They passed by rows of groups of vampires, both male and female, engaged in various social acts of conversation, laughing over a goblet of fresh blood, some were seen to be feeding – among other things. Normally a large cavern such as this would echo if one happened to wander into one, but this cave was filled with too many vampires and unsuspecting humans to echo. The sounds of vampires talking, laughing heartily, moaning in satisfaction during feedings… and orgies… created a roaring cacophony that was both bothersome and mesmerizing. The walls of the cave trickled with water. The path down below was stained with blood. The smell of blood permeated the air, but it wasn't unpleasant as it would've been in life. To Sir Guy of Gisborne – the smell of blood was now intoxicating and tantalizing to him.
Gisborne could begin to make out the sounds of a female moaning as if with pleasure above the other voices around him. It grew louder and louder as they continued walking. His mind was racing with so many thoughts as he pondered these strange yet seductive surroundings that he realized the scene was in his direct line of vision probably for the last twenty steps, yet he never perceived it until they stopped in front of it.
He knew in an instant the whore was already dead. A waif of a maiden – what was left of her, lay supine on the ground. There were candles surrounding her and her blood glowed bright red like the colour of a red poppy as a result. He caught himself licking his lips almost subconsciously in response to the effect. The sight was revolting in his mortal memory, yet pleasing to him at the same time. A slender vampire maiden of medium height was kneeling beside the fresh corpse, holding the body up to her lips and feeding from the remaining blood from the woman's trunk.
Eric cleared his throat and folded his arms. "Licks?" He said.
The female vampire behaved as if she didn't hear him and continued to feast on the courtesan from Nettlestone.
Eric shook his head and sighed audibly in frustration. "Licks!" He barked.
The dark haired vampire maiden looked up and rolled her eyes. "What? Can't you see I'm occupied?" She huffed as she wiped some blood from her lips with the back of her hand.
She was quite attractive for a vampire. Her shiny chestnut coloured locks cascaded down over her shoulders in loose waves. By the light of the candles and the torches, Gisborne could see flecks of crimson dancing through her hair. Her eyes were almond shaped and a chocolate brown colour. She had full lips that curled into a seductive smirk without her willing them to. She looked over to Gisborne, then back to Eric.
"Who's that with you, Eric? He looks new!" She laughed. Her brilliant white fangs gleamed in the light.
"Brand new." Eric remarked with a deviant grin. "This is Guy of Gisborne." Eric said as he nodded in Guy's direction.
"Well, hello…Guy." Lady Lictina purred with a seductive smile. "Aren't you a handsome one… for a baby!" She laughed maniacally.
"Yes." Gisborne sighed.
"Oh. I get it. You want me to share! With both of you? Or just him?" Lady Lictina asked Eric as she nodded in Guy's direction.
"Just Gisborne here. I don't feed from whores – not unless there's nothing else around. I'm sure my friend won't object however." A beat. "He has only tasted the blood of a dove." Eric said with his eyebrow quirked knowingly.
"Oh, my! He is really a newborn, isn't he?" Lictina exclaimed as she dropped the whore's corpse to the ground carelessly and stood. She smoothed her black silk skirt, then glided slowly toward them studying Gisborne and never taking her eyes from him while she moved.
He returned his gaze upon her questioningly.
"Don't be nervous, gorgeous. I'll take care of you and show you how it's done." She said smoothly as she stood before him. She reached for his hand and grasped it and began leading him to the corpse.
Gisborne swallowed.
"Thanks, Licks." Northman smiled. "I knew I could count on you to watch him. I'll be back soon. I need to meet with the Sheriff." He explained.
"Sure, Eric. Anything for you." Lady Lictina smiled as she caressed his cheek flirtatiously. "But do be a dear and keep it brief, won't you? Because when you're done with him I plan to ravish… him." Lictina winked.
Eric rolled his eyes. "Hmm. What a surprise, Licks!" He said sarcastically. "You're too young for him you know – but you're not too young for me." He said with a knowing glance.
She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Oh, lover, you know you're my second choice." She purred.
"I know. You tell me that all of the time." Eric grinned as his eyebrow quirked, then he turned and left the two of them and headed back to meet with Draconis.
