She had tried to plead illness, but the Queen had insisted that she join them - and where Queen Eleanor commanded, there was no refusal.

Thus, she now made her way through the hall, circling around the lower tables, stepping over one of the Sheriff's hounds and trying to avoid the smoke from the fires in the two great fireplaces. Torches were lit along the stone walls, but the light was still dim.

Elizabeth had changed from the blue gown she had worn to the fair, having torn the sleeve during her fall with Bishop Waldemar. She was now wearing a gown of rose velvet silk, her girdle simple. She had chosen to forgo wimple and veil, her hair neatly braided and coiled around her head, bound in a gold circlet. A single pearl graced the middle of her forehead. Elizabeth had decided that demure and respectable was probably the most likely way of escaping too harsh a punishment from the Queen...

For with too harsh a punishment, she would likely be confined to her room, making it impossible to bring supplies and news to the fugitives on the morrow...she was desperate to join her friends and would do nothing jeopardize the opportunity.

She was desperate to join Max....

Elizabeth did not understand what was happening to her where Maxwell of Huntington was concerned, but she knew that she had to see him, had to find out why she was so drawn to him, so eager to help him she was willing to risk her relationship with the Queen, any hope of happiness with her future husband, break the law and the endanger the lives of her two closest friends...

She was frightened by the intensity of the way she felt about him...it was as though she had always known him - that they had always loved each other...

For this was what she felt for him - an almost complete stranger - love... She knew with utter certainty that he was the person she was supposed to be with, was supposed to love...

That it was meant to be...

"Well, look who has finally decided to join us..."Sir Kyle muttered snidely as she gracefully took her seat next to him. A servant hurried forward, providing a bowl in which she quickly washed her hands. She met Kyle's eyes briefly, was not surprised to see him glaring at her...she quickly looked away.

"I apoligize for my tardiness Your Grace, my lord." She spoke to the Queen and the Sheriff.

The Sheriff nodded stiffly, clearly not sure what to say. The Queen had no such dilemma. "Well Elizabeth, I have heard about your adventure this afternoon..." Elizabeth pressed her lips together, her eyes firmly on her lap. "It seems that we are going to need to have a little heart to heart later this evening." The kind tone of the Queen's voice caused Elizabeth to snap her head up and stare at her guardian.

Queen Eleanor's eyes were twinkling. "I do wish I could have seen the expression on old Waldemar's face when you trounced him." She snorted, not at all delicately. "If anyone deserves to be pulled off his high horse, it's that one." Elizabeth smiled weakly, unsure what to say. She glanced at Sir Kyle, who looked perplexed and annoyed. Clearly he had been hoping for some different comment from the Queen. The Sheriff just shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"I will apoligize to him milady." Elizabeth finally replied carefully.

"You should apoligize to my father and I as well." Kyle inserted nastily. "Thanks to you we lost those two outlaw Huntingtons. Not to mention you humiliated me...We couldn't even find their two sisters to hold as hostages..." He suddenly eyed her suspiciously..."Where did you disapear too so quickly after their escape?"

"I went to the Chapel to pray for forgiveness for my behavior. I lost my head Sir Kyle. Please forgive me?" Elizabeth decided to play along, although she practically had to force the words out through clenched teeth.

Kyle stared at her for several loaded moments, finally nodded arrogantly.

"There really are more important matters to discuss." The Sheriff cuffed Kyle on the head. "Lady Elizabeth, her Grace informs me that Alexander and Mary DeLucie are nowhere to be found in the castle. Knowst you anything of their whereabouts?"

Elizabeth feigned ignorance. "Alexander told me earlier that he had a small manor near Nottingham. Perhaps he and Mary went to pass the night there?"

"Without telling me?" Eleanor raised an eyebrow imperiously. "What am I to do with that girl?" She smiled despite herself. "She must have been aware that I planned to introduce her to a potential suitor on the morrow. Sir Guy is riding to Nottingham from York for the purpose."

Elizabeth smiled weakly. "I am sure that she knew nothing of the sort your Grace." She was sure the exact opposite was true however.

"Hmmm, I wonder." The Queen turned back to the trencher she shared with the Sheriff. He was still sizing up Elizabeth, an expression of curiousity on his craggy face. He finally spoke, changing the subject.

"As to those outlaws...you are sure you know nothing of either Michael or Maxwell of Huntington milady?" He looked annoyed suddenly. "I still must speak to the bishop this eve, must tell him something. He is determined that I pursue them." The Sheriff clearly thought the whole business ridiculous. For the first time Elizabeth began to feel hope that all would be well for Max and his siblings...She decided that she would do her utmost to hear the conversation between the bishop and the Sheriff... * I will do anything to protect them. * She thought fiercely.

