Enemy of My Enemy

Prologue

Disclaimer: all BBC Robin Hood characters and the show are the property of the BBC and Tiger Aspect Productions. No infringement intended, and no money being made.

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Lulled by the rocking motion, Meg dozed, her head pillowed on the cushion she'd placed between her head and the side of the carriage.

She hadn't had much sleep.

Two new suitors in the past week. One at last night's meal, foisted on her without warning by her father and her uncle. They'd no doubt feared she might have skipped off somewhere and avoided the introduction, if she'd known; they were probably right.

This one, Sir Lionel something-or-other, had been more interested in the contents of his goblet than in her. Which didn't bother her at all, not after the efforts of the younger one presented to her earlier in the week. Clean-shaven, with an angular face, Sir Sebastian had spent the entire evening trying to impress her with his talk of what was happening across the Channel. He was full of wild tales and bad poetry, which he said was all the rage at the Angevin court. The kindest interpretation she could put on this was that it was second-hand, received from a friend recently returned. She didn't know why he bothered with his suit. It was clear from the way he spoke that he wished he could take himself off to foreign courts himself. Parental pressure, no doubt. She'd felt some sympathy for him, but not enough to make her like him. By the end of the evening, she'd asked to be excused. She'd struggled with an evening in his company; the thought of a lifetime had been daunting.

Her father hadn't been pleased, and had considered staying another day. But Meg had had enough, both of suitors and of her cousins' teasing. She was more than ready to be home. She would accept her father's tirades, or his bouts of silent disapproval, as the price of some relative peace and quiet.

"Ouch...."

The cushion slipped then, and Meg's head butted sharply against the edge of the window as the carriage jolted to a halt. Huffing, she tossed the cushion aside and sat up.

"What's going on?" she asked, hearing shouts, and the clang of striking blades.

"Pull to the side," Meg heard her father command.

"Where are we?" she asked.

Her maid pulled the curtain aside, and Meg climbed out onto the step...this was Locksley. Her father had said it would be quicker this way, but instead the road was blocked by a group of archers, who had their bows trained on the sheriff's guards. Beyond this, Meg saw the oddest sight: a man, covered head to foot in metal, in full combat with another. The fight surged across road and yard, the two men mauling, shoving, swinging with vicious sweeps any makeshift weapon they could lay their hands on.

The taller one, the one in metal....surely the sheriff's lieutenant, Guy of Gisborne? Which meant the other....

"Who's that, do you think?" she asked.

Esther shrugged. Meg dropped lightly down, asking the man who stood nearest.

"Robin Hood, of course. And Guy of Gisborne. To your right!" he shouted, pressing forward to see better.

The villagers here blocked Meg's view. She tried to push through, but stood in a pile left by a horse that coated her ankle. The smell was appalling. She ran back to the carriage, counting on the fight to keep everyone's attention focused. Behind the carriage, Meg peeled off her hose, and looked around, unsure what to do with them.