Disney's Robin Hood: War
Introduction
After the war with Cathal Brugha, Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Little John and Lady Cluck return to England. After a few months, King Richard steps down from the throne and appoints Robin and Marian as the new King and Queen of England. Robin's childhood friend, Eamon Kavanagh has followed a similar path. After the death of High King Brian Boru in a battle against the Vikings, his will is found. It states that since Boru had no heirs, he selected Eamon Kavanagh, "a man with only the best interests in his people," to be the new High King of Ireland. A few months pass and Robin and Eamon keep in touch with each other. However, when troops under an English banner assault the capital city of Dublin, their friendship is put to the test.
Chapter 1: Thirty Ships and Five Thousand Troops Gone
It had been a little over four months since the end of the Battle of Dublin against Cathal Brugha and Robin Hood and his wife, Maid Marian, were living their lives as King and Queen of England. They were of course beloved among the people of England and even considered to be better than King Richard. Their only concern was for the welfare of the people. Robin and Marian had also received word that Robin's childhood friend from Ireland, Eamon Kavanagh, had followed the same path that they had. The High King of Ireland, Brian Boru was killed in a battle against the Vikings, and in his will, he appointed Eamon Kavanagh as the new High King of Ireland, stating that Eamon was a loyal Irishman whose only concern was for his people and his country. He certainly was that, as Ireland was blooming during the post-war period reconstruction. Some laws were made stricter while some laws were lifted all together. Taxes were lowered to a point that the people were comfortable with but didn't destroy the military or government. The same thing was happening in England and the friendship between Robin and Eamon helped to establish an alliance between England and Ireland. The English also profited from Ireland's existing alliances and vice versa. The threat of a Scottish invasion no longer loomed over England and Ireland didn't need to worry about the Welsh raiders. All three rulers enjoyed their time in power, though it was quite a change for all of them. Robin went from outlaw to king in very little time, so it was quite a drastic change of pace. Marian was born into the royal family, but was never in any real position of power. Eamon was a king for a while, but only ruled one region of Ireland and now he ruled all of Ireland. Thankfully, the current time of peace was a good starting pace.
Morning dawned in Nottingham, England and Robin awoke to see his wife sleeping peacefully beside him. He bent down and kissed her cheek, causing her to awaken.
"Morning, Robin." she said as she woke up.
"Good morning, darling." Robin replied as he kissed her.
The two lay in bed for a couple of hours as the sun rose, just talking and enjoying each other's company. Though they had a lot on their hands with running the country, they still made sure that they had time for each other and were still as much in love with each other as they were when they first fell for each other. Even Friar Tuck said that they were the happiest couple he had ever seen.
Soon they decided to get up and get ready for the day. As they headed toward the dining hall for their morning meal, the trade coordinator informed the two that they had a message from Eamon Kavanagh, requesting a temporary increase in the price of Irish exports in order to provide financial aid to farmers in the region of Ulster. A strange disease had swept through the crops, destroying most of them and without their crops they would be unable to support their families.
"Anything for an old friend." Robin replied. Marian smiled and kissed Robin's cheek.
"Very well, sire. I'll inform the merchants of this increase."
The rest of the day was relatively quiet. The peacetime in the British Isles left Robin and Marian with much time on their hands. The Skippy, Sis, Tagalong, and Toby were still very welcome in the castle, along with other commoners that Robin and Marian had befriended. Little John was named Captain of the Royal Guard and carried out his duties to the fullest extent, Lady Cluck, better known as Clucky, was still Marian's lady in waiting, despite Marian's protests. Marian had wanted Clucky to have a higher position but she refused and said that she would be much better off serving her new queen.
Robin and Eamon kept in touch with each other and not just for diplomatic purposes. They would communicate on friendly terms and would occasionally take some time to see each other in their home countries. Robin and Marian went back to Ireland for Eamon's coronation about two months earlier and Eamon decided to pay a friendly visit to Robin and Marian only days after the ceremony.
That evening, Robin was sitting out on the balcony, enjoying to cool evening air. He was soon joined by his wife and the two began talking.
"You know, Robin, I was a bit nervous about taking the position of Queen of England at first, but I'm glad that we're going through this together."
"I suppose that we won't have anything to worry about with the course this country is on. We have no enemies, no worries, and excellent allies. In fact I just received another letter from Eamon this afternoon. Apparently, he and the Scots just repelled a Viking attack in the Orkney Islands. No Celtic casualties."
"Really? I'm happy that the two of you are still friends. It's been so many years since you two first met and to see that you friendship is still this strong is very pleasing."
Robin smiled and kissed his wife. Everything was perfect in his world.
