Returning from outside the Palace of Westminster to his small, dingy home in a back London side street, Vasey couldn't help thinking that now at last his chance to seize power had arrived.

Born into an impoverished family of swindlers, Vasey used his brilliant yet devious mind, as well as his sister's unique talents, to accumulate a small fortune. Together with his sister, Vasey joined an undistinguished troupe of strolling carnival players, performing to and cheating merchant and peasant alike at town and village fairs. A natural born showman, Vasey soon took control of the troupe, acting as manager and Master of Ceremonies, keeping all the profits for himself. Vasey's sister Davinia, six feet tall and the only woman he ever considered beautiful, might have been a legitimate actress if women were allowed to perform in plays alongside men. With her wigs and her false noses made from the sap of trees, together with her ability to mimic voices, Davinia could disguise herself as anyone, from lowly peasant to lofty queen.

But she truly began earning her brother money when she appeared as herself, dressed in a most unusual costume. Appearing on a wooden platform erected as a stage, she would strike a pose and stand perfectly still while her garments began to writhe. Her costume took on a life of its own, slithering all over her body, until grown men nearly fainted from fear when they realized she was covered in snakes. None of her "babies," as she called them, were venomous, though she longed to acquire poisonous serpents to keep as pets. Vasey, meanwhile, moved throughout the crowd of spectators, picking their pockets with his nimble fingers while their attentions were riveted to his sister, after having swindled the crowd with his rigged carnival games.

He and his sister had eventually parted ways, not from any dispute between them, but because the Sheriff of Nottingham, Lord Knighton, had caught Vasey cheating while playing Nottingham, and had driven the carnival from his town then sent warnings to other places, so that it was safer to be apart than together. Vasey had no idea what had happened to his sister, but he was confident she would do well, just as he expected to not merely survive but to thrive, and push his way to the top rank of society.

"Wake up, Gisbourne," Vasey ordered now, entering his hovel and kicking the handsome young disinherited noble whom he had somehow convinced to join him, promising to remake his fortune and secure back his lands stolen by the Crown from his drunken, brutal father. "I have a job for you."

"What is it?" Gisbourne snarled.

Guy of Gisbourne knew nothing of Vasey's history, only that he was brilliant, ambitious, and ruthless.

"Manners, Gisbourne, manners. Where's your breeding, hmm? Is that the way you greet the man who's about to make you rich and powerful? A smile would be nice. A clue...no. You don't look attractive when you smile, Guy, did you know that, hmm?"

"What job?" Gisbourne shouted.

"Temper, Gisbourne, temper. A simple job, really. I need you to, shall we say, handle a few guards, so I can break into Prince John's chambers and have a little chat with him."

Guy of Gisbourne wanted nothing so much as to kill a few guards tonight. He was sick of being poor, a nobody, cast out of the nobility, especially now that he had watched nobles from all over the country converge on London on their horses or in their coaches, to celebrate the new king's coronation. Sneering, as close as he ever came to a smile, he drew forth his dagger and then unsheathed his sword.

"Very good, Gisbourne!" Vasey exclaimed. "Follow me. I'm getting rather good at sneaking into castles."

Without very much trouble but with much blood shed, Vasey and Guy found themselves alone with Prince John in his bedchamber. "What do you want?" the prince demanded fearfully, not screaming for help because Gisbourne's sword was at his throat. "You dare assault a prince of the realm?"

"Forgive my man's brutality, Sire," Vasey said smoothly. "He comes by it naturally. Does the name 'Gisbourne' mean anything to you, hmm, Your Highness?"

"Gisbourne...yes," Prince John answered, speaking rapidly in a high pitch. "You're the son, aren't you, from York? We thought you'd fled to France."

"He had, years ago," Vasey admitted. "Now, he works for me."

"And who, pray tell, are you?" Prince John asked.

A slow smile crept across Vasey's face. "I am the man with the plan."

"What plan, I demand to know?"

