(![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
charlottemay.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
monaboyd Jul. 22nd, 2004 09:34 am)
charlottemay.livejournal.com posting in monaboyd Jul. 22nd, 2004 09:34 am)Title: Deep in the Forest (5/?)
Author: Charlotte May
Email:charlottemay43@hotmail.com
Rating: PG13 (may be R in later chapters)
Pairing: Dom/Billy, Orlando/Elijah, Karl/Miranda
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. I intend no disrespect to Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd or anyone else mentioned in this story.
Warning: AU
Feedback: Always welcome!
Summary: There are some very familiar faces running round Sherwood Forest. Yes, folks, it’s a LOTRPS Robin Hood story! Do I really need to point out that it’s an AU? ;-)
Part five – in which Karl finds out what Miranda really thinks of him and Billy and Dom are on stake out.
Author’s notes: I know, I know… two parts in less than a week… I warn you now, I won’t be keeping this up. ;-)
Big hugs to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
red_moon_rising for the beta.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Cross-posted to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
monaboyd, fellow_shippers and my lj.
Deep in the Forest
Part five – in which Karl finds out what Miranda really thinks of him and Billy and Dom are on stake out.
Billy shot a quick glance at Dom. He was staring out of the pub window at the house across the street, apparently totally unaware of the Scotsman’s scrutiny. So Billy took the opportunity to take a long look. He shivered, remembering the force of Dom’s body pressed against his, the moist heat of his lips… he never would have guessed that it could feel so bloody wonderful. And since his nervous confession a few minutes before, the awkwardness between them had evaporated, apparently leaving their growing friendship intact.
“Hey!” Dom’s voice, and his hand waving in front of Billy’s face, brought him back to reality. “What were you thinking about?” The familiar mischievous grin was firmly in place.
Billy felt his face get hot. For god’s sake, he reprimanded himself, what had got into him? Now he was blushing like a teenager? “Not saying,” he replied, grinning back. “It would have a terrible effect on your ego.”
Dom laughed, then pointed across the street. “I’ve been watching the house, and I think they’re holding him in the cellar.”
Billy frowned. “How do you work that out?”
“The lights in all the other rooms have gone out… only the cellar is still lit up. I think it’s worth a try.”
“You want to break in?”
Dom nodded.
“Do we get to make out in the back yard again?” Billy asked mischievously, wiggling his eyebrows.
Dom’s smile faded as he leant in close to Billy and whispered in his ear, his deep voice lower than usual. “No, but we can do something much more fun back at the camp when this is all over.” Dom ran his finger down Billy’s cheek for emphasis. Billy swallowed hard. Suddenly, Dom withdrew his hand and smiled to himself, like he’d had a flash of inspiration. “Billy?”
“Yes?”
“Those guys didn’t see your face, did they?”
“No, I did as you asked. I kept my head down.”
“Good,” replied Dom, licking his lips thoughtfully. He grinned. “You know that accent of yours? Can you make it stronger? Harder to understand?”
“I suppose so.” Billy frowned. “Why?”
“I’ve had an idea.”
====
Karl raced up the spiral staircase, heading for Miranda’s apartments. He’d rushed his evening rounds, unable to keep his mind on his work. All he could think of was what the Sheriff had said.
He was going to kill the Duke of Mansfield.
And he expected him, Karl of Gisborne, to help, if not to do the dirty deed himself. This was too much. This time Lord Bean had gone too far. He was going to tell Miranda and see if she could persuade her father to change his mind.
He got to the top of the stairs and ran along the dark, narrow corridor. When he turned a corner, he slammed straight into a couple of monks, accompanied by a servant, knocking the larger monk over. “Oh, sorry, friar,” he said, helping the man to his feet.
The monk adjusted his habit, cleared his throat and made the sign of the cross over Karl. “Bless you, my son,” he murmured.
Karl bowed his head. “Thank you, father.” Then he squeezed past the other three men and carried on down the corridor, briefly wondering why two monks were wandering the castle at night. Also, he had the nagging feeling he’d seen them somewhere before. He shrugged to himself. What harm could a couple of friars do? He’d try and remember to look into it later but for now he had more important things to deal with.
