Chapter 7
Sorry for the long wait. This chapter was very difficult to write. It was more about setting up the next stage of the story and I am still not sure I am happy with it. But to be honest I'm tired of working on it (the chapter, not the story). Thank you to the wonderful reviews. I hope this chapter keeps your interest and you continue reviewing. Those reviews are what make me excited for the next chapters.

His blue hand reached out to pull the handle of his master's lair, but he hadn't the nerve to turn it. He didn't want to go in and face his inevitable fate.

Without warning, the doors flung open and the Dark Elf stood up straighter. His master knew he was there after all.

On the far side he stood, his eyes clearly showing displeasure at his presence. "General, I gave you orders to remain in the field with the army. Why aren't you with the orcs?"

Cringing, the soldier could do nothing but answer. "I'm afraid we…lost the battle at Tripp's Landing."

It took a moment for the news to sink in; to understand their plans did not work out as expected. The Dark Elf shuddered as this was only just the start of the bad news. Then his master asked, "You lost the battle against a bunch of farmers with pitchforks?"

"It wasn't the farmers we fought. The queen sent an army to face us."

His superior got right in his face, "Sent an army to that god forsaken land? How many troops?"

"One thousand men."

The general was spared true retaliation because the news was so preposterous. He had been sure that even if the queen knew they were going to attack, she wouldn't care - not about that land. He was certain the first step to their invasion would be met with indifference and by the time reports of their total numbers had reached Regina and the surrounding kingdoms, they would be onto stage two.

"How many do we have left? Can we mount another attack, perhaps move to another kingdom?"

The Dark Elf shook his head, "No, My Lord. We were, we were wiped out. I watched from my position above, it was a slaughter for our side."

"How is that possible? Even well matched our orcs should have done significant damage to that regiment."

"They had tactics, there was some sort of trap laid out. They clearly knew we were coming and waited for us." The general went on to explain how the battle went. The ditches that stopped the orcs from progressing and the multi sided charge from the queen's forces. His lord turned away walking briskly to a window. Relief flooded the Dark Elf hoping he was wrong for taking the full blame over this.

Looking out at the window, his master shook his head. "The black knights couldn't possibly have strategized such a defense. Someone else had a hand in this. I must know who."

"Will this stop our plans?"

"It changes them. I want to find out everything we can about this failed battle. I shall put Skylar in charge."

He already knew the answer before he asked the question. "Skylar, my Lord?"

"You didn't think I would allow the general who decimated my army to survive, did you?"

Regina watched as the trees passed by the window of her carriage upon returning from her final meeting with King Geoffrey. To say he was surprised at her altering their previous agreement was an understatement, but he was glad to not have to accept Tripp's Landing. She felt foolish at the look he gave her, and part of her cringed at the mere thought he would find out she was choosing to do so more out of sentiment. Now that she had time to think about the gifts she received from her people, she wondered if it wasn't just a plan after all. No one gave gifts to the queen like that. No one gave her credit for actually doing her job. No, it must be Robin's influence.

But why did he care? Why did the bandit keep invading her mind? He was a thief! He was a leader of a band of rebels who actually preferred living outside the establishment of order and reason. Why was she listening to him?

Also, adding to her worries, she was startled to find that while in battle she had been anxious. Actually anxious for his well being.. She hadn't expected that of him, with so many of her soldiers there, he could have, should have, stepped back.

At least Geoffrey knew none of that. They spoke of their concern that orcs even had an army in the first place. Regina expected him to have a fresh report soon. Until she got it, her mind wouldn't let her forget about the outlaw.

Regina heard the shout that signaled for peasants to bow to the queen. Her eyes scanning the people who were gathered on this particular road, she saw exactly what she expected to see: hatred, anger, fear. You'd think these people were her enemies, not her own people. And those of Tripp's Landing, she actually would consent to the fact that they had a right to hate her, hate any of the rulers who for years treated them with, at best, indifference. And yet the people she protected so rigorously showed her nothing but scorn. It just didn't fit.

The more Regina considered it, the more convinced she was right in her suspicions. Robin Hood had an agenda. He was not doing this out of the kindness of his heart. While she was sure their first meeting was accidental, he was a man of opportunity and hoped having the queen in his debt would prove most useful.

She needed to track him down. Instead of his coming to her, she should go to him. She would need to go to Sherwood Forest and find his hideout. She smiled as she had already laid out the first part. The toy clay she gave to Robin had a tracking spell on it. Using magic, she could immediately transport herself within a mile of it. She smiled at she realizes this could work well.

Once back at her castle, Regina had to work quickly. She knows Robin and the merry men would return back to their camp after they were done tending to Tripp's Landing. Making arrangements to be gone from the castle for a few days, an act which isn't difficult considering nobody will miss her, Regina calls out to the tracked clay and before she can blink, she finds herself in Sherwood Forest.

