It was the smell that first alerted Marian she was in danger, the damp, musty smell of bat droppings upon thick, stagnant, clammy air.

Marian knew, even before forcing open her eyes, that she was once again lying injured in the cave, or rather, in a cave. Yet, try as she might to focus her fog shrouded thoughts, she hadn't a clue how she'd come to be here.

The last thing she remembered was Robin's startled face on the platform, as he spied her being dragged away from the spectators watching him battle Little John. It gave her hope. She knew he would find her, and pull her from this place, and hold her safe in his arms. Even in her drug induced, weakened state, she could almost hear his precious voice.

I knew I would find you again.

"Awake at last?"

Another voice broke through her thoughts, a voice so cold and snide, it was like glass shattering. Listening to it made Marian feel as if slivers of glass were poking into the flesh on her arms, legs, and back.

Isabella.

But why was the Queen of England in a filthy, clammy cave? Fighting through the cobwebs in her brain, Marian forced herself to concentrate and stay awake.

Once her eyes could focus, Marian could see that she was sitting on the floor of the same cave Robin had taken her when she was recovering from Gisbourne's dagger wound, when Djaq had saved her life. Today, her arms and legs were tightly bound, and she found herself dressed in nothing but a loose, plain, itchey peasant's gown. Isabella, fingering a knife, paced gloatingly back and forth before her, guarded by the same two men who had kidnapped Marian from the fair.

"So," Isabella was saying, "I trust you enjoyed your nap. Sorry I had to undress you, but knowing you, I thought it wise not to take any chances. And my suspicions proved right! Just look at the blade I found concealed in your boot!"

Marian tried to answer, recalling how she'd slipped the knife into her boot after Robin had hinted there might be trouble at the fair today, but the drug Isabella had sliced into her bloodstream robbed her of the ability to express her thoughts.

Isabella didn't mind. Indeed, she was enjoying this opportunity to gloat before the woman she hated most in all the world, the woman who had everything she'd ever wanted.

"Sorry for the uncarded woolen dress," she smirked. "I can only guess how it must itch, and chafe your lovely skin!" Laughing a low, mocking laugh, she continued. "Not so lovely after all, now that I've seen all of you! Lucky for you, really! I was all set to mar you with this knife of yours, when I discovered someone had already beaten me to it! Let me guess...my loving brother, Guy? I thought so! Two hideous, brown scars on that otherwise perfect body of yours, not counting of course that mole on your shoulder, nor the other one under your lip. My, my! I suppose Robin must have to close his eyes very tightly indeed, when you're alone together! Or do you do it with your gown on? That was the way we did it, you know. He couldn't even wait for my gown to come off being surging into me, after just one quick glimpse of my thigh. The garter is a much more enticing place to hide your valuables than a boot, I've always found."

"You had better not sleep tonight," Marian warned her, finding her voice at last. "Robin saw me being taken, and he'll find me, and he'll-"

"He'll what? Temptingly flirt with me, under the guise of a warning? Despite your angel face, he still burns for me! He's drawn to danger, and who is more dangerous for him than I, the sister of his enemy? Just as you were always stirred by my brother! Don't deny it. Guy knew."

"You're both deluded," Marian answered, dismissing Isabella's ridiculous, evil claims. "Why are you keeping me here? What have I ever done to you? Free me, now!"

Isabella laughed again. "Struggle all you like. It won't do any good. You're tied with a special knot that only grows tighter, the more you struggle. Now, I need to leave you for a time. Royal duty calls."

Isabella turned and took a few steps toward the cave's entrance. Then, unable to resist gloating further, she turned back and said, "Just so you'll know, you are here so the lord chancellor and I can watch Robin suffer. You see, with the Queen Mother around, there really wasn't any other way, until I thought up this little scheme. And with everyone's attention riveted on the battle between Robin Hood and Little John, no one noticed poor, pregnant Maid Marian carried away from the fair. But don't worry. You won't be stuck in this cave forever. I have a plan for an accident to befall you, my dear. After all, what better way for you to die, than sneaking off on horseback and suffering a fall, breaking your pretty neck? So sad."

Sidling up to one of the two burly guards, Isabella provocatively stroked his thick, muscular arm. "Bruno here," she cooed, "will only be too happy to do the honors, for a price of course. But not until I've finished toying with you. Goodbye, Lady Locksley."

Once she had gone, Marian struggled again with her bonds, giving up when the ropes truly did cut deeper into her flesh.

She'd escape from here somehow, she vowed she would! She'd been in worse danger before, after all, and lived to tell of it. Besides, Ellen needed her. Robin needed her, and she needed them. She would survive, and so would her unborn baby.

Her unborn baby. The thought triggered the memory of Guy of Gisbourne stabbing her in the Holy Land. Miraculously, she had managed to survive, but Robin's child she'd been carrying had not.

"No! I won't let them hurt you," she whispered to her belly.

A low grunt from "Bruno" forced her to study the man for the first time, and hope dawned again.

Marian knew him. She'd seen him somewhere before. If only her mind would clear from the drug's effect, so she could remember!