Here is the next chapter, I don't really have anything to say but sorry for taking so long to upload, hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me.

Chapter 3,

The Dual,

When the group made their way towards the entrance to the castle they took out two guards, silently dragging them out of view so no one would suspect anything…they were in. They soon walked into Isabella's private chambers to find it empty and with no sign of a struggle, if Guy was after her then he hadn't found her yet, so they diverted their attention to another room.

They finally made it to the great hall, and opened the door abruptly to find Isabella sitting at a long table writing a letter that was no doubt addressed to Prince John. She was startled by the intrusion for only a minute, before she was aware of Robin's presence, but before she could call out for her guard Robin had cocked an arrow in his bow and aimed it straight for her.

She soon realized the seriousness that was displayed on Robin's features, and the situation seemed out of place because he always had a cheeky expression whenever he planned something.

"Robin…what do you want?" She asked suspiciously,

"We're not here to rob you…we want to know if you've seen your brother Guy?" Robin explained,

"My brother…here, this is the last place I would expect you to look, shouldn't he be at your camp?" Isabella asked,

"There was a little incident at camp and now we can't find him we thought that we might find him here." Robin added,

"Let me guess you suspected him of betrayal." Isabella offered,

"How did you know?" Much asked,

Isabella then rose from her seat and walked sassily over to where the outlaws stood in her doorway, "If you want to get caught your welcome to stand out there, but if you need help finding Guy I'll help you." She offered, as she placed her pointed finger on the tip of Robin's finger and pushed it downward,

"The last time you helped us Isabella you tricked us into being surrounded by your guards." Robin reminded,

"That was different." She said coolly,

"How?" Allen asked, in a huff of disbelief,

"Because I wanted mt brother to be very much alive when I got him, but you seemed to want to hand him over in pieces by the way you acted when you brought him to me that time." She defended,

"That was a trick." Kate said,

"Well I'm sure the wail that echoed in the great hall for the next few seconds was quite real." She pointed out,

"Well I'm telling you it was not to intentionally hurt him, it was to make sure you helped us." Robin reassured,

"Well if you hadn't of hurt my brother I wouldn't have tried to capture you, because you could have killed him." Isabella reasoned,

"Right we made a mistake…how are you going to help us?" Robin asked, taking charge of the conversation again,

"Well you tell me what he was doing before he left and I might be able to help you." She explained,,

"He said that he was going to prove his loyalty be finishing what I interrupted." Robin said,

"What you interrupted…he was going to become sheriff if you didn't get out of the well." She offered,

"We relalized that and we came to see if he was going to kill you, because he killed the old sheriff and intended to kill the new one you." Robin said,

"No I know my brother and he wouldn't kill him not even after my betrayals." Isabella reasoned,

"Wait…Prince John's coronation, he was going to kill the Prince but you stopped him." She nearly exclaimed,

"What he knows what will happen if he kills the Prince he wouldn't." Robin protested,

"It's the only thing that makes sense, he said he was going to finish what he started and that means killing the Prince…my brother always was intent of proving his loyalty to extreme extents." She explained,

"We have to stop him, if he kills Prince John then England will be torn apart by war, and King Richard isn't here to stop it." Robin reasoned,

"Well you better get a move on before he does something stupid…Robin." Isabella warned, she then called out stopping him from following his gang out the door to face her,

"What Isabella?" He asked,

"Make sure yopu bring him back in one piece." She ordered kindly,

"And why do you want him alive?" Robin questioned,

"He is my brother Robin…and I love him." She answered, before Robin could give her a suspicious look over,

"We'll bring him back." Robin assured, as he walked out the door, but she followed him out,

"Robin…give me a chance." She begged,

"For what?" He asked puzzled,

"Let me work with you…I will redeem myself." She replied,

"What about Prince John?" Robin questioned,

"What about him…if his death didn't bring about open warfare, I would be alongside my brother right now." She explained,

There was a small pause until Robin replied due to the sense of uneasiness he was getting from Isabella.

