If anyone's wondering Alex will appear soon, probably in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading and please do review.

'I can't do it'

'Henry, please I've never asked you for anything, no one will ever know it was you.'

'It won't exactly be hard to figure out Olivia when they see three empty barrels that were full the morning before. No! You know as well as anyone what they do to conspirators. I've got a family to think of.'

Olivia sighed and turned away in exasperation, bringing her hands to her head. They'd arrived back to the camp that night, exhausted and bringing with them the smell of smoke. Willard, Casey's father, had wanted nothing more to do with them, rightly blaming them for the destruction of his house and kidnapping of his daughter. Elliot's leg had been tightly bound and Amanda stitched the wound closed but he was still pale and it would be at least a week before the leg would bear his weight. Olivia was all for running straight to the castle, her anger and guilt at her friends capture weakening her sense of reason, but the others had cautioned her against it.

'We could never breach the castle, its walls are ten inches thick with armed guards at every door not to mention the moat.' Elliot yelled at her, trying to be heard over her burst of movement.

'Besides Casey's a Lady, they can't do anything to her, or the whole county would be in uproar.'

While his last words had been an attempt to comfort Olivia, they only served as a reminder of what could be happening to Casey as they spoke.

'You know as well as I do El that the Sheriff does what he wants, the county and King be dammed. If that dog of his wants her then he'll let him have her.' She was fighting tears as she spoke, still stuffing yet more arrows into her quiver. 'You want me to sit idly round while that happens. Just wait for them to rape her! Torture her!'

'They won't do that Liv...'

'But they could,' she screamed back, her breathing ragged. 'She's my friend El, I can't let anything happen to her.'

'No one's saying we should do nothing,' Finn interrupted seeing that Elliot was getting nowhere, 'but running straight off to the castle in the dead of night, when we're all still tired, won't help Casey. Wait till dawn Liv then I promise we'll come up with a plan and get her back.'

The room was cold and Casey hugged her arms around herself, still only in her nightgown. The only furniture was a single chair, the stone walls rough and uncovered and the slim window let in the only light. Her bare feet beat on the floorboards as she paced up and down, the room allowing five steps before she was forced to turn. She was scared of what was going to happen, scared of what had happened to her father and her home. The Black Cloak had carried her through the castle and threw her in the room without a word, not caring for her kicking legs and hands punching his back. Not an overly patient person the waiting was torture enough for Casey, although it couldn't have been more than few hours. The sun, though not visible, was staring to turn the sky blue and reds and oranges were streaked along the horizon. She finally gave up her pacing and sat in the hard backed chair, placing it with a view of both the door and the window. She shivered and almost hoped that whatever the Black Cloak had planned he would get on with fast, before the cold did away with her first.

'Henry,' Finn said, seeing that Olivia's exasperation and impatience were getting them nowhere, 'We know the risk we're asking you to take but please, you're the only one who can help.' The tavern owner's face didn't change so Finn changed tack. 'When you needed a loan to survive that tough winter,' he implored, 'Casey was the one who persuaded her father. When your youngest was sick Casey was round here every day tending to him, wouldn't leave his side. We're not asking you to risk this for us, but for her.'

Henry sighed and looked at the three desperate people stood before him. They'd arrived banging on his door before even the crow had a chance to wake and described their desperate plan to him. He didn't want to risk the Sheriff's anger but Finn was right, Casey was in trouble and he'd be dammed if he didn't help her escape.

The store room of the castle was located just above the dungeons, on the ground floor. Inside two barrels lay on their sides, their tops laid next to them. Olivia and Amanda worked quickly but silently over another barrel till they could lay the top on the stones and help lift Finn from inside.

'I don't care who we're coming to get, I'm never doing that again. I got cramp after five minutes!' Finn complained earning a stern look from Amanda though he'd whispered. It was late at night, none of them could say exactly when, and they'd been inside the barrels since midday. Henry was due to deliver an ale shipment and Finn had finally persuaded him to simply add three extra barrels to his order. They were driven into the castle with the guards barely batting an eye and rolled into the store room to wait till the coast was clear.

Olivia got to work standing the barrels back upright and reattaching the lids. She and Finn scattered them around the room amid all the multipurpose barrels and boxes in there so no one would know how they got in or who specifically had helped them. Amanda was busy picking the lock and though she soon felt the impatient breath of Olivia on the back of neck she didn't let it hurry her and it was some time before the door swung open. They decided before that Casey was probably being held in one of the cells in the west tower. Olivia had sent Amanda to the castle a few months before in the guise of a serving woman to get the lay of the land in case any of them had reason to be inside the walls.

