The two men had no choice but to approach the castle ahead of them quite openly, which was obviously not easy especially for the dark-haired one. For years, he had led a kind of life in which such an approach would very likely have resulted in his death. But now he had to get slowly used to put this part of his life behind him. For sure, it had come to an end with his death, which was not altered by the fact that he had not really died.

His companion, on the other hand, should not have had a problem approaching a castle so openly; after all, he had struggled to uphold the law for many years and thus had no reason to hide. But the recent events had caused him to become quite wary in this respect, and he was now actually slightly uncomfortable with the idea that he could be seen and perhaps even recognized from afar. All at once he had to grin as he asked himself whether his companion might have always felt this way in the past as soon as he moved out of the cover of the forest.

"When I was Robin of Sherwood, I would never have so openly come to this place," the other one let himself be heard all at once. "It seems rather odd to be able to forgo it."

"Don't get too used to it," the fair-haired one admonished him. "We can't rule out the possibility that in the future we might find ourselves in situations where we can't show ourselves openly. When I start thinking about who might be seeing us at this moment, I honestly don't feel very comfortable. In fact, I'd rather it not be widely known yet that I've gone to Huntingdon."

"Welcome to my world, Guy," Robin told him with a wry grin, only to become serious again right after. "You're right. In fact, it wouldn't be a bad idea to proceed more cautiously. Although I don't believe that the Sheriff will get the idea that you're on your way over here. In any case, he won't give me a second thought."

At this point, his companion could not suppress a laugh either. "I'm just imagining de Rainault's face when he runs into you, Robin."

The other one however did not seem to consider it so funny. "Unlike you, I can be pretty sure I can see his reaction." Then he appeared to reflect on his words once more. "At least, I hope to be able to." He grimaced. "I'd rather he didn't get a chance to recognize me, though. So, you should stop calling me Robin as soon as possible. At least for a while."

"I don't know if I'll be able to do that, since I just stopped calling you Loxley, Rob of Nottingham." The knight was grinning at his friend.

"Rob of Nottingham? Why not, that doesn't sound so far-fetched. And I'm sure I'll respond if you call me Rob. But will you be remembering that, too?"

"You don't have any confidence in me, do you?" Gisburne tried to give the impression that he was offended, but he was not very successful in doing so, for he had to grin once again.

As the two men drew ever closer to the castle, Robin watched his companion inconspicuously from the side. Once again, he could not overlook how quickly his companion had changed. In his presence, at least, he behaved differently now. In the past, Robin would never have imagined that the other one was capable of joking? This was not something he had associated with Gisburne. But then it occurred to the former outlaw that he really should not be surprised, for he could not expect to know everything about the knight. After all, he was not even sure he knew himself.

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"I am Sir Guy of Gisburne and wish to speak with the Earl of Huntingdon," the knight informed the servant who received the two men after stable hands had taken the horses from them. Gisburne had made it perfectly clear to them, in the arrogant manner expected of someone like him, that they were not to touch the stuff on the packhorse under any circumstances if they did not want to get into trouble with him.

The servant bowed to show that he had caught the knight's words, and then motioned for Gisburne to follow him as he preceded the two men to the Great Hall. Even before they had arrived at the castle, Robin and Guy had agreed that the former outlaw should stay by the knight's side no matter what, even if there were attempts to separate the would-be servant from the knight at the castle. The two did not want to part for their own security.

It did not take them too long to reach the hall, where they were then met by Philip Camville, the constable of the castle. "Sir Guy," he greeted the knight, "what an unexpected sight." His tone could not be called particularly friendly or respectful. "Do you come to the Earl in the Sheriff's business?" he then wanted to know from him.

Gisburne just managed to avoid frowning, for the constable's words struck him as odd. It occurred to the knight that the other had already been aware that de Rainault had dismissed him from his service, so he wondered if this could actually be the case. Of course, it was possible that a messenger from Nottingham had reached the castle ahead of them, but for that to happen, he would have had to have been sent here on purpose. But what reason should the Sheriff have for informing the Earl of his steward's dismissal? The knight, at least, could think of none. De Rainault had always endeavored to keep his distance from Huntingdon.

"No, my Lord," he replied. "Today I do not come from the Sheriff."