A few minutes later, he arrived at Miranda’s apartments, totally out of breath. He knocked and waited. After a pause, there was the inevitable, “Come in!” and he opened the door.
“Miranda!” he said, virtually running across the room. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the look of horror on her face and realised she was backing away from him. “What’s the matter?”
“Stay away from me! You… you monster!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Daddy told me all about you!”
Karl’s heart sank. He really didn’t have time for this now. Whatever the Sheriff had said, he’d bet his life that most of it wasn’t true. “What did he tell you?”
“That you do it with other women.” Miranda stared at him defiantly.
“It?”
She blushed, then whispered, “Sex.”
“Not since I’ve been in love with you. And before then, yes, there were a few. But none to compare with you, Miranda.”
She looked at him doubtfully. “He said you did it with men too.”
How the hell did the Sheriff know that? “Only once or twice. A long time ago.” He crossed his fingers behind his back.
“And sheep.”
What the fuck?!? “No, Miranda, he made that up.” Karl tried to keep his voice calm but under the circumstances it was difficult.
“I said I’d marry Orlando. Daddy said he didn’t do it with other women.”
“He’s gay, Miranda. He doesn’t do it with any women.”
There was a long pause. Karl waited. After several minutes of deep contemplation, Miranda said, “Oh dear.” She frowned. “I suppose you don’t kick puppies either?”
Karl shook his head and smiled gently at Miranda. He crossed the room and wrapped her in his arms. She didn’t resist. Knowing she’d forgiven him for his fictitious transgressions, he stroked her long blonde hair and said quietly, “Try and forget about that for a minute, would you, love. I’ve got something to tell you….”
====
“We’re nearly there,” said Viggo quietly, as they climbed yet another spiral staircase. “There’ll be two guards at the top. They know me, and they’re not the sharpest tools in the box, so it shouldn’t be a problem getting you in. I’ll say you need privacy for a confession.”
Sean nodded. He didn’t trust himself to speak, he was so nervous. They’d had one close shave already. He couldn’t believe it when Karl of Gisborne had knocked him flying and then apologised. Thank goodness he hadn’t recognised him. After that little incident, his heart was pounding so loudly in his chest he was sure the others must be able to hear it.
They came to the top of the stairs and a voice rang out. “Halt! Who goes there?”
“Viggo. And two friars.”
The massive bulk of two guards appeared out of the gloom. “Friars?” The first guard seemed curious. His large forehead creased into a frown. “What are they here for?”
“My master wishes to make his confession.”
“Oh.” There was a long pause while the guard considered this. Sean held his breath. Would he fall for it? “Very well.” Sean almost sighed with relief as the guard turned toward the door and he heard a key turn in a lock.
“I’ll stay here,” said Viggo, motioning Sean and Elijah past him toward the now open door.
Sean nodded to the guards and grabbed Elijah’s elbow to stop him breaking into a run. He knew how impulsive the younger man could be and he didn’t want their rescue to be jeopardised by Elijah’s overactive hormones. They walked into the room and Sean carefully closed the door behind them before he turned to face the man sitting on the cot in the corner, slumped forward with his head in his hands. Assuming the guards would be listening through the door, he said quite loudly, “Bless you, my son.”
“Thank you, father,” said Orlando automatically, without looking up.
Sean felt Elijah tugging at his sleeve, in a silent entreaty. He looked at him, and saw the blue eyes were wide with pleading. Sean smiled at his young friend. “Go to him,” he said quietly.
Elijah launched himself across the room at lightning speed and landed on Orlando, knocking him completely off balance so he ended up lying flat on his back with Elijah sprawled on top of him. “What the fuck?” shouted Orlando, at the top of his voice. Sean winced. That was just the kind of thing he’d been afraid of.
He tensed, waiting for the inevitable. It came. There was a knock at the door. “Everything all right in there, friar?”
Sean turned toward the door, trying to keep the blind panic out of his voice. “Yes, we took him a little by surprise, that’s all.” Sean winced again. That sounded pretty lame. Hopefully the guards were as stupid as they appeared and would blindly accept anything he said. He hoped they wouldn’t insist on being present for Orlando’s confession.