"Well, isn't this interesting?" Lady Lictina said to Guy when she let go of his hand after she brought him to the corpse. "You shed plenty of blood while you were mortal, didn't you now? Yet you've never tasted the blood of a human. See how everything comes full circle?" She smiled knowingly. "Come. Dine with me. I'm nearly full anyway. Your turn, handsome." She winked at him then nodded to the corpse.
"Now?" Guy asked.
"You're hungry aren't you? Come on, Guy, you have no other choice. Unless… we find you a rat to drain? Of course if we ventured deeper into the cave we could find you a bat too, but…they are friends to us." She giggled.
He made a face at the thought of eating a rodent then went to the corpse and dutifully knelt before it. He placed his hands under the back of the ravaged consort and slowly lifted the body of the maid to him, leaned down, and the smell and sight of her blood caused his fangs to appear. He tentatively began to lick at the blood that was still pouring from her trunk out of the major blood vessel that descended from her heart. It tasted sweet yet slightly salty at the same time.
"I know." Lictina muttered as she shook her head. "It's not nearly as savoury as a virgin's blood but nobody ever misses the whores. Less chance of us being connected when a consort goes missing if you know what I mean." Lady Lictina winked knowingly.
He looked up to her and wiped the blood from his chin with the back of his hand.
"I'm Lictina by the way, but everyone just calls me 'Licks'." She smiled.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." He said.
Normally he would have kissed a maiden's hand upon introduction but it seemed like a redundant gesture in a place like this. In a moment like this.
Lady Lictina grinned. "Indeed it is a pleasure, Sir Guy. Now, continue – you're looking more pale than you should be." She smiled wickedly.
Sheriff Benedictus Draconis was displeased as he sat upon his throne and listened to the news that Northman had permitted the chosen one to visit with a family member.
"I can't believe you agreed to let your offspring see his relative! We are his family now, Eric. You know that!" Draconis admonished.
"He killed Gisborne, Sheriff." Eric attempted to explain.
"As if that excuses your actions!" Sheriff Draconis spat. He reached for a shiny golden goblet that was placed upon a four foot high stalagmite to the left of his throne, brought it to his lips and sipped the blood from the goblet as he narrowed his eyes upon Northman.
"Come on, Ben. You know that our sources are depleting. If we wish to coexist alongside humans and not have them incessantly wondering where their kind have disappeared to, we must look for solutions." Eric hinted.
"What are you blabbering about, brat?" Draconis barked. "What the hell does this have to do with your grave mistake?"
"It is true I could've tried glamouring him –"
"You shouldn't have been there in the bloody first place!" Draconis snapped.
Northman continued unfazed. "My offspring is fairly astute, Sheriff. He came up with an innovative idea. He suggested the Sheriff of Nottingham work with us to get us blood. The human has a dungeon full of prisoners and a wanted list of outlaws as long as your cloak." Eric said with a knowing grin.
Sheriff Draconis narrowed his yellow green eyes curiously. "Continue." He nodded.
"He agreed to it, Sheriff, but he… wants something in return." Eric said then looked downcast briefly.
Sheriff Draconis' eyebrow quirked as he looked upon Northman curiously.
"He wants us to bring him Robin of Locksley and he will get us blood." Eric announced with a sigh.
Sheriff Draconis placed his goblet on the stalagmite to his left, then arose from his throne and glided slowly toward Eric. He stopped when he was a foot away from him. "And you agreed to it." He snarled.
"I pretended to agree to it, Sheriff. I am running this by you now before I do agree to it." Eric smiled knowingly.
"Hood is that human Sheriff's problem. Not mine! Satan help us if one of you bit into that goody two boots and turned him immortal! Him – as a vampire. He would never survive!" Draconis laughed maniacally.
"Yes, Sheriff." Eric nodded.
The Sheriff of Region two straightened his expression immediately and studied Eric intently as he contemplated the idea.
"It is good for you that you have never disappointed me before this night, Eric." Draconis began smoothly as he patted Eric's cheek. "Hmm. I think I'd like to meet with this Sheriff of Nottingham. Human's got balls of rock to negotiate with a couple of our kind! Now there's one human I could imagine as a vampire!" Draconis grinned wickedly. "You go and see our good, human Sheriff of Nottingham and tell him I wish to meet with him. You and your offspring bring him to me." He smiled.
"When?" Eric asked.
"Make it tomorrow night, won't you? I have a private party planned for Friday night." Draconis winked.
Northman felt jealousy surfacing from deep within. He controlled his fangs from making an unwelcome appearance.
