Gosh, things have really escalated since I posted the last chapter! Sincerely hoping that everyone is keeping safe and well!

The heat only climbed more and more in the following days to come. The sweltering and inescapable humidity sapped the strength, will and temper of everyone to do anything other than try and find some reprieve. It proved to be enough to keep any visitors from the manor at bay, including the unshakable Mr Abbot and a certain curly haired bird-boy. While she found the absence of the former a relief, Maria found that of the latter irritating, it only making her more restless. Robin may have spent most of his time trying to provoke her into unladylike fits of temper, but she'd begun to get used to his near constant presence.

The reason for his absence, she supposed rather resentfully, was that the thick walls of the De Noir castle must've offered some advantages for staying cool in the face of the unrelenting sun. The many large windows of the manor house, on the other hand, were having the opposite effect, turning it into a giant greenhouse. Spending time outside didn't seem to make much difference and matters certainly weren't helped by the layers of clothes that Maria was required to wear. She chose the lightest dresses she owned in fabric and colour (staying well away from the dark heavy velvets and brocades of the many dresses Loveday had given her), but her stiff, unyielding, torturous corset seemed to cancel out any advantages these dresses might have offered.

By the time a week had passed, Maria held said corset entirely responsible for each and every discomfort and frustration she was suffering from. Since setting the damn thing alight would only increase the ambient temperature (if that were possible), she resorted to simply flinging it across the room in disgust one morning, dressing herself for that day without it. Half the morning went by without anyone any the wiser to this fact, as after all, it had hardly altered her figure that much to begin with. She'd always been slim and no matter how much she seemed to eat, her body refused to grow any further upwards or outwards.

But Maria hadn't counted on her dear Miss Heliotrope.

She ran into her just as she was leaving the library, a room that had become Maria's refuge for the first few hours of the day as it was slightly less warm than the rest of the house for this time. A greeting for her former guardian was on the tip of her tongue, but the words died on her lips as Miss Heliotrope's eyes swept over her figure. Maria was at an absolute loss as to how she could possibly have realised she was lacking her corset, but notice Miss Heliotrope did and there was a split second as her eyes widened-

And then Maria received the scolding of her life. Most definitely not the sort that she mouthed along with or she could tune out, but the sort that made Maria wince as Miss Heliotrope's voice grew shriller and shriller until surely only bats could hear her. She silently prayed that there was no-one else within earshot to hear her being so thoroughly berated for her utter lack of propriety and decorum, but unfortunately, this time, her prayers went unanswered.

Down the hall, Maria's uncle's study door opened, and to her absolute horror, and then utter mortification, her uncle stepped out, follow by Robin.

Maria loved Miss Heliotrope, she really, truly did. But at that moment she could have strangled her.

"Mrs Digweed!" Sir Benjamin shouted over the top of her, "Please, dear woman, compose yourself!"

It took several moment for Mrs Digweed to do so, her shrieks eventually sub-siding into indignant stutters. Only then did Sir Benjamin turn to his niece.

"Maria," He stated in a tone of would-be-calm, "I understand that these are exceptional circumstances, but perhaps you ought to contain yourself to you own quarters until such a time as you are able to dress yourself properly,"

His patience had clearly already been sorely tried by his butler's wife's screeching, so Maria knew it would best not to argue and forced herself to school her features into an expression that did not reflect her true (murderous) inner feelings. Robin, on the other hand, looked as if all his Christmases had come early. She could see him biting his lip in the effort to contain his mirth. Glowering at him as she passed had absolutely no effect whatsoever; he simply met her glare with a smirk, eyes shining with the promise that she was never going to hear the end of this from him.

