And here we were, right at the feet of the mighty Castle of Nottingham.

Marian was being a bit emotional: it was the place of her first years of life, the one in which she and Robin met, and now she can eventually show it to her four kits.

"But beware", whispered Robin, "it's guarded. And I don't want to lose you again."

Little John drew the attention of the couple: "You now are the one worrying too much, loveboy… So, let's refresh the plan: I get the rope, then infiltrate the castle from the tower. At that point, I'll open the drawbridge, and you come in. But beware the guards!"

"Don't worry, we'll be as stealthy as we were in the forest" whispered Alexander.

The four kits had became of a strange kin in their years in the forest: their were capable of being chivalrous and ladylike when necessary, but also tenacious to ferality if pushed. The mother learnt how to shoot the bow from their father, during their years fighting for King Richard, and then in turn taught it to them. They also frequently hunted small game barehandedly, punching, since the less weapons are used, the better for the stealth. And this night, they wanted to measure up just how much could their hunting prowess and skills be transferred onto sieges and battles.

Little John was the first to go, and had the most important, but also dangerous job in his hands: capturing the Sheriff. He swung the rope precisely, fitting the hook onto the frame of the window; then climbed, cautiously, to avoid being dragged down by his own weight. The climb was slow, and while Robin and Marian was observing him, hiding in the shrubberies surrounding the castle, fond memories of their youth, when she lived in that tower and he was the one climbing to it to exchange a kiss at the end of every lark, emerged. But no words were exchanged, for going undetected was much more important now than rekindling memories of their young love.

After a long, exhausting climb, Little John was at the window of the tower. He mustered all his force, broke the heavy wood sashes, and was into the chamber which was Marian's. The Royal Chamber was on the opposite side of the castle: another swung of rope, and this time he could use his weight as a pendulum, making his way to destination faster and stealthier. As it could have been guessed, there the Sheriff was sleeping: the luxurious bed which was Prince John's was now his', since his boss had upgraded for the even more luxurious four-poster in London. And it was now his turn of being softened into a wuss by the easy life: not even the time of waking up and realize what was happening, and Little John was on the Sheriff, gagging and bounding him like it was nothing. Now it was the time to resort to the old tricks: taking up the Sheriff's dresses, disguising himself as such, and opening the drawbridge.

Trigger and Nutsy were still on guard on the inside, with the other guards on the outside: it was easy to fool the two vultures, notoriously not the brightest mind of the bunch; just a crude imitation of the Sheriff's voice was enough to give Little John a pass, and he soon was about to open the way to his friends. But now, the most delicate task was that the Hoods had to endure: getting into the castle without being noticed.

As soon as the drawbridge was opened, six cloaked foxes emerged from the vegetation: Robin, despite his pain, was willing to do everything, even to die if necessary, if that meant his family was protected. Other cloaked figures were placed in the square in front of the castle: they were the Royal Archers, and every time the drawbridge opened the order was to get on the highest alert. They thus loaded their bows, ready for the kill in the case some unauthorized stranger was to present him or herself in front of the castle.

Robin recognized them: they were those which, under the Sheriff's orders, tried murdering him; managed murdering Annabelle; and would have murdered which became his entire family, wouldn't Marian had enacted her perished friend's plan. He was boiling with thirst for blood and revenge: but before it, he had to protect his family, and avoid unnecessary deaths even among the enemies. He thus ordered Marian and the kits to take the moat, swimming to the bridge, and only climbing on it when he would have shown himself between them and the Royal Archers.

The water was filthy with mud and algae, cold, and even brackish: probably, the moat had also been filled with the remains of that used to transport brined supplies, hence the salt. Nothing could by now stop the family, and as soon as they were near the bridge they started looking around, searching for Robin.

But the Archers had seen them: they yet had their weapons loaded and started drawing them, ready to kill all of those five figures which they saw flailing in the water. They almost had released the first shoots, when all of a sudden another cloaked figure was in front of them.

"Who's there?", they shouted in unison.

"Who else can be? It's your good ol' Rob, back with the interests."

"Robin Hood?!", shouted again, absolutely incredulous.

"And Marian, Alexander, Eleonore, Lionel and Roxanne as well."

Robin had bought enough time to make Marian and their kits able to climb the bridge, take their bows from under their cloaks, joining him and starting savagely barraging with arrows the Royal Archers: once the ranged conflict had ended, they drew swords and axes, charging them with a fury never seen before, something only the offspring of the forest could have done. None of the Archers were killed: but many of them were wounded, and all of them were surrounded, swords and axes pointed towards them.

"Marian, that's up to you. What would you like to do with your would-be assassins?"

"They were taking orders; and besides of that, should we reduce ourselves to the levels of our enemies? Let's take all of them into the castle and give medical attention to the wounded ones: even thought they ended up killing a friend of mine, I'm not looking for revenge."

"At your service, my darling. Come with us, into the castle."

The newly-reunited Hood family had proven to be a force to be reckoned with, and the outcome of the operation was clear: the Nottingham Castle was taken over, and now everything and everyone in it was in their hands.