To say the least, anger was in full swing in Sherwood. There were few times in my life that I had witnessed something as terrifying as John when scorned and the memory still haunts me. Through his years of being an outlaw, John had gained quite the reputation of being this horrifying beast who could send enemies flying. In all truths, he was generally as docile as a newborn kitten. However, that reputation had to come from somewhere. And that just so happened to be the few times when he was unable to control that anger. That, was a sight to see. I dare say that Thomas had never been so petrified as he stood by and tried to inform John of his wife's impending doom. "How could you let this happen?" John roared at him "you were right there, you could have saved her!"

All attempts to calm John were fruitless but eventually he stopped yelling and began pacing as he knew that something had to be done. Thank the Lord, Roger had previously had the genius thought to remove John's quarterstaff or I daresay that a few of us would be sporting bruises. All the while, the pacing continued. "We have to go. We have to go now. They could be torturing her. If they kill her I swear I'll…"

"John!" Robin yelled "Calm down! You're emotions are clouding your judgments. You're no good to anyone if you think with your heart. Thomas, did you hear when they were going to hang her?"

"No, but I doubt they'll wait." These words were barley said above a whisper as Thomas practically shook, waiting to see the reaction his words would bring.

"So we must act now!" John yelled. And when I say yell, I mean imagine the yell of a normal person and increase the volume a highly considerable amount.

"This is what the sheriff wants!" Will told John. "He wants you to panic and storm in there without thinking so he can take you down. He will not hang her straight away because he has power over you. He'll want to draw it out so when he does kill her it'll hurt you more and you'll be useless so you're an easy target."

Will quickly regretted his contribution as Robin remembered the fact that Will constantly tried to hide. "Will, don't you have a sister who works in the castle?"

"No," he lied. Everyone say straight through this. The look on Johns face would have broken a man's heart but not Will. He had been through too much in his life and it had created almost an emotion shield in the man. Nothing could break through. "Lilly is the only family I have left. I don't want her to be put in danger."

John looked at Robin in exasperation. This was the part of leadership that Robin hated. That point where he had to vary one member's wishes against another when one of them would inevitably be left angry. But someone had to do it.

"Ok Will look," Robin said after careful thought. "We will be very, very careful with Lilly and ensure that no possible harm can come to her. We run rings around the Sheriff and this time will be no different. I promise that he will have no knowledge of her help. But if we do nothing, Amelia is going to die." These were true words but they made little or no impact on Will. No logic would. And you must remember, we were going to do it anyway, no matter what Will said.

I personally believe that Will wanted to avoid his sister to avoid remembering anything about his past. Still, I probably would want to forget if I were him.

Will's Father had a reputation of being one of the kindest men that Locksley has ever known. Joseph Scarlet was a prime example of everything that the Merry Men stood for. He went beyond simply caring for his loving family. He cared for the entire village. A simply fisherman by trade, he still found a way to ensure that all starving families were always well fed. And yet he was still looked down upon by many a Norman. In fact, most despised him. Namely the Sheriff. Joseph stood for everything that the Sheriff did not. Things like hope and love were practically poison to the Sheriff and he was quickly looking for ways to destroy his this spirit. When Prince John took the throne, taxes rose and many families began to starve. The Scarlet's were prime examples. Yet Joseph continued to help others. The price for this type of action was quickly apparent. His wife and children were beginning to starve. Suddenly the taxes were aimed at the fishermen's market. In the end, it cost more to sell a single fish than it would have to do nothing. As a result, the Scarlet's were left with no money or food. Joseph could not sit by and watch his family starve.

Helena Scarlet died exactly one month after King Richard left. She had never been strong of health and she had always passed along her food to her children. This did little as her three youngest children died quickly after her, also from starvation. This left only Joseph with his two remaining children, Will and Lilly. And there was no way he would let anything happen to them.

A single loaf of bread. That was all that was needed. It was also all that was needed for Joseph to be caught red-handed.

The sheriff was delighted. An example had to be set, and he had just found his target. Guard burst through that small Locksley house and pulled Joseph away. Lilly's screams filled the room as Will did everything in his power to fight them off. He had no skill back then to say the least. One guard was all that was needed to restrain him so all Will could do was watch as they dragged his Father away.

He was taken to the village square. Lilly and Will too. There the Sheriff whipped Joseph Scarlet until blood poured down the square, laughing all the while. Part of Joseph's punishment was to know that his children would be a witness to his pain.

