"There's a guard just a few yards away!" hissed Robin, and Marian's mouth dropped open.

"What!" She half-pushed past him to take a look through the gap herself. To her displeasure, Robin was right in what he said: there was indeed a guard! Damn it, why was he here, of all places? Marian cursed silently and ran her hand over her cheek. Cold sweat made her skin clammy and cold; simultaneously, she was sweating with heat.

"What now?" murmured Robin, and Marian's heart skipped a beat when the guard suddenly turned his head towards the door behind which they were hiding. Immediately they both froze, not daring to move a muscle.

'Don't move. Just don't move,' Marian thought. Any slight shift in their position could rattle the chain mail. There was no way they could give themselves away!

'Don't come here. There is nothing here! Just go your way!'

Marian held her breath as the guard stood up. Beside her, she could see Robin's hand slip very slowly under his cloak. The golden beam of light probed across the blade. Marian's throat tightened, and her gaze returned to the approaching footsteps.

Suddenly a loud, booming sound echoed through the corridors. It seemed to tremble every stone, and Marian and Robin flinched at the sudden collapse of tense silence. Every gong of the alarm bell sounded like hell ringing in their ears.

At least it had something positive: the guard widened his eyes, turned on his heel, and stormed off toward the wide staircase leading to the upper floor - toward the counting chamber. Shortly after, two more followed him, and now yelling mingled with the alarm.

"Crap!" Robin groaned, "What now? We can't take the main path. We'd be spotted immediately."

Marian's gaze slid into the hallway, weighing the danger and the possibilities. Her pulse rushed like a wild river in her ears. Her gaze fell on the steps that led further down.

"Come this way," she murmured, hastily reaching for the box.

The further they descended, the more a musty smell came to them. The air was so thick and humid here that it was difficult to breathe after only a few steps. When Marian finally pushed open the door at the latest, and the hinges groaned into the darkness, Robin realized where she had led him.

"Why are you leading me to the dungeons?" Something in his voice sounded suspicious. His gaze settled on Marian with a darker tone, and the light drew sinister shadows on the face beneath the helmet. Robin could not completely rule out the thought that Marian might have changed her mind. Was she now luring him into a trap? Was she going to betray him? Was this all a treacherous plan to catch him - Robin Hood?

'No. Marian wouldn't do that... or would she?'

Doubt was a bitter poison that festered his nerve endings. Robin had been betrayed too many times, and Marian was still Guy's fiancée.

Had the helmet not been hidden, Robin might have seen one of Marian's eyebrows move higher. She pursed her lips into a scowling line and wrinkled her nose. Marian felt the suspicion was totally misplaced! After all, she, too, was currently in the clothing of a guard, dragging the stolen funds through the corridors with him.

"You will be guarding all the exits shortly. Do you think you will escape from the stables with a horse now? The main gate will be locked before you're mounted," she said, barely able to keep the slightly irritated tone out of her voice.

Robin Hood would have to jump over his shadow and get used to the fact that he now had a partner! Whether he liked it or not. She had also never dreamed of one day making common cause with a fallen nobleman and an arrogant long-fingered man like Robin.

Marian pushed aside the dark clouds on the horizon that threatened to darken her mind and mood. It would only distract her and cloud her view of what was essential. They didn't have time for that. Not now.

"You must take the last way out, which they do not monitor," she explained to him, leading Robin into the dank vaults of Castle De Burgh's cells. Many years ago, those had been carved into the heart of the earth and stone. Many walls still had naturally rough surfaces covered with moss and lichen. In some places, the wetness on the rock gleamed in the sparse torchlight.

Suddenly footsteps reached their ears, and Marian hurriedly pulled Robin behind one of the stone pillars. "There shouldn't be a guard down here" she muttered, squinting her eyes to make out anything in the darkness.

From the guard's behavior, which was strolling rather than hurrying, she concluded that he did not suspect what was happening above this dungeon could incriminate him.

"I'll take care of him. Stay here and keep watch so no one can surprise us," Robin murmured softly. He bent to the side, peered around the corner, then jumped out of the shadows, hoping to catch the guard off guard.

But the soldier suddenly stepped back out of reflex. The keys the guard had just been holding fell to the floor with a clang, and the blade of Robin's weapon sliced a crack across his chest. The chainmail shimmered underneath, and Robin leaped forward, ready for the next attack.

The guard, however, shifted quickly. Robin's blow missed, and he drew his sword as well. The soldier and Robin plunged into a fierce battle marked by swift blows. A dance of blades that the guard returned surprisingly well.

Marian suspected it might be one of the few soldiers who returned from the war. Then they switched sides during the fight, and the torchlight illuminated a little more of the pitiful guard between them and flight.

The glow of the light made the threads of the slashed coat of arms over the man's chest glimmer briefly like an attention-seeking signal fire that literally leaped into Marian's eye: red and silver! Not blue, like the De Burgh coat of arms!

The maiden drew in the air sharply, and her heart beat faster. Her fingers pressed harder against the cold, damp stone of the pillar she was hiding behind. The guardian's crest! It was not the tabard of her house. It was the colors of the Sheriff of Nottingham!

Marian opened her mouth to shout to Robin, but just in time, she braked herself and pressed her lips together. If she distracted Robin now, it could mean his death - besides, she would give herself away!

Meanwhile, the tip of the sword whizzed close to Robin. Neither of the two fighters gave each other anything; they both lunged. The sheriff's dog parried, and the blades clashed again. Groaning, Robin forcefully pushed the other away. Then he seized the opportunity and dodged to the side with a deft lunge.

"I'll get you, you dirty rat!" the guard rumbled and swung the blade for the next blow. Robin dived under the curving blow, pushing the man backward and the blade forwards. It took a lot of force, but the blade drove through the chainmail into the man's body.

Immediately he cried out, but the cry gave way to gurgling sounds and groans. As Robin pulled the sword out again, the man fell to his knees - and Robin struck the helmet with the blade and relentless force to send him into blessed unconsciousness.

Marian's body was heavy as she stared at the man, blood seeping from under his body like a dark ink stain, soaking the stone floor. Dead. If he weren't yet, he soon would be.

'What did you expect? That you'd make it without any dead at all? Wake up, stupid girl!'

Marian swallowed as her throat suddenly seemed much tighter.

"Hello...?"

Suddenly a hoarse, raspy urge sounded right next to her.