"I know nothing Sheriff." Elizabeth bit her lip. She despised falsehoods. "Are you sure that they are guilty?" She asked suddenly, hoping to get a clearer picture of the Sheriff's intentions. Any news she could provide for Max would be invaluable.

The Sheriff just shook his head, sighing. "I hope not. I liked those boys." He indicated Sir Kyle, whose head was buried in his trencher. "Kyle and I will investigate the clearing tomorrow where Father Desmond claims the men are buried."

"But if they killed outlaws, what is the concern?" The Queen asked, clearly irritated by the whole business. "Those boys are heros, not villains. It seems to me they saved that idiot priest's life."

"And were likely only protecting their sisters." Elizabeth piped up, relishing any opportunity to press Max and Michael's innocence.

"It is the method of the killing that concerns us your Grace." This came from Sir Kyle, entirely too condescendingly phrased for Elizabeth's taste - and she was sure the Queen's. "The priest claims that no weapons, nor even physical means were used. Witchcraft, you see..."

Eleanor stared down her nose at him. "Indeed." She pursed her lips. Elizabeth could see that Sir Kyle was beginning to sour on her guardian. Elizabeth smothered a grin as Kyle blanched under the Queen's frigid stare. He quickly turned back to his food.

As the meal finished, Elizabeth began to strategize her plans for the next day. She had realized quite suddenly that she had no idea where her friends had gone. She knew that they were in the Forest, but Sherwood was vast and dangerous...after all, the whole disaster in which they found themselves embroiled had been the result of an outlaw attack...she knew that she could not venture to the Forest alone...

"Elizabeth." She was snapped out of her reverie by the Queen, who had stood up and was wearily leaning on the Sheriff's arm. Elizabeth felt a momentary pang. Her beloved guardian was becoming more aged by the day. Few people lived half so long as the Queen had - she was already in her seventh decade. Mary often commented that Eleanor's will alone had kept her alive so long.

"Your grace. May I accompany you to your chamber?" She asked now. Eleanor smiled affectionately.

"No my sweet. I am away to bed anyway." She glanced at Sir Kyle, her lip curling slightly. "Spend some time with your betrothed. Good night."

Sir Kyle stood, bowing courteously. He seemed to realize that the Queen was not pleased with him and was trying to make it up to her. She had, after all, been the instigator of his advantageous betrothal. She could just as easily end it.

After the Sheriff had led Queen Eleanor away, Kyle turned to stare at her. "Well, am I to have an explanation?" He demanded. Elizabeth blinked.

"An explanation of what my lord?" She asked warily.

"Of what is going on between you and that Maxwell of Huntington?" He glared at her. "I am aware that everyone sees me as a fool..."The bitterness in his tone betrayed to Elizabeth that it was not her opinion that really mattered to him, but, rather, his father's. His eyes were bright when he looked at her. She felt her heart go out to him - he looked like a lost, little boy. "I am not a fool Elizabeth."

"I know Sir Kyle." She realized that his desire to please his father made him potentially the most dangerous person involved in the drama unfolding. She had to keep him happy and unsuspicous, at all costs.

For Max.

"I swear to you now that nothing is going on between Maxwell of Huntington and I," She crossed her fingers behind her back, silently promising to say a few extra Hail Marys that evening for her lie...Sir Kyle stared at her intently for a moment, and finally nodded. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Later, after spending a quiet hour playing chess with her betrothed, Elizabeth was able to retire to her chamber. She wondered where the Sheriff was meeting with the bishop. She still had every intention of spying on their conversation...it was just a matter of finding them...

She stopped a servant in the upper passage leading to her chamber. "Pray tell, is the Sheriff in his solar?" The servant curtsied and nodded.

"Aye milady. He spends some time with his Seneschal. The bishop will be arriving shortly. Would you like me tell his lord Sheriff that you require to speak with him?"

Elizabeth quickly shook her head. "Nay...Thank you. I will see him on the morrow." The servant nodded and scurried away.

As she moved to enter her chamber, she suddenly felt a shiver descend her backbone. She frowned slightly. It was not a chill, nor was it concern that caused it...

Rather, it was a sudden awareness that she was not alone...

Elizabeth quietly opened her heavy chamber door, wondering why she was unafraid...her heart was beating quickly, but she was not afeared...

The glow from the fireplace was the only illumination in the room. The shadows were thick, impenetrable...

She felt her heart stop as a figure melted from the velvet hangings shielding her bed...He was cloaked, his hood concealing his features, but she knew immediately who it was...

Her breath caught in her throat...