"All right…but this is your last chance, don't let me down." He agreed,

"All right but if Prince John decides to remove me from office you have to protect me." She reasoned,

"We'll see." He offered, before he bowed slightly and walked down the hall, as she watched him go,

While they had finally steered onto the right track it was well past noon, and it soon found that Gisborne had stopped at a spring to water his horse, as the temperature was not a pleasant one. While he waited for his horse to drink it's fill, he allowed himself time to stretch his legs as he was in the saddle for quite a few hours, but when he rested by the shady spring, he heard something coming from down stream and decided to investigate.

He wasn't sure if it was simply a wild animal or someone else who decided this spring was an ideal location as well, so he proceeded with caution, but when he heard a Winnie from a horse that wasn't his own he knew he wasn't alone. He carefully poked his head into the clearing while shielding himself behind a tree, and the spectacle that met his eyes was simply too hard to believe.

But there by the stream stood a man who was now past his middle ages, and what was left of his hair was a whitish grey, he wore the usual black clad that Gisborne had seen his former employer wear nearly on a daily basis. But this couldn't be Vaisey, it just couldn't be, there was no way the knife that he plunged into that wretched man's chest hadn't finished the job it was intended to complete.

But just then the man turned around, and to Guy's shock horror it was indeed the man he had intended on killing, why wasn't he dead, surely there was a mistake, there was no way he could have survived that. But then it hit him, he didn't make sure, if there was one thing that Gisborne had learned to heed during the time he had worked under him, and now it was going to be his downfall.

"No." Guy whispered,

But then two guards came up behind him, startled he then turned to defend himself but he wasn't granted the time to draw his sword, and so he was easily captured. He struggled the entire time as he was being dragged towards Vaisey, because he knew what would happen if he was seen, "My lord we found someone by the stream." One guards said, as he yanked painfully on Guy's arms which he held it firmly behind his back,

This caused him to lean backwards due to his instinct which told him to limit the pain he was experiencing, and so his face would have been in full view if it wasn't for the long locks of hair that covered it.

"So what have we here?" Vaisey asked, as he strutted towards his prisoner, he swiftly slapped Guy across his face clearing his hair and revealing his identity, which Ergo already guessed,

"Well Gisborne fancy meeting again…but especially under these circumstances, it's so perfect." He crooned,

"You should be dead, I killed you." Guy protested,

"You're right I should be dead, but you didn't check did you…and no matter how hard I tried you never managed to grasp that little detail." Vaisey mocked,

"I don't do your bidding anymore…why are you here Prince John was the one who asked me to kill you?" Guy demanded,

"I'm here to take what's mine…You're life!" Vaisey screamed in Gisborne's face, "If you must know Prince John has given me the pleasure of hunting you down, so he can personally watch you die…but now that you have decided to come to me I don't need to hunt you down anymore." He explained in a slightly calmer manner, as he nodded a silent command to his guards, and just before Guy blacked out he knew he was in dire trouble,

While back in London castle Prince John is sitting discontentedly at the table to a noon meal with his newly acquired sister Madison, she noticed that he was upset and so she decided she should cheer him up. Despite the fact that she knew what his problem was 'Hood' she still didn't like to see the man who had saved her from her fate upset, because it upset her.

"What's wrong John…you don't seem very happy?" She asked,

"I have incompetence in my employ that's what's wrong." He whined,

"Surely John that is nothing to be that upset about, you can deal with them on your own accord." She reasoned,

"I know but if you hired someone to assume the role of sheriff wouldn't you want them to live up to their expectations?" The Prince asked, turning to look at his sister,

Her autumn colored, fire orange, hair was plated just behind her fringe in order to keep her hair at bay, while allowing it to flow in ginger waves down her back. A small gold, white flower, studded, circlet sat just in front of her plates, and shone in a pale glow from the surrounding candlelight, her warm green eyes standing out because of the intensity of her hair. She wore a long pale bluish-purple dress, with sleeve ends that trailed almost down to her feet, the top half of her dress was set in the style of a bodice, with white lacing underneath.

