Chapter (7) Two years later. (18 years old)


Much and Robin, sitting side-by-side are looking over Locksley from their favorite point on the lush green hillside partially hidden by thick shrubs, their special place where Much can remove his cap and they can talk as friends without worrying about anyone else disturbing them.

Robin looking at Much from the corner of his eyes says, "Much, I'm leaving for the Holy Land. I'm going to fight for King Richard. It's my duty as a Lord."

Much's heart sinks at the thought of losing his best friend then falls further anticipating being dismissed, or worse, being sold to another shire.

Robin sees his face drop and hears the agonizing sorrow in his trembling voice, "Then I will miss you and will try to keep your estate the way you have left it until your return."

Robin smiles, "No, you won't."

Hearing this and thinking the worst as always, Much is now on the verge of tears his eyes watering knowing that Robin is about to dismiss him, "I… I understand. I'm nothing like you. I know you don't want me to manage your estate. Thornton will do much better. I understand if you don't want me to come along, I know you'll get a good price for me. I shall pack." Much puts his hand on the ground and pushes himself up.

Robin quickly grabs him by his arm dragging him back down. Much looks at Robin through his tears perplexed.

Robin concerned that Much had taken his statement the wrong way says, "No Much, I want you to come with me." He pauses studying his friend's face and seeing the fear there, "Why? Did you think I was dismissing you?"

Much nods slightly and quietly still distressed, "Yes, and why not?"

Robin sighs wondering why his friend always takes everything he says to his detriment, "Much, how long have we known each other?"

Much says sadly, "All our lives."

Robin turning to look at him throws his hands up and exclaims exasperated, "Then why, for heaven's sake, would you even consider that I would dismiss or sell you to another Lord?"

Much shrugs his shoulders and wipes his eyes. Robin places his hand on Much's shoulder, "Much, I would never do that. Will you come with me? Much trying to smile tells him, "Wherever you go I will follow."

He then pats Much on the back and gets up. He offers his hand to Much who takes it and stands next to Robin. Robin nods in the direction on Locksley, "Come on Much lets go back." Much reclaims his cap from his belt and puts it back on, once again master and servant. As they are walking back to Locksley, "Tomorrow after we get up, we'll go to Nottingham and I'll buy you a sword and bow." Much confused puts his hands up in front of him, "But I'm not a soldier!" Robin laughs, "Then we'll make you one." Much shakes his head.

Later that night, Robin is awakened from a sound sleep by Much's restlessness and mumbling in his tormented sleep from across the room, "No, not Robin! He can't die, he can't." Much settles down just long enough for Robin to lie back down. Then with such infinite grief that Robin can feel it just from Much's voice, "No Robin! You can't leave me! I don't want to be alone!" Much suddenly bolts upright in Robin's old double bed soaked with sweat and shaking violently.

Much draws his hand down his face and wraps his arms around himself trying to stop shaking, breathing deeply. After several minutes he looks over to where Robin sleeps in his father's large poster bed and finds him sitting up staring at him concerned. Much, his voice still shaking, "I'm sorry for waking you master, it was just a bad dream." Robin folds over his sheets, climbs out of his bed and sits next to his best friend, "It's alright Much. You're safe, and as you can tell," Robin puts his hand on Much's shoulder, "I am too." Much shivers once more, nods and smiles thinly.

Robin asks trying to sooth him, "What was the dream about?" Much, his face wrinkled in thought, "We were in a tent, there was sand all around us and it was very hot. You had been severely injured and I was being told that you were going to… to…" Much hangs his head, covers his face with his hands and shakes his head. "Tell me Much, what were you told?" Much gathers himself, "Going to die and leave me all alone." Robin quietly says, "I would never leave you alone." Much looks at him in mild disbelief. Robin drops and shakes his head, What can I do to make him understand that I love him as my own brother? Robin gets up and walks over to his father's old nightstand, opens the drawer and removes his father's dagger and a narrow thin green and white ribbon that his mother had given him, climbs up at the foot of his own bed, sits with his legs crossed, and beckons Much over knowing from past experience that after such a nightmare Much would never be able to sleep for the rest of the night without him.

Much climbs into Robin's bed like when they were younger and he had suffered from nightmares of his uncle lashing him and when his uncle had been slaughtered in front of him. He sits across from Robin cross-legged as well and looks at the dagger curiously, then at Robin. Robin holds up his left hand, takes the dagger in his righ and slashes the palm of his hand from his forefinger downwards to his wrist deep enough to draw blood and holds his hand up elbow bent. A drop of blood falls off his palm onto the dark brown woolen blanket in between them.

Much wide-eyed unhesitatingly takes the dagger from Robin and slashes the palm of his left hand from the base of his thumb to his little finger, and lays the dagger on the blanket in between them and clasps Robin's with his so their bloody wounds line up. Robin then wraps their hands together with the ribbon, reaches over with his right hand, removes Much's cap, tosses it on the night stand then tosses the dagger on top of it, and looks Much deeply in his eyes with as much sincerity that he can project, "Much, I promise that I will never, ever, abandon you, deceive you, or betray you in any way, on pain of death or merciless torture. Brothers for life."