"With Licks?" Eric asked pointedly.
Draconis ignored him and went back to his throne. He reached for his goblet and took a sip from it while regarding Eric, but said nothing.
"She is your offspring!" Eric exclaimed.
"Who cares? We are vampires, dear boy! Now, run along and see to yours, won't you? They must be finished feeding by now. Do tell Licks that I request her presence." The vampire Sheriff directed as he dismissed Northman with a wave of his hand.
It was an hour or so before dawn on Wednesday when Robin of Locksley slowed his horse as he approached the treacherous path known as 'Dead Man's Curve'. He knew about the area in the forest. He ventured there once before. The last time he was unprepared for the narrow path that stretched across a steep ravine and winded sharply to the left. He had managed to control his horse just in time before he and the equine went over the edge and tumbled down to the ravine. This time he secured the horse to a birch tree, and continued the path on foot.
He was looking for a place to conceal the treasure chest of gold that was found inside of the wagon that he and his men managed to overtake the afternoon before. He knew the gold belonged to the Sheriff and the Sheriff would be looking for it. What better place to stash it than somewhere in Dead Man's Curve? Nobody ever ventured there!
There would be no stopping Nottingham now. Robin and his men had already heard about what he did to Guy of Gisborne. One of the swordsmiths who was present in the armoury and witnessed the event, ran into Little John later just outside of the village. The swordsmith was on his way home and Little John had just finished delivering small sacks of gold to some needy families in the area upon Locksley's instruction. Little John reported the news to the men when they gathered around their fire at camp a few hours after dusk.
Locksley came to the end of the treacherous pathway. Just up ahead he saw a cave. There was light emitting from the mouth of the cave and he wasn't sure but he thought he could hear voices. He slowly advanced closer, hiding amongst trees when he could.
He made it within twenty yards of the cave when two figures emerged from it. He snuck behind a tree and tentatively peeked around it. Locksley reached into his sack that was slung over his shoulder. Inside of it, along with arrows to go with the specially made bow slung over the other shoulder was another useful tool. He extracted the looking glass that Azeem had cleverly put together using a rectangular piece of tan coloured leather and a small crystal ball. The crystal was secured by the leather and the leather was hollowed so that when one held it to their eye and peered through the glass they could see from a great distance.
Locksley held the looking glass up to his eye and peered through it. He squinted his eyes to adjust his vision in the darkness. His jaw flew agape. He took the lens away and narrowed his eyes still staring ahead, shaking his head. "No. It can't be?" He muttered incredulously. He brought it back up to his eye and looked through it again. He shook his head as he continued to stare unbelieving through the crystal at the scene before him.
"What? He's supposed to be dead!" He whispered aloud in complete astonishment.
They made it back to Northman's manor in time before the sun came up. Northman opened the wooden door and beckoned for Gisborne to follow. Once they got past the threshold, Eric stopped in his tracks a moment, wrinkled his nose then narrowed his eyes. Guy looked at him curiously.
"What is it?" Gisborne asked.
"Necrolus!" Eric spat.
"What?"
Eric ignored him and stormed into the large sitting room. Guy followed closely behind, his curiousity piqued. A vampire was seated on the red velvet couch in the sitting room feeding on a fresh corpse of a man. The vampire looked up.
"Eric! About time you got back. Hungry?" He said as he nodded to the corpse.
"Necrolus, I've told you about dropping in unannounced! What's wrong with your own manor?" Eric huffed as he folded his arms.
"It's so uninspiring there. Besides, you have better furniture. More comfortable." He replied with a deviant grin.
"Come. Meet my offspring." Eric said.
The vampire cast the corpse aside and stood. He slowly glided toward Gisborne, and his long brown hair danced in the air while he moved. He was tall and lean. His eyes were gray and vacant. He wore black breeches tucked into black boots, and a white tunic which was not tucked into the breeches and left opened.
Northman looked to Guy and extended his arm out toward the stranger. "Gisborne, this is a friend of mine – Necrolus Moonshadow." Northman smiled.
Gisborne nodded to the other vampire. "Guy of Gisborne." He nodded to Moonshadow. "Very interesting name you have. You going to tell me that was your name in life?" Guy chortled.
"In life I was known as Nicholaus Morley, but 'Nicholaus' is far too usual, don't you think? That's the thing about being a vampire. You can change your name and nobody cares!" He grinned.