"The plan to give you, Sire, your rightful place," Vasey answered. "The plan to put you, Prince John, on England's throne."

Vasey signaled for Gisbourne to sheath his sword.

"The throne!" Prince John whined. "It should have been mine! My father, rotting in his grave now, dinner for worms, wanted me to be king! Did you know that? Not Richard, not Geoffrey, but me!"

"Yes, and life is usually so much fairer. But that, Sire, is where Gisbourne and I come in! We, and we alone, can place you, the rightful King of England, on the throne."

"But how?" Prince John asked. "Richard is to be crowned tomorrow!"

"Not if the rising rabble riots! And...there is a celebration joust tomorrow, hmm?" Vasey asked. "Give Gisbourne and myself access, and I promise you, Your Highness, you will be on your way to being crowned king."

...

At the ball that evening within the Palace of Westminster, Robin of Locksley was dancing with Princess Joan, now the Queen of Sicily. Robin was somewhat enjoying himself, not realizing Johanna's intense passion toward him.

"I knew you'd be a superb dancer," Johanna told him. "Anyone could guess it, by watching the way you walk. Or especially watching you at swordplay. Not at all like Leicester, who simply clumps around the dance floor."

"Have the two of you quarreled?" Robin asked, his tone courteous.

"You ask that because you know my former feelings for him. But no. I am King William of Sicily's wife now, and have no interest anymore in English earls. Except, of course, for one."

Robin still assumed she meant Leicester. "It must have been hard marrying a man you did not love," he said.

"I was wretched! But there are compensations. Sicily is a warm, sunny, beautiful country. As Queen, I have such authority, and since my husband is nearly always ill, he rarely bothers me. If only you could visit me there! Oh, Robin, how happy I would be!"

"An invitation I will be pleased to honor, as soon as I'm married myself."

"Married? Still betrothed to the Sheriff of Nottingham's daughter? You could do better, Robin, far better. Did you know my brother Richard promised me I may choose my next husband, once I become a widow?"

It seemed to Robin she was being callous. Even if she looked forward to marrying where her heart lay, and he believed that meant the Earl of Leicester, it seemed wrong to dismiss her current husband, wishing him already dead.

"You've never met Marian, or you wouldn't say that. Excuse me," Robin said, when the music ended. Gallantly, he bowed and left the hall, wanting to fulfill a promise he had made to Marian years before, that he would wish her goodnight on the moon whenever they were far apart.

It was foolish, he knew, but he enjoyed doing it, having come up with the idea years ago. Knowing that Marian would be looking at the same moon at the exact same time, seemed to lessen the miles separating them.

"Goodnight, my love," he breathed, looking up at the moon in the sky.

Guy of Gisbourne and Vasey, sneaking through the shadows after leaving Prince John's chambers, stopped for a moment to look at the young noble standing alone in the moonlight. "Oooh!" Vasey said, admiring what he saw. "He's even prettier than you, Gisbourne! Who is he?"

"Nobody," Guy snarled, jealously.

"Very good, Gisbourne! You're learning! But I think he is somebody, and I intend to find out who! And who will you be, at tomorrow's joust?"

"The Black Knight."

"The Black Knight," Vasey repeated. "Oh, this is good! This is good! Not an actual knight yet, are you, Gisbourne, hmm, when you should have earned your spurs years ago! But tomorrow, if all goes according to my plan, you will be made a knight, and I will be on the pathway to power!"

"Power and position," Gisbourne agreed, wanting it so badly it hurt.

Another young man, of the same height as the lovely one gazing up at the moon, hurried frantically out of the palace, calling out, "Master! Oh, there you are! Robin, there are dead bodies in the palace! It's horrible!"

"Dead bodies?"

"Dead guards!"

"The king's in danger!" Robin dashed into the palace so fleet of foot, Vasey cooed with pleasure.

"Ooh! Very good! But it's time, Gisbourne, don't you agree, for us to disappear? Until tomorrow!"