Disclaimer: I do not own BBC Robin Hood, only my original character Daisy

DAISY

The morning of the day Daisy was due to visit Nottingham was sticky with warmth, the summer breeze non-existent and the sun blazing in the sky. The hope instilled by the visit of Robin yesterday had now been overshadowed by her worry of visiting the Sheriff of Nottingham. Her thoughts of Robin were foolish anyway, there was no way someone as handsome and heroic as Robin would hold her in any regard. Besides, despite how Marion felt about Robin now, they had been betrothed before he left for the Holy Land and if you'd had Marion in your grasps, Daisy knew she wasn't even close to coming second.

For her trip – and despite the turmoil she was feeling about it – she'd decided to wear a forest green crushed velvet dress. Green was her favourite colour, followed by blue and it was not a coincident that she was dressing in the exact shade of green that Robin was wearing yesterday. The bodice of the dress was tight, the skirt flared out and the sleeves were long ending at her wrists. She'd left most of her blonde hair loose and free but she tied up the most unruly bits.

Thankfully Marion was not to accompany them to Nottingham, Daisy summarised that this was either because her Uncle had forbidden Marion from joining them or because the Sheriff had declined her presence. The only person Daisy wished to see as she climbed into the carriage was Robin, so he could instil something within her to calm her nerves.

As they closed in on Nottingham town, Daisy was struck by how gloomy and menacing the castle was. Nottingham town was filled with unhappy people doing their best at making a living in their small houses and ragged clothes. For the first time Daisy was struck with what real poverty was and it made her mad. She'd seen the poor in Leicester but never to this degree. It made her wonder what kind of a man the Sheriff was that he would allow the people to suffer so.

When the carriage pulled up outside the castle, Daisy was reminded of how much she detested the stuffiness of a carriage and how she preferred the freedom of a horse. However, her Uncle was now too weak to ride a horse so the carriage was more of a necessity for his health. Besides, he'd never let her on a horse anyway, that would require giving her freedom.

They weren't important enough to be met at the gates and were instead escorted to an extravagant hall by a solider. The Sheriff was sitting in the middle of the room with an elaborate display of food laid out on a table before them. The Sheriff was a short man with an unpleasant expression on his face, his hair had all but disappeared and he was well on his fay to getting a plump belly from all the food he was consuming. To the right of him stood a surly man dressed completely in black leather. He wore a black belt and on the belt he carried a sword, and with the way one of his hands rested on the hilt of the sword, you knew he meant serious business.

"Ahh the secret girl is revealed." Said the Sheriff.

Daisy was sure he was being purposefully sarcastic, but she was more concerned with what was proper; nodding in welcome or curtsying. She went for the latter.

"At least this one has manners. What is your name? Who are you?"

Daisy had been under the impression that the Sheriff knew who she was thanks to the mouth on her cousin. Perhaps he just wanted to hear the same words from her own mouth.

"I am Daisy Cossu, my Mother was Edward's sister, when my parent's died I found myself with nowhere else to go. My Uncle is the only family I have left." She said.

"What about a husband?" the Sheriff asked.

"Unfortunately I have not yet found a husband." She replied.

Daisy did not like the gleam that appeared in the Sheriff's eye once she had answered his question. He looked like that cat that had got the cream and she suddenly felt very weary and realised that this Sheriff was one that liked to play games.

"What do you think Gisbourne, will she do for you?" he asked.

Gisbourne stared at her up and down and Daisy felt herself slowly getting angrier and angrier as the look in his eye was one of distaste.

"She is no beauty." He replied at long last.

The Sheriff laughed "turned down by Gisbourne I'm afraid."

"If I may Sheriff, if I am lucky enough to marry, it will be for love only." She said proudly.

The Sheriff frowned "I see you have a bit of a mouth on you as well." He said.

Her Uncle jumped up immediately – not to her defence though – "I apologise for her My Lord."

The Sheriff waved him off grumpily "I expect to see her in the castle more often and for god's sake don't keep her locked up in the house. If anything you should lock your own daughter up instead, a menace to society."

Both Daisy and her Uncle nodded at the Sheriff's…request (demand).

"Well leave now! Gisbourne I believe you can escort Miss Cossu home separately from her Uncle. Give her a tour of the village is you will."

Daisy could do nothing but allow Gisbourne to lead her away as her Uncle was escorted back to their carriage. As they neared the stables, Gisbourne grabbed her arm harshly and forced her to face him. There was that look of distain again, it was like he was seeing everything Marion was not and was angered by it. It was clear to Daisy where his feelings lay.

"Do you have any experience riding a horse or are you going to be a problem?" he asked harshly.

"I have been riding since I was a small child, now I shall ask you to unhand me!" She replied in a deadly voice.

They rode in silence, Gisbourne remained the dullest of hosts, only pointing out the bear minimum, which included a couple of villages along the way and moaned constantly about the poverty all around them. Daisy flexed her arms as they rode, her arm already hurt from where Gisbourne grabbed her and would no doubt bruise.

