Chapter 4: Peter's Tale

Allan sneezed loudly as a piece of hay tickled him beneath the nose, smiling sheepishly as Robin threw him an angry look. He pulled the errant strand of hay free and secured it between his lips, chewing on the end as he leant back against the stack of hay bales once more.

"Kidnap?" Much stared from Robin to Peter and then back again, his eyes comically wide in disbelief. "But – but – it's the King! The King cannot be kidnapped!"

"Well, he has." Robin sank down onto a spare bale, running a desperate hand through his dusty tangles of hair, exhausted by the enormity of the news. He looked up at Peter, who was standing quietly in the corner, an expression of sadness and failure cast across his tired features. "John, guard the door to the stables. We should not be disturbed in here, but to be on the safe side…"

John nodded his understanding and slipped quietly from the stable, closing the door securely behind him. When the stable was silent, but for the nervous breathing of a band of worried outlaws, Robin gestured to Peter to share his tale.

"The King's ship sailed forth from the Holy Land several months ago," Peter began. "But there was a storm, and we were forced to seek refuge at the nearest port. We docked at Corfu – it was dangerous, but we had no choice. Corfu is under the rule of – "

"The Byzantine Empire," Robin supplied, nodding his understanding.

"The Byzan – what?" Allan asked. "Not being funny, but we're not as informed on world affairs as you."

"The Byzantine Empire," Robin repeated impatiently. "The Emperor hates Richard because he annexed Cyprus before the Third Crusade. Cyprus used to be part of his Empire."

"So we could not allow anyone to know that the King was in Byzantine lands," Peter continued. "He and four attendants, including myself, disguised ourselves as Knights Templar and waited for the weather to clear before setting sail again. But the weather was still unsettled and the ship wrecked near Aquileia. We lost one man and many of our supplies, and were far from any port; we were forced to take a land route through Europe."

Robin shook his head. "Too slow, and too dangerous."

"We had no choice," Peter defended their decision. "The King knew that Henry of Saxony would offer us protection so we travelled towards his territory, but we were eventually captured by Leopold of Austria. I say 'we' – I managed to escape, and journeyed onwards to seek help from Henry."

"And did you get it?" Much asked nervously.

Peter shook his head. "He found out that King Richard had been handed over to the Holy Roman Emperor, who imprisoned him in Trifels Castle and demanded a ransom."

"Demanded it from who?" Robin asked.

"The man that rules England in the King's absence," Peter replied, almost apologetically.

"Prince John," Much supplied quietly, closing his eyes as Robin reacted the way he expected, slamming his fist into a wooden post in his rage.

"The fool!" he spat out angrily. "Prince John will not pay a ransom; he does not want Richard back!"

"And if the ransom is not paid…" Djaq said slowly.

"The King remains imprisoned, and England will rot in Prince John's charge," Will finished quietly. "The Sheriff will still control Nottinghamshire, and the people will suffer. There will be no hope."

"Because of your messages, Robin, I knew that Prince John would not pay the ransom." Peter ran a tired hand through his hair, unable to keep the desperation out of his eyes. "Henry would not pay it, so I decided to seek your help."

"How much?" Robin asked tersely. "How much is the ransom?"

Peter swallowed. "Sixty five thousand pounds of silver," he replied with a wince. There was a split second of silence before the outlaws erupted into a series of incredulous scoffs and short, humourless laughs.

Allan stared at him. "We live in the forest eating squirrel, and you think we have sixty five thousand pounds?"

"We do not eat squirrel," Much snapped defensively. "But we do not have sixty five thousand pounds."

"I did not know where else to go!" Peter finally allowed his desperation to enter his voice, looking pleadingly at Robin.

"We have to find the money," Robin agreed. "Somehow."

Five faces gaped back at him disbelievingly.

"We can barely keep the peasants of Nottinghamshire alive with the money we take," Cassie replied. "Sixty five thousandspounds is more than twice the annual income of the Crown!"

"We have to find it!" Robin barked at her angrily. "We have no choice."

"You are mental." Allan shook his head at his leader. "I always suspected it, but it's true! You. Are. Mental."

"I am determined!" Robin rounded on Allan, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Determined to save the King, determined to save England. Marian died to save the King – what would she say if I left him to rot in a prison cell?"

It was only the mention of Marian's name that prevented Allan from retorting. Robin never mentioned her name, and it was the emotion behind that single word that made the outlaws fall into silence and wait for their leader's command.

There was a moment of uneasy silence before Robin straightened up, forcing the memory of Marian into the compartment of his brain where he tried to keep it hidden. He mustered a ghost of a smile, a translucent attempt at his usual smirk. "Besides, I have a plan."

"Which is…"

"Eleanor," Robin replied. "The Queen Mother."

Author's Note: Um okay, I am a terrible little fanfiction author. I have gone from updating almost daily to abandoning this for a couple of weeks! In my defense its been a bit crazy - working fulltime, got my degree results (ahh!), loads of birthday parties/meals/shindigs to go to, plus it was my own 21st birthday party on Saturday! Had friends I havent seen for months staying Fri-Sun which was AWESOME.

So now I am trying to get back in the FF swing, which includes writing, reading and reviewing! If I haven't reviewed new chapters of your stories that I normally review, I am SO sorry, I need to catch up when I get a break! Which is looking like being August...the whole of July is booked up big time.

Oh, and its my actual birthday tomorrow, so if anyone wants to write me some Will/Djaq fluff I will be eternally grateful ;-) as I am so behind with my reading I am starved of it!!