Lettie hummed quietly to herself as she swept up the kitchen. The sheriff was still mad, which was a good thing, because it meant he hadn't succeeded in his mission to take from the people.

"Lettie," Mrs. Humphrey said "Would you be a dear and go get the delivery of groceries? You know the Sheriff only allows them to be delivered to the front door."

"Yes Ma'am." Lettie quickly finished sweeping up a pile of dirt then ran to do as instructed.

When she opened the front door, the large crate was waiting. It was about half as tall as she was and was filled with things to make the Sheriff and Prince's favorite dinners.

She grabbed the holes in the side of the crate and carried it in, kicking the door closed behind her.

She was going around a corner when someone came around from the other side and ran right into the wooden crate.

The sudden jolt caused it to slip from her hands.

"Whoa!" she yelped as she jumped back before it landed on her foot.

"Sorry about that!" The other person said quickly.

"It's okay." Lettie chuckled "It was bound to happen." then her eyebrows raised.

Standing in front of her was a complete stranger.

He had jet black hair and powder blue eyes. He seemed to be in his early twenties.

"Can I help you with that?" He asked, motioning towards the crate.

"If you can carry it." Lettie responded.

With a slightly raised eyebrow he crabbed the sides of the crate and lifted it... a little "Wow. This is heave."

"Here. Let me take it." before he could object, she pulled it out of his hands and started down the hall.

The Young man stared after her for a few seconds then ran to catch up.

"Who are you?" Lettie asked a moment later "I thought I knew everyone around here. Are you new?"

"Uh... no." the young man answered "Not exactly. My name's John."

Lettie froze "John? As in..."

"Prince John." He shrugged "Yeah. That's me."

Lettie stared at him. Obviously he was telling the truth "How is he prince John?" she wondered. She'd always imaged the prince as mean and ugly. But this Prince John seemed sweet... and yes, he was quite good looking. He didn't look like the kind that would send out demands for the people to be taxed till they couldn't feed their own families.

She shook her head and continued into the kitchen.

"So... Who are you?" John asked.

"Lettie."

"Lettie?"

"Mm-hm." she sat the crate down in the middle of the floor "I'm one of the maids... but you probably guessed that."

"I had a hunch." John grinned.

Lettie shook her head and smiled as she started to pull the groceries from the crate and put them away "How is it I've never seen you before?"

"Well, I'm generally in my room or in the garden." He answered pulling a twenty pound sack of beans out of the box "I decided to explore the castle."

"First time in fifteen years?"

"Yeah." John looked down into the crate "I don't really remember much about from when I was younger. But my curiosity finally got the best of me." he grabbed onto the sack of flour and hoisted it out.

Lettie took the sack and carried it over to the pantry. She was becoming very confused. John didn't seem to have a spiteful bone in his body! He was quite pleasant.

"Hey..." He said a few minutes later "Have you ever heard of... Robin Hood?"

Lettie shrugged "Everyone knows Robin Hood."

"So he is real?"

"Of course." She laughed "What made you think otherwise?"

"Well, I thought that maybe Brutus just made him up as a good excuse to get mad."

Lettie stared at the prince for a moment then burst out laughing "No. Robin Hood is real. Trust me. And so are the Merry Men."

"But no one has seen their faces?" John leaned back against the counter "Why?"

"Protection."

"Why doesn't anyone try to catch them? They're theives."

"Only from Brutus McGreedy." Lettie answered "They never steal from the people. Only return."

"Return what?"

"Their Money."

John cocked his head in confusion "What do you mean?"

Lettie was about to answer when Mrs. Humphrey entered the room "Oh, aren't you just a dear! Thank you so much Darlin'!"

"Not a problem, Ma'am." Lettie smiled, then she turned back to John "You should probably go."

"Yeah." He nodded "I'll... see you around." then he turned and left.

As soon as he was out the door, Mrs. Humphrey grinned "Oooooh. Wasn't he the cute one?"

"That, Mrs. Humphrey," Lettie said turning to face the old woman "Was Prince John."

"What!?" the Cook's mouth fell open "Are you serious?"

"Mm-hm."

"B-but Prince John was supposed to be..."

"I know." Lettie shook her head "Believe me, I know."

"I have to think up a plan to get rid of Robin Hood." The sheriff growled.

Harley nodded "Surely the people know something about their great hero."

Lettie snuck up to the Sheriff's office and pressed her ear to the door.

"Of course." McGreedy agreed with his deputy "And if they don't give any information, they will be penalized."

Lettie's eyebrows furrowed.

"How?" Harley asked.

"Triple the taxes. And if they don't pay, their homes will be burned, the women and children will be sent to a work house and the men will be put in the dungeon!" The sheriff slammed his fist down on his desk "And I want it done... NOW!"

"Yes, Sir."

Lettie spun around and took off down the hall at full speed. She ran through the kitchen "I'll be back!" she called to Mrs. Humphrey.

"Where you goin'?" the cook asked, but Lettie was already out the door.

"Robin Hood." Lettie said under her breath as she ran towards the woods "Have to get there."

"Men." Robin said to the group "I've learned from a reliable source that the Sheriff is planning a new round of torture for the people."

Jack lowered the broken mirror he had been gazing into "Specifically on the people or you?"

"Us." Robin corrected "He's trying to get us. I've got a plan, but we have to work fast."

"What's he plannin, Rob?" Little John asked.

"And what's the plan?" Will added.

Robin quickly filled them in on what was going on then added with a smile "McGreedy wants information. He'll get information."

"Why can't we just git rid of the Sheriff and storm the castle?" Trusty asked "Then we can rid the kingdom of Prince John and everything will be cool."

"Because, there's something not quite right going on." Robin answered "Before we do any pernament damage, we've got some things to figure out."

"Like what?" Little John asked.

"Yeah." Jack pipped up "Like what?"

Robin looked around at the men "Like, what really happened to King Richard. And where on earth did Prince John come from."