N/A: Ok people! Chapter two, enjoy…

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Chapter two: Unpleasant ultimatum

'It is a pleasure to see you again, Milady.' The one with the goatee said. 'It has been far too long since your presence has graced our souls.'

Robin accepted these flattering words with a small smile, while inwardly she needed to keep herself from gagging. She waved his words away: 'You know how time-consuming it is, Milord, to take care of an estate. I simply did not have the time to pay you a visit. But now I welcome you, George, Sheriff of Nottingham, and you, Lord Guy of Gisbourne. I am honored to welcome you to my home.' With these words she curtseyed lightly, and invited them inside.

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When they entered the hall, Sarah stood waiting to take over the men's cloaks. They barely looked at her and almost tossed her the garments. Robin frowned to herself at this, and registered it.

A few minutes later, they made themselves comfortable in the living room, where a cozy fire was bringing warmth. Shortly after Sarah came offering a drink, they were ready to discuss.

'It seems you are still living rather comfortably,' the Sheriff began, stroking his goatee, 'You are doing a good job at keeping this a healthy household.'

Robin bowed her head at this compliment, though wondering what he wanted to say by this remark. 'I do my best. Someone has to take care of my people. If I don't, who will?'

It looked like George ignored those last words, for he replied: 'But not good enough. I am sorry to inform you that you are in debt with the Crown. Not even to mention the church. You haven't paid your taxes for the last three months. As the Sheriff of Prince John I am here to urge you to pay, by any means necessary. Even though I am aware that you don't have the possibility to settle this…situation. But as George of Nottingham, I have a proposition for you, that could solve a your problems. Do you wish for me to explain it?' He looked at her persuasively.

Guy hadn't said anything yet, and now Robin looked at him for help. She'd expected a lot from George, but not this! Her situation was now far worse than she could ever have suspected. Looking at Guy didn't help her, for all he did was keeping his eyes cast downwards, as to avoid her gaze. Robin was speechless, had no idea how to get out of this. Finally she said, her voice hoarse: 'Please explain to me what you mean.' She wanted to ask, say and yell a lot more than that, but her voice simply refused.

'I knew you would see it my way!' The Sheriff exclaimed with a bright smile on his face, but he became serious again immediately afterwards. 'What I propose to you is a one-time opportunity. An opportunity to get rid of your problems once and for all.'

He moved closer to Robin and grasped her hand, as to make sure he had her complete attention. He continued: 'The way I see it, you have two choices. The first is to face your debts, and to try to pay them. You will most likely not succeed, and thus will be taken to jail. This is the least desirable choice, if you ask me. The second choice is marrying me and by doing so giving me the entire Locksley-estate. I will pay all your debts, but from then on all that is yours will be mine. What do you say? Personally, I highly prefer the latter.'

The Sheriff looked at Robin as convincing as he possibly could, determined to finally obtain her lands. She had kept them from him long enough! Not to mention the nice bonus of being able to finally make her his. He'd been wanting to know what she felt like ever since her damned brother had left. He would not let her slip away again.

Robin was thinking top speed for a solution. There had to be a way to get out of this! In an impulse she stood up, but it seemed the two men had been expecting this, as they too rose from their seats. Almost in panic, Robin looked from the one to the other, still frantically searching for a way out.

'Well gentlemen,' she finally managed to say, 'You have caught me by surprise, with this… intriguing proposal. I feel I need some time to think about it. If you will please follow me, I will show you out.' Inwardly she hoped, no prayed they would agree, but the Lord wasn't very merciful that day.

George smiled, but it didn't stretch to his eyes. 'I'm sorry, but that will not do. I understand that you need some time to think, but this won't take more than a night. I'm sure you have some spare rooms… since you're here all alone.' He looked at her threateningly, and Robin felt all hope leaving her. But she didn't give up yet, and managed to feign a smile.

