Outplayed

by Hayley Osborn

  The shadow of a horse fell across my feet. I hadn’t heard it arrive. I thought I’d been keeping watch.

  Wishing the horse was riderless, I straightened, just as the cool tip of a sword touched my neck.

  “There you are.” Gisborne smirked down at me from atop a white horse.

  TWENTY

  Gisborne was straight-backed upon his horse, the sword in his hand dripping with blood. I had no idea how he’d found me amid the panic surrounding us. “Sorry, my lord.” I smiled tightly. “We’ll have to catch up some other time. I was just leaving.” I tugged on Francis’ arms. He felt heavier and more blood-covered than moments ago.

  Gisborne slid from his horse in one movement, his hand clamping around my bicep. “I don’t believe you’re going anywhere. My lady.” His final words were spoken through clenched teeth and with flared nostrils.

  I pulled at my arm, but his grip was strong. “Let go of me.”

  “Not today. Not unless you’re willing to swap your freedom for that of my brother?”

  I clamped my lips shut. That wasn’t happening. With any luck, Rob had gotten Alan far enough away that they couldn’t see me. He’d be down here in a second if he was watching, and that was the worst thing he could do.

  “Thought so. Never mind. I’m certain you’ll be changing your mind soon enough.”

  “That’s one thing you really shouldn’t be certain about, my lord.” He’d have no more luck finding Rob’s location from me than he’d had with John or Miller. A sense of mild panic ran through me with that thought. Mild because I still backed myself to reach the edge of the forest. Panic because if Gisborne did manage to kidnap me, I wasn’t sure I would be able to deal with whatever he chose to do to me. I certainly wouldn’t handle it as bravely as John or Miller.

  Not that it mattered. I wasn’t going anywhere with him. I yanked my arm from his grasp, then pulled at Francis, changing our course to go around Gisborne.

  Gisborne’s hand clamped around my arm again. “I believe you misunderstand me, Lady Maud. Or whoever you are today. You have only one place to be this afternoon. And that is with me.” Spinning me around so I lost my grip on Francis, he placed his hands on my waist and hoisted me onto his horse—he was stronger than I’d imagined. A second later, before I even had the chance to think about wriggling out of his grasp and sliding back to the ground, he was sitting behind me, breathing in my ear.

  He made a clicking sound, and his horse began to move. An arrow whistled past us, with it, Rob’s voice. “Let her go, Gisborne!”

  I’d known he’d try to stop Gisborne. Hadn’t wanted him to put himself in the danger it would bring but I knew he’d do it anyway. Still, I wished he’d stayed hidden.

  Gisborne turned his horse to face Rob.

  “Take me!” yelled Rob, over the racket of Gisborne’s men wreaking havoc among the villagers.

  “Don’t be stupid, Rob. He’s not going to hurt me.” There’d been plenty of chances in the past, but Gisborne never took advantage of them. I believed he still loved Maud and wouldn’t hurt her. Which meant he couldn’t hurt me either, because he didn’t know for certain which one of us I was.

  “Your lady is incorrect, brother. I do intend to hurt her. Probably in much the same way I hurt your other friends. How hurt she gets, depends on how long you take to find her. But because I’m nothing if not fair, I’ll give you a fighting chance and tell you where we’re headed.”

  Rob dropped his bow on the ground and stepped toward us with his hands raised beside his ears. “Let her go. Take me instead. I’m the one you want.” His voice shook and I wasn’t sure if it was from fear or anger.

  Gisborne shrugged. I felt his shoulders move. “Perhaps. But I’ll have you on my terms, and I’ll have you once I’m sure hurting your friends will no longer hurt you. Consider it payback for all the punishment I received growing up.”

  “Any punishment was your own doing, not mine.” Rob’s eyes moved from Gisborne to me, and back again.

  Gisborne shook his head. “Not when it was Mother. You were always in her ear.”

  Rob shook his head. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Is it? Why did she let you sneak into her bed when you were scared on stormy nights, but force me to clean silverware with the servants when I tried to do the same thing? Why did she allow you to play outside later than your curfew, but send me to bed without supper for missing mine? Why didn’t she make you clean your own dirty clothes or stand over you while you mended a hole in the knee of your pants.” He spat the words at Rob, his anger still raw.

