"Out of the way! MOVE!" Gisbourne shouted to his guests, who surrounded the body of Lady Marian, as she lay passed out on the floor of Locksley Manor.

Gisbourne picked up her body and carried it up the stairs, then placed it on his own bed in his chambers. Allan followed quickly behind.

"Marian. Marian, wake up," Gisbourne begged.

Her eyelids fluttered open and she looked around the room in confusion. "Robin?" she asked quietly.

Gisbourne and Allan both froze in horror. Allan managed to recover himself first.

"Look, this used to be his room, right? She probably just remembers bein' here with him in the past." He tried to smile into Gisbourne's furious face. "A long time ago," he emphasized. "When they were just kids."

Despite his doubts, Gisbourne chose to believe Allan. He couldn't live if the truth were otherwise.

"Marian," he said quietly. "It's only me. You need not be afraid."

As she slowly began to regain consciousness, she unexpectantly found herself crying. When she had first opened her eyes, she had recognized Robin's room, and had thought he was here, and that they were somehow married and living together under his roof. But now that she recognized Guy of Gisbourne anxiously attending her, she returned to reality, and she felt hopeless and unhappy again.

Allan shook his head and looked away, embarrassed by her tears. He much preferred a stubborn, strong willed Marian to this weeping willow she had turned into lately.

Gisbourne, however, was strangely moved by her tears. In spite of Allan's presence, he climbed onto the bed, gathered Marian in his arms, and, breathing heavily, attempted to kiss her rosebud lips.

Marian let out a cry, and Allan grabbed hold of Gisbourne's arm to stop him. "Whoa," he cried nervously. "Time and place, Guy, right?"

Gisbourne drew his sword and backed Allan against a wall. "Guy," Allan pleaded, "steady yourself."

"I don't need you to tell me what to do!" shouted Gisbourne.

Marian had recovered herself sufficiently by this time to come to Allan's defense. "Guy," she ordered, "stop that this instant!" Gisbourne turned to see her standing bravely before him, all signs of weakness gone. He sheathed his sword and looked at the ground.

"Now," Marian said, "hadn't we better go downstairs and return to your guests?"

After they rejoined the party, Marian needed to give her anger a chance to cool before trying to pry Gisbourne for information about tomorrow's journey. She also wanted to thank Allan for defying his master and coming to her aid. Making certain that Gisbourne was engrossed in conversation with the Abbot, she maneuvered Allan into a private corner to speak with him alone.

"I don't know how to thank you for helping me earlier," she said gratefully.

"Aw, what is bein' threatened at swordpoint between friends, eh?"

"Well, it really means a lot to me, Allan A Dale." Marian was surprised to feel tears spring to her eyes once again. "Forgive me," she said, wiping away her tears. "I don't know what's gotten into me lately."

Allan was appalled by her recurring tears. He couldn't keep his suspicions to himself any longer, for his sake, but mostly for hers.

"You don't know?" he asked. "You really don't?"

Marian merely stared at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

Allan looked her squarely in the face before answering. "I can't believe you 'aven't put two and two together, Marian."

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked again, growing more and more nervous.

"You say you don't know what's gotten into you? Not bein' funny, but have you ever considered the answer to that just might be..." he paused and took a deep breath before delivering the blow..."Robin's seed?"

Allan watched as the color immediately drained from Marian's face. "His what?" she asked in a voice that sounded like a little girl's.

"Think about it, Marian. It all makes sense. Oh, I gotta go. Giz is signaling for me. Uh, good luck." He thought it cruel to leave her this way, but his master was beckoning, and Giz wasn't the type to be kept waiting.

Marian moved in a daze from the house to the yard. She couldn't breathe in the house, surrounded by all those people and all that candlelight. She needed to be alone in the darkness, without any walls enclosing her, breathing the fresh air of the still September night.

Of course! How could she not have guessed? Ever since she had survived Gisbourne's near fatal wound more than a year ago, she had thought she was a salamander, a creature from legend untouched by fire...invincible. She hadn't even considered becoming with child yet. Of course they wanted children...in the past, she and Robin had often discussed having a family, playfully arguing about how many boys and how many girls...names, dispositions, and features, concocting babies in their imaginations with her eyes, his smile, her earnestness, his wit. Babies made from a combination of their best features and, just as treasured, babies concocted from a combination of their worst.

But this wasn't an idle dream. She knew, now that Allan had brought it to her attention, that she was carrying a new life within her. The love that she had shared and expressed with Robin had born fruit and would soon be a living, breathing human being, God willing! She was frightened as she had never been before, but she was also thrilled beyond her wildest dreams. It felt so right, that their love should create a child!

There would be time to worry and plan for their child's safety...for her safety as well, for her secret couldn't remain a secret forever. But just for this moment, she wanted to bask in the overwhelming joy and wonderment of it. She didn't even want to tell Robin yet...so great was her joy she didn't want to share it, with anyone. Yet, the very next instant, she couldn't wait to tell him!

She looked around the yard, hoping to see him. He promised to be here, but of course, he couldn't be seen. It thrilled her to know he was close. Perhaps he was watching her, unseen, hiding in the shadows. She closed her eyes and tried to feel his presence, but ended up just laughing at herself. She hadn't touched a drop of drink, yet she felt drunk and dizzy with joy.

A thought struck her, and she moved on impulse back into the house. Her eyes squinted as they adjusted to the bright candlelight flooding the room. She saw Robin's former servant, the faithful Thornton, who had been like a father to Robin once his real father had died nearly sixteen years ago, and she longed to share her wonderful news with him. But, of course, she wouldn't. She missed her own father right now, realizing he would miss all the joy this would bring. At last, she spied the person she was seeking, and approached him. Feeling giddy, she looked in his dark, beady eyes, and said, "Father Gerald, may I speak with you in private? I need to ask you a favor. I need you to marry me to Robin Hood."