“All right, friar. If he gets difficult, just let us know and we’ll sort him out for you.” Sean shuddered. He didn’t like to think what form the ‘sorting out’ would take.
“I’m sure everything will be fine now, thank you.” Sean chose that moment to turn back towards Orlando and Elijah. Judging by their positions, Orlando had now recognised his lover and was giving him a more than enthusiastic welcome. Sean felt his face colouring at the sight in front of him. Even though he was a friar he considered himself fairly broad-minded – he’d been around the block a few times in the past. However, there were limits, and, in his opinion, Elijah’s left hand had reached one. Sean coughed, loudly.
“Sorry, Friar,” said Elijah, sheepishly, as he climbed off Orlando. “I got a little carried away.”
Sean raised an eyebrow. “Okay, I don’t think there’s any harm done.” He looked at Orlando and began taking off his monk’s habit.
“What’s the plan?” asked Orlando, curiously.
“You’re going to pretend to be me and walk straight out the front door.”
====
Timing, it was all about timing, thought Dom as he crept down the alleyway at the side of the house and got into position by the door. He knocked loudly three times and then scooted back into the alleyway out of sight. Listening intently, he waited. Dom couldn’t stop a grin spreading across his face when he heard the door open and a voice say, “Who’s there?”
Dom whistled three times, then he heard a firm knocking at the front door of the house. Right on cue. Billy had the makings of a wonderful outlaw. He heard footsteps, then the sound of the front door opening. Dom crept back into the yard. Yes! Just as he’d hoped, the guard had left the back door open.
He shuffled along the wall until he was right next to the door. At this range, he could catch little bits of the conversation between Billy and the guard. “What did you say?” asked the guard, sounding somewhat bemused.
Dom grinned to himself when Billy replied. As far as he could tell, what Billy said was very, very Scottish and to his ears, totally unintelligible. Hoping and praying that Billy could keep the guard occupied for a few minutes, Dom slipped quietly into the house and down the cellar steps. When he got to the bottom he found his way barred by a heavy wooden door. Dom grinned to himself when he noticed the key was still in the lock. He turned it carefully, holding his breath, hoping it wasn’t going to squeak. It didn’t, and moments later, he swung the door open.
Dom stepped inside and immediately saw a hunched figure tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth. “The Duke of Mansfield?” asked Dom. Sir Ian looked up and nodded, then frowned at him, apparently wondering who he was. “I’m a friend,” said Dom quietly. “I’ve come to get you out of here.” He quickly untied the rope binding Sir Ian’s hands and took off the gag. “Quickly,” said Dom urgently, tugging on Sir Ian’s hand and pulling him to his feet. “We don’t have much time.”
The Duke wobbled a little when he stood up. “Sorry,” he mumbled, “My legs have gone numb from sitting still too long.”
He pushed Sir Ian to the bottom of the flight of steps, and then they paused just long enough for Dom to shut the cellar door and turn the key in the lock, so everything looked just as it had done. “Try and get moving,” whispered Dom. “I don’t know how long we’ve got.”
Sir Ian nodded and followed Dom up the stairs. They paused at the top. Billy was still in full flow but now the guard was beginning to sound irritated. “Look, mate,” said the guard, “I realise you’ve travelled a long way and I’m sorry you can’t find your girlfriend, but she really isn’t here, no matter what your friend told you. It’s late and I’m tired, can’t you go somewhere else?”
Dom put his finger to his lips, indicating to Sir Ian to stay quiet. They crept up the last few steps and out of the back door. Dom pulled him down the alleyway toward the front of the building, then whistled twice. He heard raised voices, the slam of a door, and then footsteps approaching. He was more than relieved when a smiling face appeared round the corner of the building. “Sir Ian, I presume?” Billy said, cheerfully.
The Duke nodded. “Now do you two mind telling me who you are… and do you have any idea why the Sheriff had me locked up?”
Author: Charlotte May
Email:charlottemay43@hotmail.com
Rating: PG13 (may be R in later chapters)
Pairing: Dom/Billy, Orlando/Elijah, Karl/Miranda
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. I intend no disrespect to Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd or anyone else mentioned in this story.
