The second one!

"Marian! Your father wanted you there an hour ago!" Martha yelled to her. Marian, in her room knew it was the other woman's fault. Martha had insisted she finish her daily chores before heading off to wherever she was supposed to be going. No one had told her who she was staying with, just that she was. She grabbed her dagger, hurriedly shoving it to the bottom of her trunk. Her wolf pendent dangled around her neck. As the time passed without Robin the piece had become more important to her with every passing second. She put hand on it, closed her eyes and searched for something in the back of mind to lighten her mood. Nothing helped.

She closed the lid of the trunk and latched it. She lugged the thing out into their hall, glancing around. She really just wanted to get out of there. Not that she wanted to learn how to take care of her household, but because of the memories the home had. Her mother, Aelfleda, had died here. After that it hadn't seemed like home anymore. Her father had turned into a hermit, never leaving his solar. Any smile that he gave anyone was forced.

It had been different before. She had been free to go to her Sherwood. Her father then found it hilarious, and had thought it only a strange way to have fun. But, his heart had hardened into stone after Aelfleda's death. Nothing held light for him, and Marian had a feeling he had left on crusade just be rid of all the reminders in his own home.

Martha charged into the hall, her face a bright red. "Marian, I'm ashamed of you! You're too lazy for your own good. Your father should've taught you self discipline!" The woman gave her an angry look. "Tobias is driving the cart around to the front, you'll put your things in there." Marian began dragging the trunk to the front door, wondering why Martha was in a bad mood.

Outside, Tobias was waiting. The man sat up in his seat as she approached. "Need any help getting that trunk in?" he asked dutifully. Although Marian was stronger than most girls she accepted the offer. He jumped out of his spot, as Marian gave the man a polite smile of thanks. A cold December wind whipped her hair around her face. She hoped it wouldn't take long to get where she was going.

He grabbed her belongings and heaved them into the cart. Tobias was in his mid-twenties, and he had blond curls that bounced when he moved. His eyes were a deep blue and caused many women to be charmed by his appearance, but Marian wasn't. She tried not to fall into the category of girls who swooned at the sight of a handsome man, and she had succeeded splendidly. Almost. She had discovered the rare exception to her rule because of Rinn. Although she had never swooned, she knew that there had been something there.

Tobias leaped back into the driver's seat, he offered Marian a hand up, but she ignored it entirely. Tobias flicked the reigns and the old horse pulling them plodded forward at strikingly slow pace. "Do you know where you're going?" Tobias asked, trying to make small talk.

"No," she said simply, knowing that he at least knew.

"Oh." And that was all the words they exchanged during the whole trip. Marian realized that they were going toward Nottingham; she wondered who her father knew there. She continued to contemplate this until the cart stopped abruptly, startling Marian from her thoughts. "Welcome to Nottingham Castle," Tobias said blandly. No, anywhere but there! What if the sheriff recognized her from the fair? Nothing good could come from this arrangement.

Marian pretended she didn't care, as she looked at her new home, sizing it up to its full height. She had seen the structure before, but never once had she been inside. Well, that would soon be remedied. It just stood on a high crevasse overlooking Nottingham, casting a forbidding shadow over the town. It looked dark and dreary, just a pile of stone. She would have rather crawled into a hole than spend two seconds inside that... that...thing.

But she had no choice, as Tobias continued toward it, and before long she was at the front door. She looked at it in disgust. Tobias flung open the doors and walked in, Marian followed, feeling oppressed by the castle with every step. Its dark interior looked just as foreboding as the outside did. Although colorful tapestries layered the walls, shadows encased them. She looked down and realized that she was walking on an expensive looking rug. How did her father know this man? The sheriff was rich, it seemed. Why would he bother with a lowly knight with only a tiny plot of land to his name? Tobias led on, walking toward a man who seemed deep in counsel with another, who was briskly dismissed as Tobias approached. Marian stayed put. She wanted to estimate the sheriff before she was formally introduced, get a good look at him beyond what little she had noticed at the fair. He was smaller than average and stood as if he thought he should rule the world. Marian disliked him even more.

"This is Lady Marian Fitzwater, daughter of Sir Collin Fitzwater." Tobias had taken the duty of introducing her on his own shoulders. The sheriff looked at her with very apparent disinterest.

"And this is Geoffrey de Lacy, Sheriff of Nottingham. You will be staying with him until you are declared fit to run a household. I believe his wife, Organa, is to be teaching you. I'll leave your things here and be on my way."

The shadows shifted as a tall female figure with prim smile on her face came forward, her skirts brushing lightly over the over the stones. Marian looked at the woman, realizing this was de Lacy's wife. Organa had thin lips that were pressed together in a thin smile. Her eyes were small and dark, though not beady, and they looked at her down a long nose. To top it off her hair was black, like the feathers of a vulture almost.

Organa gave her a forced smile, "Well, this must be Marian." Her little dark eyes looked her up and down, taking in her windblown hair and outdated dress. "I can see why they sent her here." Marian decided to take that as a compliment, not sure how else she could take it.

De Lacy leaned toward his wife and said in a low voice, "My dear, do you remember that wench I told you about? The one who tried to get away with entering the archery match?" Organa nodded crisply while Marian was ready to bolt out the door. "Well, this is the same girl."

Marian enjoyed seeing the shock on her face. She grinned to herself, and wondered what had gone through the woman's mind when she had heard. At least they knew what she was made of now. Organa seemed shaken, "We will see to it that she does nothing of the sort ever again. She will learn that women are a fragile and delicate creatures, and if she disagrees with it now, her mind will certainly be changed by the end of her stay."

Marian mentally challenged her to try. Women didn't have to be delicate. Instead of becoming a refined lady, she would be a rebel for this woman. She would make herself a rodent that ran in front of her and caused her to leap on a chair and scream. What a treat that would be! If only she didn't have to live with her and the sheriff at the same time.

"Are you going to punish her for it?" Organa asked, with an almost hopeful look on her face.

"Of course," the sheriff said in a sure voice.

Marian grew nervous, not sure what to expect as a punishment. She didn't know the agreement between this man and her father, but she was positive it would affect whatever de Lacy had in mind.

Tobias had brought her things, but hadn't heard a word of what had just been said. A servant directed him to Marian's rooms and a short time later he walked out the door without a second glance.

"You there! Guard!" De Lacy's sudden outburst startled Marian. "Take this girl to the dungeon. A few days down there should help her learn not to defy me."

I am on my knees begging for a review...