Meg sat hard on the edge of the well,

"Why do I have to get the water, I feel like the servant, not a noble lady..." Marian rolled her eyes,

"I have to do it too...c'mon, I think I hear horses...and you know what that means..." Meg frowned hard at her friend,

"Why do you act like that?! Gisborne has shown you nothing but love!"

"I don't wanna talk about it, let's just go..." Marian turned a dark face to her best friend before hauling both buckets up and back to the hall. The sheriff's party rode up to Knightom Hall, Guy dismounting first as Vaisey lingered on his mount, looking around, bored as always as he plotted what he could take next to placate Prince John. Guy banged hard on the door, breathing heavily.

"Marian! Open up!" he shouted. Marian cringed,

"UGH! I'm not here, you go open the door...remember I'm not here!" she whispered as she ran up the stairs. Meg rolled her eyes and opened the door,

"I'm sorry, Gisborne, but your soon-to-be-bride isn't here just now. Can I help you with something?" Meg said, a little coyly as she gazed at the tall, dark rogue clad in

leather. He looked delicious, but Meg was jolted back to reality when he shoved past the younger woman, and took the stairs two at a time,

"I know you're here, Marian! I saw you when we rode in!" he shouted.

"Don't mind me, I'm just here for decoration..." Meg huffed sarcastically as she rushed to get in front of Gisborne. "Keep your voice down. She's here, she just has a

nasty headache..." she whispered harshly as she blocked the door to Marian's room. Guy stared down at the girl,

"You've got some nerve..." He grabbed her chin between his thumb and bent index finger, and smirked. "I could have you thrown in jail," he snapped his other thumb and index, "...just like that." His intense steel blue eyes bored into hers as his smirk faded. "Now. MOVE." Just then they could hear the Sheriff bellowing from below,

"GISBOOOOOOORRRRNNEEE!" Guy rolled his eyes and grunted, then got in Meg's face.

"You tell your mistress I won't be kept waiting anymore. She has THREE DAYS."

"Excuse me!", Meg said, getting mad and right back in Gisborne's face. "She is not my mistress! If anything I'm far above her station, and yours for that matter, but she's my best friend and I'll protect her to the end!" Guy furrowed his brow, tilting his head slightly as he stood back. He opened his mouth to say something, but the sheriff bellowed again, voice higher pitched than before.

"GISBOOOOOOORRRRNNEEE! WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU?!"

"Looks like your master is calling!" Meg said with a smirk. Guy scowled hard and turned on his heels, burning with anger as he stomped back downstairs. The sheriff had been summoned back to Nottingham, so Guy mounted his horse, and the others galloped off. He glanced one curious look over his shoulder at the young woman in the window of Knighton Hall before he kicked his horse onward with a shout. Meg smirked to herself at her clever retort. Her smirked quickly vanished as she opened Marian's bedroom door to find her gone.

"What the...?! Why don't you just tell him you don't love him, Marian?...Oh I dunno Meg, I like tormenting him like this...ugh! That woman is going to be the death of us all if she's not careful..." Meg went downstairs and sat by the fire reading and waiting for Marian to decide to come back didn't return that evening, and Meg fell asleep in front of the fire. Marian's father didn't want to wake her, so her left her there.

Music could be heard from within the hall as the horses came to a stop. Loud laughter and boisterous voices clamored for attention making the sounds deafening. A grand table laden with delectable and exotic foods, had been placed in the center of the fray, and at the very heart of it sat a man who reeked of pomp and aristocracy. He raised the golden chalice to his lips and drank deeply before popping a piece of fruit between his lips and savoring it almost obscenely. His boots moved to rest on the table before him as he leaned back in his seat, eyes finding the sheriff and his ward lazily.

"Hello Vaisey...you were not here to greet me..." He tilted his head almost puzzled, but his eyes spoke the anger and disappointment. "Why were you not here to greet me Vaisey?" The crowed hushed and moved aside. Guy stood to the side and back of Vaisey and shot him a sideways glance, eyebrows raised as the sheriff put on his biggest, deceitful smile.

"Your grace! Had I but been informed, I would have had a banquet far greater than this pustule of a meal set out for you." He bowed and laughed nervously as Guy scowled behind him. The Prince raised a brow.

"Informed? I sent a letter along weeks ago. Perhaps what I hear of thieves along the roads are true after all..." He stood and circled the table, coming to a stop very close to the sniveling sheriff. "Perhaps I have come at a good time, hm? With my support the good people shall once more be safe!" He let out a laugh and the hall joined him quickly. Guy chuffed with arms folded across his chest, and the sheriff panicked.

"I assure you, your majesty, the thieves are being dealt with as we speak."

"Oh? Have you some in custody? I should hope my faith in you hasn't been...misplaced." He raised his eyes to look beyond Vaisey to Guy, "And who is this? You never spoke to me of a new apprentice..." Vaisey waved his hand dismissively just as Guy swallowed hard and opened his mouth to introduce himself.

"Oh him, he's nobody." Guy abruptly closed his lips and glared daggers at the back of the short sheriff's head, clenching his jaw.

Marian, in the guise of the Night Watchman decided to take a little trip to the castle as she'd hear from Robin that the Prince was coming for a visit, she figured there would be plenty to steal while he was there. Prince John grinned broadly and waved Vaisey off dismissively.

"Now now, ignore him, I always do. What is your name..? Introduce yourself to your Prince." He moved to stand right in front of the dark handsome man, still grinning. Guy lifted his chin as the left corner of his lips curled.

"Guy of Gisborne, your grace. At your service." The sheriff leered at Guy at the statement.

Marian hid in the rafters listening to the conversation. Good Lord, the Prince was an oily bastard, as Meg would have called him. She almost laughed at how cocky Guy's attitude seemed, but the beam on which she was perched cracked a little under her weight and she had to jump back up to the rafter window to keep from falling onto the banquet table. Guy's ears twitched, and his gaze flicked to the rafters, but he saw nothing.

'Shit, that was close,' Marian thought. She thought better of this whole idea when she took another sweep over the courtyard and saw twice as many soldiers out and about as had been there the first time. She returned to her home with nothing.

"Are you now...?" The Prince smiled at that. "We shall see...Vaisey, I have something to discuss with you. In private. Come." The tone left no room for negotiations, and the Prince turned on his heel and walked out. Vaisey hissed a threat to Guy then followed the prince. Guy's eyes went back to the rafters and he climbed up to investigate.