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slipshod-sawyer · 2 years

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I Know You’re Never Coming Back

The Sheriff of Nottingham and the Maid Marian have a past, one that’s not so bloody as it might’ve been thought.

The Sheriff was uncomfortable listening to the cat speak. The cat was actually the king of Gnomeland, but what did that matter? Not one bit, if anyone asked him

He supposed, however, that he might as well feel a slight bit more uncomfortable since he was in the same room as his Nemesis and they weren’t trying to kill each other for once.

His daughter stood near the other side of the room, with the other two witches. She was still the same girl he’d always known, but different in a slight matter.

What’s changed? Did I miss it? What is it?

He shouldn’t have slipped up about her mother, and he knew it. He hadn’t even realized he’d done it until Hood had given him a look. He was becoming soft.

”My mother died when I was a baby!”

”Course she did!”

He felt a slight remorseful for lying to her for years, but that’s what he was best at. Lying, cheating, and fist fights.

You weren’t the one who cheated.

Neither did she. It was agreed.

You still loved her.

Evil doesn’t love.

Liar.

Dot was talking to the other two, a confused look on her face. They both simply patted her shoulder and continued listening to the Cat-Gnome King.

She looks a bit like her mother.

She looks like me.

And her mother.

But mainly me.

The brown skin, the brown eyes… not his. Not his one bit.

She can’t know.

I know.

She’ll tell-

Who’s there to tell that’ll believe her?

How many times had he sat in the house, wishing to be anywhere else? None. He was Evil. He wasn’t going to mourn someone. Especially someone who wasn’t dead.

You shouldn’t have let her go.

We agreed on it.

She was pregnant.

Doesn’t matter.

You were in love.

Evil doesn’t love. Shut up.

Prove it.

No. I have nothing to prove.

You have everything to prove, idiot.

—

He was twelve years old when he first saw her. They were in the same forest group- Forest Group #3.

Yuba the Gnome scowled at all of them, his gaze wanting them to not play around. He was calling out different names to be in groups, all at random, it seemed.

“Volkan of Nottingham, group three.” Yuba moved on, his scowl transferring to another Never.

It wasn’t long however before a dark hand was stuck in his face.

”Hi!” the owner said. “I’m Marian.”

He scoffed and refused to acknowledge her.

Volkan was aware of her simply standing there, waiting on him to shake her hand.

He huffed and shook it, finally. Only to get her to leave him alone, of course. She was an Ever. She was stupid.

“You’re Volkan, right? I heard Yuba call your name off the list. Nottingham is a Never kingdom, right? I’m from Jaunt Jolie. It’s an Ever kingdom. It’s nice. It doesn’t have trees as big as Sherwood Forest though.”

She talked, it seemed. It was annoying.

Volkan interrupted her before she continued. “Stop. Talking. Now, or I’ll throw you to the wolves.”

Marian looked a bit offended, but she quieted down.

Thank the Storian.

Yuba growled off a few more names, most of which were Evers that had been saved for last. One of them headed their way.

Red hair ablaze, brown eyes watching Marian with calculated intent, and a bow slung over his shoulders. Volkan already knew who he was.

“Hood.”

“Volkan.”

They we’re respectful at best, he supposed. It was the best he could manage. Robin Hood was an idiot.

“And who might you be?” Hood said, smiling at Marian.

Marian grinned. “Robin! We already met at dinner last night!”

Hood laughed. “I know. I was just messing with you.”

Volkan moved away from them, irritated, and into the shadows of the School for Evil. His pale skin would burn easily in the hot sun.

Other Nevers from the Evil half of the school milled around, away from the Good Evers. It was a clean division, even if the Prince of Camelot, Arthur, wouldn’t leave some of the Nevers alone.

“Are you coming, Volkan?” Marian called.

Volkan heaved a sigh and followed she and Hood into the Forest with the other seven members of their group. Four other Nevers he didn’t recognize, Arthur of all people, Arthur’s lackey (Lancelot, he thought), and one of Arthur’s admirers.

He wasn’t looking forward to this.

He had good reason not too, as it turned out.

Yuba was going off about how only a prince could identify a princess, so he decided to put it to the test.

“You there! Marian! Up here!” he said.