"Then I think it best if you convey your message to me. I will then pass it on to the Earl as soon as he has time to receive it, Sir Guy." Camville, however, did not give the knight the impression that he intended to notify David of Huntingdon any time soon that Gisburne had arrived. But the latter had already reckoned from the constable's first words that it would not be as easy to be admitted to the Earl as he had imagined beforehand.

"I prefer to wait, my Lord," he told the constable with much more self-assurance than he actually felt. But he was aware he could not allow himself to fall out of character at this moment. He only hoped Camville would not make it too hard for him.

But then, just at that very moment, the door to the hall swung open and the Earl of Huntingdon stepped in. As soon as he caught sight of Gisburne and his companion, he stopped as abruptly as if he had actually been surprised by their presence.

"Sir Guy!" he exclaimed, actually managing to appear somewhat indignant. "What does de Rainault want from me?"

"Sir Guy does not come from the Sheriff, My Lord," Camville interfered immediately. "But you need not trouble yourselves with him; I will take care of that."

Huntingdon gave a generous wink. "Since I' m already here, Camville, I might as well take care of the matter myself, whatever it might be."

Thereupon he turned once again to the knight. "If you do not come from the Sheriff, Sir Guy, what do you want from me?"

Gisburne wished they had discussed in advance what pretext he should use to come to Huntingdon, for he was not particularly skilled at this kind of deception, even though he had been watching the Sheriff do it for years.

"My Lord Earl," he began a bit unsure, "I am here this day to ask you if I can join your service."

The Earl raised an eyebrow, but before he could offer anything in response to the knight's words, Camville snorted contemptuously. "The Sheriff has dismissed him from his service, my Lord. He was forced to leave Nottingham."

Huntingdon turned once more to his constable. "Then I suppose it is indeed best that I take care of this matter myself, Camville. Be thanked."

For an instant, the other man gave the impression that he wanted to add something, but then he bowed curtly to the Earl - ignoring Gisburne completely - and left the hall. Huntingdon gazed after him with a thoughtful expression.

Finally, he turned his attention back to Gisburne. "Accompany me to my chambers, Sir Guy!" He cast a questioning glance at Robin.

"This man has my full confidence, my Lord Earl. I would prefer that he accompany me," the knight elaborated, which was obviously sufficient for the elder to give him permission with a nod of his head.

The three men walked through the castle without exchanging another word with each other. Each of them obviously feared that a possible conversation might be overheard by someone, which they wanted to avoid at all costs. In any case, they knew that they would have to wait until they reached the Earl's solar before they could resume the conversation. Only there could they be certain that they would not be disturbed or spied on.

The soldiers posted by the Earl at the entry to his chambers were experienced enough not to question their master's order not to be disturbed. They were also loyal enough to carry it out no matter what. Therefore, when they closed the door behind the three men, these could be sure that they were finally in private.

"My Lord," Gisburne commenced as soon as the Earl had invited him by a nod to speak, for he did not wish to waste any more time. "Has perhaps a messenger come from Nottingham with the word of my dismissal?" Camville's comments - and his experience in the Sheriff's service - had made him wary.

But the Earl shook his head. "I assumed he had learned this from you."

The knight wore an unhappy expression. "This is not something I would tell so lightly, my Lord. Nevertheless, your constable already had knowledge that I am no longer in the service of the Sheriff." He did not like this revelation at all.

"Perhaps Camville just hasn't gotten around to telling me yet that a message has reached us. The messenger could have arrived only this morning," the Earl tried to find an explanation, for the constable had been in his service for many years and so far he had never had any reason to distrust him.

Gisburne, however, was not satisfied with this answer, and when he glanced briefly over at Robin, he realized at once that he, too, seemed concerned. "What reason would the Sheriff have to inform you that he had kicked out his steward, my Lord?"

"Indeed, I can think of no reason for this, but would it not be possible that the messenger delivered other tidings and your dismissal was mentioned only in passing." The Earl apparently still did not want to believe that Camville had kept something from him.

"Shouldn't he have told you about the messenger's arrival all the more then?"