Will was forced to watch his fathers murder, restrained by guards. He kept eye contact with his Father until he died.

Will tried to kill the sheriff that very night.

Unfortunately he had minimal skill with a sword back then. The Sheriff easily bested the poor man. There was not even the beginnings of a fight. Will was defeated in mere moments.

The Sheriff could have killed him easily but apparently he didn't think it would be as much fun. That is how Will got that scar on the side of his face. The sheriff wanted him to be cut for life but didn't bother to do the other cheek. "You're not worth the effort" he laughed and kicked him out with the promise of being outlawed for the rest of my miserable life."

Will sought us out soon after, demanding training.

I hate how after a few month, his skill passed that of my own.

He mentioned a sister on a rare occasion but we knew that he cared for her. But these are desperate times. Sometimes we have to risk one family member to save another.

Lilly didn't seem to mind being used. She was just happy to see Will again. It never ceased to amaze me how much she resembled her brother, no matter how much she denied the fact. I suppose no one enjoys being compared to a sibling much less a female being compared to a brother. Women are sensitive in that way. Despite this, Lilly was still one of those women who cared little for physical appearance. It was obvious that no time at was ever spent worrying about that perfect means of styling ones hair or other pointless forms of beauty. She casually tied back her long black hair daily, often forgetting the simple task of brushing it. Her skin was as dark as her brothers, which suited her fine as she often neglected regular washing habits. In some ways, she was more of a slob than many of the Merry Men, making her current job of maid in Nottingham castle all the more ironic. But she had never been one to hold down a job. Or any life idea for that matter. One thing that always stayed regular was the love of anyone close to her so therefore she overjoyed to see Will.

"It's been too long' she said as she embraced him "why do you never come and see me?"

"Because you forget that I don't like hugs," he said begrudgingly. She quickly directed us to a room where she had laid out guard's uniforms where we hurriedly changed and prepared for the rest of our plan. Lilly was quickly banished by Will to safety with many an instruction of how to protect herself should she be compromised. She simply laughed him off, never being one to see the danger.

"Right" Robin said when we reached the dudgeons. "I'll go with John and try to keep him out of trouble, we'll take the east dungeons. Matthew and Will cover the north side, Thomas, Luke and Roger go South. Much, Allen and Benny can take West. Everyone be at the check point before sunrise."

I tried to ignore the factor of Much and put my best foot forward, taking charge all the while. Much trailed behind as I lead the three of us deeper into the castle. Benny saw this as an insult and instantly began to complain. "Why am I in the middle. The middle is where the weak one goes because there is the least chance of being ambushed. I may not be better than you Allen but I am far superior to Much."

"Hey, come back and insult me when you get your first facial hair" Much said with a smirk. It was all too easy to get Benny with comments on his age and he had no comeback. I was simply happy that Benny considers me better than him.

"You are barely any older than me," Benny whispered back angrily but had nothing further to add. "I hate you guys," Benny finally said and both Much and I were stifling laughter.

There was an instant temperature drop when we walked deeper. The cries of prisoners made my skin crawl. The dungeons are easily the worst place in England. Most of the people in there are people who deserve a day in the stocks at the most. But we were there to find Amelia, not save prisoners, which takes a lot more forward planning to ensure we're not setting free actual criminals.

I was so distracted by my thoughts that I had completely forgotten our purpose and quickly went back to looking for Amelia. And kept on looking. And kept on looking.

"So I guess we can rule out the west wing" Much finally decided.

"We haven't searched all of it. Imagine if she was in the furthest corner and we had given up because we were pretty sure she was somewhere else." I told him.

"But my feet hurt."

"Life must be so hard for you. I mean, sure Amelia is going to die, leaving John heartbroken but your feet are so much more important than all that" I scoffed.

"And I'm hungry."

I just rolled my eyes and ignored him.

There was a short wonderful silence. Benny looked like he wanted to insult Much too but he was probably worried about looking like a spoilt child.

"It's too cold down here" Much whined.

That was it for Benny. He turned to Much, ready to tell him exactly what he thought of him.

This involved many unsavory words that could quite possibly burn through the page if I dared write them.

"Shush" I cut in.

"But…"

"Shush. Listen"

All they heard was silence.

"What are we…?"

"Shush"

"Ok, I'm getting really sick of the…"

"Oh my goodness, There's someone there," I told them in a whisper.