Marian listened, and she was whisked into one of the four large barrels next to Yuba.

Yuba growled. “Volkan, Robin, find the girl. Choose.”

Volkan was shaking with rage already. Yuba was willingly letting Volkan make a fool of himself. He wouldn’t choose correctly. Only a prince could tell, and princes were good, not villains from Nottingham.

He listened, however. Better to make a fool of himself and get revenge later than argue and get a bad grade.

He waited for Hood to carefully pick the barrel furthest to the right before randomly choosing the barrel two away from it.

Yuba snapped his fingers and the barrels disappeared, leaving Marian behind, in the exact spot Volkan’s choice had been in.

Marian was grinning at him, proud of her seemingly newfound friend.

Hood was glaring.

Good. Let him be mad. I just bested him at what I wasn’t supposed to be able to do. I’m better than he is.

“He’s not a prince, Sir,” Arthur said.

Yuba nodded thoughtfully. “No, no he is not. Now, let’s move on.”

Volkan was grinning now. His lips moved up into a smile only a student of evil could manage. Evil had won this round.

��

It was the very end of their first year of the school. He had turned thirteen sometime in the past month.

Volkan was well aware that Marian believed them to be friends. She was sorely mistaken, but it made Hood uncomfortable and irritated, so he put up with it.

Doesn’t hurt that she’s pretty, and nice.

Shut up.

He was currently sitting in the balcony off the side of the common room in the Vice Tower, watching the lights and hearing the faint music coming from the ballroom across the bay and at the Ever school.

He’d been standing there when Hood had asked Marian to be his date to the Dance. He’d been a bit jealous, but was content with the knowledge that if he’d been an Ever, Marian might’ve gone with him instead.

“Volkan, you lump of useless information!” A shout rang from inside. It was John, as it always was, it seemed.

Volkan huffed. He was on the Leader track, while John was on the Henchman one, but it didn’t matter. As far as anyone other than the two of them were aware, it was the opposite. Volkan was pulling the shots, but John was the cover. Anyone who wanted to kill him? They’d have to kill the supposed Leader first.

Looking back at the lights one more time before going inside, Volkan could have sworn that he felt someone watching him too.

—

It was dark outside. Midnight was high upon them all. The cold breeze was enough to make even Yuba shiver if he’d been there.

He was standing in the Endless Woods, next to a small lake, awaiting in her arrival.

Marian’s figure was silhouetted in the darkness. Her own black skin blended into the darkness surrounding her. Volkan found it beautiful.

She’d grown up a lot, he supposed. He had too. Matured. Marian was no longer as happy go lucky and innocent as she once was. This was their third year after all. They’d both just recently turned fifteen.

He stood stock still as she approached him. He had no idea why she’d asked him to meet her here tonight. He had no clue why she wasn’t off spending time with Hood before leaving the school for a couple of weeks to visit her family.

His mind was encased in rage and pure, unfiltered hatred at the mere thought of Hood. Thought he was so high and mighty… what would he do if he knew his princess was out here with him instead?

Marian smiled a bit reproachfully but still walked closer. Only she wouldn’t fear getting this close to a Never while it was dark and she was defenseless with the exception of her finger glow.

As if on cue, she lit her finger glow, the purple shining bright in the darkness. At the same time, he lit his, the blue mixing with her purple.

”Marian.” He raised an eyebrow at her, his head tilted back.

Marian smiled more at seeing him clearly now. It made him question things he shouldn’t question.

“How are you, Volkan? We haven’t gotten to talk in a bit,” she said.

Volkan frowned and shook his head. “We never really talk anyway. You’re the one doing all of it.”

Marian smiled brighter and laughed. “You’re right, of course. But don’t avoid the question.”

”I’m fine.” He shrugged.

She let her smile fall for a few seconds. “You’re not in any pain? I got on to him for that fight. He knew it was wrong.”

Volkan shrugged once more. The leftover pain from his fight with Hood two days before was still there, a dull, throbbing ache from his ribs and a pierce, sharp pain like a knife whenever he breathed too deep. It was obvious she already knew that though, so he found no reason to state it.

