”Roxana’s spies from Nottingham were waiting for her and they told her,“The tax collectors from Prince John are squeezing the Sheriff for more t...easure. They are fanning out this very morning to drain the villages of every last copper hidden away. Some of the Locksley folk are trekking in this direction to avoid the tax men.”Rowena was disturbed by the troubling news but she was not yet ready to push the panic button.She gathered the elite warriors of the outlaw band and told them,“We will set. “How’s the drink?” she asked, managing to peel her eyes from his towards the glass in his hand and not towards the rest of his body.“It's good, thank you. It should probably be my last, though, I’m starting to feel it a bit,” Jacob replied with a long, slow sip.Nicki sat herself atop the stool next to him, following his sip with one of her own. “Me too, if I have any more I might not be in control of my actions,” she giggled.Jacob gulped hard and thought about her response. Anyone could see. "Uh, could you call us..." ... As soon as we know something," Courtney responded.As the two were on the way back to their suite, Kathy put her arm around her sister-wife. "I would like for this to be a total surprise for our husband." Yeah, me too," Jill responded, "But remember, he's a sharp guy," she warned. "He'll probably know something is up as soon as he sees us. I've always had problems with keeping much of anything from him, and with what happened with Ingles ... well, I feel guilty. Stand on your hands in the cage."The man just shook his head and said, "It can't be done."Kate touched his hand with her 'persuader' and the man screamed in agony. The smell of shit and piss wafted from his cage as he lost control of his body through the shock."Now look what you did," sneered Kate, "Now I need to get this room cleaned before I can use it again. Stand on your hands, now!"She motioned towards him with the 'persuader'. As the man contorted himself in a vain attempt to do as he was.