"Right." Guy nodded.
'Okay. Well, time to go, Necrolus." Eric said.
"But it is almost sunrise!" Necrolus exclaimed. "You wouldn't dare toss your friend out the door to burn in the sun, would you now?"
"Hmm. You do have a point. Well, listen – I'm all out of extra coffins. Can't let my offspring sleep on the floor his first time!" He grinned knowingly.
Necrolus rolled his eyes with chagrin.
"There is a bench down in the sublevel you could go to." Eric chuckled. "Or the shed out back. Your choice."
"You are so very hospitable, friend." Necrolus huffed as he turned and began to head for the stairs.
"Wait a minute! You have a mess to clean up first!" Eric spat as he pointed to the corpse.
"Oh, right. Sorry about that, mate. How thoughtless of me." He said.
Necrolus went back and picked up the corpse, tossing it carelessly over his shoulder.
"Where do you want it?" Necrolus asked.
"Toss him in the wood pile out back. We'll burn him later." Eric winked.
After Necrolus left, Guy turned to Eric to speak with him.
"So, I'm… sleeping in a coffin now?"
"Well you are sort of… dead. Sort of." Eric grinned.
"Is that absolutely necessary?" Guy asked.
"Afraid so, friend. Damn things are practically airtight. Keeps everything out. Air. Light. Sandworms if you end up buried – for a brief period." Northman muttered nonchalantly.
Guy swallowed dryly. Eric noticed the look of horror pass over his face for a fleeting instant.
"Don't worry, friend. It won't matter to you because you're not breathing anyway! And you won't care that you'll be lying flat on a piece of solid wood for several hours because you're a vampire and you won't feel pain." A beat. "Isn't it great?" Eric grinned.
"Yes. It's just… jolly nice." Gisborne remarked sarcastically with an impish grin.
He was glad he was dead… or undead, when the lid to his coffin closed. In life he didn't like closed in places. He was feeling drained from the events that had occurred since his immortal birth. He reviewed the sequence of events again, unbelieving in his mind. He woke up Tuesday morning expecting to see his Lady Gisla that same night. He was sent on an unexpected mission by the Sheriff – and failed the Sheriff miserably without even meaning to. Next he got ran through with a sword at the hand of his cousin – then turned vampire by his one hundred and seventeen year old maker. Gisborne could swear he was in a very bizarre… he wanted to apply the word 'nightmare', but the term seemed so inappropriate. In a lot of ways things weren't so bad. In fact they were quite favourable indeed. Were the gods shining down upon him? Or was it the devil himself? He didn't know. At this point he didn't care. He closed his eyes and thought of his beautiful Lady Gisla, and then… blackness.
The Sheriff of Nottingham was in the Council Quarters at midday meeting with Nichol Burgess, his Captain of the Black Knights, when his sentry opened the door and announced the arrival of Lady Gisla Greenley of Clun.
"Ah, yes." The Sheriff frowned. "Right." He parried. "Send her in then." He said.
He nodded to his Captain and the man turned to take his leave.
"Come back later, Nic." The Sheriff called to him. "It's a shame we were interrupted. I was about to tell you something rather interesting, old friend." Nottingham said.
"Oh, really?" Nichol asked as he turned back suddenly. His eyebrow quirked over his vivid green eyes, his curiousity piqued.
"Oh, trust me, friend. You're going to love this." The Sheriff snarled with his eyebrow raised knowingly.
Burgess smiled and took his leave.
The Sheriff's sentry brought a trembling Lady Gisla into the large meeting room to see him. The Sheriff stood in front of the large, rectangular shaped, oak table, his hands leaning on it as he rested against it. He nodded his dismissal to the guard. As he looked upon her, he was understanding more and more what drew his cousin to her. This maiden was capable of making him forget about Lady Marian!
"Where is he?" Lady Gisla demanded after the door was closed.
"Who?" The Sheriff asked innocently, but he knew exactly whom the maiden referred to.
"You know precisely whom I refer to! Where is my Guy resting, milord?" She asked pointedly.
The Sheriff stood a moment looking at her, then looked to his right and gazed out of the window a moment, wondering what he could tell her that would suffice. And then… it came to him. He suppressed a grin and turned back to face the beautiful young maiden. He slowly began to walk toward her. She eyed him curiously waiting for his response.