As soon as she was out of sight, Maria stormed the rest of the way up to her room, fuming at the injustice of it all. It wasn't fair. Until she could dress herself properly? And what about her uncle? It was apparently fine for him to abandon his waistcoat, collar and surgeon, while she apparently wasn't allowed to abandon any of her layers which weren't even visible! And Robin-

No. She wouldn't think about Robin and his state of dress- she'd already been there and embarrassed herself on that front. Neither would she think about the way his dark eyes had raked down her figure after Miss Heliotrope had drawn so much attention to it, nor about that insufferable smirk he'd given her and the ways she could knock it off his devilishly handsome face. And she most certainly wouldn't think about achieving this by yanking him downwards by those thick curls of his and making him put those lips better use than smirking-

Reaching the safety of her bedroom, Maria slammed the door behind herself and let out a scream of indignation and frustration.

Fair, she supposed, just didn't enter into it.

O

Not wanting to risk running into Robin again, Maria stayed in her room for the rest of the day. Her hopes of slipping out of her secret door into the fractionally cooler forest were foiled by Miss Heliotrope's periodic checks, during which Maria was treated each time to a lecture on the importance of dressing properly. What sort of impression did she want to give of herself? What if there had been guests?

Maria managed to keep her tongue to herself, mainly because she was too hot and bothered to summon the energy argue. She did notice that Robin was absent from featuring in these lectures though; either Miss Heliotrope hadn't noticed him in her dismay over Maria's unsupported figure, or she simply didn't regard Robin as a guest. Maria suspected the former, as although Miss Heliotrope never had quite seemed to reconcile herself to Robin's relationship with her and the rest of the Merryweathers, either as family or Maria's friend (and regarded him, along with the rest of the De Noir as some sort of exception to society), she doubted that Mrs Digweed would have been able to pass up the opportunity to use him as a means of scolding her. And if she had, Maria anticipated that the argument would have been that he would tell all his friends, and they, in turn would tell other people, until word had spread across the whole valley that she had paraded about in nothing but her chemise and pantaloons…

Since the whole of the De Noir clan had already seen her running through their streets in her only undergarments long ago, the true story that she'd actually just been lacking one of her under layers was unlikely to interest them even half as much. And although Maria would never repeat such a spectacle again, the De Noirs had never found that first instance as shocking as the rest of society would anyway. While they still laughed and joked about it, they were rather proud of her for it, now the feud was over and her escape was less of a blow to their pride. In fact, she knew that if anyone else outside the clan ever mentioned it to them, or suggested that her behaviour had tainted her honour in some way… well whoever it was would probably be unwilling to make such comments again, for it would be her honour they would defend.

The De Noirs' perspectives and attitudes to honour and propriety were very different, and as Maria had come to learn these and understand them better, she had found that she really rather preferred them. For on the one hand was a society who would regard her reputation as ruined for acting in such a fashion and shun her for escaping imprisonment by a group of potentially murderous people in such a manner. And on the other was that same group of potentially murderous people who found her manner of escape impressive, daring and worthy of respect because it had worked, and she had bested them, unorthodox methods or not.

That all being said, Maria knew that Robin would still hound her until her dying day about this new unladylike hiccup of hers. Heatwave or not, he would be back the following day with the express purpose of pursuing the subject simply because it was the opposite of the sort of behaviour she was trying to aspire to. She had no intention of giving him this satisfaction, however, so after making an appearance at breakfast (where she took only a piece of fruit since her real purpose there was only to display to Miss Heliotrope that she was wearing each and very layer of clothing she was supposed to), she slipped back up to her tower, along the secret passage behind her fireplace, and emerged out into the forest.

Maria hadn't expected it to be much cooler, even in the shade of the trees. And she was right; the air was just as still, thick and heavy as it was everywhere else in the valley. Resolving to ignore it as best she could (since it was only going to get worse as the sun climbed higher in the sky), Maria adjusted her skirts and started off.

She had learnt in her first year at Moonacre to navigate the forest by its streams, taught by Robin to follow them to learn the layout of forest and always to stick to them if she was ever out without him so she wouldn't get lost. But she trusted in the waters for reasons beyond her trust in Robin and his advice. So close to the sea, all the streams of the forest eventually made their way to it, over the land and under it, and the sea called to her. It was in her soul and its guiding voice always took her to where she was supposed to be.

