Isabella and Prince John were laughing and sipping wine together in his bed in Nottingham Castle. The Prince was celebrating the capture of Robin Hood. And Isabella was wondering what she could do to help Robin escape.

Her motives were purely selfish, not noble. First and foremost, freeing Robin would negate her brother's achievement of capturing him. Second, she wanted him for her lover. He was handsome and exciting! When he had burst through the window at Locksley to save her, she felt like a princess in a fairy tale, something she never expected she would feel. Yes, she'd think of something, and wouldn't that put him in her debt?

She also needed to remind the Prince of her other little plot.

"My King," she said, "of course we need to celebrate Robin Hood's capture, but what about our plan to punish the villagers of Locksley? Have you forgotten about my little concoction we were planning to pour down their wells?"

She didn't care whether they poisoned the peasants or not. She merely wanted to be indispensable to the Prince. Since it was her brother who had captured Robin, she wanted to make certain she proved more useful than Guy. Also, it would serve her purpose to attract Robin by helping him care for his people, after she had secretly poisoned them.

"Patience, my pet! Patience! All in good time! I want to first revel in the glory of having Robin of Locksley sweat and suffer downstairs in the dungeons!" Prince John suddenly adopted a hurt tone. "Do you know what he used to do to me, Isabella? Do you?"

"No, My King. What did he do?"

"He used to show up at Court, and get my mother, my very own mother, mind you, to like him more than she liked me!"

"I'm sure she did not! How could she?"

"It's true," he sniffed. "She used to make quite a fuss over him. And my brother Richard! He used to treat Locksley like a brother! Well, not quite! But he liked him better than he liked me!"

"The late King, your father, always liked you best, didn't he?"

"He did. He was the only one with any sense. But even he, now and then, acted impressed with Locksley." John's tone shifted again, this time to one of cunning pleasure. "Do you know what I used to call Locksley, Isabella?"

"Tell me, Sire."

"I used to call him 'The Northern Clodhopper!' Amusing, isn't it?"

Isabella made quite a show of laughing. "Oh! How priceless!" she cooed. "How clever! Stop, Sire, stop! You make me laugh! Your many talents quite overwhelm me, my King!"

"They do, don't they? You know, I quite like you. Isabella. Do you know, my wife's named 'Isabella' as well? I don't like her."

"I don't like her, either."

"And why is that, my dear?"

"Well, she has you, and I'm jealous."

Prince John looked pleased. "Yes, I know. And what of your husband? What's he like?"

Isabella preferred not to think of him. "He is cruel," she said coldly. Recovering herself, she continued, "He's no fun at all! Nothing at all like you, Sire!"

Prince John laughed delightedly. He stopped abruptly and said, "Bored now. I need to sleep. Goodbye."

Isabella was surprised that she was being kicked out. Well, no matter. She wanted to see what she could do to free Robin Hood.

At the outlaw camp, Allan and Little John were growing tired of Much's pacing and chatter.

"I knew we should have gone with him! I knew it! Why hasn't he returned? Where is he? I knew we couldn't trust the people of Nettlestone! They've probably caught him and turned him over to the Sheriff by now! They want that 500 pound reward! Robin's probably sitting in the dungeons, lonely and hungry, waiting for us to come rescue him! Hurry up, John! Hurry up, Allan! We need to go!"

"Go where?" Little John asked.

"We need to go to Nottingham and …and…get him out!"

"Shut up!" Allan barked. "Let's just give him more time. Robin wouldn't get caught. Not bein' funny, but you wouldn't believe how many times I saw him last fall, racin' through the castle late at night! If he was gonna get caught, it would have been then! If you want to worry about somebody gettin' caught, worry about Kate!"

All three men looked at each other, realization striking them at the same time. Kate managed to get herself captured nearly every time she set foot outside the camp. And if Robin had tried to rescue her on his own….

"We go to Nottingham!" Little John proclaimed.

Marian's heart grew lighter and lighter with each wave the ship crossed. This sea voyage was nothing like the one she had experienced on her way to the Holy Land. Then, she had been chained below deck and constantly sick, even though the seas had been smooth. Gisbourne had come to check on her on several occasions, and he had been surprised how "seasick" she had been. He hadn't realized it was just a stage in her pregnancy that was making her suffer.

But now, although she was infinitely sorry she no longer carried her child, she felt buoyed up and excited. She loved the smell of the sea and how the ship was lifted to dazzling heights, and fell crashing on the waves below. At times, the wind was so strong it nearly knocked her over, and she loved to feel its force. It was so good to be alive, and on her way home to Robin!

Djaq joined her on deck, wearing a thoughtful look Marian recognized. She could tell that Djaq wanted to tell her something.

"I suppose you're here to tell me it's dangerous to stand so close to the edge in this swell?" Marian asked.

"It is, but that is not what I need to tell you."

"Go on, then," Marian invited. "What is it, Djaq?"

Djaq took a deep breath. She had been dreading these revelations.

"Now that we are nearly to England, I think you need to know. There are two things I must tell you, Marian, but they will not be easy for you to hear."

Marian's face went white. Robin was alright, wasn't he? Nothing had happened to him, had it?

"Marian, Robin and the others do not know you are alive. When they had to leave, they left believing you were dead. Much had dug your grave. Robin had placed your body on the sand beside it. Then, the King had to call them quickly away, and they never knew that Will and I discovered you had not died. We tried to get word to them, but our pigeon came back. I do not know what happened to its mate."

"Robin thinks I'm dead?" Marian asked. "Oh! What can he be going through?"

Djaq probably knew even better than Marian did. Djaq had witnessed his grief firsthand the other time he believed Marian dead, and how he had seemed to lose his very identity when he thought she would marry Gisbourne. But she needed to tell Marian something else…something that was even harder for her to share.

"There is something else, Marian. I am sorry to tell you, but...you will probably never be able to have children."

"What?" Marian asked. Immediately, tears sprung to her eyes.

"I am sorry," Djaq said sadly, with tears in her eyes as well.

Marian looked away, fighting back her tears. She would never be a mother? And Robin would never be a father? But he adored children! She had always known he would be the perfect father! And they had been so happy when she had been expecting! This was wrong! This wasn't fair!

"I will not accept that, Djaq," Marian declared. "I shouldn't be alive, but I am. I will give Robin children. I will!"