The snow continued falling throughout the night, and the people of Locksley awoke to a world transformed and blanketed in white.

Even though Grace suffered from a cold, her parents couldn't let her miss playing outdoors in the enchanted snow covered fields. And so, along with Ellen, Grace was bundled into her warmest hat, gloves, boots, and cloak, and was screaming with delight at the wonderment of the white, wet, and frozen snow. Baby Edward napped peacefully indoors, watched over by Bridget Thornton, who assumed the role of "nurse" after Kate's dismissal yesterday.

Robin was enjoying himself every bit as much as his daughters. Gathering fistfuls of snow, he shaped them into snowballs, tossed them high into the air, then smugly grinned as his perfectly aimed arrows shattered them to bits above everyone's heads.

A crowd of Locksley villagers watched in excited amazement as their beloved master performed astounding feats with his bow. Marian, however, was far from impressed.

Sitting astride her horse Tannin, Marian grew more and more impatient for Robin to finish "showing off" and come riding with her. Their stable groom Ian stood by, holding the reins of his master's horse, but Robin seemed in no hurry to put aside his bow, or his enthralled audience, to join his wife for the ride he had promised her.

"Just one or two more shots, Marian," he begged, restringing his bow once his bowstring became too wet for his liking.

Marian glared at him. Didn't he realize she had a limited window of time to enjoy a ride through the snow covered fields, before she needed to return home and nurse Edward? Robin wasn't considering her at all! He was far too busy basking in the cheers and adulation of the crowd. Marian grew more and more angry.

What Robin did next was too much for her to stand. When she saw her husband boost himself up into a tree, hang upside down by his knees from a sturdy branch, line up five arrows on his bow, call for Much to throw five snowballs into the air as quickly as possible, then fire and hit each snowball in rapid succession, Marian dug her heels into Tannin's side and galloped away, to fume far away from the cheers of her village and her husband's swaggering pride.

"I don't ask for much, Robin of Locksley," she fumed aloud, though only her horse heard her. "We have precious little time alone together as it is, and when I want to spend a few moments of it with you, what do you do? Waste your arrows performing your ridiculous tricks! We all know you can shoot, Robin. It's not a secret. And now you've wasted arrows you should have been saving for tomorrow's hunt, doing what? Shooting at snowballs? Grow up, Locksley!"

She continued driving her horse as hard as she could, all the while upbraiding her absentee husband. "We've never had enough time alone, and do you want to know what I think? I think you prefer it that way! When we were first married, and living in Sherwood, we were surrounded by your "gang." Much alone gave us almost no privacy! And then, when King Richard returned, we were surrounded by your servants and your people, all of whom are so interested in all your comings and goings. It's a wonder we have any children at all! But no, of course, you make certain we have privacy then, when it suits you! Well, we'll just see whether-"

She stopped mid-rant, for she heard a familiar voice through the trees. Reining her horse, she perked up her ears to listen.

The words were foreign and unknown, but the voice was unmistakeable, and Marian found her mood vastly improved.

"Stoss harter macht jetzt, Spass!" ordered the voice of Count Friedrick of Bavaria, in commanding tones.

Without hesitating, Marian steered Tannin in the direction of the German voice.