Count Friederick had been right to complain of English roads when he had visited Nottingham more than a year before. The roads through Bavaria and Austria were much better maintained. But when at last the roads became rough, the count knew, and Robin guessed, they were nearing Castle Aggstein.

The count ordered his driver to halt, while Robin reined his horse, knowing his men would do the same.

Much was anxious. "I hate the time just before battle. Why can't we be back in Sherwood, enacting a simple ambush?"

"Because, Much," Robin told him, "we're here to rescue the king. Remember?"

"The king," Much repeated. "England, with justice again. Bonchurch...and Eve. I'm ready!"

"Good." Robin swung himself down from the saddle, then entered the count's coach just as Friederick left it. He quickly reemerged with his arms full of black monks' robes. "It's a good thing Marian got this additional robe," he said.

"No," the count firmly objected. "My driver waits for us here. I risk my own life to save your king, for Lady Marian's sake. I do not risk his."

"It's for the king to wear," Robin explained. "I doubt your so called robber barons are going to count how many monks enter their castle. So, one more joining our group as we depart..."

"Get the hell out, you mean," Allan said gloomily.

"Good work, Marian!" Much exclaimed. "I'm surprised you didn't think of it yourself. She's going to be mad at you, if we make it back alive. Almost as scary as these Austrian barons in their poxy, poxy castle! I volunteer to wear two robes going in. Extra padding, for when I'm hurled into the gorge."

"You won't be hurled," Robin told him.

"It's easy for you to say! You were already tossed over a cliff, by Gisbourne! How you survived that fall is...well, it's just a miracle!"

"Like Tuck said, God spared me. In fact, I think we ought to ask Him to spare each of us now."

Allan grew uncomfortable, but the rest bowed their heads and joined Robin in saying their silent prayers.

"Hold," Robin said, when they had finished. The silence enabled his acute hearing to pick up sounds no one else could hear. "Leave the robes," he ordered. "Someone needs our help. This way."

The count, unused to running, let alone through a forest, struggled to keep up. Nevertheless, it was more exciting than any card or dice game he had ever played. Gasping to catch his breath, he reached the outlaw gang, down on their bellies, looking over a ridge.

"It's Odo," he whispered to them, recognizing one of Baron Kuenringer of Aggstein's vicious sons. "Oh no! We mustn't look! He is going to rape that poor woman!"

"Not today," Robin said, rising to his feet and placing four arrows on his bow.

The count watched in amazement as two arrows pinned Odo down by his robes. The other two arrows freed both the woman and a man, cutting through the bonds that held them.

"You did not kill him?" the count asked. "It would have been merciful, to everyone except for him."

Robin did not stop to explain, but Will told the count, "We do not kill, unless it is absolutely necessary."

"I know," Allan said to the count. "One of Robin's ideas. Just go with it."

They followed their leader who swaggered down the ridge, as the rescued couple thanked the handsome archer for saving them.

Odo was shouting out a vicious stream of German curses. "Tell them we're Robin Hood," Robin told the count. "John, hold this vermin while Allan ties him up. Search him, Will, for any hidden weapons."

"I rather like this, being Robin Hood," the count told Robin, who stood watching with Much by his side. Much, he noticed, when standing beside Robin, imitated his stance. No wonder. He would like to be the man himself! "That's one less villain in the castle," the count mentioned. "If those ropes hold."

"They won't hold forever," Robin told him. "Let's hope they hold long enough for us to get into the castle and out again."

"With the king!" Much added.

Will completed his search. He'd found a knife, as well as a heavy purse hidden beneath Odo's robes.

"Good work, Will," Robin said, handing Count Friederick the knife. "Money for the king's ransom, if we need it. If not, it'll go to feed the poor."

"Yeah," Allan told the count again. "Another idea of his. You oughtta hear him spout off that 'For every man there is a purpose' drivel."

"It isn't drivel," Much objected. "It's what we live by."

"Yeah, well, you're gonna be a lord. What am I gonna be?"

"Not this again," Will complained.

"You're gonna be a father! You got Djaq to keep you happy. What do I have, oi?"

"You have your good name, Allan," Robin reminded him. "That's worth more than money."

Allan's bitter look made Robin pull him aside. "What's wrong, Allan?" he asked. "What's really bothering you?"

"What do you think? It's the king. We risk everything, for what? He tied us up in the desert, and left us for dead. What do I owe him? Nothing."

Robin mastered his temper. "You would rather let Prince John continue destroying England?"

"The way I see it, it dunn't make much difference who's in charge. At least with PJ, I gotta job. I'm 'Robin Hood,' remember?"

Robin thought a moment, then asked, "What do you want, Allan? If you could be or do anything, what would you choose?"

"That's easy. I wanna be a lord, like you. And like Much is gonna be."

"Then rescue your king."

"You think he's gonna reward me with a lordship? You're dreamin', Robin."

"It's good to dream," he told his friend, emotional at the memory of Sir Edward's last words. "You don't have to do this, Allan. You can wait in the coach, or turn around and head back to Tegernsee. But I don't think you will. You didn't come all this way to back out now. That's not the Allan a Dale I know. The Allan who disguised himself as the Night Watchman and risked his neck to save Marian."

"She told you about that?"

"She did."

"Yeah, well, I wish it was her we were saving. Not really. But I wish I could believe in the king, like you do."

"Trust me, Allan. Are you with me?"

"Yeah. Of course I am. I just hope you're right about him."

They returned to join the others. Odo, bound, blindfolded, and gaged, struggled violently against the ropes that tied him to a tree.

"Are you ready?" Robin asked his men.

"Robin," Will said, looking at Odo, "if he breaks free before we're gone, he'll blow our cover."

Robin didn't tell Will he already had a plan for that. "John?" he invited.

Little John took pleasure knocking Odo unconscious. "For every lassie you harmed," he said.

"Better to kill him, I think," Count Friederick mentioned, before being outdistanced by the outlaws as they raced toward the coach.

He couldn't know how right he was.