Warning: AU
Feedback: Always welcome!
Summary: There are some very familiar faces running round Sherwood Forest. Yes, folks, it’s a LOTRPS Robin Hood story! Do I really need to point out that it’s an AU? ;-)
Part five – in which Karl finds out what Miranda really thinks of him and Billy and Dom are on stake out.
Author’s notes: I know, I know… two parts in less than a week… I warn you now, I won’t be keeping this up. ;-)
Big hugs to
red_moon_rising for the beta.Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Cross-posted to
monaboyd, fellow_shippers and my lj.Deep in the Forest
Part five – in which Karl finds out what Miranda really thinks of him and Billy and Dom are on stake out.
Billy shot a quick glance at Dom. He was staring out of the pub window at the house across the street, apparently totally unaware of the Scotsman’s scrutiny. So Billy took the opportunity to take a long look. He shivered, remembering the force of Dom’s body pressed against his, the moist heat of his lips… he never would have guessed that it could feel so bloody wonderful. And since his nervous confession a few minutes before, the awkwardness between them had evaporated, apparently leaving their growing friendship intact.
“Hey!” Dom’s voice, and his hand waving in front of Billy’s face, brought him back to reality. “What were you thinking about?” The familiar mischievous grin was firmly in place.
Billy felt his face get hot. For god’s sake, he reprimanded himself, what had got into him? Now he was blushing like a teenager? “Not saying,” he replied, grinning back. “It would have a terrible effect on your ego.”
Dom laughed, then pointed across the street. “I’ve been watching the house, and I think they’re holding him in the cellar.”
Billy frowned. “How do you work that out?”
“The lights in all the other rooms have gone out… only the cellar is still lit up. I think it’s worth a try.”
“You want to break in?”
Dom nodded.
“Do we get to make out in the back yard again?” Billy asked mischievously, wiggling his eyebrows.
Dom’s smile faded as he leant in close to Billy and whispered in his ear, his deep voice lower than usual. “No, but we can do something much more fun back at the camp when this is all over.” Dom ran his finger down Billy’s cheek for emphasis. Billy swallowed hard. Suddenly, Dom withdrew his hand and smiled to himself, like he’d had a flash of inspiration. “Billy?”
“Yes?”
“Those guys didn’t see your face, did they?”
“No, I did as you asked. I kept my head down.”
“Good,” replied Dom, licking his lips thoughtfully. He grinned. “You know that accent of yours? Can you make it stronger? Harder to understand?”
“I suppose so.” Billy frowned. “Why?”
“I’ve had an idea.”
====
Karl raced up the spiral staircase, heading for Miranda’s apartments. He’d rushed his evening rounds, unable to keep his mind on his work. All he could think of was what the Sheriff had said.
He was going to kill the Duke of Mansfield.
And he expected him, Karl of Gisborne, to help, if not to do the dirty deed himself. This was too much. This time Lord Bean had gone too far. He was going to tell Miranda and see if she could persuade her father to change his mind.
He got to the top of the stairs and ran along the dark, narrow corridor. When he turned a corner, he slammed straight into a couple of monks, accompanied by a servant, knocking the larger monk over. “Oh, sorry, friar,” he said, helping the man to his feet.
The monk adjusted his habit, cleared his throat and made the sign of the cross over Karl. “Bless you, my son,” he murmured.
Karl bowed his head. “Thank you, father.” Then he squeezed past the other three men and carried on down the corridor, briefly wondering why two monks were wandering the castle at night. Also, he had the nagging feeling he’d seen them somewhere before. He shrugged to himself. What harm could a couple of friars do? He’d try and remember to look into it later but for now he had more important things to deal with.
A few minutes later, he arrived at Miranda’s apartments, totally out of breath. He knocked and waited. After a pause, there was the inevitable, “Come in!” and he opened the door.
“Miranda!” he said, virtually running across the room. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the look of horror on her face and realised she was backing away from him. “What’s the matter?”
“Stay away from me! You… you monster!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Daddy told me all about you!”