There was only one place Maria wanted to be today though; it was one of the first places Robin had taken her to, following the breaking of the curse, and among her favourites of the many places he had shown her. Reaching a large mossy boulder, she turned away from the stream and onto an overgrown path. It curved away from the stream for some distance before swinging its way back towards it, sloping gradually downhill and following a gentler contour than if she had stuck to the stream. Eventually, the treeline broke and she was back at its bank. The stream had become considerable larger, and just upstream was the place she was looking for; a sheer rock face, covered in bright green mosses and paler lichens, which slowly gave way to a dark rock towards its centre where a cascade of water tumbled over its edge and into a wide plunge pool.

Letting the noise of the waterfall wash over her, Maria breathed in deeply. Its roar was much quieter than usual, the volume of water rushing over the edge of the cliff much smaller and less hurried given the long duration of hot, dry weather. The pool at its base was also much less turbulent and probably perfect for swimming. Maria would be happy just pulling up her skirts, taking off her shoes and stocking and cooling her legs from the bank, to finally get some peace, being able to fully relax…

The tranquillity of the scene was broken when a figure abruptly dropped from the closest tree. Maria let out a cry of surprise, but of course it was only-

"Robin!" She let out a breath, her shock subsiding. "What are you doing here?" She demanded as frustration quickly took its place; she had come here to avoid him, fully expecting him to go at the manor today and make a fool of her there!

Robin smirked that maddeningly attractive smirk of his before lazily answering. "Why, waiting for you of course Princess,"

Maria shook her head impatiently. "But how did you know I'd-"

"Because I know you," He broke in, "But before you go anywhere else, I should ask, are you properly dressed now? I mean have you at least you got your corset on this time?"

"Oh, get lost Robin!" Maria snapped. Two minutes, it hadn't been even two minutes before he had brought it up-

"Well that wasn't ladylike was it?" He commented, "What was it your governess was saying yesterday? 'All those years, all those lessons, wasted-'"

He was abruptly cut off as Maria shoved him with every bit of strength she possessed. He topped straight over the edge of the bank and into the deep pool, a rather surprising outcome neither of them had expected given Maria's small stature. He resurfaced within moments, but to Maria's immense irritation, didn't look the slightest bit annoyed; quite the opposite in fact, amusement and laughter plastered across his face.

"Oh, you really bring out the worst in me!" Maria accused. The wave of anger that had filled her receded to leave annoyance directed more at herself than at him. Really, why couldn't she exert any sort of control over herself around him?

"No I don't," Robin disagreed, wading forward and pushing his now sopping wet hair out of his eyes, "I bring out you,"

This remark affronted Maria since she wasn't naturally a violent, irritable or impatient person- Well, perhaps she was a bit impatient. But then it struck her that she was impulsive around him. She always ended up acting without thinking rather than assessing the propriety of her actions like she'd trained herself to do. So perhaps he was right…

Robin had hoisted himself out of the pool to sit on the bank and unlace his now soaking wet boots. After removing them, and then his equally wet socks, Maria was jolted from her thoughts by a shower of water droplets as he dived back into the pool, flicking his sodden curls out of his eyes when he resurfaced again.

"It's lovely and cool in here," He goaded, effortlessly treading water. Oh why did he have to be so damned good at everything? How did he manage to turn every situation around and make her into the loser? He pulled his shirt over his head and threw it onto the bank beside his boots where it was likely to dry in a matter of minutes. Maria dug her nails into her palms, trying to keep her eyes well above the water line.

"I can't just… strip down, like you," She managed to grind out, pushing away the proof before her eyes that her suspicions from that night at the dining table had been entirely correct.

"Yes you can. I've seen you in your undergarments before..." Robin raised a suggestive eyebrow, "Unless you've left those off with your corset as well,"

Maria's temper flared. "You're insufferable, you know that?" She snapped.

Robin rolled his eyes, preparing to push himself back from the bank. "Well, suit yourself. Sit there and bake in the sun if you'd prefer…"

He swam away and Maria sat down on the bank and did exactly that. But, she consoled herself, least she now had a view of his shirtless back as well as his front, and could admire those powerful shoulders as he effortlessly cut through the water.