  Rob gave his head a slow shake. “Are they the worst examples you can come up with? Those are the reasons you’ve spent months hunting me and my friends down? You’re pathetic, brother. Did anyone ever tell you that? Mother loved you. You think she wronged you? Try being the child Father didn’t want in the house, then you’ll know what it feels like to be unloved.” His hands were still up near his ears.

  “You were her favorite. In her eyes, I never existed.” His face hardened. “I hope it hurts knowing how helpless you are to stop this. That’s how I felt when Mother picked on me.” He made that clicking sound again with his tongue, and the horse started to move, turning away from Rob. “I’m taking Maud to a place we used to know well.” There was a smirk in his voice as he called over his shoulder.

  “No! Stop, Gisborne!”

  Gisborne laughed, his breath warm against my neck.

  I shivered.

  I tried to twist around, to look at Rob, but Gisborne caught my shoulder and pushed me back. In that brief second, I saw Rob scoop up his bow. A moment later, an arrow whistled past us. Gisborne laughed again. “Bad shot, brother,” he called over his shoulder. Then he jumped and cursed in my ear.

  I turned again and glimpsed the end of an arrow lodged in his shoulder blade. “Are you hurt, my lord? Maybe we should stop and fix your wound.” I tried to keep the smugness from my voice. That shot would be enough to force Gisborne to stop for help, allowing me to escape. The arrow sticking out of him would jar every time his horse took a step, something I imagined to be painful. It had been a couple of weeks since my last run in with him, but he was possibly still weak from the wounds he received that day. There was no way he could keep riding. I looked to the nearby forest, searching for the best place to run the moment he slowed, somewhere a horse couldn’t follow.

  “Not a chance.” Gisborne gritted his teeth and wound one arm tightly around my waist. He kicked his horse in the sides and we sped up, galloping away from the village, away from Rob.

  I struggled against him. I’d take my chances with a broken bone from a fall from this horse rather than meekly go where Gisborne wanted to take me. But his grip was firm, and I could do nothing but watch the scenery go by.

  We stayed on the main trail for a long time before turning onto an overgrown trail wide enough for just one horse. It felt like we’d ridden for hours, but we couldn’t have, or the sun would be lower in the sky. It just felt that way because every step took me farther from Rob and closer to an uncertain future.

  We stopped at the edge of a large clearing that appeared often used by Gisborne’s soldiers. There were a handful here already, waiting for us. They saw Gisborne, and the arrow in his shoulder, and jumped to action. “Are you all right, my lord?” one asked, taking the horse’s reins.

  “Fine,” snapped Gisborne, sliding to the ground with a hiss. “Get down.” He glared at me until I climbed off his horse, then he nodded to one of the soldiers. “Watch the girl. If she escapes, it’ll be your neck. I’ll be back for her shortly.” He cast his eyes around the clearing, and startled soldiers jumped back into whatever tasks they had been doing before we appeared. “Where’s Antonio?”

  “Here, my lord.” Tall and thin, Antonio pushed his way through the bushes and into the clearing.

  “Get this damned arrow out of me as fast as you can. I have things to do.”

  Antonio nodded, disa
ppearing back the way he’d come with Gisborne following in his wake.

  I lunged for Gisborne’s horse—I could escape on it. I was about to swing myself up onto the animal’s back when the soldier dug his fingers into my shoulders and dragged me down, dropping me on the ground.

  “Get up,” he grunted. When I didn’t move, he wound his hand in my ponytail and pulled me to the nearest tree, dropping a length of rope on the ground.

  “You’re tying me up?” He didn’t speak and probably didn’t need to. The answer was clear.

  I wasn’t sticking around for him to bind me to a tree. He had to loosen his grip on my hair if he wanted to wrap that rope around me. The moment he did, I ran.

