"I'm here to speak to the Lord of Locksley. Is he at home?" The woman seated on the horse spoke clearly, a slight accent marking where she had been the last four years. Her guard stayed alert, though they seemed to have an air of excitement about them that relaxed their attention.

"Lord Gisborne is at Nottingham Castle, but is due back within the hour," a barked reply came from inside a heavy pointed helmet. His lax ideas of protocol no doubt a result of ignorance at recognizing nobility.

Elisa had heard Nottinghamshire was beginning to sink into corruption. The reports had surprised her, though, and so had the name. "Gisborne?" she asked, the name sounding familiar, but not the Lord she was looking for.

"He's the new Lord 'round here, lass. Been living in Locksley for a few years. Were you hoping to find Robin Hood?" The lack of respect was starting to grate on her nerves, despite the years she had lived without the formalities.

"You'll address me as 'Lady', and since you have not invited me in to wait for your Lord Gisborne, I'll have to take the liberty myself and report you later." Her sharp words were rewarded with the uncomfortable shifting of the man on foot before the five large horses and their riders.

"Lady, I'll show you in and let the household know you've arrived," he was humbled into submission, seeming embarrassed about his previous blunder. "Who should I tell the Lord is here?"

"You may tell him that Lady Elisa is here." As if on a cue, her guards dismounted and helped her out of the saddle. The impatience that flashed across her face betrayed that she would rather dismount without their help. She stepped away from her guard and smoothed the heavy blue fabric of her traveling gown, straightening the only part of her appearance that was amiss.

The manor guard gave quick instructions to a curious groom to take the horses to the stable before leading the Lady Elisa into the hall to wait for his master. After the Lady's horse recoiled from a groom, she motioned for one of her guards to take care of the great black animal. The tallest guard, his red hair sticking jauntily out from underneath his cap, ducked out of the doorway and quickly quieted the balking horse.

"Just wait here, Lady, Gisborne should be home soon." He seemed on edge, as though this kind of behavior would be repudiated by his master.

"Very soon," the gruff voice in the doorway made small group turn to see who it was, the man's cringe made it obvious this was his master.

Elisa noted with some measure of satisfaction that the only person to show any emotion other than pleasant surprise was the ignorant guard assigned to the castle. Her own men had dispersed into the room so they were present, but unobtrusive. They were trained well in England and had been selected because of their service for the King in the Holy Land.

She studied the man standing in the doorframe quickly. Sharp facial features were made sharper by the contrast between pitch black hair and colorless skin. The black clothing only added to the contrast and made him into a more attention demanding figure.
The man who had shown them in spent only a few seconds shifting awkwardly before remembering how he was expected to act.

"Sir, this is Lady Elisa. She came looking for the Lord of Locksley." There was a hint of laughter in his small voice, something the Lady pursed her lips at.

"Lady Elisa, I am the Lord of Locksley," his voice was certain, but there was some flicker of emotion that she caught, making her believe there was some dispute over this. "I'm Guy of Gisborne. I apologize if you were expecting someone else, the manor has recently come into my possession."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Guy. You are right though, I was hoping to find Robin of Locksley. He is a friend of mine that I wished to meet again before winter sets in." She watched as her polite words slowly made him more agitated. Then hoped to make amends where she had obviously offended, "I'm sorry if I intruded. Please forgive me, I'll leave if it pleases you."

"No, don't leave. You should know, though, that Robin has turned to a life of crime. Apparently his time in the Holy Land affected him badly. He lives in Sherwood Forest now with some other outlaws," his tone gave away his personal disdain for the man, not a mere nuisance as he tried to pass it off.

"Oh dear, that's unfortunate. I had heard of outlaws, but I never imagined Robin would be involved," in fact, Elisa had heard such reports, and chosen to ignore them. Believing that her friend had retained his home and title and the claim of the peasants were not accurate- however correct the judge of his character it was.

"Unfortunately I am only here to retrieve a small contingent of men," Elisa could not have missed his greedy look toward her own guards if she was blind. "You should accompany us and visit the Sheriff in Nottingham. He would be very interested in any stories you have of Robin Hood."