Huntingdon could only nod at this point. Admitting to himself that the knight was probably right did not sit well with him, and he could no longer prevent himself from feeling angered by Camville's behavior. But then he managed to calm down once again and he shrugged his shoulders. "This mystery could only be solved if I asked Camville where he got his information. But I have no intention of doing that at this time. If he is indeed hiding something from me, then by asking, I would alert him that something has come to my attention." He glanced directly at the knight. "This would be your first task in my service then, Sir Guy. Keep an eye on Camville. The manner in which he has received you, no one will be surprised if you are not particularly favorable to him. So, it will be of no consequence if you ask questions about him." He paused, but then something else seemed to occur to him. "Besides, it's better if everyone assumes you're just another knight in my service until I've made it public that you're my son. Obviously, after all, we can't completely rule out the possibility that the Sheriff, and then fitz Edgar, will find out in no time that you've gotten here."

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Robin approached Newark with a sinking feeling in his stomach. However, this was mainly due to the fact that all this reminded him too much of the disastrous encounter with Richard the Lionheart in Nottingham, in which he had only barely escaped with his life and had almost lost Marion. He shuddered.

"What is it?" the horseman, who was right next to him, demanded to know.

"I just remembered the encounter with King Richard," the former outlaw explained to him.

Now the knight shuddered, too, for back then he had almost lost his life as well. To him, it still amounted to a miracle that he had been able to recover from the injuries he had suffered at the time. However, the scars reminded him to this day that the Sheriff had intended to make him the King's executioner on that occasion. If he was honest, however, he had to admit that he had not resisted doing what he was ordered to do. This was something that he could not understand nowadays. But he should not forget that he had no choice in this matter after de Rainault had brought his name into play. But that did not necessarily make him feel any better about it.

"Then let's hope this encounter turns out better, Rob," he expressed the hope of not having to fight for his life this time.

"Do you expect the Sheriff to be here, too?" Robin wanted to know all of a sudden. He was not afraid that the King would recognize him as Robin Hood, but it was a different story with de Rainault, whom he had met a few times, the last one four years ago. However, the Sheriff had not come very close to him on that occasion.

The former outlaw had taken a few precautions in case they should meet again. During the weeks they had been waiting to travel with the Earl to the King's court, he had grown a beard. Gisburne was not overly enthusiastic about this, although he could very well understand the reason behind this decision. In addition, Robin had also trimmed his hair, which had fallen down to his back when he was Robin Hood, pissing off the Sheriff. Now it only reached the nape of his neck, which was another thing the knight did not like. He was not sure if he could get used to the fact that his lover now had such short hair, but even in this case he had not opposed his decision, for he could certainly understand the other man. Besides, of course, Gisburne preferred Robin not to be recognized. He was quite sure that the Sheriff remembered the other man as he had looked at that time.

The two men simply hoped that de Rainault - should he also be in Newark - could not possibly imagine that someone might return from the dead, even if he had been wrong once before in another case. But de Belleme had not been mentioned by the Sheriff after that one encounter, and the Baron had disappeared from the country thereafter. Hood had never shown up to the Sheriff, though, and so Gisburne assumed that de Rainault had never given any thought to the possibility that the outlaw might still be alive. Still, there remained a certain risk.

"Nottingham is so close that we may well expect his presence," Gisburne therefore informed his companion. The two men were a part of the retinue that accompanied the Earl. They were careful not to cause a stir, for no one should get the idea that a certain knight could be the reason why David of Huntingdon had requested an audience with his sovereign. However, they were only partially successful, which was simply due to the fact that Gisburne had gained a certain notoriety as a result of his unsuccessful struggle against Robin Hood. A fame he would gladly do without.

Robin sighed, although he was of course aware that none of them had any influence on who attended the King's court. He could only hope and pray to Herne that everything went well. He was especially concerned about Guy, as he would be much more in the public eye once the Earl had announced his decision to appoint him as his heir.

"It's too late to question our decision now anyway," Gisburne interrupted the former outlaw's train of thought.

"Our decision?" Robin snorted in amusement. "And then, if everything turns out all right, it was your decision, wasn't it?"

Gisburne had to stifle a laugh, but only because this did not fit the picture that the rest of the Earl's attendants had formed of him. Humor, unfortunately, was not part of it.

"Don't make me laugh!" he therefore begged Robin in a low voice, only to add, "We'll be right there, too."