"Milady Gisla, it is not wise to see him. The truth is –"
"What?" Lady Gisla gasped in horror, imagining the worst.
Nottingham stopped when he was two feet away from her. "The damage done to him was… great when the accident occurred." The Sheriff said as delicately as he could possibly muster. He looked downcast a moment then slowly lifted his eyes again to meet her gaze. "The attempt was made, but alas, nothing could be done to make the body suitable for viewing." The Sheriff attempted to explain as he shook his head in feigned regret.
"What? Is he… already buried then?" Lady Gisla asked, incredulous.
"I'm afraid so, milady. Yes." The Sheriff said.
"Oh, my! Where? Where is his grave? I never got to say goodbye!" Lady Gisla lamented as a tear streamed down her left cheek.
"I shall take you there, alright milady?" The Sheriff suggested as he reached out and gently brushed the tear from her cheek with his thumb.
She was startled by his compassion but did not flinch at his touch. She looked into his eyes. Was that… warmth in there that she was detecting?
"There, there, milady Gisla. Do not cry." The Sheriff soothed.
"How can I not, milord Sheriff? I… loved him." Lady Gisla blurted and then burst into tears.
The Sheriff stood before her in discomfiture, uncertain of what to do. And then another devilish thought occurred to him. He placed his hands gently upon Lady Gisla's shoulders. She looked up at him, still crying. Their eyes locked a moment and then he surprised her when he suddenly embraced her. He held her to him to comfort her and smoothed her shiny, dark locks.
She was too in need of comfort to protest and returned the embrace gratefully.
"I'm truly sorry for this, milady. For both of our sakes." The Sheriff lied. "I do believe he cared for you, milady." He said. He only bothered to tell her because a beautiful, angelic appearing maiden such as she deserved to know the truth. Gisborne couldn't have her now anyway. He was a vampire. Surely his cousin would not be able to mate with a… normal woman? So it mattered not to Nottingham whether or not she knew that while he was a man, Guy probably loved her.
She extricated herself from his embrace and looked up at him. Her lower lip quivered as tears streamed down her face.
"He… did?" She gasped. "Oh, milord, I wanted to be his wife more than anything. Do you think he… loved me?" Lady Gisla asked.
Nottingham was stunned to hear such affectations uttered for his cousin. He sighed. He would have to tell her something that would pain him to – would damn near kill him to tell her.
"Yes, milady Gisla. I do believe my cousin… loved you." The Sheriff said quietly, uncomfortably – because he was speaking truth.
Through her tears she began to smile. "You are a kind man to tell me this, milord Sheriff. Perhaps ye have been wrongfully judged by your people. But then again – how would they begin to know the real you?" She smiled.
"Most of the time their assumptions of me are correct, milady – if that means that they think I'm cunning, calculating, and intolerant of nonsense, that is." A beat. "I do believe most of them get by now that I do not suffer fools well." Nottingham winked.
"No, milord. You were very kind to tell me of Guy's true heart where I was concerned. I shall hold unto that sweet thought to comfort me until next I behold his face again." She said with a serene smile.
"You've a long way to go until then, milady." The Sheriff pointed out.
"Let's hope." She said.
"You must dine with me sometime, milady. Perhaps you would enjoy to hear about what my cousin was like when he was a lad?" Nottingham said smoothly as his eyebrow shot north knowingly.
"I do believe that sounds enjoyable, milord." Lady Gisla smiled, delighted at the thought of an opportunity to hear more about her man. "I should like that."
He managed to control the satisfied grin that threatened to form. He cleared his throat.
"How's tomorrow night then?" The Sheriff pressed her.
"Milord?" She asked, puzzled.
"If I were to invite you here to dine with me? I would of course come for you, milady." The Sheriff smiled warmly.
"You're jesting, milord?" Lady Gisla exclaimed, shaking her head.
And this is when the master of deceit went to work very smoothly and effectively indeed.
"My Lady Gisla, think of it. You're missing him. I am too. He was all the family I had." The Sheriff said shaking his head.
"Milord?" Lady Gisla asked as she searched his eyes with hers.
"He was… like a brother to me!" The Sheriff exclaimed as he brought his fist up to his mouth and bit down upon his knuckles for a moment. He closed his eyes and sighed as Lady Gisla regarded him, her eyes widened, utterly astonished at the man's grief. Why… he appeared as if he might cry?