Much looking back understanding Robin's words and with the same intensity responds, "Robin, I promise that I will never, ever, abandon you, deceive you, or betray you in any way, on pain of death or merciless torture. Brothers for life."

Robin with his eyes still locked with Much's continues, "This seals our bond in blood. Brothers for life!" Much grins, "Brothers for life!" They embrace as best they can. After they release each other, Robin smiling, uncrosses his legs and begins to lie down. Much realizing that Robin is not going to untie their hands lies down as well and draws up the sheets and blankets covering the both of them. Much finding comfort in Robin's presence returns to an easy sleep, which Robin soon follows after hearing his friend's breathing even out. Thus sealing an unbreakable bond between best friends and unbeknownst to them, brothers.

The next morning after they wake up, they again sit cross-legged while Robin unwraps the ribbon from their hands. They are amazed to find that their wounds have started to heal their hands together as though they were one person, they try to pull them apart but the pain stops them. They re-clasp hands for a moment, look at each other stunned, then slowly pull their hands painfully apart, the wounds reopen and Robin tears the long ribbon in half and binds Much's hand, then binds his own.

Later that month after their wounds have healed enough so they don't have to be bound, Much takes Robin's blood stained ribbon and puts it in his pocket but when Robin calls him from down stairs he forgets and leaves his own on the night-stand next to his master's bed. Later that evening when they return to the room, the ribbon is gone. After Robin has climbed into bed and covered up, Much not wanting to ask about the ribbon, picks up Robin's clothes, hangs them up, undresses, and lies down in his own bed across from Robin's, blows out the candle and waits until Robin has gone to sleep before sleeping himself.

The next day they travel to Nottingham and Robin buys Much a bow and sword and several sessions with a trainer for the both of them. Over the next several months they spar with the instructor in Nottingham, and each other on their hill so they won't be interrupted, both gaining proficiency and upper body strength. To Robin's surprise Much seems to be the better swordsman. Where Robin can beat him in archery, Much inevitably wins at sword play. So they practice both, giving each other tips making them better.

A few days before it is time to depart Robin and Much go to visit Marian. Much takes Robin to the servant's entrance and they sneak into the manor. Much takes him up a narrow flight of stairs to the second floor where they exit from a closet into the hallway leading to Marian's room. Robin lightly knocks on her bedroom door. After a brief moment it opens and Marian stands framed with soft fire light behind her and exclaims, "Robin! What brings you're here?" Robin leans against the door frame and smiles crookedly, "You are so beautiful." Marian smiles and steps back allowing Robin to enter her room followed by Much who closes the door then crosses the room to the other side and stands in the far corner. Robin sweeps her into his arms and kisses her passionately. When they separate she leads him by his hand to her bed where they sit together holding hands.

Marian tells him worried, "If my father catches you here without a chaperone he won't let you see me anymore."

Robin laughs and nods to the man standing in the corner next to the door trying to be as invisible as possible. Marian laughs, "He's not the same thing." Robin leans closer and kisses her cheek. Marian closes her eyes and smiles. When she reopens them she asks, "What are you really here for?" Robin pulls away, his smile vanishes and there is a momentary silence. Robin sighs and holds Marian's hand tighter, "I'm going to the Holy Land to fight for King Richard." Marian quietly asks, "And Much?" Robin quietly tells her, "You know he will follow me anywhere." Marian lightly chuckles, "Your shadow. I always knew where you were because wherever Much is you are." Robin chuckles as well thinking, This is going better than I hoped for. But to Marian he tells her, "And wherever Much goes I follow."

Abruptly Marian takes her hand away and hides her face with both of them and cries. Robin's heart falls and moves his hand to rub her back and says what all men say before they go off to war, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I love you."

Marian sobs, "And Much?" Robin smiles knowing that she is concerned for his shadow, "He'll be fine and come back as well." Marian lifting her head from her hands turns to look at him, "Promise me that the both of you will come back safe, alive and whole." Robin tenderly wipes her tears away and moves a strand of hair away from her face, then takes her hands in his own and smiles brightly, "Yes Marian, I promise that both Much and I will return to you safe and whole from the Holy Land."

Marian nods then jumps up and runs to Much wrapping her arms around him sobbing. Startled, Much slowly puts his arms around her and after a few moments Marian slowly stops sobbing and pulls away holding onto his hands and with sorrow in her voice tells him, "Promise me you will protect him and yourself and come back safely." Much, trying to be put her at ease whispers, "I promise."

She hugs him once more and kisses him on the cheek, hangs her head and returns to Robin taking his hands in hers and gazing at him in his eyes, "And you… Protect Much and yourself." She looks from one to the other trying to smile through her tears, "I would say for the both of you to be safe and stay out of trouble, but neither of you would listen." Robin and Much give a light laugh trying to lighten the mood like Marian. Robin kisses Marian once more, pats her hands, gets up and walks over to his blood brother.

