Nottingham Castle
"Gisbourne!!" the Sheriff of Nottingham yelled. He was furious! This wasn't supposed to happen! The King wasn't supposed to come to Nottingham to 'check on affairs'! And he especially wasn't supposed to insist on an audience with him and those blasted outlaws! Curse him! If he lost his position someone was going to pay. He merely had to decide who.
Sir Guy of Gisbourne burst into the room, just in time to be hit with a flying goblet of wine.
"My Lord?"
The Next Day
King Richard the Lionheart sat in the makeshift throne in the great hall of Nottingham Castle.
"Your most illustrious majesty, are you sure about this? I mean is it really wise to talk to outlaws?" the sheriff had said that so many times in the last hour that it was beginning to grate on Richard's nerves.
Luckily he was saved from having to listen to the rest of the speech by the sound of footsteps approaching. Guy of Gisbourne, the Sheriff's annoying, leather-wearing right hand man, admitted the six outlaws with a scowl.
In the lead was Robin Hood, formerly Robin of Locksley, hero of the poor. Beside him was a lovely lady with wavy brown hair. The king guessed this was the fair Lady Marian he had heard so much about. Following them was Much, Robin's former manservant, and three men he didn't know: a large man holding a quarterstaff, a blue eyed man that simply reeked of trouble, and a dark haired man carrying an axe and looking around as if he suspected a trap.
Robin approached the throne and knelt.
"Your Majesty"
"Robin of Locksley, my old friend, you needn't bow to me. Rise and introduce me to your friends." Robin stood.
"You remember Much Your Majesty. This is Little John" he indicated the big man with the quarterstaff "Allan A Dale" the blue eyed one "Will Scarlett" the dark haired one with the axe "and, of course the lovely Lady Marian." Lady Marian blushed slightly but Richard noticed she was quick to glare at Guy if he so much as looked at her.
"Now Robin tell me what has been going on while I've been away?" The King commanded.
"Your Majesty, I don't mean to question your orders but these outlaws have a tendency to lie, or at least twist the truth. I would be happy to tell you what's been happening." The sheriff desperately begged.
"Silence!" the king roared. "I trust Robin to tell me the truth."
Robin began his tale.
"After I returned home I found that Guy of Gisbourne had taken over my lands and there was a new sheriff. The people of Nottingham were being forced to pay insanely high taxes and punishments were harsh. The sheriff and Sir Guy both immediately disliked me, probably because I was so well liked by the peasants. The sheriff tried to force me to hang Will, his brother Luke, and a friend of theirs for no better reason than stealing a bit of flour to survive. He added Allan in there too when he lied and told the jailer he was from Locksley." At this point Allan suddenly became very interested in his boots. Will's face was expressionless, but he was clutching his axe so tightly that his knuckles were white. Robin continued his account "As you can probably tell I rescued them, but we were forced to flee to the forest. We met Little John there and he joined us. Since then we have been helping the poor and terrorizing the sheriff. We are Robin Hood" That last sentence was echoed by the outlaws. Richard hid a smile. It was easy to tell that these men were very loyal to Robin, and each other. He turned to the sheriff.
"Vasey, what do you have to say to that?"
"It's not true Your Majesty!" the sheriff burst out. "You see, your brother saw that the former sheriff, Sir Edward, was not doing his job so he appointed me sheriff. It's true I made a few reforms but I've always been fair. Then Robin" he looked like the name left a bad taste in his mouth "showed up. He had absolutely no respect for me and flaunted my authority. I asked him to oversee the punishment of a few of his men and he agreed. He then made a big show of rescuing them and, naturally, I outlawed him. I could not simply forgive him. Since then he has been robbing me and other lords for money." The sheriff finished smugly. The king considered both sides for a minute then turned to Will.
"Will Scarlett, What was your crime?" Will gave the same answer that he had given nearly a year ago when Robin had asked him the same question.
"Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, living under an evil sheriff. Where do our taxes go? They go to Nottingham, to the sheriff's birds" That had been the day before the sheriff had almost- no, the day before Robin had rescued him.
King Richard could see that if Will clutched that axe any tighter it would break. He made his decision
"Sheriff, you want the outlaws gone correct?" the sheriff nodded "Robin, you and your men want the sheriff removed from power."
"Yes your Majesty. We would like to have Sir Edward restored to power." Richard smiled.
"I have a solution that will satisfy both your requests. Sir Edward will be restored to power and Sheriff Vasey can go back to doing whatever he was doing before he became sheriff."
"You mean running errands for Prince John in hopes that he'll get promoted?" Allen cut in.
The King glared at him.
"I can see why Vasey doesn't like you. As I was about to say before I was so rudely interrupted. That of course doesn't satisfy Vaseys' request, Therefore, Robin, I believe you promised to serve me in
the Holy land for 5 years. You were injured after 4 years and 7 months. You owe me 5 more months. I would like you and your men to accompany me back to the Holy Land when I return. What do you say?"
Robin turned to look at his gang. "Lads?" he asked. Marion was the first to speak.
"I will follow you anywhere my love."
Little John agreed. "We go with you."
"Might be nice to see some of our friends from the kings guard" Much piped up. Robin looked at Will who gave a nod indicating his approval. Allan was still studying his boots.
"Allen?" Robin bentured. Allan looked up.
"I guess it's fair enough, and if I don't agree I'll be out voted anyway, so I might as well agree." Robin turned back to the King.
"We agree to these terms, your Majesty." The king nodded.
"Good, we leave from Portsmouth in 1 week."