I do not own Robin Hood

Prologue

George de Saxon, Sheriff of Nottingham, was thought to be a man with great ambitions. Everyone took him for a cold-hearted man whose greatest ambition was to overthrow King Richard and become King himself. They were all fools. They sat there childishly believing that their Lion-Hearted Leader was the best thing since they learned how to bake bread.

Nottingham hated him.

Richard was nothing but a power hungry man who was forcing his ways on other people. Why did he feel it was necessary to force Christianity on the Moores? If they chose to worship another God what was the problem? They had been informed that by being the savages and heathens that they were that they would burn in hell for an eternity. They seemed to be just fine with that. Nottingham had met a few Moores over the years of battle and found them to be more civilized then he felt his people were. While their forms of torture were no better, they had made many advances in science and medicine then England hadn't even thought of. Alright, they worshipped a 'god' called Allah, it wasn't as if Nottingham could act like he was any better.

Nottingham had been raised by a witch who called herself Mortianna and claimed that his parents dying wish was for her to teach their son the old ways. The old ways… it was just as pointless to him as Christianity. Everyone still practiced the old ways when the church wasn't looking. They attended Sunday Mass only to pay lip service to a God so they would not be killed for 'practicing witchcraft'. Now with Richard off on his Holy Crusade, people had started acting more like Christians then the Pagans they knew they were at heart.

Why couldn't Richard just give up and come home. It was obvious that the Moores were not going to change. Nottingham may not like Richard, but things would be better with their King at home on his throne then fighting in Jerusalem. Things at home had become terrible since he went away to fight and Nottingham was getting blamed for it all. Richard was using tons of money to fund his war causing Nottingham to raise taxes to make up for it. He hated doing it because he knew he was causing the people to suffer, and he tried his best to do what he could to help the suffering. He gave money to the poor at church on Sundays and also made sure that the orphans and lepers had scarps to eat seeing as how no one else was going to help them. Even with trying to help the people, he was still unpopular. All the anger that families had over the losses of sons, husbands, and fathers was directed at him.

It didn't help any that his cousin Guy of Gisborne liked to play King of the Castle while Richard was away. Nottingham had only recruited him because he thought that Guy would be good help. That had been a big mistake. Guy had become drunk on the power that had been given to him and had used it to exploit the already suffering people. Nottingham had tried to get Guy to stop, but it had been a pointless effort. So Guy had become feared by the people and that fear transferred to Nottingham as everyone thought Guy was just following orders.

Nottingham was just as alone as ever. Feared, hated, and alone. Nottingham wanted a woman. Of, course he had whores in his castle that he would see a few times a week, but he wasn't sure why he bothered. It had all become pretty much mechanical to him. And so, a part that had always remained hidden would come out and crave the one thing he desperately wanted more then anything else. Love. He felt pathetic and cliché wanting it, but in the end it was what he truly desired.

He had never known his mother's love because his parents died when he was very young. He tried to get love from Mortianna but was always turned away, told that love was pointless and that all someone needed was power. Having always been reprimanded by wanting love, he hid it away deep inside himself, covering it up with the bitterness that everyone saw.

Yes, Nottingham wanted love and he knew who he wanted to love him. The lovely Lady Marian. He had seen Marian before at social gatherings but had never met her up close until one day several years ago at a Beltane Celebration. He smiled to himself as he remembered that night.

Author's Note: I got the idea behind this story from an author on Adult Fanfiction named snapeaddict. They have not updated it is many years, and I do not know what they planned for the story. So this is my story.

This is my first time posting here and I am not sure if I am doing it correctly. I hope it works. Please review