Her eyes scan the direction she faced, the spell was designed to point her in the direction of the item. Using her zoom spell, she spots the outlaw with his merry men. Glancing around the forest, she doesn't sense a camp nearby so she will have to trick the group into taking her back to their hideout. If there is one thing they know about Robin's hideout, it is that its location is sworn to a secrecy that they guard with their lives. Because Robin's pursuers have used traditional methods of trying to locate it, they have always failed. Luckily Regina never was one for being traditional.

Reaching into the bag she brought, she pulled out an item, placing it on the ground. Stepping back, she waved her hand around, reciting the magical words carefully. The rock she had set down now grew and was a small carriage, not so much a carriage, more like a cart. It was haggard but that was the effect she was going for.

Taking a deep breathe, Regina calmed her beating heart as much as she could. The last time she went to Rumple for the disguise spell things had worked out so badly that, since then, she chose to learn her own. Reciting the words, Regina felt herself change. When it was over, she looked down and saw her clothing matched the wagon. When Robin did come along, he would see an elderly lady, not the evil queen.

Hearing their wagon, Regina got into position. She got a potion out of her bag and quickly drank it. She needed to time this just right, the potion would hit her in just a few minutes. Using some dust from her bag, she blew into her right hand while using the left hand to raise the wagon up. Throwing the dust, it turned into the form of a pony and whisked away in the direction of the merry men. With her left, she slammed the wagon into a large tree, not too hard, nobody would believe an old lady could survive too hard a crash.

Shouts from the men made it clear they were rushing in the direction of where the animal came from. Regina laid down next to the wagon, waving her hand to create superficial bruises and cuts, enough to worry them should they have thoughts of simply leaving her there.

It wasn't a moment when she felt a shadow over her. Feigning groans, Regina slowly opened her eyes.

"Milady, are you alright?" It was the heavyset one. His breath smelled like a pig.

She felt the vibrations of footsteps. Her eyes looked up and she frowned when she didn't see Robin at first. Then she felt his hands, how she knew it was his hands she didn't know, on her right arm. He had somehow gotten on the other side of her, and she was startled.

"Easy there, we heard the crash. What happened?" His blue eyes were piercing yet so full of concern. How was that possible? She momentarily forgot her original story.

"She's probably dazed. She may have a concussion," someone said.

Finding her voice, Regina said, "I…Oh, thank you. I don't know what happened. I was making my way through the woods when something spooked my pony. He took off and we hit something and…I don't remember the rest."

"We need to see if you have anything broken. Can you move?" Regina briefly wondered if he showed this much concern for her when he found her in the storm.

Making up sounds like she was in pain, Regina contorted her face to match. "I…I can move but it hurts…oh oh." The fainting potion kicked in. She went lax in his arms.

"She's fainted!" the fat one said. She was glad the potion allowed her soul to leave her body and take a bird eye's view of what was going on, allowing her physical form to remain motionless like she had truly fainted, otherwise, she would have had to roll her eyes at the obviousness of the comment.

"Robin, what do we do with her?"

He gently picked her up in his arms. "We'll have to take her back with us. We can't leave her here."

One of the men didn't like that. "Who is she? How can we trust her?"

The friar had more compassion, "She's a person in need! We can't leave her out here."

"Besides, she's fainted, when she's better we can just mask her so she never knows where we are." Regina smiled triumphantly, That's what you think!

Robin placed her in their own wagon. "Let's just get going." He looked straight up then, and Regina froze. She wasn't visible to the naked eye, you can't see a person's soul but she could swear Robin was looking right at her. How did he know? "You hear that? A storm's coming, I want to get back before the rains set in."

Thunder now echoed in the distance and Regina breathed a sigh of relief. Just a storm coming through.

Unfortunately, the storm when it arrived was thick with rain. She had gotten a good look at how to get to their hideout but when they finally made it there, the rain was so heavy that from her ceiling view, she couldn't make out much. To make matters worse, they had placed her in a structure which couldn't really be called a building, the spell wasn't sophisticated enough to lower her down to be inside the room and she was stuck outside staring down at a rural looking roof made of branches, leaves and other wood.

She was able to hear everything though but nothing of significance was said. After they verified she was okay and someone sat with her, everyone spread out to go see their loved ones. Apparently many of the merry men had families here. Regina didn't know why that surprised her, after all Robin obviously left Roland here, but it did.

She heard the young boy's familiar yell and Robin ran out and picked up his son, throwing him up in the air, just outside the shelter her body was in. She couldn't help but smile now, the rain seemed to have stopped suddenly so she had a very clear view of the reunion. Almost immediately, Robin put his son down and reached behind his back in a satchel he had on his side. He handed something to the boy and Regina got to see how happy her present made him. He immediately stretched his small hands into the box, wanting to get started, but Robin shook his head, obviously it was time for Roland to do something else. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to measure up to playing with his new gift, and he made a face. However, once his father started tickling him, he seemed to cheer up considerably. Regina watched transfixed by the pair, forgetting the real reason she was supposed to be there - to find out what Robin's real motivations were.

