Chapter Four: Friendship
Guy closed his braes as he turned from the red-haired girl. The best part about her was that she looked nothing like Marian or Deirdre. He found her to be entertaining and eager to please—a nice change. Since she had been disowned and was now a hunted outlaw, Deirdre held no interest for him anymore. Sure, he would love to get his hands on her just once—but marriage to her was no longer an option since she would bring trouble rather than power. He began to wonder if he ought to pursue Marian again—she only brought the lands and village of Knighton, but it was better than nothing. He waved at the girl, dismissing her, as she bobbed a curtsey. Perhaps it was time to have a little conversation with Marian; he smiled to himself as he went off to look for her.
Marian was at the stables, getting her horse ready in order to go for a ride; she knew she could let the stable boy do it, but she loved to groom the horse herself. The little gray mare had once belonged to Deirdre, but when she had escaped from Nottingham with the gang last month, Deirdre had had no choice but to leave Alemah behind. Thinking of her friend, Marian smiled to herself. Thanks to Deirdre, Marian seemed nearly trustworthy in the eyes of the sheriff and Guy, and many of Marian's former restrictions had been loosened.
"Marian."
She was startled out of her reverie as Guy appeared behind her. If you speak the name of the Devil ..., she thought blackly. Guy had been keeping to himself since Deirdre had left; his sudden appearance did not bode well in Marian's mind.
"Sir Guy, I did not hear you come in," she chided as she stroked the mare to calm both of them back down.
"I am sorry. I did not mean to startle you. Are you going somewhere?"
Guy's stare was bold and Marian found that she was uncomfortable under his gaze.
"I was just going to take a little ride. It is warm today inside the town and I thought to catch some breezes and cool down."
"That sounds like a fine idea. I'll go with you." Guy motioned for a stable boy to bring his own stallion out.
"Really, Sir Guy, I was hoping for some time alone, as well."
"You spend too much time alone lately. I know you were friends with Deirdre. Her change in status must be very upsetting for you. The fact that she passed herself off as a high-born lady while she was rolling in the hay with Allan the whole time must have upset you terribly." Guy's tone was acerbic, reflecting his own feelings; Marian thought it best to agree while she stayed as close to the edge of truth as she could.
"Yes, well, the whole thing was a bit of a disappointment, I suppose." A disappointment that she got caught, a disappointment that she was disowned, a disappointment that she was outlawed—yes, the whole thing was a disappointment.
"Let me ride with you, Marian. Perhaps we could renew our…friendship." Guy cocked his head and smiled warmly at her, doing his best to be charming.
Marian sighed, knowing in the end that she would give in, but unable to resist a little dig. "So is our friendship only important to you when there are no pretty, rich girls with powerful fathers around?"
Guy smiled ruefully—he should have known Marian would give him a hard time about his attempt to marry Deirdre.
"Marian, are you jealous?" He quirked an eyebrow at her as she looked down, blushing. "You know how much my family's good name means to me. You showed no signs of wanting to help me, so Deirdre was a quick solution. I did not have feelings for her the way I do for you—it would have been a marriage of convenience only. Please let me make it up to you. Let us become friends again." He raised her chin with his gloved hand and stared earnestly into her eyes.
Marian smiled hesitantly at him, swallowed and nodded her assent. Guy's lips quirked up as he ordered the stable boy to help her tack up her horse and then helped her to mount.
Allan and Deirdre walked back to camp hand in hand, dawdling behind the others; Robin couldn't seem to stop grinning, while Will and Djaq seemed suddenly uncomfortable in each other's presence.
As they drew closer, the smell of something cooking caught in Deirdre's nostrils—she didn't feel sick, but it reminded her that she had at least one more month of this morning sickness according to Madeline.
"Allan?"
"Yeah, Luv."
Deirdre peeked at him out of the corner of her eye and he was grinning from ear to ear.
"Allan, you know how I'm sick every morning?"
He sobered a bit as he responded, nodding his head.
"Yeah, what of it? Madeline says it's normal, don't she?"
"Yes, yes, it's normal, but … well, I was thinking. I don't like it."
"I'm not bein' funny, Luv, but what can you do about it?"
"I can leave."
"What?"
Allan stopped dead in his tracks, turning to face her as he grabbed her arm to turn and stop her as well. She was worrying her lower lip and with Deirdre that was never a good sign—it meant she was thinking. Deirdre thinking was usually Deirdre plotting some monumentally foolish thing. There were times when Allan knew exactly why Fàelàn O'Niall had whispered "And may God have mercy on your soul" in his ear as the older man had given him his daughter at their wedding. Sometimes, Deirdre was like a frozen-over lake—beautiful and fun, but you never knew when you were going to slip and fall or crack the ice and go under.
"What are you on about now? You're not goin' anywhere."
"I don't mean to go far. I'll just stay in our cave until the morning sickness part is done."
Thinking about what Madeline had said about the next few months and picturing pregnant women in her mind, Deirdre amended, "Or just 'til the baby's born."
"Deirdre, you can't be serious. You're staying with us and there's an end to it."
"But Allan…."
Allan placed his fingers on her lips and raised his eyebrows at her, lowering his head as he did so to look into her eyes. He replaced his fingers with his lips as he kissed her deeply, his hands cupping her face.
"Now I'll not hear any more talk of you movin' to the cave, understood?"
Deirdre sighed, looking up at him from under her lashes.
"All right Allan, no more talk of moving to the cave, I promise."
He smiled at her and kissed her forehead before they entered the camp.
Much somehow managed to look relieved and stressed at the same time over Allan and Deirdre's announcement. He was relieved that his cooking was not the real source of Deirdre's illness, that the smells were making her ill because she was newly pregnant. He was also stressed that Deirdre was pregnant. He loved children, but the idea of a baby in the outlaw camp raised all sorts of problems, not the least of which being this particular child's parentage—the poor thing wouldn't stand a chance with Allan as his father and Deirdre his mother.
Robin was having similar thoughts about the danger of a baby in the outlaw camp. He had been happy for Allan and Deirdre at first, but the more he thought of it, the more he believed that this was not a good situation. He remembered Seth and how much more difficult things had been for that short time. Not only that, but babies made noise, and the situation also begged the question—if Allan ever had to make a choice between his wife and baby or the gang…well, Robin was absolutely certain who would lose in that case.
Little John had gone for a walk, the news of Allan and Deirdre's baby a sore reminder of the son he had known for so short a time, the son he would likely never see again. He knew Alice was happy now with the bowmaker she had married and that the man was a good father to little Little John, but it didn't stop him from missing his wife and boy.
Will was whittling an arrow while he thought through his jumbled emotions. He loved Djaq—this he had known for some time, but Deirdre and Allan had brought so much chaos with them between her arrival in the camp, Allan's rescue and reunion with the gang, their wedding, her outlawry, and now the baby—the time never seemed right to tell Djaq how he felt about her. He would tell her tonight, straight away after dinner.
Djaq was out collecting the herbs for her medicines. She stopped a moment, resting on her haunches as she thought of the look on Will's face when Madeline had announced that Deirdre was pregnant. He had had a look of shock, but also of happiness. Will was young, but Djaq was certain he would make an excellent father one day. She caught herself imagining that she would be the one to tell him that she was carrying his child and smiled at her own silliness.