Olivia took point while Finn the rear as they snuck through the corridors. Guards were patrolling but they'd all learnt to walk the forest floor without sound so the wood and stone of the castle made it especially easy to avoid the guards. They reached the tower and split to check each door, the metal bars in the door windows meaning that Amanda didn't need to pick every lock. Olivia felt her panic rise when the first door only showed an empty room and was ready to start frantically running when the second showed the same but a psst from Finn slowed her heart and she walked up the cold steps to stare into the room he indicated. Casey was curled in a ball in the corner, sleeping though her fluttering eye lids showed that her slumber wasn't deep. Amanda raced silently to them and the only noise was their breathing as she slowly picked the lock. If Olivia thought the store room door was slow it was nothing to how long she felt Amanda was taking although in comparison the blond was probably quicker in her haste to reach Casey.

Casey startled awake when she felt a sweaty palm on her shoulder but her alarm soon gave way to confusion when she saw it was Olivia. Before she could say a word however Olivia placed a finger to her blue lips and helped her stand. Though only imprisoned for a day and two nights the cell had not been kind to Casey. Allowed only one glass of water and no food her lips were chapped while her hair hung in tangles round her shoulders. Her feet and mouth were almost blue from cold, the stone walls of the cell allowing none of the summer's warmth to penetrate through. Used the comfort of a Lady's life her harsh treatment had left her feeling weak and childlike and it was all she could do not to cry on seeing three friendly faces.

She leant hard on Olivia as she lead her from the tower and out on to the castle walls. They had yet to see a guard and the ease of their rescue didn't sit well with Olivia but she didn't let herself ponder it choosing to focus instead on the most difficult part of their endeavour. Little did they know that a shadow had followed them down out of the tower, had been waiting in one of the rooms above for them to arrive.

The wind was whipping at their skin and it sent Casey into a new bout of shivers but if they were cold now it was nothing to how cold they were about to become. Finn looped the rope he held over his shoulders and tied it tight to the battlement. He let the other end hang long over the side of the wall ending just before the moat, dark and menacing far below. A nod from Olivia made him draw a deep breath and with a wink to Amanda he threw one leg over the side and hand over hand abseiled down the length of the castle wall. The water was freezing and unlike the rivers and streams of the forest it was stagnant and the dank smell that rose from it even in the cold made Finn gag at the back of his throat. A low whistle, like that of a wood pigeon, alerted Olivia that he had safely reached the other side.

Casey's eyes had widened at seeing how she was expected to escape. She had never been a strong swimmer and in her weakened state with only a nightgown to protect her she wasn't sure whether she would make it across the moat. She turned up face upward towards Olivia and opened her mouth, ready to explain that she couldn't do it but Olivia beat her to the punch.

'I know you hate swimming, sweetheart, but we have to avoid the gate and this is the only way. Amanda's going to go first and wait in the water for you, she'll help you across.'

Casey still didn't entirely trust the situation but knew that arguing wasn't going to help anyone and would only waste time that the guards could use to find them. She watched as Amanda disappeared over the wall and when the rope went slack Olivia helped her over to it.

'Brace your feet against the wall and lean back holding the rope. Walk down slowly and keep your eyes on the wall. Don't look down okay.' Olivia said gently as she set the rope in Casey's hands helping her swing one leg then two over the wall. Casey's breath was coming fast but she was working hard on not panicking. With a slight pressure from Olivia she edged her body off the wall and turned till only her grip on the rope kept her from falling. The wind was stronger than before and it tangled her gown round her legs but slowly she walked down, her knuckles white on the rope. The ice cold water on her feet came as a shock, focused so intently as she was on not looking down, that she almost screamed; but a clammy hand snaked round her ankle and Amanda helped lower herself in the water. The blond turned her onto her back and gripped a hand onto her bicep, Amanda using her own arm as support under Casey's back. With powerful kicks of her legs she swam them both to the other side where Finn was waiting to help them walk out of the mud and reeds.

The three of them turned and Finn whistled again, signally to Olivia that she could enter the water herself. The sight that met them turned their already cold blood freezing. Instead of one figure on the wall there were two and the second was almost on Olivia. She was focused so hard on the moat, trying to see Casey and Amanda, that she didn't see the figure approaching till it was too late. Finn's warning fell on death ears as the pommel of a dagger crashed in the back of her skull and she fell unconscious to the floor.

The three, shaking and wet people watched as Olivia was attacked but before they could even consider going to her rescue they heard the drawbridge lower and the thundering of hooves. Finn took control and ran with the two woman to the forest, having no choice but to leave Olivia in the clutches of the Black Cloak.