"I tell you, she's not here!"

Despite his huge size, the brute who'd helped Bruno drag Marian away from Nottingham Horse Fair trembled with fear, deep in a dank, dark cave in Sherwood. Robin of Locksley held him from behind, the curved razor-sharp blade of his eastern scimitar threatening to slice through the man's throat, wearing a look of murder in his eyes.

"Robin," Little John warned. "Stop. Now."

"Where is she?" Robin snarled again. Shouting, he demanded, "What have you done with my wife?"

"Nothing, after bringing her here," the man nervously tried to explain. "I don't know where she is now! Bruno must have carried her off, after I fell asleep."

"Tie him up," Robin ordered Little John. "Quickly! We don't have any choice but to believe him, and track that Bruno monster down."

"I beg you," the man cried. "Don't tie me up! If the Queen finds out I let Lady Locksley out of my sight-"

"The Queen?" Robin snarled, gritting his teeth. "I should have known! This reeks of her. Come on, John! Hurry!"

With a fierce growl, Little John pulled the man's bonds so tight, they cut into his wrists. "You, I do not like," he bellowed.

Looking to Robin for leadership, the giant lumbered behind the fleet footed Earl of Huntington out the cave's mouth, through the forest, and back towards Nottingham, as Robin discovered Bruno's trail.

...

Marian awoke confused, in a lumpy oversized bed whose sheets were badly in need of laundering. The room was small and dark, without any window to let in fresh air, not that the air in the town of Nottingham smelled much sweeter than the rank odor in the room.

Feeling weak and nauseous, Marian studied her surroundings, unable to recall where she was or how she came to be here. The room was small and filthy, its massive bed filling all four corners, leaving little room for anything else.

The door creaked open, emitting sounds of raucous laughter, and an aging tart.

"You awake?" the slattern asked, revealing missing teeth to match her once ample, now sagging bosom.

"Where am I?" Marian asked.

"Why, you're in the Cock and Ass, you know, as in rooster and donkey. You'd know if you saw our sign out front. Nottingham's finest bawdy 'ouse, or used to be. Bruno brought you earlier."

Marian still couldn't remember, but was somewhat alarmed at hearing she was in a "bawdy house." What alarmed her even more, however, was the fact she couldn't remember much of anything, least of all her name.

"Forgive me," she pleaded, "but who is Bruno?"

"You don't know?" the woman asked. "Poor lost lamb! But I'll tell you straight out, no lies. Bruno's our muscle. It's him what keeps all us girls safe. Us, and the puffed up trollops at the Cherry Pit."

Marian drew in her breath, unable to make sense of anything the woman told her. "I'm sorry," she sighed, sadly. "I don't understand. I just can't remember."

"Nothing?" the woman asked.

"Not even my name."

The woman grinned, showing gaping gums and rotting teeth. "Well, that's one thing I can help you with, Beauty," she announced. "Bruno says your name's Hortense, and you're a whore, like the rest of us. He says, once you get back on your feet, you can climb right back on your back, and help pull the good old Cock and Ass back to makin' some money again. We been hurting, with all the gents passin' by our door, spendin' all their time and money at the Cherry Pit, or sneakin' upstairs with the tavern girls at the Trip. But with you here, the Cock and Ass's glory days are sure to return! Wait till the gents take a look at you!"

Marian shut her eyes, bewildered by what she'd heard. "I don't understand," she wimpered.

"Don't try to," the woman advised. "I'm called Martha, by the way, but it's Cherie to the gents. French, you know. Makes their c*#ks harder."

Marian shut her eyes tighter, swallowing back the bile that threatened to choke her.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she barely managed to say.

Martha found her a basin, first flicking aside a cockroach that was feeding on something that had dried and hardened in its bowl. Handing it to "Hortense" just in time, Martha watched sympathetically as Marian was sick.

"Try drinkin' more of that tonic Bruno left for you, if you can keep it down. He got it special, just for you. And get some more rest, while its still quiet. We're bound to get some out of towners what don't know any better tonight, so us ladies is bound to be busy, and this place can sure get noisey. Sleep, now, Beauty. I'm off to get the rest of my beauty sleep, too. Night night."

The door shut again, leaving Marian alone with the dirty basin, and a head full of unanswered questions.