Now they were quiet.

And then a figure leapt out from around the corner and kicked Benny in the head, knocking him out easily. I guess he was wrong about the middle.

I reached for my sword but wasn't fast enough and the man had already knocked me to the floor. Before I lost consciences I heard Much go into combat with them man but I knew he didn't stand a chance.

My last thoughts were about how I really hoped that I would wake up.

.

.

.

I did, obviously, and I had some pretty impressive bruises. Sadly, this made us last to the checkpoint and everyone was ready to moan, until they saw the bruises.

"We were ambushed," I told them.

"One man, defeated all three of you" Will asked, rather amused.

We never like each other, Will and I. He doesn't like me because I was rich and he has a grudge against anyone who has ever had a considerable amount of money. I dislike him because he is an antisocial git who thinks he is better than everyone else.

"He came out of nowhere" Much tried to explain.

"And defeated all three of you." Will added again, still trying not to laugh. Apparently my glares only encouraged him.

"Did you find Amelia?" John cut in. Our guilty faces told it all.

"Wait" Luke stopped up and motioned for us to listen. The Sheriff was ringing the church bell in quick groups of three. That bell was always followed by trouble. It's a signal for everyone around Nottingham to gather around the square because there was an impending announcement. His announcements were never good for us. Yet we keep coming back. I guess its better that we know ahead of time. I personally, stand by the idea of no news being good news.

And there he was, Prince John. The man who strikes fear into the heart of thousands. I don't think he's that great. A tall, well built man, blessed with good looks and charm, he could have easily lived a nice life. If he didn't constantly wear that look of distain, he could pass for a kind man. I grew up with a great emphasis on family and was constantly transported around, visiting various family members as my power hungry parents trying to gain connections. As much as I hate to admit it, Prince John is one of the people closest to me on the family tree, being my Mother's cousin by marriage. But I never met him until he returned to England to take the throne. His past was a mystery but his present deemed him an evil bastard. That was all that mattered to me.

"My beloved subjects," he said with his usual dramatic flair. We all rolled our eyes. There was no trace of love for us ever when it came to him. "I'm sure you're all aware of the unfortunate situation with the woman conversing with outlaws. It seems they have another accomplice who also needs to be brought to justice. To our horror, we saw Lilly in chains. I could see Wills face contorting in anger. "The hanging shall be tomorrow at sundown. I'm expecting a brilliant turnout. I am aware that most of you will be coming in the hopes of seeing your favourite outlaws perform some spectacular tricks and save the day but let me warn you, I am too aware of this and I shall be prepared."

"He will pay for this," Will growled.

"Right behind you" John agreed

"What have I been telling you" Robin told them "Think with your head, wait till you're calm."

"We tried it your way and you just got someone else captured," John yelled, "now it's our turn. And you're either with us or against us."

There was a constant resonating dripping sound that echoed continuously across the dudgeons. Lilly rolled over, clasping her hands over her ears once again in a desperate attempt to lull the sound. She almost found it amusing that, despite how she was facing death while she starved in a blistering clod dudgeon, her main concern was the sound. Groaning, she realised that her hands still held minimal effect.

Rolling over, she looked to the neighboring cell. Amelia stared back at her. It was suddenly obvious to Lilly how miserable her friend had become. The effects of the cell were apparent. Amelia used to be a bright bustling woman who was always full of life. It scared Lilly to see her lying there so defeated. Not of a speck of hope could be seen. She had always been a large woman, taller than most and well fed. But suddenly she appeared small and meek. This left Lilly pondering over her own appearance. She did not feel any different. A little dirtier, she presumed. It was rather difficult to tell. There was one lone torch, meagerly flicking and providing the smallest inkling of light. Lilly cold barely see her own hand as she waved in front of her face. The darkness of her skin did not help the situation. She clasped a stray strand of dark hair, trying to inspect it. She came to the conclusion that she had not changed a bit. Even in spirit. They could do what they liked to her. She had already known heartache. They could do nothing to break her.

The echoing of footsteps pulled her from her thoughts. Followed by the clanging of a door. The footsteps now came the corridor as a guard approached their cells. He obviously cared little for being there, flinging their food trays toward them in an extremely bored fashion. Lilly noted her stale bread rolling off the tray into the grime. It would not be long before the rats had at it. Amelia did not even seem to notice as she remained still, lying limp.

