A/N: Hey hey, just a note to say, I'm a great believer in the fact that names are important and Alexandra means 'defender of men' which I thought was pretty apt.

Enjoy! Thanks for reviewers.

Chapter 4 – A Man on the Inside

Robin sat upright from the ground where he had been sleeping and gasped. It had been a long time since he had been plagued by nightmares; the ones from the Holy land had long ceased but now, now his sister was in possible danger and he had not been able to shut his eyes for fear of seeing her face in some kind of pain. In his dream she was being tortured, the Sheriff's gleaming face hovering above her and cutting her precious skin. She shouldn't have gone. She should not be inside that castle, Robin thought; his mind in anguish. Running his fingers through his hair, he looked up at the sky. It was close to day break but the earth was silent, save for the sound of Little John's soft snores. Kate lay nearby him, her blonde hair falling about her peaceful face, with leaves in it.

Robin sighed. This was all he had left in the world, friends and a sister. What if they should be taken from him?

*****

Alex was awake when the door to the room in which she was being kept was unbolted and a dim light flooded in. Sitting up, clutching her side, she looked to see who had come. A guard and a maidservant who looked tired and ragged in the pale light.

"Sheriff's orders; you're to be brought to the dining hall." The girl sounded tired and ragged.

"The dining hall?" Alexandra questioned.

"Yes, ma'am. For breakfast," the girl quivered. Ma'am? That was awfully cordial considering she was a prisoner and not a noble come to visit the castle.

"Very well," she said cheerfully, sliding off the hard table on which she had slept. "I am hungry."

Seeing as she had obviously been unconscious when then brought her here, Alex did not remember the castle but now, as she was lead down a corridor by the quiet guard, she had a good chance to look. She supposed she was in the lower levels because it was dark and their path was only lit by torches on the wall. It was cool down there also. But, as the guard lead her higher, the light began to get brighter and more natural. It was early morning and she could hear the beginnings of a market.

The dining hall was behind two great wooden doors and surrounded by guards. Alex smirked. They obviously wanted to keep her there for the time being.

The Sheriff was seated at the head of a great table and rose when she was brought in. "Ah!" he cried, with a mouthful of something. "This infamous sister of Robin Hood." He finished his mouthful and beckoned her forward. "Do...have a seat," he smiled, gesturing to the seat opposite him of the long table. "Hungry?"

"Starved," she said sitting down gingerly. Her side was smarting. Damn whoever it was that stabbed her; she prayed it wasn't a dirty blade because a girl could easily die of infection in a place like this.

He grinned widely but his eyes did not mirror his joy. He watched her carefully and she did not take any food.

"Come now," he laughed. "It's not poisoned...Alexandra? Was it?"

"Yes," she nodded. Still she did not take any food.

"Maybe you can persuade her to eat Gisbourne," the man called out to someone. She had not heard him come in, so he must have been skulking in the shadows somewhere. Ah yes, the dark man from yesterday. His hair hung over his eyes and he did not look at her. "I doubt it, Sheriff," he said in a gruff voice, with an accent she could not place. "I believe that if she has made a decision not to do something, she will honour that pledge like a man."

She laughed unexpectedly. "How well you seem to know me already, when we have spent very little time in each other's company," she observed looking at him if he would not look at her. She returned her gaze to the sheriff. "What is it you want with me?"

The Sheriff ignored her. "These plums really are the best in the county. You should try some," he said flippantly, examining the purple fruit in his hand before taking a bite.

Alex took one and bit into the juicy flesh. "Good girl," the Sheriff smiled. Alex grinned.

"Now, very careless of your dearest brother to just leave you to die on the field yesterday, so we took it upon our hearts to nurse you back to health and so on," the Sheriff crooned, "so you're a guest of the castle now."

"Really? Do you lock all your guests in underground rooms?" Alex said with a mock frown.

The Sheriff's smile fell.

"And the valuable information that I might know with regards to my brother's whereabouts wouldn't be of any interest to you would it?" Alex smirked. Guy fought the smile that was threatening to creep across his mouth. Most prisoners would have pleaded for their life or some other pathetic act but she, well, she knew how to handle herself.

"We'll come to business when you're better," the Sheriff said moving on, "Guy's frightfully cut up about well...cutting you up...yesterday, but I hope you'll forgive him seeing as he's going to be taking special care of you, during your stay." Alex flicked her eyes towards Guy's face, which was going pale as they spoke.

"It was you," she said simply. He didn't reply.

"And you're leaving me alone with him?" Alex sat back in her chair even though it was agonising on her side. "A lesser woman might be afraid."

"But you're not a lesser woman," the Sherriff said seriously, "You're a fighter. You've seen and terrible things in the Holy land, I can imagine."

"The Holy land is a terrible place."

The sheriff laughed. "Yes. Lucky to home and alive."

The young woman nodded and picked up a bread roll. "I suppose so. But I don't believe in luck, Sherriff."

He put his tongue in his cheek and laughed bitterly. "What do you believe in, Miss Hood? Your precious brother?"

She glanced up and smiled. "No. I believe in God. Nothing else could save me."

He sneered but said no more, so she sat back and began picking the roll in her hands apart. Alexandra narrowed her eyes and looked thoughtful. She smiled. "You have never been to the Holy Land, Sherriff. If you had, you would understand that." She looked at Guy, who shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "He has been."

The Sherriff frowned at him as if it were his fault for revealing some great secret when really, he had done nothing. She laughed quietly to herself at the exchange.

"So," she said jovially. "Sir Guy is to take care of me, when he is the one who has injured me, I am to be your guest yet you treat me like a prisoner and you act as if we are friends but you've doubled your guard and clearly do not trust me." She paused and through the final piece of her bread onto her plate. "Am I correct so far?" The Sherriff cocked an eyebrow and sat forward on his elbows.

"This is how it works; you are my guest as long as I see fit." He grinned widely and once again she could see his hideous gold tooth. "Until then consider yourself..."

"Lucky?" Alex suggested. The Sherriff laughed and threw her an apple. "Yes," he said sitting back and looking at Gisbourne with a glint in his eye. "Yes."