Well, I hope I intrigued you all and kept you in suspense. :) At last I have written the next chapter. I hope it goes down well. Apologies for any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors – I wrote this pretty quickly and wanted to get it uploaded soon.

Will's heart sank. When the woman had looked up at them finally and spoken, he knew it wasn't her. Her skin was darker than Marian's had been and her eyes were a little more hawkish. Djaq, too, had realised that this woman was not Marian when she had looked up.

"I'm very sorry, sister." Djaq continued in her own language. "You remind us so much of a friend of ours. We will leave you to your business."

The woman, Saira, gave her an odd look. "You are not the first to say such a thing."

Djaq and Will exchanged a confused look, but for different reasons as Djaq realised he hadn't understood what Saira had said, so she translated for him. His eyes widened. "Who said that before?" He asked. Djaq turned to Saira to translate, but Saira answered in good, but accented English.

"There was another English man. He also saw me here. He tried to speak to me, but my father turned him away."

"What did he look like?" Djaq asked gently.

"Tall, black hair, long nose. He wore black clothes."

"Gisborne." Will growled.

Saira's father had now realised what was going on. A shadow came over his face as he directed an untrusting glare at Will. He spoke in their language. "Saira, you must not speak of this man. You will dishonour yourself and your family further."

"Why?" Asked Djaq sharply, looking at the merchant with a piercing gaze. "What did he do?"

The merchant looked angry. "It is not your place to question me, woman. Saira will not say anymore."

Will bristled next to Djaq. He only understood a few of the words being spoken, but he understood the merchant's tone well enough. Djaq simply gave the man a withering look and turned back to Saira. "Shall we go inside somewhere to talk?"

Saira looked at Djaq with wide eyes for a moment, then glanced over at her father. His face was like thunder, but she knew that he would not stop her. She looked back at Djaq and nodded quickly. Gesturing for them to follow her into the house against which the stall was leaning. Will and Djaq blinked against the comparative darkness inside the house after the bright sunshine outside. The house was modest and small, but with ornate furnishings. Saira led them to the small table at which she and her father normally ate and motioned for them to sit on the cushions. She poured them cold drinks, then settled herself down on a cushion.

"The man, what did you call him?"

"Guy of Gisborne." Will replied.

"You Englishmen do not understand the ways of our people. When my father turned him away, he should not have come back, but he did. My father sent me for some water from the well at dusk and this man, Guy of Gisborne was waiting for me. He took me away to a house, I couldn't get away from him."

Djaq gasped. Will felt angry for this woman. Djaq had explained to him about women not being allowed to be alone with men who weren't their family or their husbands. Even though Gisborne had taken her against her will, her honour would be in tatters if anyone found out about it.

"He... he..." Saira's eyes were filling up with tears. "He was a cruel man. He hurt me."

"Did he – ?" Djaq started to ask hesitantly. She wasn't sure how far to go with this girl.

"Yes." Saira replied. "And he said so many things I didn't understand."

Djaq risked a look at Will's face. His face burned with fury. Djaq herself was barely containing her own anger. This was why the girl's father had spoken about dishonour. A man had forced himself on her.

"Our friend – the one that you resemble – she is dead." Djaq spoke very slowly and quietly. "Gisborne came here to kill the English King. She tried to stop him. He loved her too much and when she denied him, he killed her."

Saira's eyes were as wide as saucers. "When did this happen?"

"A month ago."

Saira's eyes widened further. "That was when he took me." She whispered. Djaq touched her hand gently.

"He must have taken you before, because the King's spies told us he left here the very next day."

For long moments they sat in silence. Will was staring into the middle distance, still with an angry expression on his face. Djaq was looking at Saira with concern etched on her face. Saira's haunted eyes showed that she was going through a range of emotions.

Saira shook herself. She looked determined now. "He must be brought to justice!" She announced. "Where is he now?"

"In England somewhere." Djaq replied. "If our friend's fiancé has not killed him yet."

"I have always wanted to see my mother's homeland."