Her hand hung down. Without saying a word, Lilly edged over the bars, reached over and clutched at her hand. Amelia squeezed back.

The guard sneered. "How sentimental," he jeered. Looking at Lilly, he added, "if you're feeling lonely, I would be more than 'appy to 'elp you out."

Lilly shuddered at his tone, pushing herself back as far as she could. "Stay away from me," she said quietly.

He only laughed. "No need to be shy love! I was good mates with Antony. I'd say you were a little more friendly with 'im. All I ask is for the same curtsey."

"Don't you dare speak his name!" Lilly yelled, holding back tears.

The guard smiled a horrible smile as he pressed his face against the bars. "Oh come on sweet 'eart. Make your last few days of life a bi' more exiting."

"Go to hell," she said, spitting out the words.

It only made him laugh more. "So impolite. Weren't you ever trained in basic etiquette? You were a maid, surely you must know a little. Fine, I'll go first." He tried to sound as pompous as he could. "Good evening my lady. My name is Symond. Current favourite of the Sheriff. I actually told 'im who you were."

"I know who you are," she muttered.

He smirked in the same way she imagined a snake would. Suddenly his hand was clutching at her dress as he yanked her toward the bars. She collided with a crash and everything went hazy for a few moments. Despite her best attempts, she could feel that she was crying. Or it could have been blood trickling down her face. But she did not cry from the pain. She cried at the memory. A few days ago, her biggest struggle was a particularly tough wine stain. She had been scrubbing until her hands were raw. She muttered all the while, thinking stupidly to insult the stain. She had never been a particularly good maid. But since the death of her family, she had little choice in the matter. Gazing at her hands, she thought wistfully back to her foolish dream of carpentry. But for all of her life, her Father had taught her that she could do anything that she put her mind to. So needless to say, she found the scrubbing rather mind-numbing.

Little did she know that she would soon yearn for such times. The door opened with a crash that resulted in her dropping her rag in surprise. Before she knew it, Antony was gripping into her shoulders so tightly that she cried out in pain. He had always been so shy and gentle all of which alerted her to the danger. "You need to get out here! Now!"

"Why?" she asked, trying desperately to keep her voice steady and calm.

Finally he seemed to realise how tightly he had been gripping her. Letting go, he instead racked his fingers through his hair. Turning away slightly, he spoke very fast. "I was just summoned to the Sheriff. Symond too. He wanted to know about the Merry Men."

Lilly's face conveyed her shock. "I told you about Will in confidence," she said, holding back a sob of betrayal.

"And Symond was listening," he said, voice rising. Turning back to her, he cupped her cheeks in his hands. "You know I would never do anything to hurt you," he said, sounding slightly more like his old self. "Which is why I need to get you away from here as fast as possible!"

"But I-" she tried to protest. But he was no longer listening. He clutched at her hand and dragged her from the room. Before she knew it, she was running. Faster than she ever had in her life. Each corridor stretched on, as all she could hear was their cluttered footsteps, desperate panting and her own blood pumping in her ears.

From some spanned off corridor there came a cry, ordering them to halt. They did no such thing. Their footsteps where shortly joined by others. More and more joined in the chase but Lilly did not dare look back. A hand managed to clutch at her other wrist causing her to miss a step. The stumble cost her dearly. The force sent her other hand slipping from Antony's grasp. The Guard who had caught her glowered down at her. She struggled desperately to no avail. He was too strong. The sound of a blow came and it sent the Guard sprawling backward. Then came the sound of clashing metal as Antony faced another three guards. "Run!" he yelled at her but she was frozen to the spot. All she could do was watch as he struggled. He fought with madness, slashing with reckless abandon. And seemingly it was working. Two of the guard were sprawled across the corridor and the other ran off to fetch others when he was separated from his weapon. "Come on," he huffed, once more dragging her forth. Turning a corner, he slumped against the wall, holding both of her hands in his. "Listen to me," he said. He spoke as if it were a great struggle and Lilly soon saw why. Blood poured forth from a gaping wound on his right shoulder. He simply clutched her hands tighter. "You need to run. Get out of Nottingham and go to Sherwood."

She struggled to speak through her tears. "But I can't-" she began.

"Go!" he said, as loud as he dared. She kissed him, longer than she should have. Still crying, she ran up the stairway. She turned back just in time to see the arrow that had torn through Antony's neck. And Symond standing behind him with a bow.