"Thank you very much for pointing that out, my Lord. I certainly would not have noticed that on my own." Apparently Robin had no intention of fulfilling Gisburne's plea.

Due to the fact that the retinue had reached the castle gate at that very moment, the knight did not pay any further attention to his companion. But Robin had already reacted to their arrival and fallen back a little way behind Gisburne. He certainly did not want to give the impression that the knight and he might have a special relationship. One that went beyond what was considered to be ordinary between a soldier and his superior. At the moment, however, this only was true for the general public in Newark, for they had already let it be known to the Earl that Robin - or rather Rob - would be exclusively responsible for Gisburne's protection. They were of course aware that they could not always keep this hidden from the rest of the people, but for the time being they preferred that no one would find out about it. The Earl had agreed to this course of action.

In the meantime, the entire entourage had already dismounted from their horses in the bailey. While the stable hands were already taking care of the beasts, the Earl's soldiers were instructed to go to the castle garrison and find a place for themselves. Obviously, the King did not want armed men to be in the castle who were not in his service. Huntingdon, however, had expected this in advance and therefore had already agreed with Gisburne that he and his man Rob would be the only ones to stay with him, apart from the servants, of course. From the very beginning, the Earl had not intended to keep the rest of the soldiers and knights close to him, for he did in no case want to attract the King's attention - and thus perhaps his ire - unduly. Especially not, since the audience he had requested was very important to him. He knew from the outset that the entire affair could be fraught with great difficulties, but also that it would most likely be very expensive. He had come to terms with that already. After all, he certainly knew his King.

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Needless to say, they had already anticipated the possibility that the King would keep the Earl waiting before he took the time to receive him. However, at first it even seemed as if William Brewer - -the sovereign's steward- -wanted to prevent Huntingdon from being allowed to see the King at all. But finally, it appeared to dawn on this man that he could not keep a noble of the Earl's rank - who had only recently proven his loyalty - away from his liege lord for long. Probably Brewer had not intended to actually deny Huntingdon access, either; he had only wanted to make it obvious to him - and to anyone else who came to know about it - that the King could only be approached through his person. Therefore, the steward had only managed to keep the Earl waiting for two days. Perhaps Huntingdon would have been allowed to come forward even sooner if he had accepted to bribe Brewer, but the Earl did not want to stoop to such a thing in any case. He was already aware that he had to pay money to the King, but it was not his habit to spend more than absolutely necessary. Therefore, there had never been a possibility that he would give in to Brewer in this regard. He preferred to wait, and that was what he had to do.

But the Earl had not only to be patient, he also had no choice but to be available day and night. Although he could assume with a fair degree of certainty that John would be busy with other activities during the nights and would therefore not get the idea of granting an audience during this time, this could not be completely ruled out in the case of a fickle ruler like this one. The Earl and his companions could therefore not rely on not being summoned in the middle of the night after all. Even a man of David of Huntingdon's age was not immune to such occurrences, and this wore on his nerves, since he was also aware that he should not keep his sovereign waiting too long when he was ready to receive him.

Fortunately, it was then evening - and not night - when they were finally allowed before the King. When the summons reached him, the Earl of Huntingdon, with Gisburne in tow, made his way to his liege lord, the elder unable to prevent the knight in turn from taking with him the man who had not left his side since the two had arrived together at Huntingdon. The Earl had not yet made up his mind what to make of this arrangement, especially after learning that the two men also shared a chamber. But in fact, he should not be surprised if a personal bodyguard wanted to stay as close as possible to his ward. Although the Earl was aware of this, the entire affair still seemed a bit odd to him, for the two men were very familiar with each other. However, the Earl probably just could not accept this so readily as the knight had never before struck him as someone who would let another person get so close to him. And, on top of that, someone Huntingdon had never seen anywhere around Gisburne. Even though the Earl was of course aware that he did not know that much about the life of his oldest son, he still wondered where the other man could have come from, but in the end he had to be content with Guy being protected, for his questions had not yet been answered.

