That night at the Trip Inn there were a number of different faces amongst the regulars all celebrating the fair, several of them similar ages to Edyn and the other girls. Even Edyn had to admit a few of the younger men were quite good looking. The three other girls seemed to be enjoying themselves more than Edyn had even seen them before. They each seemed to be favouring a gentleman of their choice, all of them young and handsome. Surprisingly she was happy for them; they were genuinely having a good time; nothing was false, from the smiles on the girl's faces to the complements they received. Gloria in particular seemed quite taken by a young blonde haired man who continued to send her fond looks from across the tavern.

But the excitement did not spread throughout the entire inn. Many of the regulars were becoming irritable at being ignored for these boys, hardly men in their eyes. Even Joe had taken to glaring at the blonde man who happily doted upon Gloria who was not feigning her interest for him at all.

"Come on, Miss, how about a dance? I saw you earlier skipping around enjoying yourself," a youthful man asked Edyn. "Let's see if we can put that smile back on your face." She surprised herself when she agreed without even a moment's hesitation. He may not have been as good looking as some of the other gentlemen but his youth made him more attracting than any of the others that usually made advances on her. It wasn't long before she stiffened slightly when she felt his hands trail down her back; no matter how young or good looking they were, they were all still men. She pulled away slightly but he wasn't going to have any of that pulling her tightly against his chest. She felt his lips brush against her ear as he whispered, "Why don't you show me how you accommodate us men willing to pay, as I've heard so much about." It was true; Edyn had regularly seen the other girls lead men out to the back rooms, and what they were doing was no secret. She felt a coin being pressed into her palm. "How about it, hmm?" the voice in her ear returned.

Again, she tried to pull away, shaking her head. "No, let go of me!"

"C'mon," he encouraged.

"You heard her, she said no." Joe was suddenly standing beside them and the man's grip loosened giving Edyn the opportunity to escape to where she pathetically hid behind Joe. He put a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Why don't I get you an ale?"

He glared at them both. "It seems that one of your whores has turned cold!" he spat for everyone to hear.

"She has made her choice, now it's your turn to choose; you may accept the drink I offered and go about your business, or you will leave my establishment."

Noticing all eyes were upon him, he simply scoffed and made his way to the door. "Things have changed since I was last here." When he received no cheers or encouragement he scowled and vacated the Trip Inn.

Edyn let out a sigh. "Thank you, Joe."

"He didn't hurt you?" She shook her head. He reached up and stroked her cheek with a grubby hand. As much as she wanted to flinch she reminded herself of his kindness. "No one hurts my girls," he said proudly. She smiled at him sweetly and left to continue with her jobs.

Since the advances she had received she had become much more jumpy than usual. She dared not let anyone touch her and wished the night would quickly come to an end. Gloria, however, did not share her desire. She was now perched in the blonde man's lap allowing him to gently caress her neck with his lips. Strangely it did not seem as profane as it usually did. It appeared to be sweet and meaningful; his touch was soft and her smile was genuine.

"It's such a relief to see her happy. Truly happy, I mean," Catherine commented when she had torn herself away from her tall pursuer. "She deserves it. I wish Joe would understand. I fear he may have become too attached to her over the years."

They both glanced over to where Joe had returned to his sullen expression as he stared at the young couple. "She's been with him a while then?" Edyn questioned.

"The longest out of all of us," Catherine replied. "Apparently she came to him when she was fifteen. She lost everything. Her family died from various reasons over time until she was left on her own and it wasn't too long before she lost her home from taxation. Joe found her wandering the streets looking for food scraps, so he offered her a home and a job. I don't know the finer details in all of it but that's the basic story."

"I had no idea," Edyn said softly. She glanced over at her master. She was suddenly seeing another side to him. Maybe he wasn't as fowl as she had first thought.

A short while later Joe called her over. "Edyn, come, let's have a talk."

Slightly curious Edyn approached him assuming it had something to do with what had happened earlier. He led her to one of the private rooms out the back. Right before he closed the door he glanced once more in Gloria's direction and sighed.

"Thank you, again, for what you did before," Edyn said. "I hope I didn't cause too much of a commotion." He made no attempt to reply or move. He simply remained standing next to the closed door, his eyes on the ground. "Is everything okay?" she asked. There was a loud clunk and he slowly moved away from the door he had just locked.

"I'll be fine in a moment." His voice was strange, gruff and deeper than normal.

Something wasn't right, this wasn't right. Edyn instinctively took a step backwards. "I think it's about time you thanked me for all I've done for you," he said. This definitely wasn't right. "You know, there's only one way I like to be thanked."

"No," her voice had no volume.

"My help comes with a price, and your payment is long overdue," he continued.

"Is that what you told Gloria when you offered her your help?"

Her words did not seem to intimidate him in the least seeing that he was smirking at her. "She knew exactly what she was required to do. She did not muck around with this "good girl" appearance."

Suddenly he was upon her. She had foolishly backed herself into a wall and now he had his body weight pressed against her preventing her from moving; her breath caught in her throat. "Those other girls, they're dirty, the kind of dirt that can't be removed; tainted if you will. But you, you're so… untouched, so clean. Pure, some might say. Oh, how I can't wait to stake my claim." She let out a shaky breath and her body shuddered with fear as he allowed his hands to roam along her body.

