The Sheriff sat by the fire at camp. Everyone was asleep. He told all of his men to rest, stating he would keep watch for the night. They looked at him oddly. There was no reason at this point in time for anyone to keep watch. They were too far away for the man they were seeking to supect he was being pursued.

He sat on the ground resting his hand on his raised knee, his other hand toying with the kindling in the firepit. Staring into the dancing flames he allowed his mind to wander.

"Are you cold my Lady? Perhaps I should add more wood to the fire." She was trembling.

"Mmm. No my Lord." She breathed. "Just hold me. It warms me enough."

He held her naked body to him, breathed in the intoxicating scent of her hair. He caressed it as he spoke.

"I regret we didn't meet sooner my lady." He whispered into her ear as he held her to him.

"Yes. I've thought the same." She moved in even closer and brought her leg up, extending it around his waist. "But at least we did meet, my Lord." She whispered.

"Yes." He said as he bent his head down to kiss hers. At the same time he ran his hand along her extended thigh, inching his fingers toward the innermost part. He found the moist flesh. She moaned. "Oh….Sheriff….."

"My lady…." He growled as he rolled on top of her again.

"Cousin?" he didn't hear Guy approach. The Sheriff shook his head and looked up at him.

"Do you think we are closing the gap on this sick bastard?" Guy asked.

"We must be getting close…." Truthfully, the Sheriff didn't know.

"An abandoned castle…we've traveled a great distance. We must be near. I'll take half the regiment past the trees in the morning. Perhaps we can meet back here at high noon to discuss our findings?" Guy proposed in an effort to reassure the Sheriff.

"She could be dead." The Sheriff spoke in a hushed monotone.

"What's that you say, cousin?"

"She could be dead." He repeated slightly more audible but in the same flat tone.

"Cousin?" Guy looked at him, questioning.

"I might have wasted everyone's time, cousin." He spoke as he got up pacing back and forth.

Guy sensed it. His cousin was feeling fear and doubt probably for the first time in his life. He sensed the foreign feeling was possibly sending his cousin into a slight panic. He approached him.

"But cousin, you can't…" he was cut off.

"That loathed animal has kidnapped and murdered over two dozen maids cousin! Right under my nose! Only one woman remained alive when we left Nottingham." He turned and looked at him. "What are the chances now?" he looked up and cried out then started walking swiftly beyond the clearing. Guy trailed closely behind.

"Come now cousin!" Guy called "This isn't like you!"

The Sheriff stopped in his tracks and turned around. He bent his head and said "I've never felt loss before cousin. It's a powerless feeling. Never in my life."

"But your parents!" Guy exclaimed.

"True that." The Sheriff said as he raised his head with one eyebrow lifted. "I've missed the absence of parents on occasion a long time ago, but I haven't missed my parents. I never knew them. How could I miss them?"

"You can't let this weigh you down. Don't let it destroy your reason for coming. It won't help her." He paused. "If she's alive….it won't help her."

"These cursed thoughts intrude my mind! I've never had one person to worry about until now. How do I stop the worry?"

"You don't." Guy replied. "You never stop. But you find a way to use it to your advantage." Another pause. "You've never given up before. Of all times for you to that, this is the most important time not to. So maybe you should ask yourself - are you considering giving up because you figure the odds are stacked against you? That there's a good chance we've arrived too late? Or – are you willing to give up because the powerless feeling makes you feel weak? Perhaps your pride prevents you from being anything but a bachelor your entire life." Guy tried not to smirk and lowered his head. He knew that would shake him out of this insufferable state.

The Sheriff raised his eyebrow, stunned for a moment. "You surprise me cousin. In many ways." He was most of all surprised at Guy's wit, not that he just underhandedly insulted him. He went on.

"I have grave concerns for my lady. Know this: I would never give up what she has given to me because it might hurt too much. I could never hurt, as long as she was near."

"Then you know what you must do." Guy agreed.

"Yes. I hope we're not too late." He sighed.

They started back towards the fire. Guy started to take a sip from his canteen when the Sheriff spoke.