They dismounted for a tour of Locksley Village, which Daisy quickly learnt was Gisbourne's pride and joy, having claimed it from Robin Hood. It was quite a quaint village, the people seemed to be fairing quite well but they all looked upon her with distrust and upon Gisbourne with fear. Daisy wished she could talk to the villagers but knew that would be frowned upon by Gisbourne, she couldn't show her true feelings in front of someone so stuck inside the Sheriff's pocket, so she settled for discreetly smiling at the villagers.

When they reached Locksley Manor, Daisy noticed the horses had been led to some towers of hay and were happily munching away. Gisbourne led her into the Manor and then turned on her, much like he'd done when he asked if she could ride. He grabbed both her forearms and pushed her backwards. His nails – unusually sharp for a male – cut into her arms despite her long dress sleeves and made her wince painfully.

"Sir Gisbourne what are you doing?" she asked timidly.

"You live with Marion and despite my greatest efforts she is…resistant to my advances. You will persuade her that a union with me is beneficial to all." He hissed.

"Marion does not listen to what I say." Replied Daisy.

She was not quite ready for his response but she felt the pain and sting from the slap that she received. Though she was not quite used to pain such as this, she refused to back down and take orders from someone such as Sir Gisbourne. The taste of blood on her lip was enough for her to realise that if he wanted, Sir Gisbourne could do some serious damage to her. Still she would not comply with his orders.

"You will make her listen if you know what's good for you." He growled.

"You do not control me." She replied.

He pressed his nails into her skin with more force and she felt the pain as cuts were created, she knew then that she had to get out of there before he really lost his temper and did some serious damage. Using what strength she could muster, she managed to break free of his grip, ran all the way to the horse and sped off on horseback before Gisbourne even had a hope of catching her.

In hindsight it probably wasn't a good idea to gallop off into a forest she didn't know but she just wanted to find a sanctuary away from the fear she felt. She knew she looked a fright from her split lip to the tears rolling down her face to the bleeding nail marks she could now see appearing through the sleeves of her forest green dress.

She was further convinced that her ill thought escape plan was bad when a tall menacing man with a long wooden stick stepped out in front of her. This made her horse read up and had her clinging on for dear life. Once the horse had settled, she made sure to keep her face down as she tried to stop the tears from falling and compose herself from the bandits before her.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing in the woods alone?"

Daisy hoped he hadn't seen the state she was in, she didn't want them to think she was an easy target.

"Running away." She replied.

"Surely a fine dressed woman as yourself would have some money tucked away on your person. There is probably a nice fortune waiting for you at home with a husband on the side, your money would be better spent on the poor. If you hand it over now, they'll be no need for trouble."

Daisy was no afraid of this man but she was afraid of what he could do. He was right, she did have a fortune at home but it was a dowry saved for the moment she got married. What little money she had on her person she would gladly give to the poor, she just wasn't sure if this man intended to give money to the poor like he said. Just as she was about to hand over her money, several other people appeared from the shadows of the forest; a brown haired chap with a grumpy expression, a dark haired man with a moustache and a smiling small dark skinned, dark haired woman who seemed to be masquerading as a boy.

"John," said the woman. "Can't you see she's injured? You know your harassing her isn't doing her any good."

"You can get down off your horse now Miss, we won't harm you, we're Robin Hood's men." Said the man with the moustache.

Daisy slowly dismounted her horse, careful not to jostle her injuries and reached within her cloak to retrieve a small pouch of coins that she'd bought with her that day.

"Oh no Miss, you must keep your money." Said the woman.

"Take it, you will do more good with it than I will." Said Daisy determinately.

The man with the moustache studied her for a moment, "we will accept your money if you let us tend to your injuries."

"Are you kidding? We can't take her to camp, Robin will kill us!" said the grumpy looking man.

The woman glared at him, "we'll take her to the cave. We were supposed to meet him there anyway."

Daisy felt her heart lighten at the thought of seeing Robin again so soon but then felt a jolt in her bones and the thought of him seeing her like this.

"We'll have to blindfold you though, I hope you don't mind." Said the woman.

Daisy shook her head, mounted her horse and allowed herself to be blindfolded. It was a quiet walk to their intended destination, Daisy suspected this was more for their benefit than hers, they didn't want to draw attention to themselves travelling in a large group, nor did they want her to know the exact location of where they were taking her. When they came to the end of their journey, a new voice joined them, moaning profusely about what Robin would say and Daisy assumed that this was a meeting place of sorts. The group stopped and allowed Daisy to dismount her horse, they moved forward and immediately most of the light was taken away from Daisy, she assumed this meant they were undercover or underground. When her blindfold was removed, Daisy enjoyed several curious seconds of looking around before her vision was blocked by another body.

"Daisy?" asked Robin.