Robin nods to Much who opens the hidden servant's door while Robin walks over to him, but before Robin follows him out the door, "Marian…?" Marians looks up through tearful eyes in his direction. Robin barely holding back his own tears, "I love you." He gazes at her to imprint her image in his memory and departs her room and closes the door silently behind him leaving her to her grief. On the way down the servant's stairs Robin asks Much, "How do you know about these stairs?" Much glances back over his shoulder, "Servant?" They share a chuckle as they exit the manor.

The next evening Robin follows Much to Margery's peasant home. Much knocks on the thin wooden door and her mother answers, "Much! And Robin! Come in… Come in…" She stands aside and they enter the small three room thatch and mud home. Margery's mother yells out the back window, "Margery!… Much!" They walk over and sit at the kitchen table to wait for her. In a few moments Margery enters from the kitchen, Much stands, and they wrap their arms around each other and kiss passionately. Robin picks up an apple from the table and takes a bite out of it while Margery's mother smiles, "I'll leave you two and tend to the cows. Be good." She departs from the same door that Margery entered through.

After a moment Much and Margery part and sit next to each other holding hands at the table with Robin across from them. Margery gazing lovingly at Much says, "This is a pleasant surprise. What brings you and Robin here?" Much taking both of her hands in his, following Robin's example from the night before, "I have something to tell you." Margery cocks her head and the smile leaves her face. Much sighs, "I'm going with my master to the Holy Land to fight for King Richard." Margery's face drops and she looks from Much to Robin then back again. "You're going where?" Not wanting to believe what she just heard. Much repeats, "I'm following my master to the Holy Land." Margery takes her hands from Much's but instead of crying she turns and places them on the table and shouts angrily at Robin, "It's all your fault! If it wasn't for his blind devotion to you he wouldn't be going off to die in a meaningless war! I've seen you both go off to the hill with your swords and I knew something was up, but I thought it was just another one of your rogueries." Much, trying to calm her, "Hush Margery, you can't say that, he's our Master." Much pauses, "Besides I'll be safe. I'll be with Robin." Margery turns to him, huffs angrily, and folds her arms in front of her.

Robin looks at her startled but says trying to calm her, "He'll be safe. I won't let anything happen to him." She turns on him angrily, "Safe? Just like when he always takes the punishment for your mischief? Safe like when he almost drowned in the lake?" She sees Robin's startled expression, "Yes I saw that, and you say he will be safe like when he hung upside down from a tree for hours until I came and had to drag you from Marian's because you didn't want him to follow you? Safe like when you made him put an apple on his head so you could shoot it off to impress Marian? Safe, like when the hired bandits came to kill you and he lead them away?" Robin's head snaps over and looks directly at Much surprised. Much hangs his head having never told Robin about why the bandits had killed his Uncle.

Margery still angry goes on, "I can go on and on about how many times he has taken the blame and punishment and protected you and how you have always treated him like a dog, and now…. Now, you're taking him off to war where he's sure to die protecting you because he loves you more than life itself!" Much sits there, his face turning red embarrassed by her outburst, this encounter not going as he had planned. Robin gets up and stands next to the door, "Much, I again will give you the option of staying here or going with me to the Holy Land. I will not hold it against you if you decide to stay."

Margery looks at Robin then at Much, and Much looks first at Robin, then at Margery and sighs with great sorrow, "Margery I love you…" He gets up and stands next to his blood brother, "But I have been with Robin all my life and you left out all the times that he saved me." Margery hangs her head and begins to cry as Robin opens the door and exits. Just before Much leaves he says, "I love you and will be back for you. I promise." Margery looks up at him and through her tears and says, "I won't wait for you." Much sadly nods and closes the door behind him. As they walk away Robin asks, "What did she say?" Much sadly, "She won't wait for me." Robin puts his arm around his friend's neck and shoulder comforting him as best he can as they walk back to the manor in the moonless night not knowing what to say.

When the day finally comes for them to depart, Robin shaking Thornton's hand tells him, "Thornton, I'm leaving the estate in your hands until me or Much returns."

Much asks shocked, "If you don't return what makes you think I will?"

Robin letting Thornton's hand go turns to Much and seriously tells him, "If I am killed then you must survive and return to take care of Locksley and its people. I have left written orders to make you heir to my estate upon my death." Thornton's eyes light up and opens him mouth to tell them his secret but stops when Much panics and grabs Robin by both his arms forgetting himself, looks at Robin intensely in his eyes and exclaims, "NO! Wherever you go I will follow. If you were to die, then I will die… of grief!"

Robin placing his hands on Much's arms as well tells him, "And that my friend, is why I love and trust you without reservation." They drop their arms and when Robin holds up his scared hand, Much takes it in his own. Shortly they pick up their packs and stride down the road and out of sight into the rising sun. Much, as always, follows his best friend and master to their next adventure. Thornton watches the brothers until they are out of sight then returns to the manor uncertain if he will ever see them again.