The Yeoman's Prologue
Now, last to go was the Yeoman. He had let everyone else go before him, even if they were a lower class than him. Finally, after all had told their one story, the squire piped up: "Mr. Yeoman! Mr. Yeoman! It is your turn now. I want to hear your story now. I heard my daddy's story! Now I want to hear yours." And so, the Yeoman told this tale:
The Yeoman's Tale
Long ago in the reign of Richard the Lionheart, there was a man who stole from the rich to give to the poor. His name was Robin Hood. Everyone knew the stories of him, Maid Marian, and his merry men. But there was more to the story then what people thought, for Robin Hood had a daughter.
Now this daughter of his, named Gwyn, was as stubborn as he was. Therefore, their ideas would often clash with one another. One day, Robin was called to war, and he would not allow Gwyn to go with him and the company of merry men he was taking. And so, as he was leaving, Gwyn locked herself in her room in anger. But little did Robin really know what she was angry about.
Now Richard the Lionheart had only one son, given to him by the only woman he ever loved, was named Phillip. Both he and Gwyn had grown up together. The king thought that by asking Robin for help, Gwyn would always be safe from the outside world, but little did Robin or the king know what went between the two children.
After both Phillip and Gwyn saw their fathers leave for war, they saw their chance. After promising to meet in the stables in ten minutes, they both went up to their rooms to gather their gear. In less than five minutes, both were in the stable, getting their horses ready for the long ride ahead of them. The stable hands went on about their business, thinking that Gwyn and Phillip were just taking their daily rides in the countryside.
Gwyn and Phillip rode past Nottingham and headed to London, where they knew they would be safe for a while from both Gwyn's father's and Phillip's father's wrath. They both knew that if they found out that they had ran away together to secretly get married; both fathers would find a way to put the entire world as a distance between the two of them.
They found a priest who was more than willing to marry them and keep his mouth shut for large sum of money. Soon after celebrating their marriage, they headed back to the palace. The palace servants could tell there was something different about both of them but they kept it to themselves. That night, they had the cook fix something small and something they could take to their own rooms.
They took their dinner to Phillip's room, due to the fact that his room was bigger than Gwyn's was. After they ate, they finished celebrating their secret marriage. The next the morning, they acted like nothing had gone on between the two of them. But the servants could tell there was something that had gone on between them. The cook grabbed Phillip, who was on his way to the kitchen to sweet talk the cook into fixing something special just for him. The cook, however, would not be swayed. She told him that if he hurt Gwyn in anyway, she would see to it personally that he would never be able to get something special nor would he get her cooking, for she would leave with Gwyn first thing the next day. He promised that he could never think of hurting Gwyn, but would seriously take the cook's words to heart. The cook smiled and asked when they were going to tell their fathers. Phillip told her that they would tell when they get back, which would not be for six more months.
Six months later, Gwyn was walking her horse in the stable yard, when she saw her father and the king slowly coming down the road. She and Phillip had heard that their fathers had won the war. While they were happy that they were coming home, they weren't quite ready to tell them the news. Gwyn had already moved most of her belongings into Phillip's room, but had just a few more trucks of clothing that still needed to be moved. Phillip at the moment was in the stable brushing down his horse. Gwyn could hear him talking to the horse. She smiled as she took her horse and led her to the stables.
"Our fathers are coming up the road." Gwyn told Phillip.
Phillip grinned at Gwyn and asked if she was ready to meet their fathers as husband and wife. She grinned back as they both walked out of the stable. Both Robin and Richard were at the edge of the stable yard when they saw Gwyn and Phillip. All of them paused for a second and looked one another over. Robin saw Gwyn's glowing face and bulging belly while Richard saw the gold ring on Phillip's left ring finger. Meanwhile, Gwyn saw her father's long face and bright eyes; happy to be home, while all Phillip saw was his father's bright eyes, burning with rage and anger.
Robin saw it best to say something. " Gwyn! You look wonderful! How are you?" He could see both Gwyn and Phillip relax a little with Robin speaking first.
"Father! I have missed you so much. Come and get resettled in the house. Phillip will take care of your horse," She said happily, looking over at Phillip when she said that. He saw what was going on and told Robin he would gladly take care of his horse. Both Robin and Gwyn headed to the house while Richard was left, still on his horse, with his son. Richard could not understand why Phillip would want to marry someone who was below him in every possible way.
In the end Richard died the week later, and left the country under Phillip's rule until the baby was born, at which time Robin would rule for a while. Gwyn gave birth to healthy baby girl and named her after the mother she never knew. Robin would be the grandfather of not only one beautiful girl, whose personality was just like her mother, but also the grandfather of two more girls and one boy.