For all intents and purposes, Robin found himself completely alone in the dungeon, for his guards were so drunk they couldn't stand up, and Marian had darted away, taking Maggie with her. And now that his wife had gone, he was sorry for the harsh words he'd thrown at her, and missing her, longed again for her company.

A light step approaching his cell made him believe his wish had come true.

"Marian," he breathed yearningly, "I'm glad you're back! I did not mean what I said earlier. I still think I need to stay here, but I understand now why you tried to free me. If our situations were reversed, my love, I'd move Heaven and Earth to take you home with me again."

"So sorry to disappoint you," the familiar voice of Isabella of Gisbourne sneered, "but once again, Robin, I'm not her."

"Isabella," Robin sneered back, hiding his disappointment behind his angry defiance. "What are you doing here?"

"It's Queen Isabella now, Hood, or have you forgotten?"

"It's Locksley, or have you forgotten?"

Tossing her head, Isabella threw him her spoiled brat smile, the one she usually reserved for her brother Guy. "You don't look like someone on the right side of the law, my lord earl," she smirked sarcastically, "and so, I prefer still calling you Hood." Her mocking laughter turned provocative, and she coyly added, "Though you do look yummy! Mmmm! Look at you, all bound and helpless! Shall I drop to my knees and offer up a prayer for you, Robin? Or, better still, I could offer you something else, kneeling before you. After all, what's to stop me from ripping apart the laces on your trousers? Certainly not your drunken guards."

"You do, and you'll be the one guilty of rape, Isabella. Not me."

"Rape? I'd hardly call something so pleasurable 'rape!' Don't you remember the time everyone was asleep in your wretched little outlaw camp, when I crawled into your bunk-"

"Shh!"

"-and I gave you a-"

"Stop it, Isabella!"

"-a wake up call you'd never forget? You didn't consider it rape then."

"I was asleep," he spat out, embarrassed and ashamed. "By the time I woke up and realized what you were doing, it was too late. You and I agreed never to mention it. You gave me your word."

Isabella broke into peels of laughter. "My word? Oh, Robin!"

"I mean it, Isabella. Marian can't know, even if I didn't ask for it, and I thought she was dead."

"Marian? Hmm...I wonder whether she ever wakes you up so deliciously? I wonder if she ever woke up Guy!"

Enraged, Robin wished she were a man, so that he might challenge her to combat. "You're no queen," he could only sneer at her in disgust. "You have no right to England's Crown." Spying the red curly wig Marian had earlier tossed at him, he kicked at it, wincing as his manacles dug deeper into the skin around his ankles, for the chancellor had insisted his boots be removed. "That is what you ought to wear on your head, Whore."

Isabella's eyes bulged with fury, outraged by his insult. "Rapist!" she shrieked, accusing him even though she knew the charge was false. "I can't wait until my husband, the King, cuts off your ballocks and feeds them to you!"

"Well, you'll be waiting a long time. I'm innocent, and the poor frightened girl who accused me will come to admit it, and tell the truth."

Isabella raised her eyebrows in a superior look. "You think so, do you, Robin? Don't be so sure. I haven't taken her under my wing yet, but I expect the poor thing will need my support and comfort, after the ordeal you put her through."

"What ordeal?"

"Rape, of course! I'll be sure to let her know she is not alone. I'll tell her everything...how you nearly tore my dress off me, that day in the meadow, when you raped me! Thank God I escaped when I did, by pulling your sword from its scabbard, and crying aloud, 'God save King John!' "

"Oh! You adorable girl!" the king's spoiled voice exclaimed delightedly, as he pranced down the dungeon steps to join them. "God save me! And the Devil take you, Locksley!"