It took everything she had not to sink to the ground and weep. So she stumbled on, best she could. But she only reached the end of that particular corridor before she felt arms encircling her.

And that face. The same one the smiled at her from her cell. "You killed Antony," she said accusingly, hoping for the slightest hint of remorse.

She was not to receive it. He simply shrugged. "If I am to become the Sheriff's right hand man then I must prove myself somehow." Lilly could not speak about the sobs. He stared at her with a sick look upon his face, showing how much he was enjoying her pain.

He was so enthralled that he did not see the subtle movement from the neighboring cell. But he could not ignore the crash. Amelia had slipped her tray through the bars and struck him with it, using all of strength. He went flying backward, hitting the wall with great force. Both women shrunk to the back of their cells, hands clutched together as Symond cursed them with every foul word he could think of.

There was no doubt in their minds that he would have turned even more violent had it not been for the sound of more footsteps. A small group was approaching and by the sound of the chinking metal, some of them were more guards. Symond leapt away, rubbing at his face. He sunk into a bow when he saw who approached him. "Lady Marian," he said, his voice once more calm and controlled. "Forgive me but you should not be down here."

Lilly almost sunk to the floor with relief. Marian looked extremely out of place in such a setting. Even in the darkness and grime, she was painstakingly beautiful. Her golden hair curls still found a way to shine. One glance from that perfect face and Lilly nearly cried. She had always been that way in emotional times. She could hold herself together through the hard times but when she was back with her family or friends, everything seemed real.

"What is going on here?" she asked calmly, but with enough authority to remind Symond of her power over him.

"She attacked me!" he said accusingly, pointing to Amelia.

Marian's mouth twitched as she fought the urge to laugh. "I was practically raised by this woman. She would never lash out unless she was provoked." He was practically squirming as she spoke. "And I know that you would never terrorise innocent women in such a situation."

He was working hard to not glare at her. His thoughts were clearing going to a dark place. "Of course Milady," he said darkly.

She waved a hand to her guards, excusing them. They looked uncertain, retreating slightly while still keeping in range. Marian stood close to Symond. This time, she was the one glaring. "The only reason you are not the one behind bars is because I have no proof on you yet," she whispered darkly.

"You have no power," he snarled back. "Your uncle may be the Prince but you are little more than a pretty little flower that he will use to sway his enemies." Looking her up and down, he added, "and a crippled one at that." This time he thought to duck as Amelia's tray came swinging.

Marian held up a hand, holding back Amelia and her guards. She swayed slightly, taking the weight away from her injured foot.

He continued to smirk, thinking to have found her weakness. "I saw you, you know. Before they took you away. You nearly died. And who would have mourned you?"

Tilting her head and smiling, she said, "I could have faced you then and there and still defeated you. Now get back to your post" He didn't leave right away, choosing instead to glare at her a little longer. It was only after he was gone that Marian shivered slightly.

Then her attention was back on her friends as she slipped her hands through the bars and held their hands. "I'm going to get you out of here," she said urgently, shaking back the tears in her eyes.

"Not if you go around threatening guards," Amelia said, laughing slightly. "You need to stay away from him.

"Amelia, how have you not learnt right now that I will always do exactly the opposite of what you tell me?" They all laughed hollowly. "You always told me that your husband was dead," Marian said gently.

Amelia shook her head. "I had to keep my job. They would have thrown me out if they knew what John had done."

Nodding, Marian looked to Lilly. "And Will?"

"Well, I helped the Merry Men try to find Amelia. And I would do it again in a heartbeat."

She attempted to smile bravely, despite how every part of her wished to crawl back down inn a heap. But Marian made her want to be brave. She thought of Marian as her daughter, having been her ladies maid for as long as either of them could remember. This gave her the ability to read the girl very well. So it was all too simple to see that she was hiding something. "What is it?" she asked cautiously, watching Marian's face contort with the effort of thinking of a lie. Lilly also rolled over to inspect her friend.

"Nothing," Marian finally said, off-handedly.

Amelia instantly forgot herself to once more fill the role of protective guardian. "Marian. Promise me that you won't try anything to save us. It is not worth risking your neck as well. There are plenty of gallows for all us."

"Well when you put it like that you make it sound so appealing," Marian said but eventually gave in. "Fine! I will do nothing!"

Both Amelia and Lilly knew full well that her fingers were crossed behind her back. They also knew that there was nothing they could do to stop her.