Would they ripple beneath her fingers in the same way?

Completely distracted from her irritation now, Maria leaned backwards until she was lying on her back, closing her eyes against the bright sun and letting her thoughts carry her away. It would be so easy to do what he's said, to strip down to her shift and dive into the pool; the water would be so very cool. It would soak into her long braid, unwinding it so her copper curls cascaded around her and so starkly contrasted with her white chemise. And then, when he took in the sight of her, perhaps it would be Robin's eyes that darkened with desire as well as her own as they met in the water... She'd wrap her legs around him and there would be hardly anything between them, just her thin white chemise, clinging so tightly to her like a second skin, hardly a barrier at all to feeling his hands, so rough and calloused from his years of labour in the forest, running around her waist and up her back. Her own would be sliding up to grip those broad shoulders of his as she tilted her head back so his lips could roam slowly upwards along her throat until finally, finally, they met her own and-

"Princess. Princess!"

Unaware that she must have dozed off into a state of waking dreams, Maria opened her eyes in a haze of confused disorientation. To be confronted with the sight of a concerned looking Robin, crouched beside her, still bare chested and dripping with water.

Was she still day dreaming? Oh she hoped that she was. That way she could let her fingers take the same path of the droplet rolling down his broad chest-

"If you're going to fall asleep," Robin informed her, shattering her hopes, "At least do it in the shade," Peering into her eyes and possibly confusing the dazed, glassy look there with heat exposure, he pressed the back of his hand to her forehead.

"I'm fine," Maria insisted, hastily pulling away from his touch because that was absolutely the very last thing she needed at that moment. I will keep my hands to myself. I will keep my hands to myself. I will keep my hands to myself-

"You need to move into the shade," Robin instructed, moving towards her.

"I do not need picking up!" She cried, immediately scooting sideways out of his reach and at the same time beating away the voice in her head telling her for god's sake to let him, so long as it was to take her to a tree in the shade and pin her to it, help her cool down by running his lips down the length of her neck as he unbuttoned her bodice-

God above, what was wrong with her? It was entirely too hot for this state of mind. And she was a young lady. Young ladies were not supposed to think like that at all, especially not regarding people who were practically family, even if they were devastatingly attractive, impossibly strong, frustratingly arrogant and unswervingly protective -

Maria hurriedly scrambled to her feet, retreating to the shade before Robin caught sight of her once again glowing cheeks. This said shade offered very little reprieve from the fierce heat beating down from the sky and she cursed inwardly as she lowered herself into a spot between the gnarled roots of a willow tree. When would this infernal heat end? And when would she get a grip of her equally intense, seemingly uncontrollable thoughts? Was she ever going be able to restore her equanimity?

Robin followed shortly afterwards, and to Maria's immense relief (and even greater disappointment), he'd replaced his shirt. She couldn't help but notice though, that since he was still damp, it was clinging to his torso in a very interesting sort of way. He knelt down in front of her again and she watched as a droplet of water rolled down the column of his throat, then down his chest before disappearing below the open neck of his shirt.

Luckily, Robin was too preoccupied opening his water skin to catch her eyeing him so very closely. "Drink all of this before you go anywhere else," he ordered, passing his water skin to her, "But make sure you sip it,"

Bossiness was not something Maria usually put up with from him and she usually gave as good as she got. But on this subject, in these circumstances, she couldn't surpass his knowledge or experience of the great outdoors. Not to mention, when he had that determined, protective gleam in his eye, when he was looking after her, she actually rather liked it. So she obediently followed his instructions for once, still mostly preoccupied with the water droplets running down his skin and wondering, since it seemed to be so important to him, whether attaching her lips to his neck would also be a suitable method of re-hydrating…

Heaven help her. But she was probably beyond even that now.