"Your mother's – ?" Will said, surprised.

"Yes, my mother was English. She died a few years ago. She taught me English." Djaq nodded. That explained the light colour of the girl's skin.

"What about your father?" Djaq asked.

"We will miss each other, but his life will be better if I am not here. He has always been in a lower position in this community because of me and my mother." Will threw a guilty glance at Djaq. "Since Gisborne took me, his life has been even more difficult."

Djaq peered at the girl for a moment before saying, "Very well. Next week, we are travelling to England. Will you come with us and see justice done?"

Saira nodded emphatically. "I shall be ready."

As Will and Djaq walked away from the stall a few minutes later, he turned to her with a frown. "Why did you ask to her to come with us? We will be putting her in danger."

"She will be better off with us." Djaq snapped. "Her life here will deteriorate. No man will marry her now that her honour is questioned. She will not be able to look after herself when her father dies. This is not England, Will. A woman cannot work for herself without a man behind her to protect her honour. She would not be able to deal with any men, and since only the men do business, she will therefore have no business. Don't you think she deserves justice?"

Djaq stopped and stared up at Will, almost accusingly. He looked down at her tenderly for a moment. He loved her fire. Since they had been in the Holy Land, he had only seen her fire once, when he had been attacked, and she had stifled it quickly. She could not be herself here, she had to control her fire, and that made Will more upset than anything else. He raised his hand to touch her face, but remembered that he could not do so in public and quickly lowered it. "I'm sorry, Djaq." He said. "I understand now."

She turned on her heel and marched back to Bassam's house, Will following with a small smile on his face.

Will held Djaq's pack while she said goodbye to Bassam. Saira stood next to him, carrying her own pack, trying not to look at Djaq and Bassam as they embraced each other. Bassam smiled at Djaq fondly.

"There is a gift for you in your pack." He told her and she gave him a questioning look. He smiled enigmatically. "Use it when you arrive in your forest with my blessing."

They parted reluctantly and Will shook Bassam's hand, then the three travellers turned and boarded the ship that was to take them to England.

As the ship pulled away from the dock, Djaq allowed the tears to flow down her cheeks as she waved to Bassam. Will came up behind her and happily put his arms around her waist. He was finally free to touch her at his leisure. He almost immediately felt guilty for being happy when she was so obviously sad.

"I will miss him." Djaq said quietly. "But this time it is my choice to leave. My home is in England now."

Will remained silent and simply pulled her closer to him as he too watched the dock shrinking into the distance.

The journey back to Sherwood from the coast was long and uneventful. Most of the time was spent teaching Saira various things she needed to know about living in the forest. Djaq had spent most of the sea voyage trying to persuade Saira that she would need to stop wearing her kameez and change into more practical clothes. When Saira saw Djaq in her forest garb, she was quite shocked at how revealing it was. However, when they arrived in England and she saw how easy it was for Djaq to mount her horse, she began to understand. As each day passed, she realised more and more why Djaq was wearing the clothes she did. Eventually, she consented to try some clothes that Djaq had brought for her and she put away the kameez with a sense of finality.

Will and Djaq practised with their axe and sword every evening and every morning, preparing themselves for their return to life as outlaws. They began to teach Saira how to defend herself and found that she was a quick learner.

When they reached the edges of Sherwood Forest, Will and Djaq started telling Saira all about the gang and the various adventures they had had. Saira noticed how different the pair were now that they were returning home to the forest and it made her smile. She could tell how happy they were.

As night was beginning to fall, Will, Djaq and Saira arrived at the camp. The light of the campfire glowed peacefully through the camouflaging that Will had put over the structure. They could hear the outlaws quietly shuffling around and chatting amongst themselves.

"I think we must go in first." Djaq told Saira. "Your resemblance to Marian will upset them if we do not try to explain first."