Karl’s heart sank. He really didn’t have time for this now. Whatever the Sheriff had said, he’d bet his life that most of it wasn’t true. “What did he tell you?”
“That you do it with other women.” Miranda stared at him defiantly.
“It?”
She blushed, then whispered, “Sex.”
“Not since I’ve been in love with you. And before then, yes, there were a few. But none to compare with you, Miranda.”
She looked at him doubtfully. “He said you did it with men too.”
How the hell did the Sheriff know that? “Only once or twice. A long time ago.” He crossed his fingers behind his back.
“And sheep.”
What the fuck?!? “No, Miranda, he made that up.” Karl tried to keep his voice calm but under the circumstances it was difficult.
“I said I’d marry Orlando. Daddy said he didn’t do it with other women.”
“He’s gay, Miranda. He doesn’t do it with any women.”
There was a long pause. Karl waited. After several minutes of deep contemplation, Miranda said, “Oh dear.” She frowned. “I suppose you don’t kick puppies either?”
Karl shook his head and smiled gently at Miranda. He crossed the room and wrapped her in his arms. She didn’t resist. Knowing she’d forgiven him for his fictitious transgressions, he stroked her long blonde hair and said quietly, “Try and forget about that for a minute, would you, love. I’ve got something to tell you….”
====
“We’re nearly there,” said Viggo quietly, as they climbed yet another spiral staircase. “There’ll be two guards at the top. They know me, and they’re not the sharpest tools in the box, so it shouldn’t be a problem getting you in. I’ll say you need privacy for a confession.”
Sean nodded. He didn’t trust himself to speak, he was so nervous. They’d had one close shave already. He couldn’t believe it when Karl of Gisborne had knocked him flying and then apologised. Thank goodness he hadn’t recognised him. After that little incident, his heart was pounding so loudly in his chest he was sure the others must be able to hear it.
They came to the top of the stairs and a voice rang out. “Halt! Who goes there?”
“Viggo. And two friars.”
The massive bulk of two guards appeared out of the gloom. “Friars?” The first guard seemed curious. His large forehead creased into a frown. “What are they here for?”
“My master wishes to make his confession.”
“Oh.” There was a long pause while the guard considered this. Sean held his breath. Would he fall for it? “Very well.” Sean almost sighed with relief as the guard turned toward the door and he heard a key turn in a lock.
“I’ll stay here,” said Viggo, motioning Sean and Elijah past him toward the now open door.
Sean nodded to the guards and grabbed Elijah’s elbow to stop him breaking into a run. He knew how impulsive the younger man could be and he didn’t want their rescue to be jeopardised by Elijah’s overactive hormones. They walked into the room and Sean carefully closed the door behind them before he turned to face the man sitting on the cot in the corner, slumped forward with his head in his hands. Assuming the guards would be listening through the door, he said quite loudly, “Bless you, my son.”
“Thank you, father,” said Orlando automatically, without looking up.
Sean felt Elijah tugging at his sleeve, in a silent entreaty. He looked at him, and saw the blue eyes were wide with pleading. Sean smiled at his young friend. “Go to him,” he said quietly.
Elijah launched himself across the room at lightning speed and landed on Orlando, knocking him completely off balance so he ended up lying flat on his back with Elijah sprawled on top of him. “What the fuck?” shouted Orlando, at the top of his voice. Sean winced. That was just the kind of thing he’d been afraid of.
He tensed, waiting for the inevitable. It came. There was a knock at the door. “Everything all right in there, friar?”
Sean turned toward the door, trying to keep the blind panic out of his voice. “Yes, we took him a little by surprise, that’s all.” Sean winced again. That sounded pretty lame. Hopefully the guards were as stupid as they appeared and would blindly accept anything he said. He hoped they wouldn’t insist on being present for Orlando’s confession.
“All right, friar. If he gets difficult, just let us know and we’ll sort him out for you.” Sean shuddered. He didn’t like to think what form the ‘sorting out’ would take.
“I’m sure everything will be fine now, thank you.” Sean chose that moment to turn back towards Orlando and Elijah. Judging by their positions, Orlando had now recognised his lover and was giving him a more than enthusiastic welcome. Sean felt his face colouring at the sight in front of him. Even though he was a friar he considered himself fairly broad-minded – he’d been around the block a few times in the past. However, there were limits, and, in his opinion, Elijah’s left hand had reached one. Sean coughed, loudly.
