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Robin smiled.

"Then let's go ruin his morning."

Nottingham's shire hall was crowded when we arrived on Tuesday.

Oswin had made certain word of the hearing spread throughout the town.

Merchants, burgesses, aldermen, and ordinary townspeople filled the benches and crowded along the walls.

Many had come simply to see what would happen.

That suited me.

Fitzwalter could silence a private meeting.

He'd have a much harder time controlling a public hearing before the King's commissioners.

Robin and I entered through the front doors.

Together.

I won't pretend it was easy. I'd spent three years serving as Nottingham's sheriff, and now I was walking into the town's shire hall beneath a proclamation accusing me of treason and murder.

I carried no sword. Beside me walked the most wanted outlaw in Nottinghamshire.

Every head turned as we entered.

Robin reached up and lowered her hood.

She wanted them to recognize her.

I felt a surge of pride through our bond, followed by the familiar confidence that always seemed to accompany her most reckless decisions.

Two royal commissioners sat on the dais.

The senior was Sir Reynald de Vaux, a tall man with a severe expression.

His companion was shorter and considerably older, with the tired appearance of someone who'd spent too many years listening to men argue over property and money.

Oswin's petition lay before them.

Fitzwalter arrived several minutes later with four armed men.

He entered looking irritated, as though the hearing were an inconvenience that had interrupted a more important engagement. Then he saw us.

He stopped.

For a moment, his expression changed.

Then he recovered and approached the commissioners.

"My lords, before these proceedings begin, I must object to the presence of two wanted criminals."

He pointed toward me. "Guy Bisbane, formerly Sheriff of Nottingham, stands accused of treason, aiding a declared outlaw, and murdering soldiers of the Crown."

He turned toward Robin. "The woman beside him is the outlaw known as the Ghost of Sherwood. She is under a warrant of execution."

His voice carried throughout the hall.