Dressed in the red gown she had not worn since meeting Count Friederick, Marian wondered what it was about this particular dress that so affected men. The gown was no more revealing than any of her other dresses since her more modest gowns had burned along with her home Gisbourne had torched. The gown's skirt, she admitted, did fit a bit tighter over her hips, but it wasn't the skirt that seemed to enflame men's eyes. Well, whatever it was about the dress, she hoped it would work tonight.
She needed to distract Prince John, so that Robin could escape.
Preparing to join Prince John with the rest of the castle in the banqueting hall, she was surprised when a royal messenger arrived at her bedchamber door, announcing he would escort her directly to the prince's chambers.
Upon arriving, she discovered the prince clothed in a purple velvet robe, delighted to see her. "My Nottingham Nightingale," he purred, kissing her hand. Lustfully eyeing her up and down, he added, "My naughty Nottingham Nightingale!"
Marian barely heard him. Her eyes flew directly to Robin, chained by an iron ring around his neck to one of the Prince's bedposts.
He looked undaunted and determined, which eased Marian's fears for him. And he didn't even try to hide his pleasure at seeing her. She quickly wondered whether he liked her dress.
"Now," Prince John told her, "prepare to spend tonight in paradise!" Marian began backing up as the prince pursued her around the room. "With respect Your Highness," she reminded him, "we are not alone."
"That's only my puppy! Besides, sex is so much more satisfying with an audience."
Marian gasped. Unable to control her tongue, she objected, "That is vile."
The prince had maneuvered her toward the bed, her words having angered him. "Now you're going to get it rough, whether you like it that way or not!"
Seizing her upper arms, he prepared to throw her onto his bed. But he never knew what struck him. At the exact same moment, Robin's fist hit him squarely in the jaw, while Marian's two fists came forcefully up under his chin. He fell to the bed, unconscious.
"Are you alright?" Robin asked her.
"Are you?"
He nodded, smiling. "Together we're stronger," he reminded her, his eyes shining with love. He was so pleased to have her with him, yet Marian could not be glad until he was free again.
"How can we get this off you?" she asked, touching the iron ring around his neck, her eyes full of sympathy.
Robin chuckled, then sat beside Prince John's body on the bed. Pulling off one boot and shaking it upside down, he showed Marian her lock pick and a key.
She smiled back at him. "I'll try the key first." Sliding it into the lock on the ring, she was thrilled when it clicked.
Robin pulled the two sections of the ring apart, and stood, stepping out of it. It made a loud clanking sound when it dropped, hitting the bedpost, but the prince slept on.
"Your neck," Marian said sadly, lightly touching his abrasions with gentle fingertips.
"Kiss it better?"
This time when he said the words, she was happy to oblige, though she kissed his lips rather than his wound.
"Help me find the jewels?"
Marian sighed, wondering again why he was so hell bent on stealing the prince's baubles. Of course, they would go far to help the poor, but there seemed to be something else involved.
Searching the room, Robin found a locked casket. It was heavy, and sounded as though it contained jewels when he shook it.
Believing it was not castle property but the prince's, Robin used the lock pick to spring it open. Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires sparkled forth, but Robin did not appear pleased as Marian would have expected. Digging his hands through the gems, his look changed from one of determination to something quite different.
Marian watched, mystified, as Robin pulled out a string of beads containing a small silver crucifix on its end. His hands shook, and he stared at it as if he could not remove his eyes.
"Rosary beads?" Marian asked quietly, longing to be let into his thoughts again.
Robin sighed heavily. Lifting eyes full of emotion, he told her, "These belonged to my mother."
Marian trembled. She knew Robin's mother had died when he was six years old, giving birth to his only sibling, a still born brother. She knew he had loved her dearly. And now she knew why he had been so determined to steal Prince John's jewels.
"Why would Prince John have your mother's rosary? It isn't valuable. I mean, not valuable except for sentiment."
"He stole it right from her hands, while she was praying." Robin's voice seemed cold, unfeeling and distant. But Marian could tell he was choked with emotion. "We were at King Henry's court, in London. I must have been four or five, and she was helping me learn to pray the rosary. Prince John walked in and snatched these beads right out of her hands."
"How old was he? If he was as young as you-"
"He was old enough to know better...nine or ten. I struck him then, as hard as I could."
"And you were made to promise never to do so again? Yet you hit him today."
"You are a lot more important than any promise." He paused, then pressed the string of beads into her hands. "I want you to have this, my love. And one day perhaps, if we're lucky, I'd like you to pass it along to a precious little girl who's nearly as lovely as her mother."
Marian held the beads, trembling. Lifting her lips, she gave him a heartfelt kiss. Then, remembering his danger, she asked, "Robin, how will you get out of here? There must be five guards outside that door. The entire castle is full of soldiers."
"That's where you come in."
"How can I help?" she asked eagerly.
"Don't be insulted, but I think all you need to do is leave the room and walk slowly away."
She looked at him, questioningly.
"Trust me," he told her. "It will work."
"When will I see you again?"
"I don't know. Soon. Marian, there's one more pleasure I want to share with you!"
She stiffened, surprised. What could he mean? She could never bring herself to...she felt it would be degrading, and wrong. It was named for a wicked city in the Bible, after all. She couldn't. Not even for him.
Robin took her in his arms and began kissing her again, but stopped when he noticed her stiffness. "I only mean I want to spend an entire night together, without me having to leave you. What did you think I meant?"
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Be safe," she told him. "I love you."
"I love you."
Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and followed his advice, walking slowly away. She fingered his mother's rosary, reciting the well known prayer quietly under her breath, with his safety as her intention. And to her surprise, she noticed Robin darting away, without any guards seeming to know he had left.
