Part 10

The next morning Robin kissed Marian softly on her lips at the door of his room. They did not notice the servant, Rashid who ducked into the shadows watching them closely. Noticing every little detail including the fact that Robin the guest stood there naked from the waist up and Lady Marian stood there in her underclothes with her dress folded neatly over her arm. He came to a correct conclusion, with which he knew just what to do with.

Robin later walked into the living area and came across an angry looking duo, in the form of Will and Djaq.

"What?" he asked them shaking his head slightly; it seemed that whatever was bothering them would soon be out in the open.

"You!" Said Djaq.

"What you did was irresponsible." Will added.

"What? What are you talking about?" Robin asked them.

"Servants talk." Will said his face completely serious and Robin knew instantly what they were referring to.

"Then you should not listen and what I did, what we did was a joint decision."

"That's as maybe but…" Will tapered off.

"Until she remembers it is such a good idea?" Djaq interjected.

"I do not know. Will she ever remember? Are we to spend our lives not knowing from one day to the next if she will ever remember her past? To me she is the same woman I fell in love with. Things have changed but deep down I know it is the same. I can not leave the Holy Land without her. I can not, and will not live without my wife by my side."

Marian caught the last part of the conversation and stood hidden behind the recess of the door waiting to see what was said next. Much as she wanted to remember she could not and she had a vague recollection of someone once telling her that eavesdroppers heard no good about themselves. This however was a too good opportunity to miss and more than that she might learn more about Robin, Will and Djaq in the process.

"I am not saying that, I am saying that having marital relations with Marian could cause consequences, that I am not sure either of you are ready for right now emotionally." Djaq was quick to add.

"We are married." Robin stressed out to them, then with a sudden horrific thought added. "Her wound? Having a child would cause complications?...Death?"

"No more than any other woman. The sword did not penetrate there, but still we do not know what scarring she had inside, from either wound." Djaq told him honestly.

Robin let out a breath he had been holding and whispered. "Good. Discussion over."

"Not until you give us your word." Djaq continued.

"We are man and wife what we do is none of anyone else's business. Do I tell you how to live your life with Will? Did I make you return to England after I thought Marian had died? I can't live without her. Have you any idea how hard it has been these past two years. Have you?" He asked, his voice had risen in volume as he spoke until he was almost shouting at them Unaware that the dark rings under his eyes alone gave more away than he would ever know.

"Robin….We do not mean to…" Will said, trying to placate him.

With his voice now level he said. "Do not speak….. Shall I tell you what it had been like? It has been hell on earth. Sometimes I think that the man who 'killed' her got the better deal, he died, he can't feel what I felt everyday. And everyday that he lived I wanted to kill him to avenge Marian's death. But I did not, and that ate me up inside, each opportunity wasted and there were quite a few."

"Why didn't you?" asked Djaq with a look at Will who squeezed her hand tenderly.

"I did not kill him because I did not think that Marian would have wanted me to." He spat back on a roll now that his feelings were suddenly unleashed from the tight confines he had locked them into. A tear escaped but he did not even notice. "I watched Much fall in love and then I married them, I watched John get closer to his son. I watched Allan flirt with anything in a dress. I had to endure Earl after Earl parade their daughters before my eyes in the hope that I would choose one for a wife, for the now prosperous estate of Locksley….. I had to live with the guilt that I had not provided Marian with a sword and that I had not saved her life. We went to the Holy Land to rescue her and what happened? As far as I knew she died and part of that was my fault." He stopped, and wiped the tears with the cuff of his sleeve, disgusted with himself for letting them fall in front of an audience.

"Robin…" said Djaq softly touching his arm.

He flinched away and they both knew they had caused more damage to Robin at least by keeping her from him.

"We are sorry, we kept her here we thought it best. We hoped she would remember on her own. It seems we were wrong to do so now. But you have to understand we thought of the consequences that if we returned and you had remarried. Or been killed in the final mission from the King to eradicate the Sheriff, his sidekick and the Black Knights from the earth what were we to do with her then?"

"Marian is my wife, she would have been entitled to my estate while she lived at least." He told them softly.

"And would she want to live there without you?" asked Djaq.

"I don't know, she can't remember can she?" he cried back. With a sigh he slumped to his knees, drained as if all the life had been taken out of him. "All I know is that I can't live without her. I came here thinking if I visited her grave it would lay her to rest in my heart. It did not. And now…. now I know she is alive I can never leave or give up on her again."

There was a movement at the door and Will and Djaq turned but Robin steeped in his sorrow and heavy heart didn't even look up. Marian walked into the room.

"How long have you been there?" asked Djaq.

"Long enough," she replied softly walking over to Robin and she knelt down on the floor and enveloped him into her arms. Arms which he seemed to sink into, healing arms which would give him the strength to pull through the turmoil in his brain and the dull ache in his heart of betrayal.

"Marian…" Djaq began but she cut her off.

"Don't. I know you both had my best interests at heart and for that I am grateful. But you can not deny me the pleasure and the company of the man who is my husband. I admit I do not really know him, remember him, but I know that I would not have loved him if I thought he was anything but a good and honest man."

"He is and more." Will assured her.

"And therefore we belong together."

"Well that is very right and true," Djaq agreed. "We are just concerned that some things are too soon."

This time it was Marian who blinked back tears and she admitted to them. "I see you both, happy and more than once I wondered if there was a man out there with whom I could share my life with. Not knowing that all the time I was married. Every time I hold your daughter I wish I had my own child, I love Saflyya like a niece but my heart needs my own child to love too and if…we are lucky enough to be bestowed with such as gift then I am ready right now….Could you give us a moment alone please."

They looked at her with Robin encircled in her embrace and nodded wondering what was going to happen next, until a just over a fortnight ago their lives had been quiet and running smoothly.

Marian soothed Robin as he continued to tremble in his arms, shedding a tear of her own that even the return of her husband was not enough to make her recall who she really was. She wondered who Much, John, Allan were, not realising then that she was going to find out who they were sooner than she anticipated.