It was early in the morning; I had just finished dressing in a light green dress when I saw Guy's carriage pulling up towards our house. I quickly ran down the stairs and opened the door as Guy was walking towards the house. He looked exhausted; a bruise was faint under his chin obviously where Robin had hit him to knock him out. I knew my father stood in the doorway of the house as I walked towards him.

"Are you alright?" I asked him slightly concerned as he held up my ring with a smirk, before he took my hand and placed the ring back on my finger. I gave a small smile looking at the glistening ring around my finger.

"I am now. Will you accompany me to Treeton mine, to see Greek Fire" He smirked, as I raised my eyebrow curious. He held out his arm, as I hesitated before I took it as he led me away. I glanced back as my father watched as I was guided into the carriage and sat quietly. It was a quiet ride to Treeton Mine, as I could see that Guy was slightly excited, as we made our way over to the Sheriff and a man who was pouring black powder from a barrel in a line.

"His name is Lambert" Guy whispered in my ear as I nodded before we stood waiting. When Lambert reached the Sheriff, Guy and I, he turns the barrel upright, corks it, and trades it for a lit torch from an assistant. The Sheriff watches him with his eyes from his horse.

"We are ready. Forgive our excitement, Esme, but we’ve been waiting months for this." He apologized with an excited smile across the face.

"I’m intrigued." I admitted truthfully. I wonder why Guy and the Sheriff were so excited over black powder?

"You’ll be astonished, I assure you." Guy promised as the Sheriff leans on his hand, bored.

"Right. What you are about to see here today demonstrates that by containing the black powder, we can control the charge. Guy’s miners would then be able to place a small charge at the scene. Let the powder do the hard work, and increase production without endangering lives." Lambert explained as I suddenly became frightened of this power. It was a weapon as the Sheriff yawns.

"Please dismount, my lord. There may be quite a bang." Guy warned as I glanced up at the Sheriff he looked bored out of his wits.

"Really?" He questioned flatly.

"And your horse is highly strung." Guy smirked as I bit on my inner lip to prevent myself from laughing. The Sheriff raised an eyebrow before motioning towards his guard.

"It won’t be the only highly strung creature if I’m made to hang around for much longer." The Sheriff complained as I saw Lambert gulp. We waited for the Sheriff to dismount his horse by stepping on the guard’s back. Lambert lights the end of the trail with a torch. He tosses the torch into a bucket of water behind him as he, dash behind a partition made of thin logs.

Guy followed holding me firmly by the wrist as we watched from behind the divider. Guy's hand was sitting on my waist which made me feel rather uncomfortable as I glanced up at him though he was staring at the powder with excitement in his eyes. The Sheriff stands and watches the flame as his horse is led away, then realizes how volatile the powder is as it quickly travels along the line. He ducks behind the partition beside me and peeks out its window.

There is a large explosion as the powder bowl ignites and the horse neighs loudly. I gasped slightly as I ducked along with everyone else beside Lambert. I could feel my back being pressed against Guy's front as I gulped harder, before we slowly stood up once again. I was shocked at the blast, this was a dangerous weapon as Guy, Lambert and the Sheriff walked over to the destroyed ground. I stayed where I was, horrified.  

"Well done, my friend." Guy congratulated Lambert as the Sheriff stands in the centre of the crater and jumps up and down, giddy with excitement as Guy folds his arms and watches him.

"Well done, Gisborne! Get me ten or twenty large, huge crates. Ha-ha!" The Sheriff exclaimed happily as he claps. I couldn't fully understand what they were saying; my ears were ringing still from explosion as I could see Guy glaring furious at Lambert. Oh dear, something isn't going how they planned. I think that Lambert won't agree to the Sheriff's demands.

"Lambert..." I heard Guy admonished as I watched Lambert backing away. "Think about what you’re doing."

"I cannot trust you." Lambert snapped as I watched as the Sheriff steps in to Lambert as guards gather round, drawing their weapons.

"Let me go or there will be trouble." I heard Lambert warn as he started backing away from the Sheriff.

"I adore trouble." The Sheriff smirked as I watched as Lambert backs away more, then takes two short tubes from his belt and throws one towards the Sheriff and Guy, who throw themselves onto the ground. The tube explodes when it hits the ground, as I let out a yelp and duck once again covering my ears before glancing back up. Lambert brandishes the other tube at the guards.

"Get him!" I heard the Sheriff shout as Lambert throws the bomb at the guards approaching from in front of the partition. I duck once again holding my ears, I felt the tremor in the ground as it was a lot closer, as I stumbled onto my side. I coughed before I got to my feet and saw Lambert making a run for it towards the woods as the guards were chasing on after him.

"Emse?" Guy asked as he was soon by my side looking concerned as I coughed.

"I'm ok" I told him before we heard another bomb going off in the distance as our heads snapped in that direction. I gasped a little as Guy's strong arms left mine as he ran forward towards the signs making me bit my inner lip nervous. It might have been a total of fifteen minutes before guards were dragging Lambert back towards the group, he kept struggling though it wasn't doing much.

"Back off!" Lambert shouted as he tried to get out of the three guards grip.

"It was a mistake to run, Lambert. You’ll not renege on our deal." Guy snapped at him, he looked furious as I was slightly worried for Lambert.

"There can be no deal. You lied to me, Guy." Lambert glared at him betrayed.

"You force me to do this. Search him." Guy ordered as one guard started patting his down as I frowned and cautiously came out from behind the divider.

"You promised me you would not use it as a weapon. Please!" Lambert begged as I brushed a stray hair behind my ear. Guy looked furious as I saw the Sheriff mounting his horse before he was about to make his way over, Guy's hand rested on the hilt of his sword, he looked ever so tempted to use it.

"Where is the ledger... with the formula? Lambert is silent. That information belongs to both of us. I commissioned you." Guy snapped.

"And that is where your input ends. Black powder is not a toy, Guy. It is lethal. And I will not let you abuse its power." Lambert warned as I felt like another pair of eyes were watching me. I glanced up towards the woods before I saw a sudden rustle in the branches to see Robin and Little John making me smile slightly.

"Where is it?"

"Somewhere you’ll never find it." Lambert smirked as the Sheriff was beside Guy on his horse.

"Your friend seems to enjoy the power he has over us. Very clever. Congratulations, you just made yourself the most important man in Nottingham, Lambert. So when we hurt you, we’ll do it very carefully." The Sheriff chuckled evilly before he clicks to his horse and the guards follow him with Lambert.

I watched unsure of what to do as Guy shook his head annoyed, before he made his way back towards me. His eyes softened slightly before he placed his hand on my back and guided me back to the carriage.

"You're not coming?" I asked him as he shook his head as he mounted his horse.

"Forgive me. I am needed in Nottingham" He informed as I nodded before he hesitated before riding on after the Sheriff. I sat quietly as I was taken home, it felt longer and more awkward as I grew nervous for Lambert, he would be dead if they knew where the ledger was….