Hi this is my first fic, EVER. I hope its ok, and welcome feedback, good and bad!

I don't own anything except my own characters :))

Chapter One

There was a chill in the air, a sure sign that day was coming to a close and giving way to evening. Matilda glanced up at the trees above her, the dark leaves creating a canopy with small patches of sky peeping through. It was still light, but she could feel the dusk beginning to settle around her. Soon she would have to bed down for another night alone in the forest, and the prospect wasn't particularly pleasant. At the beginning of her journey it had frightened her, the idea of being alone in the pitch darkness, but over the past month she had grown accustomed to it. She had also got used to the constant tiredness that resulted from a night of light sleep, disturbed by every rustle of the wind or footstep of creature. None of this however, made the thought of sleeping slumped against a tree on the cold ground any more appealing.

It was not only wildlife that had interrupted her sleep; in areas of woodland near towns she had seen and heard all sorts. It was amazing, she thought, the secrets trees could tell, if only they had the ability to hear and speak. Fights had broken out, deals had been settled and goodbyes had been said. For these encounters she would hide quietly at a distance, and watch the drama play out like an invisible ghost, intrigued by the people of villages she didn't know the name of. Only once or twice had a pair of lovers stumbled across her path, and whether they noticed her or not, she would slip away and allow them their privacy. It gave her comfort that there were people in love nearby; somehow it made her feel safe.

Matilda tightened her cloak around her shoulders and took a deep breath of the cool forest air. She felt a grumble in her stomach a cursed her hunger, the only thing that she felt had held her back on her solo quest. She allowed herself to think for a moment of her destination; Locksley. A warm feeling spread through her body, as memories of her mother and her home flooded back to her. Instantly she felt sad, knowing that neither of those things would be waiting for her as she arrived. Who knew what would be waiting. She had not been in Locksley for six years, and wondered how the place would have changed. She felt sure though, that of everything she had been forced to leave, the Scarletts would still be there. They had to be, she had pinned her whole future on it. She must be near now, she had been travelling for weeks. Soon she would come to a village, and as with every other she had encountered, she would approach with hope that it was one she recognised. If not, she would find a trustworthy looking local and ask for the road to Nottingham. They would frown, and ask why on earth a young woman alone would want to go to such a volatile and dangerous place. She would reply, as always, that it was her home. And on she would go.

Darkness was really coming on now, and shadows from the tree's began to stretch eerily across the leafy ground. Matilda felt uneasy, but she couldn't put her finger on why. She stopped and looked around, unable to ditch the feeling that someone was watching her. The breeze blew, harsher now, and she tightened her cloak once again, trying to rekindle the warmth that thinking of home had brought her. Naturally, all her brain could now muster was unpleasant thoughts of what she had left behind in London a month before, and what might still be coming after her. She sat down on a tree stump nearby, and reached for her wine skin, drinking deeply. The cool liquid to slipped soothingly down her throat, and she allowed the familiar taste to calm her. She stood up sharply, and shook herself. "Don't be ridiculous, Tilda" she thought "Don't lose yourself now, not when you've come so far." With a huff of outward breath, she began walking. Another hour or so, she thought, then I'll stop. She began to think again about the measly amount of food she had left in her pack, and what she could possibly throw together tonight in some resemblance of dinner. Her mind wandered as she plodded on which, coupled with its strategic disguise, meant that she didn't see the large green net sprawled across the forest floor.

As she unwarily reached its centre, she was suddenly hauled into the air, trapped within a leafy cage about 6ft off the ground. She screamed out in shock, struggling in the now suspended prison, which swung from side to side as she kicked and yelled. Panic rose in her stomach, her heart in her mouth. This couldn't happen now, not when she was so close! A million thoughts flashed across her mind: would she be robbed? Surely she would be robbed. How far away was she really from Locksley? Would she make it with no provisions? Would she even be let free to try and finish her journey?

And there were more sinister things that came to mind. She was a young woman, alone, in the forest. If her captors were outlaws they would surely not refrain from having their way with her. Even if they weren't outlaws there was a strong chance of it. She stopped moving and sat uncomfortably in the belly of the net, her chest crushed awkwardly to her knee's. Twigs cracked in the undergrowth, she heard footsteps and voices. Male voices, a substantial number of them too. More horrors began mounting in her mind, as the figures began to emerge from the shadows.

In the last remnants of day she could make out five people, and their faces as they drew nearer. The man at the front of the group stopped before the swinging net, and leant jauntily on a long, curved bow, the like of which Matilda had never seen before. "Well" she said looking her in the eyes. "What have we here then?"