When Robin was satisfied she'd drunk half of the water, he sat down next to her, somehow managing look as if he hadn't noticed the sweltering summer's heat at all. Maria, meanwhile, felt the complete opposite. The water hadn't done a thing to cool her down and she was now redirecting all of her efforts into staying absolutely still so as to not make herself any warmer, something easier, it turned out, than trying to keep her mind utterly blank from inappropriate thoughts.

Noticing her unnatural stillness, Robin glanced sideways at her. "For god's sake Maria, you don't need to be so uptight around me. Your uncle was right, these are exceptional circumstances. Just undo a few buttons or something and let yourself actually breathe. "

Opening her eyes, Maria was unable to summon the will to do little more than narrow them scornfully at him. "So you can tell Miss Heliotrope and get a good laugh out of it you mean?"

He rolled his eyes. "I won't tell, I promise. I'd really rather not have to carry you back to Moonacre in this heat when you inevitably otherwise pass out,"

Maria continued looking at him, suspicions aroused by the fact he actually sounded serious rather than mocking or teasing for once. But he wasn't even looking at her; his eyes were closed and he was leaning his head back against the tree. This happened to give her a full, uninterrupted, view of his profile; his strong jawline, the column of his throat, the hint of stubble creeping upwards…

Maria let out a breath and gave in because something had to give and she really didn't want it to be her self-control. Fumbling to unbuttoned the high neck of her dress, she pushed the fabric aside to try and get as much air to her neck as she could. It was wasn't enough though, and she fiddled impatiently with the layers beneath. Preoccupied, she didn't notice Robin cracking an eye open when she muttered a curse under her breath.

"Robin!" she cried out in surprised indignance when he abruptly lunged, shoving the neck of the dress aside himself. She flushed further more when she realised what it was that had caught his attention.

For around her neck, Maria wore a long, delicate chain, one of the few things she'd inherited from her mother. And hung from it was a feather, the very same one that Robin had left her in London those few years ago, something she'd worn concealed beneath her dresses ever since. She'd kept the note too, still tied with her ribbon, but that remained in her jewellery box. It only occurred to her now, as Robin pulled the feather free from its place and stared at it, that perhaps this had been rather presumptuous of her. She was sure after all that it was one of the smaller feathers that he worn about his own neck. And wasn't that what lovers did; give each other tokens and keep them close?

Maria couldn't see Robin's face properly to read his reaction; he was staring down at the feather lying innocently across his fingers. Pulled forward by the chain, she was close enough to count every single eyelash of his down turned eyes. She hastily tore her glaze away, looking down to the feather as well, just in time to catch him running his thumb lightly down its spine. Despite the blazing heat of the sun above them, the action sent a shiver racing down her own. Oh, how she wanted his fingertips to glide down her own spine in that same way, as if reacquainting themselves with something familiar...

Robin finally glanced up at her slight intake of breath. There was a strange, unreadable look in his eyes which held her frozen in place. Her voice had deserted her as thoughts whispered in her mind. Didn't he know how much how much that feather had meant to her? But then how could he? She had never told him…never told him how comforting it had been to know that he had been in London, that he had been thinking of her. That he had understood.

A piece of home for you Princess.

And a piece of him. Returning to school that first time had made her realise how much she'd missed him. But finding that feather had made her realise how much she loved him too.

"Maria-" Robin's voice was rough, low, barely a whisper and completely devoid of all teasing again but so very differently this time. That gleam in his eye flared so intensely and she couldn't look away. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, close as they were already, but was it her suddenly leaning in or was him?

"OI!"

A shout cut through the trees like a bullet, so suddenly and so explosively it instantly shattered the peace and tension surrounding them. Maria shot backwards, both her and Robin's heads snapping up as figures emerged from the trees downstream. She hurriedly yanked the feather from Robin's grasp and tucked it away, recognising three as Robin's friends and the rest as several much younger boys accompanying them.

"There you are!" Richard hollered again, eyes fixed on Robin and looking annoyed as he broke away to stride towards him, "Should have known you'd be off shirking your responsibilities, again!"

"Sod off Richard," Robin fired back, glaring at him.