"Why did this beautiful woman have to be my sister…if she was just another woman I would sweep her of her feet and ask her to be my bride." Prince John muttered to himself, as he studied every detail about her, it was hard for him because he had never found anyone like her before

Since he had found her and she had been living with him, somehow he had changed, he wasn't as ruthless with his followers infact he would go as far to say just, and he cared less about their love, and instead about their loyalty, because now he had someone who on a regular basis told him of her undying love. He would never forget the time he found her in the market place, chain around her neck like a wild animal, and even though she was dressed in rags, from that moment he had a strange feeling for her, and when he found out thy were family, his heart sank.

Even now he wished that he could change their status and see to it that they weren't family, so that way in time he could ask her to be his wife, she knew he loved her more than a sister, but she saw to it that it never went any further. She promised Robin when they last met, that if she could she would do in her power whatever was necessary to change the way Prince John acted, and to an extent she was succeeding.

"Yes I would…but does it really matter how long it takes, when the task is completed in the end?" Madison asked in return,

"You do have a point but patience has never been my virtue." He admitted,

"I'm sure I could help out with that." She said, in a slightly implying manner,

"You can't possibly understand how good it feels to know that I have a sister, my mother only wanted boys." John said, as he smiled contentedly at her sister,

"You don't know how good it feels to have a brother that saved you from the only life you've ever known." Madison returned,

"Touché." He agreed, "But shall we dispense of unpleasant memories for now and enjoy each others company." He added, she gave an appreciated nod before she returned to the meal that was laid before her,

When they had finished, and all that was left before them after the servants had cleared away the remains, were two goblet filled with fine burgundy wine, John turned to his sister.

"Would you fancy a duel?" He asked,

"A duel…I am unsure that I would make a good opponent." She reasoned,

"Nonsense if you are not handy with a sword than I am willing to teach you…just to pass the time because we really don't have anything else to do, and if you keep up your needle work the castle will be overrun with embroidery." He explained,

"All right…but I might not be a very good sport at first." She warned, as she drank the remnants of her wine, before she rose and followed her brother down the hall,

When she separated to enter her bedchamber, she realized that she would have to disguise her fighting abilities, because most of what she could use was already used by her alter ego, 'The Angel of Death'. Going back to when she had been hired by her brother she recalled that she had only killed a man with a device that shot metal disks out of a launching mechanism hidden in her sleeve.

If her brother wasn't familiar with her techniques then perhaps it would be all right for her to bring some of her retired moves out of their little box that had been padlocked and hidden in the deepest part of her heart. But she also had to consider whether she would need to assume her role as the hooded figure once again, and so deciding whether to fight for all she was worth still posed a threat.

Prince John was studying his weapon when Madison walked into the spacious area of the great hall that had been specifically cleared for their use. She was dressed in a reddish maroon colored outfit, her dress was now replaced by seemingly tight-fitting leggings, and the boots she wore were also the same color but made of a satin-velvet texture, and her hair was set in a tight bun.

Her swords sheath was also made of the same material, it was a sword that her brother had never seen before, and in truth he wasn't sure she actually possessed a sword. Her shirt was long sleeved and was also similar in color, but a gold chain bodice was entwined over it, and it would act as a form of armor if the battles became more than sport.

Her brother on the other hand hadn't changed at all, he still wore his usual shades of brown, and accompanied by his brown leather boots, the only thing different was that he had removed his fur lined overcoat, exposing the expensive white undershirt that he possessed.

"Had I known that you were going to dress into your finest dueling outfit, I would have made an effort myself." He admitted,

"I was unaware of what else I should have worn, and I didn't want to seem out of place." She said, as she drew her sword to study its degree of sharpness,

After they were both happy with the status of their chosen weapons, they continued to the center of the room where they faced each other and gradually raised their swords. John was the first to strike an attack, which was easily parried by his sister, she spun and threw a high shot at his head, but he lifted it just enough to block her attempt.