"Let go of me, please?" she begged.

"No need for manners. There ain't no-one else here but you and me." His stubby fingers moved up to her face and he stroked her check for the second time that night; this time she did not reframe from flinching away from his touch.

"Get away from me!" she attempted to push him off her but it was useless.

He laughed leaning towards her again and she could hear his intake of breath as he inhaled the scent of her hair. "So clean," he whispered in her ear.

She couldn't take it anymore. She shoved him off her as roughly as she could and attempted to make a run for the door but without even breaking a sweat he had painfully pinned her to the wall once again.

"Get off me!" She was about to cry out when she felt the cold steal of a knife being pressed against her throat.

"If you scream you will never leave this room ever again, understand?" he growled menacingly.

She let out a sob as she felt her body tremble with fear. She didn't know how to get out of this situation and she knew exactly how far he would go. He inclined his head closer and she turned her head away trying desperately to think of a way out. She suddenly felt his hot mouth against her neck, leaving a trail of saliva running down her skin and she felt his teeth graze her. His hand then reached up and groped one of her breasts, squeezing it painfully. She whimpered again. This could not be happening! Her heart began racing when with horror she felt him hitching up her dress and pressing himself closer. Fear suddenly got the better of her as she desperately struggled out of his grip. She felt a sting of pain as the knife pierced her skin but the wound was not deep, merely a scratch.

She leapt towards the door once more, but again he had her before she could even get close to it, slamming his body against her causing her to lose balance. She felt herself falling and braced herself. When she hit the ground she tried scrambling back to her feet but he was already ahead of her. Rolling her over so she lay on her back he had her pinned her to the ground. "You're just making it worse for yourself!" he growled. She heard the tearing of fabric as he ripped her dress in their struggle. In the scuffle he had lost the knife but had his hand placed firmly over her mouth. Her muffled cries would not carry out to the noisy tavern.

Once again she felt the fear bubble inside her as he violently tried to spread her legs. She sobbed pathetically as her hands rummage around her in search of some sort of weapon in her last desperation. He began fiddling with the ties on his trousers. She then felt something cool and hard. The knife! Her undergarments were pulled from her and he positioned himself at the same moment Edyn forcefully embedded the knife deep in his upper arm. The screech that escaped his throat was unlike anything she had ever heard before. She swiftly escaped his grip and wrenched the door open; roughly pushing passed anyone in her way. Everything seemed so distorted. People were laughing and singing, getting drunk and enjoying themselves. It almost felt as if they were taunting her. She could then hear Joe roaring her name as she fled from the inn and into the darkness of Nottingham.

She didn't know how far through the town she had run, with the adrenalin pulsing through her body she felt no exhaustion from the struggle or run. When she was sure nobody had followed her she stopped and paced back and forth. What had she done? Her entire body was trembling, she felt as if something was rattling in her chest. Her mind had turned to mush as she tried to analyse everything. Eventually she allowed her body to fall to the ground and she ran her fingers through her hair.

It was then that she heard footsteps. Peering through the curtain of her hair she spotted someone at the end of the road watching her. She let out a cry as she jumped to her feet and backed away from the new arrival, for it was the Nightwatchman.

He held out his hands in front of him as if trying to calm her. She stood frozen to the spot. Robin had warned her he could not be trusted, but fear had immobilised her to remain where she stood. Very slowly he approached her and gently brought a hand to her shoulder. Her dress was torn from the struggle but his attention was on the blood splatters covering her bare skin.

"It's not mine," she managed to say. He then pointed to the wound on her neck; that was clearly her blood. "That is," she admitted.

Shaking his head he then motioned for her to follow him. Edyn was reluctant; she was having no luck that night, what if he was leading her to a trap? But when he wrapped his fingers around her wrist she did not fight. Something at the back of her mind was telling her to follow the masked man.

He still would not speak as he led her back through the town, glancing past all the buildings to ensure they were not spotted. She wondered idly if this man were mute, why else would you refuse to speak?

They eventually came to the castle stables situated to the side of the great building. The Nightwatchman silently picked the lock and ushered her inside. She suddenly became nervous. What was his plan? What if they were to get caught? She dreaded the thought of the punishment they would receive. He pushed her into an empty stall and indicated for her to stay hidden. Her breath caught in her throat when he turned away from her and headed for the door. "Wait!"

Again, he simply gestured for her to stay put and left her shaking with terror. He will return, she told herself. He wouldn't have just left me, surely. If he didn't return by morning then a stableboy, if not a guard coming to collect his mount would surely spot her.

Edyn knew she had to stay awake and wait for the Nightwatchman to return; the adrenaline mixed with fear made it easy for her. But as the hours dragged on her eyelids became heavier. Soon the rough, itchy straw felt like a soft feather mattress and she gave in to her body's demands laying back, closing her eyes and falling into a deep sleep.

