"Robin!"

Marian followed Robin through the streets of Nottingham the following Thursday, trying to get his attention. He did not pause nor acknowledge her in any way while he briskly walked on, but Marian realized he had heard her, for he ducked into a private booth where they would not be seen. She caught up and joined him.

"You're looking well," he told her, very pleased that she was.

"Only well? Don't tell me you're tiring of me, Locksley. Whatever happened to gorgeous? Or, what was it you called me before...striking?"

He laughed, then took her in his arms and kissed her, proving he would never tire of her. "The last time I saw you-"

"I was drenched to the skin. So were you. Why didn't you stop just now, when I called your name?"

"So that sheriff's men could arrest me? You need to stop saying my name out loud where everyone can hear you, my love."

She hadn't realized. It was not the first time she had called out in his name, following him through Nottingham. "I didn't think! It won't happen again." Then, after a pause while he simply smiled lovingly at her, she told him, "I don't need Djaq, Robin. I visited Matilda, and I'm fine."

"Good." They kissed again, and forgot everything else for a moment or two. But knowing they only had a few moments more, she told him, "I learned something else about the sheriff's Shah Mat scheme."

He waited, intently listening.

She continued. "Not only will the sheriff's mercenaries meet the king wherever he lands, Prince John's army will be there as well."

"So the king won't stand a chance," Robin worried. "We've got to stop it, Marian."

"How?"

"I'll think of something."

She nodded her head, determined to do whatever it took to help him.

Just then, Much pulled back the cloth and whispered, "Master!"

"I have to go," Robin said.

"I know."

Robin looked deeply at her, then ducked out from behind the cloth first, disappearing into the crowd. As Marian was about to leave as well, Much loudly whispered, "Nettlestone."

"Pardon?"

"Robin's birthday. It's all arranged. We're having a party in Nettlestone village, in the barn. But don't tell Robin! It's a surprise. Will you come?"

"Yes, of course! When?"

"On his birthday, of course!"

"I know that, Much. What time?"

Much considered. "It's difficult to say. We'll be roasting a pig, and it takes a long time for pork to cook."

"I'll arrive for supper. Will that do?"

"Yes! Supper! Yes!"

"You need to go, Much," she reminded him. "Thank you for inviting me."

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to think of what to say, which wasn't like him. Usually, he just spoke without thinking. Watching him go, Marian realized her relationship with Robin meant a great deal to Much. When she became Robin's wife in law as well as in their hearts, she knew that she would no longer belong simply to herself and to Robin, but to all the people who so strongly loved him. Their child would be included in the peoples' hearts as well, rather like royalty was. It was a daunting thought for someone as independent as herself.

She thought about the party in Nettlestone, surrounded by not only Robin's small gang but by an entire village! Much meant well, but Marian would have preferred him to have planned something smaller, with just herself and the gang in the forest. It would be difficult to speak to Robin alone with everyone clamoring for his attention. She would need to be patient, and after the party wound down, pull Robin aside and present her gift, together with her news. The thought put excited little flutterings inside her. She felt she could hardly wait for the fourteenth to arrive.

...

The day did arrive, in due course.

Marian felt better now and strong again, with only occasional bouts of mild morning sickness. She had regained some of the weight she had lost, but was still slightly thinner than usual. That would correct itself soon, she realized, but it wouldn't matter if her figure began to show. After tonight, she would be in the forest for good, with the man she loved.

She was just putting the finishing touches on the baby bonnet she would present to Robin that evening, when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in!"

Guy entered, and she smiled at him, happy as she was today.

"The fourteenth of October," Guy remarked. "Robin Hood's birthday."

"It is. It is?"

"Marian, aside from your escapades as the Night Watchman, is there anything else you wish to tell me?"

Without meaning to, she glanced guiltily down at the baby bonnet. "No," she said, looking him again in the eye.

...

"Great, Marian," she told herself bitterly. "Robin's dead."

She was chained and shackled in the basement of the sheriff's house in Acre, where she'd been for weeks. Her baby was growing. In fact, her figure was just beginning to fill out. Luckily, Guy had thought to please her by purchasing a white outfit for her in Acre's marketplace, gathered under her bustline rather than around her waist. It fit her for now, but she doubted it would very much longer. Unluckily, Guy seemed to have no problem with her being chained in one room, with shackles that rubbed the skin on her wrists and ankles raw.

Robin was dead, yet she thought she'd just heard his voice speak her name, and the calling of his! But how many times had she heard the same thing in her dreams? Too many to count. And being locked up in one room with almost no company wrecked havoc on one's thoughts.

She had no more tears left. She had lives to save, and could not afford to give up fighting. First, there was King Richard, meaning England. That was her fight and Robin's, and she would never give up, not only for her country, but for the man she loved. Next, there was her own life. And most important of all to her now, even more important than England, was Robin's child. She had a plan, a dreadful, horrible, desperate plan, that she believed would save all three.

Later, when Guy paid her a visit, she swallowed her pride and her ideals, and offered herself as a sacrifice.

"You are a good man, Guy, and not a killer," she told him. "Kill the sheriff, and the king will reward you. And...I will reward you."

"How?" he asked.

"If you kill the sheriff, I will willingly give you my hand."

She had said it. She looked for his reaction, which she could not read. "This is your chance," she continued. "Your last chance to be a good man."

Guy left her, having no desire to be "a good man." Marian prayed he would do the deed she'd requested. If he killed the sheriff, the king would live. She would become Lady Gisbourne, and would deceive Guy by making him believe Robin's child was his, born early. If she did not, then both she and her child would die at Gisbourne's hand. With Robin dead...with Robin dead...why was it so hard to go on? She took a deep breath and forced her emotions to die, her thoughts to proceed. With Robin dead, and the sheriff dead, the king would reward Guy by letting him keep Locksley. Robin's child would be born and grow up in his rightful place, among the people who adored his true father. He might carry the name "Gisbourne," but he'd always be a Locksley.