He looked upon her and pretended to get a hold of himself. "My lady, if we are both missing him, why not keep each other company and share some tales about him? It will be as if we are keeping him alive!" Nottingham exclaimed.
"I should like that, milord. I've felt so… stifled since it happened." She sighed through her tears.
"Oh, I know, milady." The Sheriff said. "So what say you, milady Gisla? May I come for you tomorrow before dusk?" He asked.
Lady Gisla studied him a moment then smiled. "Aye, milord Sheriff. I should like that very much. And since you have been so sweet to me, forgive me for being so brazen for what I'm about to do, but I feel it's most appropriate." She said.
He looked at her bewildered as his left eyebrow shot north.
She smiled and came closer to him, stood upon her toes and leaned and bestowed a soft and loving kiss upon his left cheek.
He smiled but flinched because of the scar – the handiwork of Locksley some months ago.
"It makes you attractive, milord." She said. "But that is not why I did that." She smiled.
"Then why did you?" The Sheriff asked as he narrowed his eyes upon her curiously.
"You seemed to need consoling too, milord, and… I'm very sorry for your loss too, milord." She smiled as another tear – this time of compassion, streamed down her cheek.
The Sheriff of Nottingham was too stunned to reply. He hoped he could keep up with this cursed façade of playing the grieving cousin for awhile, because it seemed to be working on this enchanting maiden rather nicely!
Locksley and his men were gathered around their fire late Wednesday night. Locksley sat there quietly sipping mead from their communal flask while the men were laughing over how they had managed to fool Gisborne the day before.
"So, did you find a place to stash the gold?" Will suddenly asked Robin.
"I thought so, but now I'm not so sure." Robin muttered.
"I thought we agreed that Dead Man's Curve would be a good site to conceal it?" Little John asked.
"He's not dead." Locksley suddenly blurted.
"Who is not dead?" Azeem, his Moorish companion piped up. He looked to his left at Robin, curiously.
"Gisborne!" Locksley spat.
"Give that flask back, mate! Ye have indulged too much!" Little John chortled as he reached across and snatched the flask from Hood's grasp.
"I am not drunk." Locksley said firmly.
"Is this why you've been unusually quiet today, Robin?" Friar Tuck asked.
"I cannot believe what I saw." Locksley muttered evasively, shaking his head.
"What exactly did you see then?" Will asked pointedly.
"I saw Gisborne early this morning when I was out looking for a spot to hide the gold." Robin said.
"Bollocks! Listen, mate – from what Eustace Bromley told me, there is no way that the man lived to tell the tale. He was massacred by Nottingham, mate!" Little John exclaimed. "Even Eustace admitted feeling pity for Gisborne. That's how bad it was apparently!" He shuddered as he recalled Eustace, the Sheriff's swordsmith telling him about it.
"I know. It's just… unbelievable, but I am telling you I saw him. He was with another man – a very tall man. I confirmed it by checking with Azeem's looking glass. I'm telling you – that was Guy of Gisborne I saw this morning. As sure as I'm speaking to all of you now!" Locksley exclaimed emphatically.
"Where exactly, Christian? Where did you see him?" Azeem asked.
"Just outside of a cave at Dead Man's Curve. It was just before dawn." Robin said.
"What do you want to do then?" Little John asked.
"I need to be certain. Maybe if I go back?" Robin mused. "Tell you what." He said as he looked to Little John and Azeem. "John and Azeem – you two come with me." He said. He looked to the others. "The rest of you stay behind and defend our camp. This might be some kind of a trick." Locksley instructed. He looked back to Little John. "For all we know, the Sheriff might have bribed Eustace to tell you this, John – as a trap!" He exclaimed then looked around to the group. "For all we know they could be staking out the forest and fortifying their positions!"
"When do you wish to depart, Christian?" Azeem asked.
"Let's leave close to the witching hour. Might have a better chance of seeing him again if it's the same time of the day." Robin explained.
"Sounds good to me, mate." Little John said as he stood up and stretched. " Wake me when it's time then." He said as he yawned and wandered over to the bunks.
Locksley was glad he could persuade them to indulge him and investigate the matter. He didn't know which was easier to believe as truth: that the Sheriff indeed killed his own cousin, or that Nottingham had created the story as a ruse in order to trick Robin. He couldn't be certain at this point but he hoped he would have some answers by dawn.