She awoke to the sound of a gasp and something crashing to the ground. Without even opening her eyes Edyn knew she had been spotted. She scurried away from the noise and looked up into the face of the Lady Marian. She was done for. Lady Marian kept company with the likes of Sir Guy and when he would hear of this Edyn would be punished severely.

Pathetically, Edyn didn't even bother to try and get herself out of this situation. She simply brought her hands to her face and muttered, "Oh, God!"

She heard the rustling of straw as Lady Marian approached her, she assumed to pull her to her feet and give to the guards but she was surprised when out of the corner of her eye she noticed her sink down to the same level and ask softly, "What happen to you?"

Slowly, Edyn looked up at her stunned. When she didn't reply Marian continued, "How on earth did you get in here?"

"I- I don't know," she whispered. "Last night is a bit of a blur. It doesn't make sense." Had she really seen the Nightwatchman?

Edyn then realised, something was wrong. A Lady of the court would not come and see to her own horse, she would send someone else to do it for her. Glancing to the open door she could see it was only very early in the morning, too early for the stableboys to have started work already. Why would Lady Marian be up so early?

"Did you spend the night here?" Marian asked her interrupting her thoughts.

"Not the whole night," Edyn replied. The corners of Marian's mouth twitched, almost as if she was holding back from smiling, odd.

"What's your name?"

"Edyn."

"Well, Edyn, do you have somewhere you can go?"

"Umm… Yes," she took a while to reply. She would have to return to her brother and have to figure out another way to earn money.

Marian's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Am I to believe that you're looking for work?"

"Err, yeah, I guess I am." It was obvious there was no way she could return to the Trip Inn now. "Wait, why aren't you handing me over to the guards?" she suddenly asked.

Marian looked slightly taken back. "Would you rather I do that?"

"No, not at all. It just seems odd that you wouldn't," Edyn said.

"Well, as it happens, I may have a use for you. You can see it as repaying me for not giving you to the Sheriff's men."

"What use?" Edyn questioned.

"Have you ever worked as a maid?" Marian asked.

Edyn half smiled. "I think I can learn."

Marian smiled with her. "I was hoping you'd say that. Our last one recently moved here, to Nottingham, so I've been searching for a replacement."

"Surely they wouldn't be too hard to find?" Edyn queried. So many people were looking for ways to earn money.

"Yes, but I'm quite picky," Marian explained. "You will also tend to me whenever I am called to the castle, which means I have to spend a lot of time with you. I want someone who I will not tire of. You seem quite different; I'm keen to get to know you better."

It was Edyn's turn to become suspicious. "Excuse me for asking, but you got that from the few moments we've been talking?"

To her surprise Marian laughed. "Of course not. I heard last night that there was a brawl at the Trip Inn. The owner was injured and one of his 'girls' ran off from fear of his advances. Am I correct to think that was you?" Edyn looked down and picked at a loose thread on her sleeve. "Don't be ashamed of yourself," Marian continued. "I think it was quite courageous. Most would simply succumb to his demands."

"How badly did I hurt him?"

"He will be fine. But since the event will still be fresh in everyone's mind I suggest we leave before too many people wake," Marian suggested helping Edyn to her feet.

Her horse was quickly saddled and before they headed into the town Lady Marian removed her cloak and handed it to Edyn. "You'll need to cover up," she said, pointing to the bloodstains. Edyn gladly accepted the cloak, though it felt odd for her to be wearing something so valuable, so beautiful, and so soft! The pleasures of being noble, she thought to herself while running her hands along the fine material.

Meanwhile, Marian stood to the side smiling at the young woman. What this girl didn't know was that after Marian had left her in the stable that night she had ducked back into the town and hidden in the dark alley beside the Trip Inn waiting for the customers to retire to their homes. It appeared most had already left but a few had stayed behind to help the owner. She quickly heard enough from their conversations to guess what had happened. She had then spent the rest of the night returning home, changing her attire and getting a fresh horse before returning to Nottingham in the early morning to put on her little act. Her original plan was to send the girl to Kirklees's Abby if she had nowhere else to go, but after listening to her she changed her mind. Strange, how the girl was not pleading for sympathy, she had even asked after the man who had frightened her so much. Marian was indeed fascinated to learn more about this girl.

A:N/ I had this idea since I first started writing this ages ago (it took me a while to get the courage to post the first chapter), I hope it seems believable. It took me ages to think of a perfect scenario, something like this is not just going to happen; something is bound to motivate the person so hopefully I came up with something believable. Can't go wrong with jealousy, eh? Originally I was going to have Will and Allan find her but then I thought, corny much? When hasn't that happened before?

Song Inspiration: We Are Broken by Paramore- I listened to nothing else the whole time I was typing. If you haven't listened to it before I recommend you go onto youtube or itunes and have a listen. It's one of my favourite songs of theirs, so sad and meaningful, and relevant to this chapter. Plus it's written in first person, which makes it so much more real. Truly amazing!

Thankyou Sarah0406, Musicunderground and Iloveskitteryandmush. You guys made my day! As always, I love receiving reviews, not only to motivate me but I love to hear from you, let me know where I need to improve! Is she too Mary Sue-ish in this chapter? I know she was the typical damsel in distress, but it seemed appropriate, if that made any sense…?