"That man that I've seen you with lately he a friend of yours?" She asked, as they circled each other for a moment,

"Business partner you could say." He replied, with a parry,

"Have you know him long?" She asked with a dodge,

"Only recently…I saved his life." He replied,

"You seem to be making a habit of saving people's lives." She said, as she referred to the time when he had been her savior,

After that their swords clashed high and low so far they were matching strike for strike, but seeing that her brother was not as easy to beat as she thought, she decided to initiate a few moves. When John through a shot above her head, she dropped to a crouched and swung on her hands to knock him off his feet, he fell heavily but it wasn't over yet.

Using his back as leverage he jumped back onto his feet, and stopped the attack she was going to use to win the fight, after his come back he was putting more of an effort in his swings. With one single kick to the hand, she knocked his sword out of his hand, she caught it with her free hand, and then cart wheeled and knocked him flat on his back.

She then swirled her new sword in her hand and when she was crouched over her brother's downed body at his neck she stabbed the swords within inches from his head.

"You are an admirable opponent." He praised,

"Thank you, I picked up a bit from my time amongst the other slave girls." She explained,

Just then Vaisey walked in, after having secured Gisborne in the castle dungeon, he was horrified to see that someone was hovering over him with two swords inches from the monarchs head. He drew his won sword, and when he did Madison drew the swords from the solid wood, in an instant she was at her full height and hurling the sword at Vaisey's head, they struck the wood, mere inches from killing him.

"Ah…Vaisey back so soon?" He asked, as Madison offered him a hand up,

"I apologize for the attack but it was instinct." She apologized, with a slight curtsey,

"Let me guess you're his sister." He guessed,

"That's right my name is Madison nice to make your acquaintance…" She cut her self off waiting for his name,

"Vaisey, Ergo Vaisey." He greeted, still in a state of bewilderment,

"We were just passing the time…so did you find him?" John asked after he had finished buckling his fur lined overcoat,

"He found me." Vaisey replied,

"He found you?" John asked skeptically,

"Yes apparently he was on his way to London for some reason…Perhaps on a mission for Hood." Ergo explained,

At the very mention of the name Hood Madison realized that they had to have on of Robin's men, she wasn't sure which one but she was going to hang on every word until she found out.

"Well then we'll just have to make him tell us won't we?" John crooned, "Have the jailors prepare him for torture, but make sure they don't do anything that could cause him to die, I want him fully awake when I gather the nobles." He added, as he and Madison walked over to the former sheriff, grabbing their swords out of the door,

"Already done my lord they just await your word." Vaisey said,

"Very good…I'll be down in a few moments." He said as he turned to his sister, "A rather interesting duel Madison, we must do it again sometime, if you feel up to it." He continued,

"It would be a pleasure John, but I would like to return to my chambers so that I may change my attire and freshen up.' She insisted,

"Of course… I'll join you as soon as I can…just a small feast I have to prepare for that's scheduled for tomorrow." He agreed,

"Well I was hoping that since you were going to be discussing business for a while if I could venture into the town and look around, the markets are bustling today…and I might be able to find something lovely for the feast." She protested,

"As you wish, you are free to come and go whenever you like, my castle is your castle." He agreed again,

"Thank you…Vaisey." She said biding him farewell, with a slight bow, before she sheathed her sword and left the great hall,

Upon entering her room she was extremely annoyed, with a mixture of, defiance, fear, and loyalty, she wanted to race down into the dungeons and set whoever was in there free. But she couldn't risk being seen by Vaisey or her brother, and because of the duel she just had, she had revealed some of her signature moves, she was now faced with a dilemma.

Secrets have been revealed, and not for the better, Guy is now in the Prince's dungeons, will he become the first victim for the machine of malice, or will Robin make it in time to save his new friend? You'll have to wait and see! :o)