  I’d only taken three steps before he tackled me and knocked me to the ground. My chin smacked on the dirt and I bit my tongue. Blood fill my mouth. I spat it out and kicked him, but he was too strong, and my kicks glanced off his legs. He dragged me to my feet with a pinching grip on my wrist and pulled me back to the tree. “I’m not dying because of you,” he muttered.

  He tied the rope around my wrists while I kicked and bucked. I fought even knowing he was stronger, knowing that no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t get away. Once he was done, he sat a few steps from me, never taking his eyes off me.

  “Just let me go. Gisborne won’t really kill you because of it.” I was still panting from the effort of trying to escape and didn’t believe my own words. All I could hope was that the soldier was new and didn’t know Gisborne well. “Just tell him it was an accident.”

  The soldier gave a disgusted shake of his head. Not new, then.

  “If he kills me, it’ll be all your fault, you know. For holding me here like this.” That probably wouldn’t help either. I’d seen what Gisborne’s soldiers did to the villages they visited. I doubted any of them had a conscience.

  “No,” the soldier said quietly. “It’ll be your own fault for antagonizing him and then not running fast enough to get away today.”

  I shook my head. What he said was true. I had continuously provoked Gisborne since the first time I met him. It was little wonder he wanted some payback.

  We fell into silence and I took another look around the huge clearing, memorizing it in case I had the chance to escape. Shelters were erected side-by-side around the edge opposite me. They were A-frames made of large sticks which were then covered by smaller sticks, leaves, and anything else that might keep the weather out. There was a large fire in the center and the smell of cooking meat wafted from it. Horses were tied up somewhere out of sight—I could hear them snuffling—and there was running water somewhere nearby.

  Footsteps made me turn as Gisborne marched toward us. He crouched in front of me, talking to the soldier without looking at him. “You may go, soldier. I have this now.”

  The soldier shot to his feet and scurried away, as if pleased his post was over.

  Gisborne worked at the end of the rope, untying the knot that kept me strapped to the tree. Slowly, he unwrapped the ties from around my body, took my hands and helped me to my feet. “I’m not stupid enough to imagine my brother is sitting on his hands awaiting your return.”

  I didn’t imagine he was either, though that was likely the safer option.

  “But just in case, where are you all based at the moment?” He moved stiffly, his shoulder obviously sore, the bandaging invisible beneath his cloak.

  I laughed. “I’m sure you’re also not stupid enough to think I’m going to tell you that.” Miller and John had survived Gisborne while keeping Rob safe, I could, too.

  His eyes wandered over my face from my eyes, to my mouth, then back to my nose, my hair. I knew what he was searching for. He wanted to know if I was her. Maud. I’d been sleeping with my hair plaited hoping the waviness would give the impression of curls and I hoped he couldn’t tell the difference between the two of us.

  He made a sound in his throat that gave no indication what conclusion he’d come to. “I think you misunderstand me. Not giving me that information would be stupid. Handing it over would prove you to be of above average intellect.” He gave me a beaming smile.

  The man was an idiot. If he thought he’d just paid me a compliment, he needed to brush up on his courting skills. “And what, exactly, do you plan to do with that information, once I give it to you?” The longer we talked, the more time I had to come up with a plan to get out of here.

  He linked his hands behind his back, hissing as his wound bit. “That’s of little consequence to you, my lady.”

  “See, that’s where you’re wrong. If you’re going to kill my friends, why would I share that information?”

  Gisborne watched me again, his tongue flicking out to lick his lips. “Very well. I have no intention of hurting your friends. I’d just like to know where their current abode is. Maybe stop by for a visit next time I’m in the area.”

  Yeah, right. “Sorry, my lord, but I can’t recall the name of the place we’re staying.”

  “Perhaps, then, you could describe it. So I’ll know it if I’m passing.”

  He either thought I was stupid, or terrified of what he would do to me. I was a little of the second, but not enough to give him what he wanted. “So, you’ll keep them all safe? If I tell you?”

  He leaned forward, nodding. “Of course.”

  I stared at him, hoping he’d think I was deciding. “We live in the most beautiful part of the whole forest. The trees are huge and very old.”

  He nodded again, his eyes bright. “What town is nearest?”