“Sorry, Friar,” said Elijah, sheepishly, as he climbed off Orlando. “I got a little carried away.”
Sean raised an eyebrow. “Okay, I don’t think there’s any harm done.” He looked at Orlando and began taking off his monk’s habit.
“What’s the plan?” asked Orlando, curiously.
“You’re going to pretend to be me and walk straight out the front door.”
====
Timing, it was all about timing, thought Dom as he crept down the alleyway at the side of the house and got into position by the door. He knocked loudly three times and then scooted back into the alleyway out of sight. Listening intently, he waited. Dom couldn’t stop a grin spreading across his face when he heard the door open and a voice say, “Who’s there?”
Dom whistled three times, then he heard a firm knocking at the front door of the house. Right on cue. Billy had the makings of a wonderful outlaw. He heard footsteps, then the sound of the front door opening. Dom crept back into the yard. Yes! Just as he’d hoped, the guard had left the back door open.
He shuffled along the wall until he was right next to the door. At this range, he could catch little bits of the conversation between Billy and the guard. “What did you say?” asked the guard, sounding somewhat bemused.
Dom grinned to himself when Billy replied. As far as he could tell, what Billy said was very, very Scottish and to his ears, totally unintelligible. Hoping and praying that Billy could keep the guard occupied for a few minutes, Dom slipped quietly into the house and down the cellar steps. When he got to the bottom he found his way barred by a heavy wooden door. Dom grinned to himself when he noticed the key was still in the lock. He turned it carefully, holding his breath, hoping it wasn’t going to squeak. It didn’t, and moments later, he swung the door open.
Dom stepped inside and immediately saw a hunched figure tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth. “The Duke of Mansfield?” asked Dom. Sir Ian looked up and nodded, then frowned at him, apparently wondering who he was. “I’m a friend,” said Dom quietly. “I’ve come to get you out of here.” He quickly untied the rope binding Sir Ian’s hands and took off the gag. “Quickly,” said Dom urgently, tugging on Sir Ian’s hand and pulling him to his feet. “We don’t have much time.”
The Duke wobbled a little when he stood up. “Sorry,” he mumbled, “My legs have gone numb from sitting still too long.”
He pushed Sir Ian to the bottom of the flight of steps, and then they paused just long enough for Dom to shut the cellar door and turn the key in the lock, so everything looked just as it had done. “Try and get moving,” whispered Dom. “I don’t know how long we’ve got.”
Sir Ian nodded and followed Dom up the stairs. They paused at the top. Billy was still in full flow but now the guard was beginning to sound irritated. “Look, mate,” said the guard, “I realise you’ve travelled a long way and I’m sorry you can’t find your girlfriend, but she really isn’t here, no matter what your friend told you. It’s late and I’m tired, can’t you go somewhere else?”
Dom put his finger to his lips, indicating to Sir Ian to stay quiet. They crept up the last few steps and out of the back door. Dom pulled him down the alleyway toward the front of the building, then whistled twice. He heard raised voices, the slam of a door, and then footsteps approaching. He was more than relieved when a smiling face appeared round the corner of the building. “Sir Ian, I presume?” Billy said, cheerfully.
The Duke nodded. “Now do you two mind telling me who you are… and do you have any idea why the Sheriff had me locked up?”
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
Even though he was a friar he considered himself fairly broad-minded – he’d been around the block a few times in the past. However, there were limits, and, in his opinion, Elijah’s left hand had reached one.
Bwahahahahahahahahhaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From:
no subject
Thanks for commenting. :-)
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Erin
From:
no subject
Glad you're enjoying the story and thanks for commenting. :-)
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Overall, this is just one of those fics I can already tell I'm not ever going to want to end.
From:
no subject
Overall, this is just one of those fics I can already tell I'm not ever going to want to end.
Well... it was originally planned to be six parts, now it's got to about ten and I've a horrible feeling it'll get even longer, so there's plenty more to go yet! ;-)