He was taken aback and a bit uncomfortable when she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

“I’m just glad you’re both alright. I was afraid it would escalate and one of you would kill the other. Save that for your fairy tale, though. No one needs to die here at school.”

Volkan didn’t answer, but he stopped struggling in her grasp, allowing her to hug him.

She pulled away, smiling. “Did you agree to meet me so you could try and be better or Robin, or because you genuinely wanted to see me?”

The short laugh he let out was enough to give her an answer. He was Evil. She was Good. Of course he came to best Hood. He was his Nemesis. He would always put that rivalry first.

Marian’s smile diminished a bit, but understanding flooded in right behind it. She understood that as Evil, he couldn’t care for her as she did him.

Volkan felt a certain warmth attack his cheeks and neck the longer he looked at her, the longer she watched him, the longer they stood together.

“Could you ever care for someone, Volkan? Even if it’s not love, could you care for someone?” Her voice was quiet, the tension thick on her tone.

He waited a moment before answering. He couldn’t love, he shouldn’t care, but here he stood: somewhere between the threshold of the two.

“I don’t know,” he said. His own voice was a near whisper, his words cracking as he spoke.

Her hand were on his shoulders, he realized. Her face and body were closer than usual.

It wasn’t until her lips were on his that he realized what she meant: that she was in love with him and still wanted him even if he couldn’t want her back.

He didn’t take long to kiss her in return. Her lips were like the sweet honey that the nuns in Nottingham made in the spring. He wanted to melt right through her if he could.

He felt proud in this moment, proud of himself for being here and kissing her, proud of her for having the courage and strength to love someone who couldn’t love her like she wanted, proud of Hood for not ruining this moment… proud of himself for not running away like a coward.

He vaguely wondered if Hood had wondered where his princess was sneaking of too, if Hood had followed her. He hoped he had, actually. Then Hood was see that Marian had chosen Evil. She’d chosen him. Hood would see his princess kissing another young man like she didn’t have a prince waiting on her.

He hadn’t noticed his arms snaking around her waist, but she didn’t seem to mind, just wanting him.

There was a throbbing pain in his chest that forced him to pull away from her, but he still held her close as she pressed her forehead to his and panted for air.

Her eyes bore into him now like searchlights.

“What?” he asked.

She smiled softly, lovingly, and placed a hand on his cheek. “You care.”

He wasted only a silent moment before speaking in such a quiet whisper he didn’t think she’d heard him. “I care.”

Her smile was everything.

—

“You can’t kill him, Volkan! It’s not worth it!” she pleaded with him.

He was seventeen. He was in love. He’d accepted it. But Hood was in the way. Their fairy tale had opened and he was about to close it, to let Evil win for the first time in years.

Marian had stopped him, he realized. It was she who had called out for him to stop.

He turned to her, frowning. They were in love, even if the Storian, the magical pen that wrote their fairy tales and predicted The End, continued to try and put her with Hood.

“Please, Volkan.” She watched him raise his sword from Hood’s neck, only to sigh in relief as he tossed it away.

Volkan cursed his life now. How dare he fall in love and cause his own fairy tale to ruin? How dare Marian allow him to do that? How dare Hood simply exist?

Volkan didn’t shove her away though when she pulled him close and kissed his cheek.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Whispering, because even after the past two years, Hood still didn’t know about he and Marian. Marian had kept her promise. Hood would never know.

Marian moved past him and picked the sword up, and Volkan was not proud to admit that his eyes followed her, watching her every move like a hawk. She was beautiful in everything she did: so there was no reason not to.

The sword came from behind and sliced his back open.

Volkan felt the red hot fury take over his body as he swung as hard as possible behind him, a sharp crack resounding through the area.

Hood hit the ground at the same time Volkan did, and Volkan took a second longer to pass out from the pain and blood loss.

The last thing he registered with a working mind was Marian crying over him and trying stop the blood flow.

He’d woken up three days later, stitches in his back, Marian gone, and parts of Nottingham vandalized with signs saying:

Long Live The Hood; Down With The Sheriff

Where was Marian?

He got his answer quickly enough. With Hood. In the Forest. Even though neither had won their tale, Hood was still seen as the victor, and as that was the truth, Marian was forced to go with him in order to keep their secret.

His heart was encased in rage, but he still felt like he lost.

