A World That Will Not Turn to Ash (English)(From Ashes Vol.1)

Chapter 40 - Find Him

Roger of Barrett went back down the corridor that he had just passed through, seething. Gisborne was able to deceive him and to cover his tracks, but he couldn't escape any longer and then for him it would be the end.
Barret noticed the side passage hidden in the shadows of the corridor and motioned to his men to follow him in that direction. Now he understood very well how Gisborne had managed to escape, but Barret was certain that he would catch him up soon. His rival was wounded and weak, he had no chance against him and Barret was rather surprised that he still had the desire to try to avoid his fate.
The corridor ended with a door and Roger burst it open with a kick. He and his men crossed the threshold and they found themselves in the kitchen, completely deserted except for the man dressed in black who stood waiting for them at the other end of the large room, pointing a bow against them.
Barret stopped, leaving two of the soldiers to set before him with their shields raised and he wondered what Guy was trying to do. Gisborne could not really hope to be able to shoot down six men with a bow and arrows before they reached and killed him. Probably it was desperation to make him act in that way: he no longer had the strength to run away and then he tried to fight to the end.
The only thing that puzzled Barret was the look in the eyes of his rival: he didn't see the desperation of a man with his back to the wall, but he could read some fun in them.
That look puzzled him: he was certain he had broken his enemy, that he had destroyed him, but Guy of Gisborne stubbornly refused to die and he continued to fight even when he could have no hope of surviving.
Guy shot the arrow, aiming above the heads of Barret and his men. He struck the clay pot that he had hung over the door with the help of the kitchen boy and the pot exploded, pouring the hot liquid on the six men.
Guy took advantage of their surprise and managed to hurl other arrows, hitting two of Barret's men before being forced to flee again.
Roger of Barrett cried out in pain to feeling the hot soup on the skin of his face, but he recovered quickly, overrun by a wild fury. Those burns would definitely leave deep scars on his face, he knew, but it didn't matter, now. The only thing he wanted was to capture Guy of Gisborne and kill him in the most excruciating possible way.
He moved with a kick the body of one of the fallen soldiers and he looked at the survivors: all three complained about the pain, but one of them had slumped to the ground with his hands over his eyes, blinded by the hot liquid. Barret drew his sword and pierced him from side to side without the slightest remorse, then he turned to the other two.
"If you don't want to suffer the same fate, catch Gisborne. Alive. I want him alive."

Robin Hood bent over the body of a soldier who was lying on the ground with a knife stuck in his chest.
It was one of the men of Barret and he was dead, he observed, a sign that Gisborne was continuing to struggle to survive.
He glanced at Marian, capturing the anguish on her face, but he couldn't say even a word of comfort.
The choice of the girl had hurt him, it was useless to deny it, and it had left in him a tangle of confused and conflicting feelings that he was struggling to untangle.
To think that Marian was in love with Gisborne rekindled in Robin the ancient hatred for the rival, but the outlaw couldn't separate that feeling from the pity that he had began feeling for him after he saw how much Barret's torture had broken him. And he felt a certain admiration when he thought about the courage Gisborne had shown to save Allan and that he was still using to resist and defend Nottingham from Barret.

Robin also observed Allan and Djaq, noting the concern on their faces and only then he realized that somehow the black knight had managed to get their support.
Maybe it was for that reason that Robin had asked them to follow him, sending the others to protect the sheriff: he surrounded himself with people who in one way or another cared for Gisborne to avoid that the resentment he felt for him because of Marian could influence his actions.
He found and walked down the side passage leading to the kitchen. He did not know why, but he was sure that this was the direction chosen by Gisborne. His intuition was confirmed in finding the three Barrett's men slumped to the ground, lifeless.
Robin noticed the arrows and the broken pieces of the pot and he found himself chuckling: that was a trick that he could have used himself and he was forced to admit that perhaps he and Gisborne had more in common than he liked to think.
He found himself thinking, against his will, about the question expressed by Gisborne some time before: would it have been so terrible for them to become brothers? At that time that hypothesis seemed so absurd that he didn't think it worthy of consideration, but he was no longer sure of the answer he would give now.

Allan noted the tense expression of Marian and he smiled to her encouragingly.
"Hey, Giz won't let Barret to kill him so easily. You know that, right? He's already back from the dead once, for you. And if you told him you did not marry Robin Hood," he said quietly, careful not to be heard by the outlaw "you can feel confident that he won't give up."
Marian smiled back, grateful for those words and Allan noticed an amused and mischievous gleam in her eyes.
"Fine, you told him. And I would be very curious to know how, but I suppose that it's not my business." Allan said, grinning, then he turned his attention back to the place where they had arrived exiting from the kitchens: they had traveled more corridors until they reached the porch that overlooked the courtyard of the castle.
Robin motioned to stop and the other three obeyed, approaching him with caution.
"What's up?" Djaq asked and Robin gestured to the people gathered in the courtyard.
"What are they doing there?" Marian asked, puzzled.
"Usually they flock so numerous only when there is an execution." Allan said, equally amazed.
Robin noticed that people who had gathered in the courtyard of the castle looked like at the same time curious and scared and that many of them were praying.
"They must have heard of the return of Gisborne from the dead. Probably they came to see if it's true."
"But they won't anything bad to him, right?" Allan asked, nervously. "They'll see right away that he's not really dead, right?"
The other three looked at each other doubtfully: Allan had not been present at that time, but they had personally witnessed the reaction of the peasants of Locksley when Guy had stopped Barret and Marian's wedding. Most of them mistook him for a demon who came back from hell and almost all of them were terrified of him. Who could predict the reactions of a scared crowd?
"Better to find him as soon as possible." Djaq said.

Roger of Barrett growled an order to the last two men who followed him.
"Look for him! You have to find him!"
The soldiers were checking every room and every corridor, but Guy of Gisborne seemed to have disappeared and Barret was furious.
Of his company of faithful soldiers remained only those two, the others had all been killed or captured by Gisborne or by Robin Hood's band of outlaw, but it didn't matter anymore.
His plan to seize power had failed, his face would remain scarred for life because of the burns and the girl, Marian, had slipped through his fingers a moment before he could get her, but nothing, nothing in the world could take away his revenge.
Guy of Gisborne had destroyed everything and Barret would destroy him. No matter the price to pay.
Barret noticed the people gathered in the courtyard and he swore seeing that the gates had been opened, making it possible for Gisborne to escape from the castle. The thought that his enemy could escape made him mad with rage. He ordered his men to open the door and rushed down the stairs, grabbing one of the Nottingham's women by the hair and dragging her on the platform of the gallows. The other two soldiers did the same, taking hostage another woman and a little boy.
"Gisborne!" Barret cried, tugging the woman. "Do you care so much to protect Nottingham?! Let's see if it's true! Begin saving its inhabitants! Show yourself and surrender, or I will kill them one by one."