Chapter 8

"What did you say?" Guy asked in a low, dangerous voice.

"His wife is alive." Isabella repeated, gasping as Guy's hands lashed out to clutch at her arms. "You are hurting me." She said with disdain.

"Hood's wife is dead. She died in the Holy land!" Guy yelled.

"Well apparently, she didn't die, and now she's back." Isabella replied, refusing to let her brother see how much his grasp pained her.

Guy shook Isabella, his shock and rage coursing through him, causing him to lash out at the nearest person, at this moment his sister.

"You are sure?" He finally asked, hands still grasping Isabella's shoulders.

"Yes." She said, slowly, then with more power. "Hood took me to his camp, two people were waiting there, and man and a woman, and they told him that they had returned from the Holy Land, with his wife. He went out into the woods to find her, she hadn't stayed in the camp, and returned with her in his arms."

"What did she look like?" Guy asked. "How did she look?" He continued frantically.

"Petite, brunette, I guess you would call her pretty." Isabella said, she bit back a cry when Guy shook her again. "She looked fine. Tired. They had said that she had a fever, that it was the reason why it took so long for them to come back."

"Marian is alive." Guy said slowly, dropping his hands from Isabella's shoulders and taking a step back. "It cannot be, the sword, it went so deeply into her belly, there is no way she could have survived that." He continued quietly, his eyes taking on a distant look as his mind was lost in the memories of the Holy Land almost a year ago.

Isabella watched her brother cautiously, eye narrowing as she made note of his knowledge of the details surrounding Marian's "death".

"Hood trusts me." Isabella said, breaking Guy out of his reverie. "If I came to him with news from the castle, he would believe me. He would do as I ask."

"And why is that Isabella? What have you been doing with Hood that he trusts you?" Guy sneered. "You remember where your loyalties lie I assume?"

"Of course brother." Isabella answered instantly. "Hood had sought me out." She continued slowly, unsure of how much to reveal. "He feels something for me." She added. "I thought if I could get Hood to trust me, that he would be all the easier to capture. I can lure him into a trap."

"No." Guy said fiercely. "You are going home to your husband where you can cause no more trouble."

"Are you sure you wish to do that Guy?" Isabella asked. "We both know the prince favors me over you and the sheriff. He enjoys my presence here, it allows him to ignore yours and the sheriff's past failings, especially in the case of the capture of Robin Hood."

As the two argued, they did not hear the door to the chamber slowly open, and a figure slip inside.

"No Isabella." Guy replied. "You will not further your cause with the prince. I will capture Hood, I do not need your help."

"Brother." Isabella began. "You have been chasing that outlaw for two years and have yet to capture him. If I tell him of your plan, he will rush to help the people. And if you choose to threaten the lives of the people, well he would be quickly persuaded from his wife's side to help save the poor people of Nottingham. He would be distracted, torn between saving the innocent, and worry over his wife, all alone in the camp."

Just as Isabella finished laying out her plan, a slow clapping sounded from behind them. Guy and Isabella turned in unison to see the sheriff standing behind them, wearing a dark grin as he brought his hands down to his side.

"So our little leper friend survived the Holy Land?" He asked, striding forward. "Quite a talented girl that Marian is." He continued, throwing an arm around both Guy and Isabella. "Oh this is good, this is very good." He continued gleefully.

"I like your plan Isabella, this is the perfect time to go after Hood, he is distracted, and the prince is here to witness our success." He continued, the jewel in his tooth catching the light. "But I do suggest some changes."

He pulled the siblings closer together as if imparting some great secret. "We will not capture Hood, not right away. We will capture Marian."

"No!" Guy cried out, pulling away from the sheriff and Isabella. "She has nothing to do with this!" He continued, pacing across the room.

"Are you blind Gisborne!" The sheriff yelled. "No matter what happens you won't win her! She married Hood with her dying breath, she doesn't love you! Get it through your thick skull!" He yelled, striding forward to slap Guy upside the head. "All these years she lied to us. She used us to help him." He sneered.

"If we capture his wife, Robin would be forced to rescue her." Isabella stated slowly.

"Yes, and given the new "developments" in their relationship." The sheriff began. "Robin would move heaven and earth to get her back. He would be vulnerable, not thinking clearly in his quest to save his wife. It would be the perfect opportunity to be rid of them both."

"Rid of them both?" Guy asked, stopping his pacing to look at the sheriff. "You mean to kill them both?" He asked incredulously.