"Well, as nice as it must be for you to take another little break," Richard shot back sarcastically, "We're fed up covering for you, so start pulling your weight!" He nodded towards Henry, David and the boys over at the river bank, "Those little toerags have been driving us mad and it's your fault since you're the one who promised to teach them to swim!"

"They can't swim?" Maria spoke up, alarmed, as David appeared to be tossing two of the boys headlong into the pool.

"Nope, not even slightly," Richard answered, sounding completely unconcerned and dropping down into the shade next to her. Maria turned her gaze to Robin but he was already on his feet, and with a last glare at Richard, hastily making his way to the bank where David was throwing the last two boys into the water.

Maria looked back round to Richard in complete disbelief.

"What?" He demanded.

"Shouldn't you go and help?" She suggested.

"Why? Robin's the teacher. He taught you to swim didn't he?" Pulling off his hat, Richard pushed his hair back with an air of total indifference.

"Not by throwing me into a pool he didn't!" Maria exclaimed.

"Well you'd already jumped off a cliff into the sea," He replied dismissively.

Maria closed her eyes and gave a tiny shake of her head. "What an earth has that got to do with learning how to swim?"

"Getting into the water for the first time is the hardest part," Richard elaborated slowly, as if this were the most obvious explanation in the world, "So obviously, it's best just to get it over with and take the plunge,"

"And throwing them into the water and putting the fear of death into them is the best way to go about it?" Maria questioned. She shook her head again, "Well in that case, why not just throw them in from the top of the waterfall and have done with it!"

"Well that would be a step to far," Richard said, fixing her with a patronising expression. "We don't all have supernatural powers like you,"

Maria inhaled, irritation and incredulity threatening to overwhelm her. But suppressing a glare, she turned her attention instead to the bank; Robin was already back in the water and assisted by Henry, pulling the spluttering and splashing boys back towards the bank. David, having apparently done his bit, was heading towards where she and Richard were sat.

"Whiny little gits," He growled, kicking Richard's leg out of the way and sitting down in the remaining patch of shade, "It's too hot to deal with their belly aching!"

"Too right," Richard agreed, dropping his leg back to the ground.

"For heaven's sake!" Maria exclaimed before she could stop herself, "Don't you two have a single ounce of patience or sensitivity?"

"No," David snapped back.

"Well, speak for yourself," Richard remarked, "But I'm famously sensitive,"

David snorted. "Famous my ar-"

But Richard quickly interrupted him. "Now now, mind your language David," He reprimanded, a wicked gleam entering his eye, "If you haven't noticed, we're in the presence of a lady, educated at one of London's finest establishments," He smirked and inclined his head at Maria, "We wouldn't want to scandalise her and send her running back now, would we?"

David looked like he couldn't care less. This was rather unsurprising, as of the three of Robin's friends, he'd always been the least friendly towards Maria and could often be downright unpleasant. Henry had accepted her quickest of three, always perfectly civil. And Richard…well Maria was never quite sure where she stood with Richard. He was somewhere between David and Henry she supposed, not openly hostile, but not openly friendly either.

She met his gaze and looked steadily back at him, refusing to be cowed. "I very much doubt there much left for you to do that could scandalise me," She replied pointedly. "And my headmistress wouldn't take me back anyway,"

"Oh? Why not?" Richard asked, his curiosity getting the better of him, "Did she hear about the time you ran through our streets in your underwear and kick you out?"

"Of course not. But even if she had, I still standby by it. It was completely justified and any reasonable person would agree,"

"I didn't think bitter old spinsters were particularly reasonable," Richard commented. And although Maria very much wanted to contradict him, she couldn't truthfully do so since it was really a rather good assessment of her former head mistress's character. She was saved from giving any begrudging reply, however, by David.

"Would you two just shut up?" He growled, "I'm fed up listening to you. And them! It's too damned hot and I'm fed up of that too, fed up of the sun, the fed up of the heat! And you know what makes is worse-?"