It was no surprise that the three men had to hand over their weapons before they were allowed into the King's chambers. Everyone knew that John was not very popular with the common people, nor with the nobles, and he had to be very cautious, for there had already been several attempts on his life. The Earl and his two companions were not allowed to cross the threshold until the King's bodyguard had made sure that they were no longer armed. The door behind them had not yet been closed fully when they had already gone down on one knee and bowed their heads before the King, who then made them wait before he deigned to pay attention to them. In doing so, however, he focused only on the Earl for the time being and continued to ignore the other two men.

"Huntingdon, step closer!" he allowed the elder to rise. "What is so urgent that you should come to me at Newark?"

"My Liege," the Earl began, "for some years now there has been the problem of the succession to the title of Earl of Huntingdon ..."

He did not get to finish that sentence, for the King was unable to restrain himself at that very moment. "You actually mean since your son has been giving the outlaw in Sherwood!" He obviously found his words quite funny, for he laughed cackling.

The Earl, however, was well versed in dealing with his liege lord and was therefore not put off by this interruption. With due earnestness, he continued as soon as he had the impression that the King would listen to him once again. "I had naturally been hoping Robert would remember his duty as my heir in good time." He would do the devil to enlighten the King about the fact that on some days he could well understand why Robert stood up for these people, even if he was of the opinion that someone else could do that. But his son was no less stubborn than his mother, and in the meantime the Earl had given up trying to change his mind.

"But now I have reached the conclusion that I cannot wait any longer. It is my duty to you, my Liege, to have an heir at hand," he instead went on with his explanation.

"Where are you going to get an heir all of a sudden, Huntingdon?" the King demanded to know at this point, while he eyed him suspiciously from beady eyes. "Don't come to me with one of your Scottish nephews. This side of your family holds enough power as it is."

"Of course not, my Liege. I am not talking about one of my nephews. Instead, it is another son of mine whom I have not acknowledged until now. However, I will now make up for this. And this son can then become my heir."

"Another son?" Quite abruptly the King broke into laughter. "I wouldn't have pegged you for that, Huntingdon." But just as abruptly as he had begun, he stopped laughing as well, only to glance right afterwards at the two men kneeling close to the entrance door. One of them he could immediately dismiss as a soldier, but the other one looked somehow familiar. It then took only a moment for him to recognize who he was dealing with.

"You didn't bring your other son right away, did you?" the King exclaimed, not at all seeming to be thrilled.

"I did, my Liege," the Earl replied.

"That one, maybe?" John gestured toward the knight. "Gisburne? That's your son?"

The Earl nodded.

Now curiosity got the better of the King. "Since when have you known about this?"

"Actually, for quite some time already. Due to a letter from his mother that was in her inheritance. I knew it was true as everything fitted." It pained the Earl's heart to speak of Margaret in this manner, and in front of her son as well. He therefore hoped Guy would not believe his words were actually true. Perhaps he should have brought himself to tell him about the matter beforehand, but he was simply not used to talking things over with other people and, above all, he was not used to justifying himself. He knew that this was a habit that had also repeatedly brought him into conflict with Robert.

"And since when does this one knows?" The King posed this question with a certain spitefulness.

"He's only known this for a short time. The notion of telling him came to me only after Sir Guy called on Huntingdon a few weeks ago to enter my service." In his mind, the Earl begged his son's forgiveness.

"Was that after the Sheriff kicked you out for being drunk, Gisburne?" Now the spite in the King's voice could no longer be missed.

Before the knight had a chance to reply, the Earl spoke up again. "De Rainault was only seeking an excuse to be able to promote his new favorite to steward. Since Sir Guy has been in my service, I have detected no signs of drunkenness on his part. There is no way I would have missed it if the Sheriff had been right in his accusation."

King John could not hide his disappointment that he had not been able to bait either the Earl or the Knight. "His new favorite? Are you referring to that fitz Edgar?"

"That's the name I have heard, my Liege," the Earl confirmed.

"Just booted out after so many years of loyal service, Gisburne, huh?" John laughed again. "But I suppose I should get out of the habit of calling you that, Lord Guy, since you'll be fitz David from now on." He turned away from the knight and again to his father. "I could well be persuaded to recognize your elder son as your heir, Huntingdon," he then opened the negotiations.

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"Lord Guy fitz David? I'll have to get used to that," Robin stated musingly as he rested his head against Guy's shoulder. The two men were lying side by side on the bed, but that was not at all surprising, since it was the only bed in the chamber they shared. However, it could be assumed that their host probably did not expect Guy to let a soldier sleep in his bed.