"You know her?" the others chorused.

Robin nodded "she's Marion's cousin".

He looked her up and down and Daisy had to refrain from squirming under his stare.

"Why were you in the woods?" he asked.

"It's a long story."

"We've got time." Replied Robin.

Daisy changed the subject, "are you going to introduce me to everyone or are we going to continue with this awkward silence?"

He smiled at her, no smirked at her. Daisy starred back a few moments before the woman who'd noticed her injuries first led her away. Sitting down in the most ladylike way possible, Daisy waited for the pain to start – treating wounds was never painless.

"Allow me to introduce my men," said Robin as he pointed to them in turn. "My faithful companion Much, Allan, Will, Little John and the woman tending to you is Djac."

Daisy was glad she could now put names to the faces before her, though she was a little fearful of John who was by no means 'little'.

Daisy hissed in pain as Djac rolled up her sleeves exposing the half-moon cuts upon her forearms and the bruises appearing just above. She sighed as she shrugged of Djac's apology. She felt Robin's eyes glaring at her injuries and knew that he never enjoyed seeing someone in pain.

"I've been in Nottingham a while but my Uncle, fearful of the opinions my parents held decided it was best to keep me captive within the manor. It may have escape your attention but my Uncle is far more concerned with keeping himself alive than his is with the lives of others around him. My predicament started when, during a meeting with the Sheriff, Marion thought it best to sacrifice another in order to preserve herself. You see my Uncle was right to be fearful, I have strong beliefs about helping the poor – it's why I gave my money freely – and he didn't want the Sheriff to see me as an opportunity to make an example of. I'm not very good at restraining my opinions. Then Marion let slip that I was being hidden and suddenly the Sheriff wanted to see me."

She paused as Djac rubbed something on her wounds that made her eyes water.

"I did not understand the Sheriff's sudden desire to meet me, I am unimportant but I shudder to think it might be because he's heard of my parents work in Leister. Of course I could do nothing but comply with the wishes of the Sheriff and my Uncle. I think I only made a small impression on the Sheriff – he seemed more inclined to use me to prove others opinions – Gisbourne assured me that Marion shone brightest – which I believe was the Sheriff's game all along. It doesn't matter, beauty has never been my thing anyway. Next thing the Sheriff was ordering Gisbourne to show me around the surrounding villages. I would have preferred to explore myself and get to know the people but I did my best not to speak my mind. Everything was fine until we reached Locksley Manor and Gisbourne turned on me." Said Daisy.

"He caused your injuries?" said Allan incredulously.

"You sound surprised, from everything I've heard of Gisbourne he acted as I suspected. Gisbourne wishes to wed Marion but she is not…responding to his advances. He wishes for me to change her mind on the matter and when I refused he told me that I had better do as I was told or my life would be in danger."

Daisy could tell that Robin was displeased by the news – both Gisbourne's intentions and his actions towards Daisy. Though Daisy did not know the true extent of his feelings towards Marion, she hoped that he got out of her tangled web soon. Even as children, Daisy knew Marion had had a way of manipulating and controlling events to suit her own purpose – she only had to read the letters her parents received to know that. Daisy just hoped Marion's desire to help the poor was real and not just another ploy to gain something she wanted, with Marion it was hard to tell.

Djac had finished treating her wounds. Her forearms were wrapped in bandages that would be hidden below her sleeves but also allow her wounds to breathe and heal. Djac had added some sort of salve to her cut lip and though it didn't smell particularly good, it was making the pain fade away. Daisy tanked the woman with a pat on the hand and a meaningful glance. In return she was rewarded with a genuine smile which lit up Djac's face.

"I fear I have intruded upon your generosity long enough. There are countless others out there that need your help more than I and I don't wish to deprive them of their crowned hope. Come it is getting late, blindfold me, lead me out and let me be on my way." She said formally.

"Her I like." Said John as he re-tied her blindfold back on.

Once they were a substantial distance away they removed the blindfold and allowed her to mount her horse. Just before she had ridden too far to see them, Robin called out to her.

"Now you are no longer on house arrest will we see more of you?" he asked.

"We'll see." She replied.

*&-..-&*

Once she arrived back at her Uncle's house she was rather out of breath having galloped so fast upon the horse. Walking slowly into the house her senses were on high alert but everything seemed as it should.

"You're back later than I thought, did you have a nice exploration of the villages?" asked her Uncle as he unexpectedly appeared behind her.

"It was most enjoyable Uncle and Sir Guy of Gisbourne was the perfect host to accompany me" replied Daisy cordially.

"Right, very well. I think perhaps you took a little tired, maybe you should retire for the night" said Uncle.

"I do feel rather exhausted, perhaps you are right. Uncle I shall have a small mouth to eat and then I shall retire for the night" said Daisy.

"Do not forget to wish goodnight to Marion Daisy" said her Uncle.

"Of course not Uncle" replied Daisy.