"The fact you won't stop talking about it?" Maria interjected irritably, unappreciative of being reminded of how uncomfortable she was. David gave an snarl of reply but Richard spoke over him before he could verbalise his anger.

"Are ladies supposed to be so snarky?" He enquired, looking at her with an eyebrow raised, "But then you've never been very good at holding your tongue I suppose..."

"I think you'll find I'm very good at holding my tongue," Maria disagreed, "Given what I'm actually thinking,"

"Oh really?" Richard grinned, "And what could that be? Not the urge to swear, surely! You'd never be so unladylike. And of course you couldn't possibly be considering whether or not to hit me either..."

"Ladies are allowed to hit presumptuous men," Maria informed him in a clipped tone, very much regretting the opening she'd given him, "Luckily for you, David's right: it's too hot to move,"

"Well, you seem to have found a practical way of dealing with it," Richard lowered his eyes, nodding towards her open neckline, "Undo one more button and I'm sure I could see exactly why your headmistress disliked you and more besides-"

Maria shot him a look of utter disdain. "What are you? A desperate twelve year old?"

David made a noise, but for the first time since he'd appeared, it wasn't one of derision or antagonism. "That about sums him up," He snorted, turning to look at his friend, "That sensitive approach of yours isn't proving very effective now, is it?"

"As opposed to what, your approach channelling your big brother Dulac's charm?" Richard challenged, glaring at David "I've seen you, and sniffing around the skirts of the women he's finished with-"

"Oh my," Maria tutted, unable to help the small measure of satisfaction their arguing was bringing her, "Turning on each other already? The heat really is bringing out the worst in us all isn't it?"

Richard scowled before turning his attention away from David. "Well it's been good for one thing at least," He muttered, apparently forgetting his insolent attitude toward her in his annoyance with David, "And keeping Robin around at the castle a bit more. If he keeps disappearing so much he's going to land himself in serious trouble with his father-"

"Disappearing?" Maria echoed, this topic catching her interest, "Where's he been going?"

David scowled at her. "You tell us,"

"How should I know?" She frowned.

"Isn't he always at Moonacre Manor?" David demanded.

"Well, yes, but why should he get into trouble for that?" Maria asked, ignoring his rude tone, "His father sends him to work with my uncle doesn't he?"

David only gave an incredulous snort, continuing to glare sourly at her.

"I think his father wishes he would pay quite so much attention to his other responsibilities closer to home," Richard broke in drily, "Like to women, for example. If he could just stop messing about and actually pick one of them, maybe the rest of them will divert their attentions elsewhere…"

"That's your excuse?" David turned his glare from Maria to look at Richard with a half pitying, half smug expression, "Maybe Robin does get more girls than the rest of us but it wouldn't help you even if he did," He grinned, "And why should he just pick one? Why should any of us? It wouldn't be fair for me to tie myself down to just one women when so many of them apparently want me…"

"Well, at least you're modest about it," Richard quipped, choosing resigned sarcasm rather than annoyance to challenge David with this time, "But I suppose that must part be your charm…"

"I don't need to be charming," David said disdainfully, "That's what your problem is. Maybe girls and ladies want charm and sensitivity but any real woman worth time or notice doesn't. They want a real man,"

"And that's what you are is it? A real man?" Richard asked, amused.

"Yes," David said with a satisfied smirk.

Maria, meanwhile, pressed her lips shut during this discussion, halfway between forcing herself to hold her tongue and not wanting to waste her breath to begin with. The conversation, and the direction David was steering it in as he continued bragging of his conquests, didn't impress her and she knew what he was doing. While Richard wasn't exactly jumping to her defence, and was being far more provocative than he perhaps would be if Robin were there with her, she had the feeling he was testing her more than anything else. David, on the other hand, was deliberately trying to make her feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

Well, she wouldn't be so easily excluded. The reason for his antagonism she supposed was to assert his own friendship with Robin over hers, now that she was back. Or perhaps it was just because he had never liked her much, viewing her as an outsider. Either way, she didn't intend to put up with such behaviour much longer. Whether he liked it or not, she was back. His low opinions of ladies aside, she was also the Moon Princess, and she had just as much right to be there as anyone.

