look at Disburses face. He was pale, blood stained on his lips and it was quite obvious that he had passed out during the punishment. ,,Man, you‘re one tough bastard!“ Will grinned. ,,But we‘ll see, whose stamina will last longer, Gisburne, I promise, honey.“ Carefully he let go the golden hair, caressed him a bit, but he couldn‘t resist to steal a secret kiss. “Gods Throat, this is more Fun than I‘ve ever thought.“ he murmured. It proofed, that Guy was indeed one tough bastard. Despite of his miserable physical condition he awoke again, shook his head and cursed quietly. “Hell, what‘s that?“ he said, mostly to himself as it seemed. “Oh, you‘re awake, norman dirt?“ Will asked with a smile ( Fortunately, Gisburne couldn‘t see it.) .,,Then... can we go on?“ “No!“ the knight shouted desperately. “Hell, no! ““You know, I don‘t like you cursing.“ replied Will in a menacing voice. ,,Hell why, are you a colt or a filly?“ “Got a loose tongue again, Gisburne?“ ,,Hmmm.“ “Whadda ya mean; hmmm? Is that :“Hell yeah“ or ,,Hell, nay“?“ OF course, there was no answer. Obviously the young knight finally learned to handle his temper. “Answer, pretty boy!“ As a slight reminder, the outlaw landed another hideous blow. Gisburne sighed. ,,No.“ he said quietly, but there was no reaction. “Yes?“ he asked, a little worried. Scarlett started laughing. ,,Forgot the question, eh?“ he coughed. ,,Well then, do you remember what I told you yesterday about...cursing...or calling me a cutthroat or a wolfs- head. .,, The norman knight sighed again. “Y. . .yes.“ he answered timidly. “So goddamn, why are you continually doing it?“ yelled Scarlett. “D‘you like being whipped, or what’s the matter with you? Do you eventually think I‘m kidding?“ “No.“ “Well, that‘s what I call a progress, pretty boy. But don‘t think you can insult me without punishment.“ “I know.“ “Well, that‘s a good boy.“ Will bowed down and stroke the beautiful hair lightly, while Gisburne stopped breathing, afraid of a new kind of pain. “But you know.“ the outlaw continued. “..I‘m actually expecting an apology.“ Fully aware of having hit bull‘s eye, Will crossed his arms in Front of his chest. After a while he took a sharp breath. “Oh, I‘ve forgotten, you‘re a knight.“ he mocked the blonde steward. “You certainly won‘t apologize to a cutthroat or a saxon serf or however you‘d like to call me... in private, if you‘re sensible. But however, I‘m waiting, Gisburne, and slowly I run out of patience. If you don‘t want to endure more of this, I‘d advice you seriously to apologize quickly for your unmannered behaviour.“ Now he had Finally managed to drive Gisburne a little bit too far. Stubbornly he tore again at the straps. ,,I won‘t, dammit!“ he shouted, but a quick series of blows reminded him of the price he would have to pay for his rejection. “Stop it, Gods Blood!“ he hissed in agony. “No, pretty boy, I still don‘t like your tone of voice.“ ,,I don‘t like yours, either.“ “May I remind you. . .we discussed this topic

yesterday.“ Will replied and continued, rather unimpressed. A few seconds later he heard a faint sound. ,,Did you say something Gisburne? Or was it a statement, I better should not understand?“ No answer, but there it was again, a little bit clearer, but still too quiet to understand. The intensity of the blows was not too high, but the lacerated beck had to cause terrible pains. Gisburne already had lost too much blood and Scarlett decided this to be the last whipping today. “Stop it.“ This time he understood the whisper. ,,Well, why should I?“ he asked back. “Please. Stop it.“ Will lowered the whip. “What did you say, norman dirt?“ Stop it.“ Gisburne repeated, although he knew exactly which word he was to repeat. This time the punishing lash was so severe, that he cried out in pain. ,, Stop bullshitting around with me or you 11 regret it, bastard!“ the outlaw gritted and some more blows landed on the tensed beck until the young knight cried out again. “Please stop!“ he gasped. Another vicious blow, another desperate cry. “What did you say?“ “Please.. .stop.“ “Again!“ “Stop it! I.. .I can‘t take it anymore, I can‘t!“ The golden boy trembled all over and Will wasn‘t able to leave him alone with his Fear and agony, Silently he laid the whip aside and caressed the frightened led very carefully, not to hurt him anymore. “Sssht.“ he whispered. “Sssht, pretty boy. You know, what you have to do, if you want to be released from this. You know, what I want you to do, don‘t-you?“ Slowly, the knight calmed down a little. “Yes.“ he replied shyly. “I‘ll do. . . I‘ll do what you demand, but just stop it... please stop, I‘ll behave better.“ Gisburne was panting very herd, a layer of cold sweat covered his body. Will was seriously worried, but there was one thing left. “And?“ he demanded firmly. Gisburne startled. “What else can I say?“ he asked terrified. “I‘m still waiting for an excuse, Gisburne.“ Will laid the whip on the knight’s bloody shoulders. Again the golden boy gasped in panic. “I‘m sorry.“ he pleaded in a hurry. “I promise, I‘ll behave, but take it away, please, just take it away!“ The outlaw sighed and took the fearsome instrument away, causing a deep sign of relief by his captive. The norman relaxed and allowed Will to pat and caress his aching flanks. “So you‘re going to be a good boy again?“ he asked softly. “A very good boy as you promised? Shell we renew our truce?“ Gisburne nodded, feeling far too weak to answer properly. His bounds were released and the outlaw helped him to sit up. The glacial blue eyes were dense, the boy was hardly conscious. His lips were slightly swollen, the golden hair was one mess and without a word, Scarlett kissed him again, very carefully, but still forcing the knight to it. This time there was no attempt to cease the kiss too fast and this encouraged Will to tease Gisburne a little more, caressing and softly squeezing his nipples, then running his Fingertips down the flanks. The young norman shuddered, stretched and gave a little groan, visibly reacting to it. Will himself reacted to this behaviour, too, and hastily ended the kiss, before... ( well, we all know; before something happened...) . When he looked at Disburses face he found him wearing a cute, little, puzzled look and the outlaws heart started to beet heavily in his chest. Pretty boy seemed to dislike this interruption at ,all! But the fact was, that he wasn‘t really himself now, far too weak to think or to react or to do anything that needed willpower The beck needed a treatment urgently. “Well, lay down again, facing down- wards.“ Will ordered him. Guy startled and stared at Will anxiously, somehow like a puppy that expects to be beaten, but doesn‘t know why. “But... what did I do now?“ it broke out of him. “Don‘t do that again, please don‘t. I‘m hurt, I‘m cold, I‘m tired. . .and I‘m bleeding to death already, what else do you want?“ “Ssht, stop arguing with me! I‘m not going to whip you up this time, Gisburne.“ With a suspicious glance the young knight laid down reluctantly. He thoroughly pushed his fingernails into his palm. Scarlett took a piece of linen and a bottle with water from his belt and started cleaning the slashes.

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