Disclaimer: I do NOT own Robin Hood (obviously)

Author's Note: Yeah! I updated on Sunday this week :)


The Next Morning

Djaq woke up earlier than she usually did, almost before the sun even. Her first thought was 'Will!' Then she remembered the events of last night; Sneaking out, helping the outlaws, and having to stay behind. She also remembered Nadira, who was still locked in the closet. Now would probably be a good time to deal with that. She pulled herself out of bed and walked over to the closet. She turned the handle and tried to open it, but of course she couldn't since she had locked it.

"That's funny" she said, a bit louder than necessary "It's locked." She retrieved the key from its hiding place under her mattress and unlocked the door. Then she opened her closet and pretended to be shocked to see her maid tied up and gagged.

"Nadira! What happened?" she asked feigning surprise and worry. She un-gagged the girl and untied her, but Nadira wasn't falling for it.

"Don't play coy Saffiya" she spat contemptuously "You tied me up and locked me in the closet so I wouldn't tell Bassam about your English boyfriend." Both froze as they heard footsteps approaching. Nadira smiled triumphantly.

"Bassam's coming, you failed. I'm going to tell him everything. You can't rescue your boyfriend if you're imprisoned, can you?" It was Djaq's turn to look smug.

"We rescued him last night. Listen, I've got a deal for you. You keep my secret and I'll keep yours. I know you're Carter's spy." Nadira's eyes widened.

"Fine, deal." She agreed.

Seconds later, Bassam walked into the room and saw Nadira brushing Djaq's long raven black hair while Djaq read one of her science books; a very normal sight. He smiled.

"Good morning Saffiya, and you, Nadira."

"Good morning Bassam." The girls replied innocently.

He was stopped from saying anything else by a loud banging on the door. Bassam made his way downstairs, closely followed by Djaq and Nadira.

"Open this door, by order of the sultan!" Djaq had a feeling she knew what this was about. Bassam calmly opened the door and two soldiers barged in. He glared at them.

"I demand to know what is happening!" He commanded.

"The prisoner escaped last night. We have been ordered to search all houses." One of the men explained. Djaq decided that now would be a good time to make these fools think that she was not the person they were looking for, even though she was. She called upon her acting abilities for what seemed like the millionth time this week.

"You mean the archer's man! He escaped! How?! How could this happen?! We'll all be murdered!"

"Don't worry miss. We'll find him. Anyway, the archer and his men aren't usually killers." One of the guards assured her.

"Usually?!" she echoed with a hint of hysteria in her voice. She debated pretending to faint, but she saw that her tirade had fooled the soldiers completely.

"We'll just search the house and then leave you alone." The second soldier declared, looking rather embarrassed. Idiots, they were so easy to manipulate. Either people were getting stupider or her acting abilities were improving. She knew the soldiers would never find anything. The only evidence that she had helped Will was the tag tucked under her shirt, just above her heart. And no one would ever see that.

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Two days later

"Saffiya, wake up!" Djaq opened her eyes. Nadira stood over her, holding a lamp.

"What's going on? It's not even light outside." Djaq pointed out.

"Saffiya, it's your wedding day. Remember? You need to get up now so you can get ready." The scorn in her maid's voice surprised her until she remembered Carter's words from a few days ago:

"It might interest you to know she's in love with your future husband."

In a flash of inspiration she knew exactly what to do.

"Nadira, I have a plan, but I need your help"


Thanks so much for reading

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