"Your Majesty," Marian cried, hoping her beauty might wield influence with the lecherous King John, "I must protest! My husband cannot shoot one of England's most loyal subjects!"
"Keep still," Isabella barked, pulling off her Nightwatchman mask and flinging it at Marian. "The king may choose any target he wants, and he wants that fool Bonchurch." Smiling suggestively at Robin, she told him, "Shoot, Locksley. Don't keep His Majesty waiting. After all, you're so good at firing off your arrows, and well, other things I won't mention."
Robin, although angry, maintained his composure. For though he hadn't expected this, he was prepared for some sort of treachery. He forced a charming smile onto his face, and wheedled, "Come now, Your Majesty! You can't expect me to spill blood, in front of all these lovely ladies. Pick another target! Let Lord Bonchurch hold something, and I'll shoot it from his hand. Here," he said, removing a ring from his finger, "hold this, Much. My signet ring, Your Majesty. If I can hit it from Much's fingers, I'll even present it to you, with my compliments."
The king pouted, uncertain, until Isabella leaned into him and whispered something in his ear. His spoiled face brightened, as he eagerly listened to her suggestion.
"Very well, Locksley," he conceded, and Robin threw Isabella a guarded but grateful smile. "At the queen's insistance, I agree. But I have a better idea than your mere signet ring! For instance, those jewels in your wife's seashell like ears are far more alluring! You don't mind, do you, my dear?" he asked Marian.
"Of course not, Your Majesty," Marian lied, already beginning to remove an earring, a surprise gift from her husband on the event of Ellen's first birhday. But the king had other plans.
"Stop, lovely Miriam," he ordered. "Allow me!"
To everyone's disgust, King John put his lips to Marian's ear and began removing the earring with his teeth. Much had to physically hold Robin back. But when the king's tongue probed deep into Marian's ear, she made a pretense of sneezing, shaking herself free.
Isabella did not look pleased, until her royal husband spit the earring into his palm and presented it to her. "And after Locksley's arrow strikes the other, my lovely Nightwatchwoman, you will have a pair!" Laughing merrily, he made a joke. "Though not such a buxom pair as Lady Locksley wears!" To Marian, he said, cloyingly, "It won't be long, I trust, Miriam, till my lips begin to nibble on the rosebud tips on that pair of yours!"
Marian looked away, blushing and furious, while Much talked sense at Robin, hanging onto his arm, trying to soothe his temper.
"Just shoot the earring from my grip, Robin, and we can all go home! I mean, look at Marian! She doesn't like the king's revolting advances any more than you do, but she's playing along, and why? For you, and well, for me, too, I suppose. So, the least you can do, is calm down, and shoot. And I do mean, calm down! I'm the one you'll be shooting at, don't forget! You won't miss, will you?"
"I never miss."
"That's better! Alright!" Much gulped, bravely. "I suppose I should go up to Marian and..." He gulped again. "...and take the earring."
"Let me," Robin decided, vaulting over a table to approach the royal dais.
His eyes spoke volumes when looking at his wife, signalling his love, regret, and weariness at having to perform this nonsensical act. Marian, placing her earring in his hand, looked lovingly back at him, her beautiful eyes conveying hope and absolute faith in him.
The king wouldn't allow them to exchange words, for he was growing bored, and wanted the shooting demonstration to hurry up and begin. "Give the earring to Pudgy, and, I know! Spear it into his ear, and shoot it off him that way! Better yet, let's make this really interesting! Blindfold Locksley, and see whether he can hit it!"
"Blindfold him?" Much cried, horrified. "WHAT?"
"I can do it, Much," Robin assured him. "Just keep talking to me, until I raise my bow, then don't move as much as a muscle, alright?"
Much looked understandably anxious. But he trusted Robin's skill with the bow, for he'd been witness to his miraculous shooting on more occasions than he could count, if he could count. Nodding his head, he took his stance, yelping out in pain when a servant jabbed the earring into his bleeding earlobe, then began chattering endlessly, as Robin had ordered.
Robin, blindfolded, at last raised his bow, silencing Much, and everyone held their breath, waiting for him to shoot. Holding steady, Robin seemed to sense his target, and loosed his arrow. Much closed his eyes and prayed.
A split second later, Marian's earring lay on the ground, and Robin pulled off his blindfold to see a pale green Much bent over retching, sick but vastly relieved his ordeal was over.
Marian breathed a silent prayer of thanksgiving, counting the cost of a pair of earrings, even those holding so much sentimental value, a small price to pay for Robin's freedom and Much's life.
James Fitzhugh seethed that Locksley should be let off so easily. He could see Annora gazing at Robin, more besotted than ever. He wasn't done yet, even if the king seemed to be content with a mere pair of earrings.
But Isabella knew better. John and she were united in their hatred toward "Hood," just as she and Robin had been united in their hatred toward Guy. John was only toying with the handsome Earl of Huntington, and nothing could please her more, unless she could be the one toying with him, in private, of course. But since she could not, she might at least enjoy Robin's reaction to her husband's next words, words she had suggested to him when she'd whispered in his royal ear.
"Good shooting, Locksley!" the king proclaimed, snapping his fingers for a servant to bring Isabella Marian's other earring. "And now, shall we watch and see how well I, Robin Hood, can shoot? Miriam! You looked only too eager to get close and cozy with Locksley! Both of you, come along, don't be shy! Put your lips together, and I, Robin Hood, will shoot an arrow through the teeny tiny space under your chins!"
"But, but, but," Much sputtered, "you're not Robin! You can't shoot! You'll kill them!"
"Perhaps," Isabella sneered, smiling triumphantly, proud of the new earrings sparkling in her ears. "We can only hope."