  I looked over his shoulder into the distance, as if I was thinking. “I’m not sure. Edwinstowe. No, Mansfield. No, I think Rainworth.”

  “None of those towns are close to each other. Which one is it?” There was agitation in his voice, though a smile remained on his face.

  “I’m sorry. We’ve moved a lot lately, and I get so confused.” I was just a girl, after all. At least, that’s how I hoped he saw it. “There’s this one massive tree, so big two people can’t get their arms around it.”

  “The Big Tree?” He looked at me sideways.

  “No. Not the Big Tree. I know that place well enough to have told you if we were staying there.”

  He barely heard my answer before asking his next question. “Is this place near a trail?”

  “Yes. But not too close to the main trail. There’s a smaller one that leads there. There’s a hill on the far side.”

  His eyes lit. He hadn’t seen it for the lie it was. “I think I might know the place. Anything else?”

  “There’s a valley on the other side.”

  Gisborne’s nod was fast, excited.

  Time to put a stop to that. “And it’s filled with rainbows. And unicorns. And candy.” Take that Gisborne. As if I’d ever tell you anything about any of the places we stayed.

  His fist to my gut folded me in two, driving all the air from my lungs. I dropped like a stone to the ground. I hadn’t seen it coming. I knew Gisborne would try to strike me. It was just the kind of man he was. But I thought I’d have time to react or at least brace myself for it.

  He stood over me with his hands on his hips, waiting until I’d taken those first couple of breaths. “Let’s try that again. Where are they staying?”

  I pulled myself up to my knees and wheezed, “High in the forest. In a huge tree house.” Gisborne was getting nothing from me.

  The toe of his boot connected with my thigh with such force it knocked me onto my side. I held back the cry that pushed up in my throat. I imagined I’d be screaming in pain soon enough, might as well hold it back while I could, and hope it pissed Gisborne off.

  Taking a fistful of my hair, Gisborne dragged me to my feet. “Where. Are. They?”

  If he didn’t get it by now, he never would. “Nottingham Castle.”

  This time, his open hand slammed into my cheek, the impact so hard it made my ear ring. I stumbled backward, catching the smirk on his lips before I look
ed away. I didn’t need to see how much he enjoyed my pain. Blood trickled down my chin, my lip already swollen and bleeding. I wiped it away.

  “Last chance. Where is my brother?”

  I lifted my head and threw every bit of hatred for all the things he’d done into my stare. “Woodhurst Manor.” I must have bit my tongue the last time he hit me, because the words were heavy in my mouth. I knew I should stop. Maybe beg for his forgiveness, tell him some minute detail. The smallest thing would keep him happy. I also knew it wouldn’t matter what I said. We’d end up in the same place anyway. I’d likely chosen the faster route. Plus seeing him so riled up gave me a small sense of satisfaction.

  Another open-handed blow slammed into my face. The other side this time. I staggered back, the world shrinking to that one point that screamed in pain. Rob would tell me riling Gisborne was stupid. I guessed I’d learned from the best. I’d seen Rob do it more than once and I finally understood it. Even now, as he drew his hand back and hit me again, I couldn’t be sorry.

  My breath came in uneven pants and the cry I’d kept inside earlier ripped from my lips when he hit me the next time. Each of his blows hurt. That last one felt like he’d put every ounce of strength he contained into it. I leaned on a tree behind me and pulled deep breaths into my lungs, trying not to let him see that my legs were about to give way. I’d expected more questions, but there were none. Just another blow that rocked my head back and slammed it into the rough bark of the tree. Then another, to my stomach. My legs finally collapsed, and I was on the musty-smelling forest floor.

  I clenched my hands, wishing I had the energy and strength to hit Gisborne back. He couldn’t treat me this way. I was a person, too. He didn’t get to put his fists on me just because he felt like it. He didn’t get to hit me until I was too hurt to move just because everyone was too terrified to stop him.

  Except, of course, he did.

  I wasn’t physically strong enough to block his blows. Now he’d hurt me, I could barely move. I certainly couldn’t run, and fighting back without a weapon was impossible.