In Ireland, Eamon Kavanagh was in his personal study in Dublin Castle. He had just returned from the Orkney Islands after fighting off a rather pathetic Viking invasion and was writing down the results in his personal journal. His life as the High King of Ireland was about the same pace as Robin and Marian's lives. There wasn't much turmoil in Ireland as when Cathal Brugha was leading his rebels. The only major problem was a shortage of crop production in Ulster which was easily dealt with. The people of Ireland, like the English, had no enemies in the British Isles any longer as Ireland's alliance with England eliminated the threat of the Welsh raiders. Eamon was also enjoying a bit of his love life. He had recently reunited with his own childhood friend, a young woman by the name of Ellen McCarthy. She was a young vixen, the same age as Eamon and the two had first met in the town of Tuam in County Galway and, like Robin and Marian, started out as friends but over time, Eamon began to develop romantic feelings for the young vixen. At the age of seventeen, she left for Cork, the capital city of Munster and Eamon didn't see her for years.
Ellen heard once again heard Eamon's name when news reached them of Cathal Brugha's rebellion and that Eamon was leading the Irish forces. During the war, she prayed for him, prayed that she might be able to see him again. Her prayer was answered two months after the end of the war. She managed to convince her father to go to Dublin to witness Eamon's coronation as High King of Ireland. After the ceremony, there was a celebration in Dublin Castle. There, they finally reunited. Eamon was thrilled to see her face again and was absolutely astounded by how beautiful she had become. That night, the two shared several dances together, happy to just be together again.
That night, Eamon told her about how he felt about her. He told her that since they were teenagers, he had loved her. That was also the night that he proposed to her. Although it had been so long, Ellen joyfully accepted his proposal.
As Eamon was in his study, Ellen came in and asked what he was doing.
"Oh, nothin'. Just documentin' the results of the Battle of the Orkneys."
Ellen looked at the results and read that the Irish and Scots only lost four men total and that the Norse had lost over 500.
"Wow. That must have been an easy assignment." Ellen joked
"Aye, it was. I sent word to me friend, Robin Hood, in England about the battle."
Ellen smiled as she sat down next to her fiancé. "It's good to know that you two are still friends. Even after so long, you two still maintain a strong bond."
Eamon smiled at his fiancé and place a kiss on her cheek. "It's good to know that our friendship can hold up this alliance."
As they were talking, a messenger entered the room. "Pardon me, my lord, but I have a message for you from King Robin Hood." the messenger said.
"Ah, excellent. I'll take it." The messenger handed Eamon the message and he read it. "Ah, perfect. Robin has accepted my request to increase the price of Irish exports. Thank you, sir. You're dismissed."
"Thank you, my lord."
"Well, I suppose that we can begin to provide assistance to the farmers of Ulster."
"It's nice to see that you care so much about the people, Eamon. I'm so glad you're our king." Ellen said with a smile.
"And I can't tell you how happy I am that you are to be my queen." Eamon replied as he kissed his bride-to-be.
A month passed and soon, Robin, Marian and Eamon met again, at Eamon's wedding. Robin smled proudly and Marian let tears of joy fall from her eyes as Eamon Kavanagh and Ellen McCarthy said their vows and the priest pronounced them husband and wife, king and queen. The reception was quite a magnificent celebration. The main hall of Dublin Castle was decorated beautifully, there was food music and dancing and almost half of Ireland was there. There were even a few emissaries from Scotland. Near the end of the celebration, Robin gave his blessing to the new couple and the blessings of every citizen of England and stated, "May our two countries share in the prosperity of this alliance forever." Unfortunately, his words were better said than done.
When Robin and Marian returned to Nottingham and were met by a distressed Little John.
"Rob, I swear it wasn't my fault! They just disappeared! I don't know what happened!" Little John said.
"What is it, Johnny? What happened?" Robin replied.
"At least five thousand soldiers and over thirty ships are gone! No one knows where they went!"
"What! Are you sure of this?"
"Yeah, I'm being serious. All I know is that I didn't give them the 'OK' to go."
"Well then who did?"
"I dunno. But five thousand troops is a big army, Rob."
Robin was silent for a while as he tried to think about what someone would possibly want with five thousand soldiers. As far as he was concerned, there was no reason for anyone to start a rebellion.
"Well, Rob, the only reason I can think of for the disappearance of these troops is that someone obviously isn't in favor of our alliance with the Celts."
"If that's the case, I'd better inform Eamon about these insurgents." Robin said. As he walked away, Little John stopped him.
"There's one more thing, Robin. We're missing a few of our banners. My guess is that the troops took them. If they attack the Irish, they'll be marching under an English banner…and I'm guessing you know what that means."
Robin did know. If those troops were under an English banner that meant the England will have attack their ally, thus beginning a war with Ireland. Robin decided to warn Eamon anyway, as a way of explaining the attack.
A few weeks after the wedding, Eamon received the message from Robin. Ellen was in the room when Eamon was reading the letter.
"What's wrong, dear?"
"Apparently, Robin has a few empty spot in his military inventory. Thirty ships and five thousand troops have gone missing...and I think I just found them." Eamon said as he walked out to the balcony.
"What do you mean?" Ellen asked. Eamon pointed out to the plains of Meath at a huge army marching under an English banner. He then turned to his adjutant who was in the room. "Tell generals McCormack and Yeats to prepare their divisions for battle."