Despite sharing the same bed, the two men were aware that they could not afford to romp in it, a fact they regretted immensely. But even before they had left Sherwood, they had realized that they would have to be very careful and would not get very many opportunities to make love. Of course, Guy had been told by Robin of his successor's offer, and the two of them had immediately realized that the forest would in all likelihood remain the only place where they could make love without fear of discovery and the resulting consequences.

"You're going to have to get used to this?" Guy snorted. "And what about me? I've been a Gisburne all my life, and I've accepted that name as mine, even though I learned pretty early on that it really isn't. Now I am actually having a hard time with the new name that I could have had from birth. But of course, I will try to understand why you struggle with this, Rob of Huntingdon." He dared to kiss the other man.

For a while the two simply lay side by side in complete silence, but then Robin raised himself up on one elbow to look down at Guy. "Was it worth it?" he wanted to know.

Guy knew immediately what the other one meant. "I don't know that right now, Robin. But I was aware well in advance that the King would try to make me look like a fool. He would have done that even if the Earl hadn't declared he wanted me to be his heir. But he has allowed himself to sell the right to do so in the future, since I am now more than a mere knight. Now it will be harder for him to insult me than it was before. Of course, that won't stop him completely. After all, he insults quite a few other men."

Robin thought about these words for a moment, but then he wondered about something else he had already been pondering. "How long do we actually have to stay here?"

"That depends on how much longer the King wants the Earl to be around." Guy did not give the impression that he considered that to be important. Or maybe he just believed he had no control over it, which he was certainly right about.

"Why does he want to keep him here anyway? He hasn't spoken to him since the first audience," the dark-haired man mused.

"He does not want to keep him here for that reason, though. All the King cares about is that we're still here when de Rainault arrives. That's when the fun really starts, isn't it?"

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"De Rainault, do join us," the King prompted the man who had just gone down on one knee in front of him. The ruler was seated with William Brewer and the Earl of Huntingdon at the table that stood on a dais at the end of the hall, which clearly set those seated there apart from those at the other tables that stood below them in the hall. Those placed there were people who were currently either not among the King's favorites - something that could change on a daily basis - or who were far too low in rank - something that was not going to change anytime soon. Even though there were exceptions to this.

"There is still room for you and your steward up here," the sovereign issued in a patronizing manner, pointing to the two vacant chairs next to Brewer. As the Sheriff complied with the request, he cast a cautious glance at the Earl of Huntingdon, who sat on the other side of the King, but probably also at the vacant seat next to the Earl. There was no question that he was pondering who might be sitting there.

Guy was staying with Robin in the shadows at the side of the hall and had been watching de Rainault's arrival from there. Honestly, he had to admit that he was not particularly eager to meet the Sheriff, but he was also aware that he could not avoid this encounter. Besides, he was also aware that he could not take too much time in taking the vacant seat next to the Earl right now if he did not want to incur the King's ire both on himself and Huntingdon. He sighed.

"Is it time?" his companion wanted to know, at which Guy nodded. The two men started to move, although Robin would not, of course, join them at the table. But he was now officially considered the personal bodyguard to the Earl's son, so he was allowed to be quite close to his friend. Guy would have preferred to get to his seat unobserved, but he did not seriously expect to be able to do so.

To Guy's chagrin, de Rainault was about to address Brewer - for which he had turned in Brewer's direction - at the very moment the knight sat down next to the Earl. Since the Sheriff was now facing the Earl as well, he could not miss this, of course. At the sight of his former steward at the King's table, he froze for a moment before managing to recover from the surprise - which was obviously unpleasant for him.

"Gisburne!" de Rainault hissed, drawing the attention of his new steward to the knight as well.

"Ah, de Rainault," the King let himself be heard, "you haven't actually learned about it, have you?" At these words he smirked with glee, thus indicating that he was looking forward to the spectacle that he assumed he would now be allowed to observe.