'Of course! I will ask my servant to prepare two rooms for you. But if you will excuse me from escorting you there, I feel a severe headache coming up. I think I shall retire. But not to worry, make yourselves at home and just ring for Sarah if you are hungry.' Having said this she curtseyed stiffly and quickly left the room, in search for Sarah.

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Robin didn't have to look very far before stumbling on her. She looked at Sarah with so much relief, that Sarah immediately started worrying. She wanted to say something, but Robin hushed her.

'Don't say anything, but listen well. I want you to pretend nothing has happened and prepare two rooms for the Lords. When they ring for you, you are to serve them dinner.' Now Robin kept her voice down even more. 'Tonight I'm going to leave. Those men want me to do something I don't want to, and I see no other solution. Nothing will happen to you, nor to the others. They will not harm you, because it's me they're after.'

Now Sarah managed to get a word in, looking more panicked by the moment. 'I'm sure we'll be fine, but where will you go? There are no nobles left who will keep you hidden for the Sheriff. And you don't know many commoners…'

Robin smiled sadly at her. 'I haven't figured that out yet, but even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. They will surely question you all. It's for the best that you know nothing.' She squeezed Sarah's arm reassuringly. 'Just go about your things as usual and don't worry about me. I'll send word to you as soon as I can. Don't forget what I told you earlier.' With that, she pulled Sarah into a final hug, and then left the poor confused servant standing there.

'I won't, Milady, I won't.' Sarah whispered to her mistress' retreating back.

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Once in her room, Robin fell down on her bed. She had to straighten her thoughts before being able to do something. It didn't take very long for her to settle down; she had work to do. First of all she needed to get rid of this dress and find something more comfortable to wear. She sighed deeply, and got up to change. She went to her closet and took some dark brown trousers, a green shirt, a jacket, a pair of old boots and a cloak out of it. She then carefully took off her dress and accessories and changed quickly into her just picked outfit after tying her bosom to her chest with a construction of cloth and leather belts she had devised when she was 13 and her growing breasts had started to get in the way of her movements. Now she also hoped it would make it easier to hide the fact that she was a woman.

She finally gave herself a once over in the mirror, and saw that all her efforts would be in vain, if she did not cut her hair to considerable length. She bit her lip; she had always been so proud of it, and it had taken so long for it to grow. But it had to be done. She went to her drawer and got a pair of scissors. She sighed again, and heard the snapping of the scissors.

When she was done, her hair came a little over her shoulders and she was standing in a pool of dark red hair. She bit her lip again at the sight of her reflection, but she could clearly see the improvement. Now all she had to do was make sure she got to the stables without being seen.

Robin looked out of her window, which faced the courtyard. The courtyard was square-formed. Where she was were the bedrooms, of nobility and servants alike. To her right there were the gates; the exit of the mansion. To her left were the living quarters, with the dining room and, below the ground, the kitchens. Across from her were the stables with the horses and the barn, where some of the winter stocks were already gathered, as it was half October. The only person sleeping there was Duncan, as it was his duty to keep the horses safe.

But it was not him Robin worried about. The lights of the dining room were already lit, because it was almost half past five in the afternoon. The windows were very big, so the lights shone all over the courtyard, not making it easy to sneak one's way over to the opposite side, having to go right through the lights, or having to crouch below the windowsills.

Robin was quite tired and hadn't figured out where she was heading yet, so she decided to get a good night's sleep and leave in the early morning. Hopefully the two men would have feasted on her precious food and wine and wouldn't be very alert, so she hoped to be able to get away in secret. She also needed to get some money, which was also easier without anyone watching.

Having decided this she packed a small bag with clean clothes and went to bed, setting her inner clock to wake her at four in the morning. It had never failed her before, and she prayed to God it would not fail her now.

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N/A: So what do you think? Am I going too slow? Next chapter should have more action in it, this was more an explanatory chapter. Please leave me a review to tell me what you think!

I just found out that the Sheriff's name is George instead of Francis. I've altered it in the chapter, so don't be surprised if you read the chapter before.