They began to walk away and Regina attempted to watch where they went but the spell was over and she found herself falling back to her own body. On instinct she shut her eyes at impact, which was more of a body spasm. When she opened them, she now was back where she belonged and looked up in the eyes of a young man, probably around 19 or 20.

Upon seeing her, he sat up. "Hello. I see you have woken up."

Regina blinked and looked around, trying to get her bearings. The fainting potion gave a feeling of being upside down so it was startling to find herself right side back up. Sitting up, she felt a bit dizzy. The man sitting next to her called for someone, she didn't catch the name except it wasn't Robin.

In came a bald man who sat down on the other side of her. "Careful, my girl, you had a bad fall and might have some additional injuries."

She nearly forgot herself, wanting to tell him to unhand her, but then she remembered she was a timid, frail, old woman. Swallowing, she slowed her movements and tried to grimace. "No one has called me a girl in a long time."

He chuckled. He did have kind eyes though Regina didn't want to admit it. "My name is Friar Tuck. I'm the religious man here at our camp and I help tend to the wounded. This is Sade."

Regina glanced at the boy, well he probably was a man but he did have such a baby face. He smiled. "You don't have to be frightened. No one will hurt you. They brought you with them because they found you on the road."

"I remember," she said, playing the part. "I'm sorry, where am I again?"

Both men looked at each other and it was all Regina could do not to knock their heads together. She hated having to pretend to be ignorant. The older man answered, "May I ask your name?"

"Lucille," she answered.

"Lucille, let me assure you are in a safe place, and we'll tell you about that later. But I want to check you out a little bit more if you would allow me. Someone your age experiencing such a fall like that, it's best to not take anything for granted. Surely you would agree."

Dammit, she should have gone for more middle aged. Tuck's concerns were valid, so she had no choice but to agree to an examination but luckily it wasn't anything too intrusive. It probably wasn't even that long but to Regina it felt like a lifetime. She was so anxious to snoop around and find out what she could. When he was done, he had some brandy to give her, and at least she was grateful for that. The healing potion did make her rather thirsty.

Sade glanced up, "Oh, here he comes!"

And while she was gulping down her drink like it was nectar from the gods, Robin walked in. Shirtless. Regina immediately lost control and drank too much, dropping the mug while choking on the liquid and gasping for air.

Robin immediately approached her. "Milady, I apologize I didn't mean to startle you. Are you okay?"

Her cheeks flushing crimson, Regina recovered and managed to keep eye level with him. "Yes, sir, you hardly need to apologize."

He stared for a beat, probably to verify she was okay. Regina tried to act very natural, but seeing the outlaw like this had made her more flustered like a schoolgirl. It was absurd. She wasn't some virgin on her wedding night! Obviously she was still experiencing the effects of the potion.

"Well, I do. After returning from such a long journey I was anxious to get a bath. When I heard you were awake I wanted to check on you immediately." He stood up then, giving her a good shot of his torso and she had to bite her bottom lip. So much for this visit ending her dreams of him.

He turned around and put on a shirt he had carried in on his arm. When he faced her, he smiled and bowed. "I understand your name is Lucille."

"Yes, and you are?"

"I am Robin of Locksley, also known as Robin Hood."

There was that Locksley name again. She had forgotten about it. "Robin Hood! THE ROBIN HOOD?" She tried to make herself as starry eyed as possible.

He grinned, proud he was recognizable. He would. "Yes, and I'm afraid, for now, you are our guest here for a short time."

"Your guest?" She wondered if anyone would be stupid enough to miss he was implying she was his prisoner.

"Our hideout is not something we expose to outsiders often, but upon finding you after your accident, I worried for your health. A storm was approaching and I couldn't leave anyone in danger, no matter whom they were."

This bothered her for some reason. She remembered what he said on how once he realized she was the evil queen he almost left her, but ultimately couldn't. She looked away.

"Oh, do not worry," he kneeled down to eye level. "We will be glad to return you to your home and back to your family, but we must wait a couple of days, we have a process of escorting visitors away from camp."

"I don't have-" she stopped, realizing she was just going to say she didn't have a family. That wasn't the plan. "I don't have a home, not anymore."

Just as she expected, concern crossed Robin's face. "What do you mean, Milady?"

Does he say that to every woman? "I mean, I lost my home, it was taken from me. The wagon you saw me with was all I had left."

Friar Tuck patted her shoulder. "What happened, Lucille?"

Keeping her voice low, she laid the bait. "The evil queen happened."

A/N: In case anyone wonders why she didn't see the tattoo, the shirt he carried into the hut covered it. LOL, if you were disappointed in the chapter, I figured I couldn't go wrong letting Robin go shirtless and Regina mesmerized by it. In any case, I look forward to hearing your reviews!