"It had been known to me for some time that Gisburne had entered the Earl's service, my Liege," replied the Sheriff, thus proving to the men who had come from Huntingdon to Newark that there was indeed a connection between Nottingham and the Earl's seat of which they were not aware, for the elder had informed no one that he had taken the knight into his service. Although he had assumed that there were certainly people in his castle who were spying for his enemies and rivals, he had nevertheless noticed that messages had been exchanged between Nottingham and Huntingdon with surprising swiftness, and for this reason he had had to ask himself whether this was not also the case vice versa. And whether the constable of Huntingdon was actually actively cooperating with the Sheriff or perhaps with this fitz Edgar.

"You are indeed at all times so well informed, de Rainault," the King retorted, before breaking into a laugh with which he irritated the Sheriff. "But in reality, you are not as well informed as you would like other people to believe." Now John sounded downright spiteful. "Apparently no one has informed you that your former steward now goes by the name of fitz David."

In fact, de Rainault seemed to be ignorant of this, as those present could easily tell from his reaction. For a moment, it was obvious that he did not want to believe the King's statement. Then he looked briefly at his new steward, who also seemed very surprised and could only shrug his shoulders. Apparently, he had nothing to say about it.

"Fitz David? But why fitz David?" Rarely had the Sheriff been caught so unprepared, which he absolutely did not like. Probably fitz Edgar would have to endure one of his infamous tirades now, were they not sitting at the King's table. Right then, Guy had to try hard not to let his delight be visible in the fact that the man who had pushed him out of his place with de Rainault was not doing any better than he was.

"But why fitz David?" the King mimicked the Sheriff, then started laughing once more. "By the tits of the Virgin, can't you guess, de Rainault?"

At his words, the Sheriff turned dark red, but in the presence of his sovereign, he did not dare to freak out. He had no choice but to pull himself together, so he just stared at the Earl, but also at his former steward, while his new steward who was seated next to him had turned pale. Apparently, he had also grasped what the King had meant.

"How ...", stuttered fitz Edgar, for that was all he could get out, but with that he made the King laugh all over again.

"What do you think, how, Idiot!", John mocked the young man.

Apparently, the Earl of Huntingdon was tired of having to listen to this, therefore he interfered in the conversation - without being invited to do so. It was possible, however, that he was of the opinion that it was up to him to say something about this, since it was a family matter.

"I finally got around to acknowledging my older son, de Rainault. And the King felt it would be well to have an heir for Huntingdon. My son, of course, has a right to bear the name fitz David."

"Your son? That one?" the Sheriff suddenly got worked up, then snorted contemptuously. "No wonder he couldn't catch that Robin Hood, he's his brother. Probably the two of them have been working together from the beginning."

"My Lord," Guy protested, not unlike when he used to work for the Sheriff. Old habits were hard to break, after all, but perhaps the consideration that it would not be a bad thing if de Rainault continued to underestimate him played a role in his retort. "You insult me. You seem to have forgotten who pointed out to you that Robert of Huntingdon is the new Robin Hood." This was a tale he still resented the Sheriff for.

"Oh, don't tell me, Gisburne," the Sheriff returned, forgetting for a moment that he was sitting at the King's table and not his own in Nottingham. "That was probably a set-up to pull wool over my eyes."

"As if you ever allowed yourself to be suckered in by me, my Lord," Guy defended himself.

"Enough, de Rainault!" the Earl intervened. "When Guy came to me at Huntingdon, he did not yet know that he was my son." This was not quite true, but the Sheriff could not - and was not allowed to - know that. "So, don't accuse him of working with an outlaw! I take that as an affront to myself, Sheriff. So, you should be careful." The Earl had apparently decided not to hold back, and so he showed his anger at de Rainault's words quite openly. However, he had not forgotten - as the other one had - that the King was sitting next to him. He had intervened only to protect his son from the suspicions of the sovereign, who would perceive any collaboration with Robin Hood as treason.

And before anyone else could say something in this matter, the older man was already going on. "I have heard a strange rumor in recent weeks, my Liege. I heard that there is a man who claims to be my nephew, a bastard of my late brother Edgar, and that this fitz Edgar would try to capitalize on this supposed relationship with me. I just wanted to warn you, my Liege, in case this man appears at court."

And then Huntingdon turned once more to the Sheriff. "It's probably just a coincidence that your new steward goes by the name of fitz Edgar, de Rainault, isn't it?"