He lost because he lost Marian.

—

Now twenty years old, he hadn’t had a proper night with Marian in three years. He missed her. So, naturally, he went to visit her in Maidenvale while she was visiting family.

Her laugh echoed across the room like a cheery afternoon stream. It brought a smile to his face and light to his eyes like nothing else could.

His hand were on her waist, her’s around his neck, and they were dancing to the music filtering inside the small house from the town square.

He met her eyes and gave her a wolffish grin as she pushed up and kissed him.

His arms held her tight as she did. She was his everything. He wouldn’t let her go, not if he could help it.

She pulled away for a moment and smiled at him before kissing him again.

She loves you.

I know.

You love her.

I know.

Evil does love.

I know.

—

Volkan was there when Marian told Hood she was pregnant, but not with his child, with Volkan’s. With the Sheriff’s.

Hood was livid. Volkan hadn’t thought that an Everboy could get mad like Hood did in that moment.

Volkan was prepared to fight he and Marian’s way out of there, but Hood didn’t do anything other than look mad. He didn’t shout, didn’t fight, didn’t argue.

Volkan’s arm was snaked around Marian’s waist and she was leaning on him, her fingers secretly tracing the scar path on his back through his shirt and jacket. She knew the path by heart.

“Are you sure it’s his?” Hood asked, getting a small semblance of control back into his voice.

Marian nodded. “Completely.”

”What happened to me?” Hood asked.

“We’re not together, Robin.” Marian reminded him.

Robin nodded. “I know, but… I still thought…”

For once in his life, Volkan felt a bit sorry for an Ever. It also his him that he’d bested the great Robin Hood more times in his life than Hood had bested him. It made him… not happy, but it was the closest word he could think of.

Hood sighed. “After you have the child, you’re not going to be able to stay with the kid or our rest Sheriff here. The people will riot and it won’t do anyone any good. A Never and Ever can’t be together. Not to the people.”

Volkan hated to admit it, but Hood was right. He was going to lose this fight. He’d have the child, the proof that Evil could love, but he wouldn’t have Marian, the woman that Evil loved.

“She can still stay here, to be safe and stay near you two.” Hood looked at Marian with a sadness that Volkan knew.

You’re more alike than you thought.

Shut up.

Marian smiled softly, sadly, at Volkan and nodded.

—

Volkan ran a hand through his close cropped black hair and then took baby Dot from Marian’s arms as she smiled sleepily at the two of them.

“Dotty…” he whispered. He had a kid. A kid! Who would’ve thought?

It hit him like a pile of bricks. He was gaining little Dot, but losing the only person he’d ever loved or cared for.

Marian gripped his hand tight as he took her’s. She knew it too.

—

The Sheriff watched Dot and the other two witches set off for the mission that King Teapea had given them. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

That was his daughter - the one person he ended up coming close to loving more than her mother - and he was letting her go on a dangerous mission without him.

I love you, he thought regretfully. He should’ve said it years ago. Should’ve, but didn’t.

Marian wasn’t coming back either. She couldn’t. Even if she still loved him (which he doubted, he’d seen the mural of she and Hood kissing outside the tavern), she couldn’t love him like she used to, when neither cared what others thought and who saw them other than Hood.

He could feel the old ache in his chest resurface, but not the leftover pain from his boyhood fight with Robin Hood. No, this was a different pain. This pain was so much worse. He could feel his heart throbbing, calling for its other half, all the while knowing it was calling in vain.

—

His last breaths were taken a couple nights later, lying on the forest floor, without Marian, Hood, or Dot anywhere close to him.

Evil dies alone, his own father had told him years ago.

He didn’t die alone.

Sophie of Woods Beyond, the new Dean for the School of Evil was leaning over him, trying to save him. It reminded him badly of Marian when Robin had nearly killed him.

”Tell Dot… me and her mother… it was love…”

He couldn’t hear any of the words that Sophie was crying out; blood was pooling in his ears.

Evil can love.

Evil doesn’t love.

Stop lying to yourself.

He took his last breath, and there was no Marian to save him from his fate this time, but he didn’t die alone.

The Sheriff of Nottingham, Volkan of Nottingham - dead, for good this time.

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