Saira nodded and hung back as Will and Djaq proceeded to the door of the camp and opened it. She could hear scuffling and shouts of alarm as the outlaws scrambled to protect themselves from the invaders, followed quickly by shouts of recognition and welcome. She heard Djaq speaking softly, then Will re-emerged and beckoned to her. She walked hesitantly into the camp, looking shyly at the men standing there. Three of them were simply standing with their mouths hanging open, while the fourth had pain and sadness etched all over his face. This last one was the first one to speak. It seemed as though it hurt his throat to speak.

"Welcome, Saira. I am Robin." She smiled at him, but he winced in response, so she turned away from him and looked at the other three.

"Much, Allan, John." Will stated, pointing at each one of them in turn. They nodded in silence, still staring at her. Saira was feeling very uncomfortable and didn't know what to do with herself. She looked at Djaq pleadingly. Djaq pulled her over to the campfire, where they settled down to relax their bodies after the long ride. Keeping her face turned to the fire, Saira unashamedly eavesdropped on the conversation the men were having. She heard Will explaining why he and Djaq had returned to England. The other men were telling him about some of their escapades in the last three months. When she heard them mention Gisborne, she couldn't stop herself from turning to face them.

"He's been keeping to the castle most of the time and whenever he leaves Nottingham, he is surrounded by guards. You would think someone wanted to kill him." There was no humour in Robin's voice. Saira decided it was time she spoke up. She stood up and walked over to the men.

"I have come here to see Gisborne brought to justice." She said vehemently with a fire in her eyes. All of the men, except for Will, raised their eyebrows.

"Gisborne saw her when he was in the Holy Land." Will explained. He looked at Saira for approval before continuing. She nodded. "He took her and... and forced himself on her."

Robin's eyes darkened in fury. "Revolting!" Much muttered. John simply looked even more fierce than usual. Saira was interested to note that Allan's expression was not one of shock or anger. It was merely a grimace as though he wasn't surprised, but unimpressed nonetheless.

"Ah!" Djaq exclaimed from beside the fire. Everyone whirled to look at her, alarmed. She had a huge grin on her face. She had her pack open in front of her and they saw the contents spread all over the ground. She had a package unwrapped on her lap and was holding a colourful piece of clothing in her hands. Still sitting on the wrapping was another colourful piece of cloth and a small jar of something. Saira understood immediately and smiled. The men just looked at each other in confusion.

"Er... Djaq?" Will said. She looked at him, still grinning stupidly. He raised his eyebrow at her.

"It's a gift from Bassam – a wedding dress!" She explained. Everyone turned to look at Will. He smiled sheepishly at the men as they clapped him on the back in congratulations. Robin smiled for the first time since the trio had arrived.

"That doesn't look much like a wedding dress." Much commented, with a clear note of disbelief in his voice.

"It's a Saracen wedding dress, Much." Djaq now sounded exasperated.

"And henna! But who will marry you?" Saira asked. She saw everyone look in one direction and she followed their gaze.

"Robin? Will you marry us?" Will asked.

"Of course!"

Saira mixed the henna powder into a paste that very night the boys watching avidly. She painted the couple's hands and feet by the light of the fire and allowed each of the men to paint a small part of the design. She explained that normally family would have this honour to bestow luck on the couple. Djaq giggled at Will, who sat with his arms and legs held out awkwardly in front of him, unaccustomed to sitting still and not having the use of his hands. Saira wrapped their hands and feet in bandages to help the colour darken. When she finished, she turned to put the henna away and found her way blocked by the four men, who were still staring at Will and Djaq's now bound hands and feet in fascination.

"I'm finished now." She prompted. They blinked and looked at her for a moment before swiftly moving out of her way.

The next morning, they removed the bandages to reveal the intricate, copper designs. Djaq dressed in her caftan and Will put on the robe that had been the second cloth in the package. They made their way to a grove of bare trees where the rest of the outlaws and Saira waited. As Robin took them through the words of the ceremony, Saira tied a piece of fabric around Djaq and Will's entwined hands. They completed the ceremony with kiss, followed by much frivolity and food.

I know I've mixed up the wedding traditions a bit, but tough:)

Next chapter I'll try and catch up with where Chapter 1 started.