"David," She cut in, "You don't have any sisters do you?" It was a statement rather than a question.

"No," He broke off his boasting to look at her contemptuously, "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Because there's one rule about women you're missed out on as a result," Maria told him, "And I think you ought to know it,"

Both David and Richard were looking at her with their full attention now and Maria sat up slowly, gazing determinedly back at both of them.

"Oh?" David sneered, trying to sound disinterested and dismissive of whatever it was she had to say, "And what's that?"

Maria fixed her eyes solely on him. "That while men seem to enjoy exaggerating and bragging to each other, women don't. They do, however, tell each other everything,"

This announcement was met by silence and both De Noirs stared at her.

"Everything?" Richard eventually repeated.

"Everything," Maria confirmed, "All those little details you miss out, all those things that you think are irrelevant or unimportant, women discuss at great length, I assure you,"

Richard narrowed his eyes, though his gaze was appraising rather than dismissive. "How do you know?" he asked. David, Maria was pleased to see, looked downright unnerved.

"Well, apart from being one myself, I've been shut up with dozen of them for the past five years," She was fighting to keep her tone neutral now, her scorn threatening to creep in as she fixed her eyes on David and carried on, "So, as a piece of friendly advice, from the other side so to speak, I would remember that before you crow too loudly over everyone else. Because I don't think that the weather is the sole reason you're so irritable is it David? No, I'd say you're going through more than one dry spell at the moment, wouldn't you?"

The sound of splashing water and shouts from the river filled the silence that followed this statement. The shock on both the De Noirs faces was louder still. And then-

"You lying bastard!" Richard exclaimed, rounding on David and erupting into laughter, "You mouthy, delusional, lying bastard! I knew it, you couldn't satisfy a women if you were the last man on earth!"

David, looking absolutely livid, glowered at Maria, "You little witch! I swear I'll-"

"I'm afraid you make a rod for your own back David," She interrupted him, "What goes around, comes around,"

"Oh, doesn't it just," Richard guffawed, sending a wink to Maria, "I'll see to that!"

Naturally, David started roaring threats at the both of them. Richard only laughed even more though, completely unfazed, and Maria was unable to suppress her own feeling of satisfaction. De Noirs were easy. Lions they may be, but it was the lioness that was truly the more fearsome…

Maria's victory was to be short lived though. Glancing unintentionally toward the river, she caught sight of Robin and Henry looking curiously over to them, their attentions no doubt diverted by the sound or Richard's raucous laughter and David's indignant bellows. As her eyes met Robin's, her satisfaction instantly evaporated.

Hastily gathering her skirts, she stood, tearing her eyes away. But even as she fled from his smouldering gaze, the image of his broad frame, glistening with water again, would, she knew, remain imprinted in her mind's eye for a long time afterwards.

With all that's going on, I've ended up with a little more time than I though for finishing this chapter, which I suppose is a silver lining. The end is rather abrupt, I know, but there was no point continuing to agonise over it when the rest of the chapter was finally there. It's been there, apart from most of the dialogue with David and Richard, for a long time, although the idea of Maria showing David up was always the aim. David as the mean one, Richard as the snarky one and Henry and the nice one is something I use in all the stories I have ideas for, so I hope is something that you like!

The next chapter is a long way from finished, I'm afraid, and when it does go up, whenever I manage to get it finished, the rating will likely by M, so you might need to adjust your filters if you want to keep following. In the mean time, please drop me a comment of what you think! What do you want more of or less off? I got three reviews in the same day for the first chapter, and I was absolutely buzzing with happiness about it! So thank you so much to the writers of those reviews, and also to VioletVampyr for the message you sent me; it was hugely encouraging and motivated me to get this chapter finished and posted!

Obviously it is a scary and difficult time at the moment, but remember we'll get through it. Reading and writing is an escape for many people I'm sure, so hopefully this has helped you in someway. Best wishes for all your health, and stay safe!