"Of course I do!" The sheriff yelled. "She tried to kill me! She fed all our secrets to Hood! She was the Nightwatchman! Just because you "killed" her in the Holy Land does not mean I have forgotten that!" He yelled, stomping his feet. "I will see them both swing!"

Isabella's eyes widened at the sheriff's words, and even though she had suspected her brother of being the one who injured Robin's wife, having it confirmed was a shock to her.

"It would be poetic don't you think?" The sheriff asked, musingly. "Robin Hood and Lady Marian, betrothed as children, separated by war, come together again in secret after he was outlawed, marry, be separated by death, a miraculous survival and return, only to hang together in my courtyard!" He continued with a wide grin. "I should write a book, this stuff is so good."

"It would be very difficult to get to Hood's wife." Isabella said quietly. Closing her eyes at the word 'wife', but taking joy in seeing the dark look cross her brother's eyes when he heard Marian's new title.

"Difficult you say?" Vasey asked.

"Yes my lord. She will be closely protected in the camp. When I was there it took much argument to coax Robin from her side. I doubt much has changed in the last 24 hours."

"Hmmm." The sheriff responded, circling around the room. "Well we'd have to get them out of the camp won't we?" He paused for a moment. "Your plan is sound, tell Hood of the villagers' plight, he will be forced from his lady wife's side to help the people. Make sure he takes all of his men with him."

"I do not know the way to his camp. He did not trust me enough to show me, I was blindfolded." Isabella replied, stepping back as she saw the fire light up the sheriff's eyes.

"Well that is a problem." He said annoyed at having this bump in the road of his plan.

Isabella, fearful of the ramifications of failing to come through on her idea, thought quickly.

"Wait!" She said suddenly. "There is another woman."

"Yes, yes the Saracen woman, we are aware of her." The sheriff replied, waving off Isabella.

"No, she's a blonde woman." Isabella interjected. "I believe a villager from Locksley who was outlawed."

"Well that didn't take long did it?" The sheriff said jokingly. "He had already found another woman."

Guy scowled at the sheriff's words, but remained silent.

"Well, how does this other woman fit into your plan Isabella?" The sheriff asked.

"She has feelings for Hood." Isabella began, smirking as she remember Kate's dark looks of jealously, directed first at her, but later moved onto the other woman, Robin's wife. "Hood is oblivious of course, but she might be persuaded into helping us remove his wife from the picture."

"That is good." The sheriff said. "How do you propose we do this?"

"I'll go to the forest. Try to catch the attention of Hood or one of his men. I'll tell them of your plan for the wells. Hood would be hard pressed not to act and I would persuade him that all his men would be needed. I would soothe his worries by offering to stay with his wife, since the other woman was recently injured she would remain behind also. I would use that time to talk to her then."

Guy snorted, bringing the sheriff's and Isabella's gazes to him.

"Marian is not stupid." He said. "You could not plot in front of her and expect her not to take action. You underestimate Marian's abilities."

"I would offer to get some water. And not being familiar with the forest would ask for the other woman's help. I would use that time to speak with her." Isabella returned.

"This is good." The sheriff said rubbing his hands together. "I like this plan. The castle guards will remain a discreet distance behind you. You and the woman get Marian out onto the main road, and they will take her from there." The sheriff continued, thinking quickly. "You will return to Hood's camp, pretend the guards ambushed you and kidnapped his wife. He will be enraged and will stop at nothing to get her back. And while Hood is plotting his way into the castle to save his ladylove, we will have all of Nottingham at our mercy."

The sheriff looked up at Guy and Isabella. "With Marian enjoying the hospitality of our dungeons, Hood will not take the usual care in his rescue attempt, he will act quickly and in doing so will make the biggest mistake of his life."


Author's Note: Yay I'm a day earlier than I had planned. Go me! Well really, go you guys, cause all the reviews were yet again fantastic, so this is my thank you. I apologize for the short chapter, but I wanted to keep it within the castle, before making my way back to the forest. But as a preview, in the next chapter Marian will finally deal with Kate. I can't wait!

Also, because I feel the need to constantly rant, has anyone else noticed that Kate's been given Marian's music on the show? It's not the exact same key, but it's very similar and it drives me nuts! Every time I hear it I have to admit to yelling at the TV that it's Marian and Robin's music and not to soil it with Kate!

Anyway, thanks again for all the reviews you guys, I'm trying to finish up the next couple of chapters so hopefully I'll have another post by Saturday or most likely Sunday.