"She's good for you. Meridwyn. Once you get back to Nottingham, don't ever let her out of your sight."

"Of course my Lord. But the danger will be lessened, because we'll have killed the murderous bastard by then."

"Ahh but cousin….we must never rest on our laurels." The Sheriff said, sounding more like himself as he put his arm around Guy while they walked. "The world is full of insects. One day they'll last longer than all of us. There will always be a murderous bastard to pursue."

"Yes. As long as we've ensured the safety of ladies Rhiannon and Meridwyn while we're pursuing these….uhh….insects."

"Once I've dealt with him, and rescued her, and she's back at Nottingham Castle, I shall never let Lady Rhiannon out of my sight. Nothing shall keep me from leaving her. I may annoy her with attention." He chuckled. They talked for awhile – laying the best plans for attack once they located the abandoned castle. Weeks later, those words he's just spoken to Guy would haunt him.

Whack…..her ears were ringing. She woke out her slumber abruptly. It was dark. That was all she knew. Then it dawned on her….Oh God! He was here! He seemed more enraged than he'd ever been. She opened her eyes tentatively. She wanted to move but was paralyzed in fear. Finally, she willed herself to obey and managed to sit up.

"You've had it in you long enough whore. It's time to give me that child!"

"What?!" she was incredulous.

"Are you obtuse as well? I know whom the child belongs to. Thanks wench! Now I can get me some gold….how to go about this?" he said rubbing his hands together in cold anticipation.

He whacked her on the back of the head. She fell backwards. She drifted off, into dreams that would from thence last weeks. As she drifted in and out, she saw the face of her lover. The very first glimpse of him. She remembered his first kiss, carrying her through the doors to his private chambers, laying her on his bed. The silk linens, his breath on her neck, in her ear. That unmistakable scent of musk and English leather. The day she realized she carried her lover's child. And then…..blackness.

Some several hours later, she awoke screaming. Hot, sharp, like a white hot knife coursed through her to the depths of her abdomen. Sigh….it relaxed. It was gone. She was sore… Oh my God! The realization…..He shall never want me now, if have a hope in hell of finding him he'll never…..want….. There it was again. Sudden, sharp, it took her breath away. The horror of realization when it again subsided. She knew why she was still alive. The Sheriff's child kept her alive, all this time. To be used for ransom. Of course! Now she was going into labour. Oh God! Not here!

I must be silent, she thought. I'll move between pains to look for an escape. It's too soon! Then it came again, the agonizing pain. Eventually, she was uncertain how many hours later. It seemed continuous. Sharp, white hot searing pain. She was in and out of conciousness from the pain. When she was lucid she was either breathing hard and trying not to scream, or wretching with nausea. Finally she felt an odd pressure, and an urge to bear down.

After what seemed like hours, she knew she was delivered. She reached down and grabbed the child. She tore the ribbons off her white slipdress to tie the cord as tightly as she could in two places. She reached under the bed for the dull knife she had saved at mealtime to take with her when she escaped from here. She painstakenly sawed through the cord. Task completed, she lie on the bed with the babe next to her skin to skin. The child let out a gasp, then a soft cry after 5 seconds or so and lie alert yet quiet as lady Rhiannon fell back on the pillow clutching her baby to her breast plotting her next move. She needed to wash, at the small basin in the corner. Water! We need water! Her mind raced. She looked at her baby, the image of it's father. She felt bliss, and a determination to survive. Then, she felt an odd heat course through her body, and warm sticky liquid flow from her, pooling around her. She looked at the baby again, then she looked skyward. In a panic that she knew was utterly futile she cried out softly "My Lord….you must come quick! I'm bleeding…. Our child!..." she breathed softly. Her eyelids grew heavy. She tried fighting to stay awake because she knew closing them meant death. The child squirmed on her chest but lay content. After a time, as the blood continued she couldn't get warm. Her breath began to labour and her vision blurred. Before they went dim, she thought she saw the hooded face of her captor looming over her, then feel the weight of her baby lift off her chest…..