"Hood?" Elisa's negative reaction to his attitude towards her guards changed radically when she heard the nickname. Her friend from the Holy Land was always Robin Locksley, never Robin Hood.

"Just a nickname he gained when he came back to the area and started his life of crime, nothing to be worried about."
"We're ready to go back," the man who next entered was far less intimidating than the tall Gisborne, and smiled warmly when he saw Elisa. "Who's this, then? Friend of yours?"

Elisa smiled back and replied "Newly made friend," at the same time Guy began, "That'll be all, Allan. You can return to the stables and make sure Lady Elisa's horse is saddled."

A slightly arrogant smile played across Elisa's face at the thought of this Allan being sent to saddle her horse, "Oh, I doubt you could do it. I've sent a man out with him, Peter will make sure he's ready."

"You don't think I can handle your horse?" Allan said, obviously amused by her statement.

"Oh, I'm sure you're a wonderful horseman. It's just that Morisco doesn't allow strangers to handle him. He's been trained to be untrustworthy of people until I teach him otherwise," her mind flipped quickly through the years when that exact trait had safeguarded her life, it was not a thing she ever regretted teaching him.

The smug look didn't leave his face, but his tone conceded, "Alrigh-"

"That's enough from you, Allan," Guy cut him off before he could say more, "She told you your services were not needed, so go and ready my horse."

The man nodded and left, his carefree countenance subservient to the Lord. Not before he sent Elisa a small smile to show he was not completely humbled.

"You're household does not keep a secure sense of decorum, I find. Though I suspect that only happens because you are away being busy and important most of the day."

"I will not take kindly to those who insult me, Lady Elisa," Guy soured at her statement, taking it in the worst way possible.

"I apologize if I offended you, Sir Guy. I meant that to compliment your value to the Sheriff, not to insult how you keep house. I imagine it's difficult without a wife to keep them in order. After all, it is not a man's work to keep the house." Elisa's intelligent explanation soothed whatever nerves she had aggravated with her honeyed slight towards Guy.

If she didn't soothe his nerves, he was left without any way of taking offense that didn't seem petty. It was one of Elisa's gifts to talk her way out of the most awkward of situations.

Guy merely grunted his approval of her explanation and motioned for her to follow him into the yard. His actions spurred significant looks between Elisa and her guard, what kind of man was this to leave the room before a lady? They certainly were lacking in the traditional English manners. Still, Elisa followed him through the doorway with her three remaining guards behind.

Outside, Guy and his men were already mounted, ignoring Elisa's rank once more. She did little to reveal her irritation, though she could not contain her frown or stop herself from speaking quietly to her guards, "Tch, no manners. We must be sure to teach them." Elisa made this remark mostly to Phillip, who she knew would be the first to take action against such an improper display. And in return, he trailed her to where Peter held her horse and helped her into the saddle. Phillip gave her a familiar smile when he tucked her booted foot into the stirrup, assuring her that he was past the affront and appreciated her concern.

"Are you ready to go yet, Lady?" The impatience in Guy's voice was obvious. What he was so anxious about, there was no way to be sure.

"Of course, Sir Guy. Is there any reason for your eagerness to leave? Is there some reason that I should be eager as well?" Elisa understood that he might not speak the truth, but if he didn't respond at all, the impertinence would be reported to the Sheriff and anyone else Elisa might feel the need to write to.

"Not for any particular reason. Though I admit, taking you to meet the sheriff is something I am looking forward to." His smile seemed to be hiding something, though the smile of his man, Alan, was more reassuring.

"Shall we depart then?" Her question had served its purpose as a distraction, during his answer Elisa's guards had time to settle into their saddles and were more ready to leave than Gisborne's tired men.


Of course I don't own Robin Hood or any of the characters. Elisa is a creation of my imagination and I hope any readers will stick with this story, I'll start building up to more action in the next few chapters. I just like to establish the characters before throwing them into the crazy situations Robin creates in Nottinghamshire. (: Please review, even saying that you read it and found it not to your liking would be something, though I'd ask you not to tear it apart. Bear in mind that it is fanfiction.