The beauty of Lake Tegernsee by moonlight was lost on Robin, as he walked its banks to quiet his temper.
Holding his hand, Marian needed to take running steps to keep up with him. At last she said, "Robin! Can you please slow down? I want to talk."
He stopped walking. "I'm sorry. Was I going too fast?"
"You were practically running. Well, you were making me run anyway." She caught her breath. "That's better."
They were quiet for a moment, taking in the beauty surrounding them. Already calmer, Robin said, "It's incredible, isn't it? I'm glad we're together, Marian, to share this place."
"I'm glad, too. And I'm glad you're feeling better. You really weren't yourself with the count, you know. More like a hedgehog with its spikes standing up."
Robin smiled, finding her adorable. "That's the first time I've been called a hedgehog. Usually I'm known as, 'The Fox of Sherwood.' "
"We're not in Sherwood. Here, you're a hedgehog."
He chuckled, his sunny mood restored. "I didn't mean to be rude. He just goads me, Marian."
"You don't have to like him, but you do need to relax and be polite. Imagine if we were living in Locksley, and seven people turned up unannounced, seeking food, information, and shelter. Would you be as good a host as Friederick is trying to be, especially with one of the guests as rude as you were tonight?"
"You do have a point. But I wouldn't make a play for that man's wife."
"He didn't 'make a play,' as you said. It's just his way. He's harmless, Robin."
He looked worried, so she put her arms around his neck and asked, "You can't really be jealous of him, can you?"
He held her around her waist. "You like him, Marian. He lights something up in you."
She gazed at him in sympathetic tenderness. "He's funny. He's cultured, and...I do like him, Robin, but as a friend. Only a friend."
"He flirts with you, like he aims to be more."
"I put up with women flirting with you all the time. You need to show better grace, Robin."
"What women?"
She blinked her eyes at him in surprise. "Women everywhere! Don't tell me you were oblivious to them, in the French Court?"
He shook his head, not understanding.
"It was obvious," she continued. "I don't know how you could have missed such an outbreak of Locksley Fever! Even the old women were ogling you. And when you were jousting, I thought they would pass out. Several did faint, if you must know the truth."
He shrugged, being used to women falling for him, and he not realizing until the women made it too clear for him to ignore. "Anyway, King Philip was after you," he reminded her.
She shook herself free of his embrace. "May we return to the subject at hand? You were dreadfully rude to the count tonight."
"You couldn't like that waste of time with those cards, Marian."
"I didn't. I thought it ridiculous, and unkind to Allan. I do believe he hadn't meant for you to take the ace of spades, that it was a mistake. Anyway, what I want to tell you is I think you need to relax. I know you want to free the king. So do I. But we've come so far, and I think you can gain more from the count if you calm down and be the charming man you are, instead of a prickly hedgehog."
She put her arms around his neck again, and lifted her lips for a kiss. She hoped that now that they'd cleared the air, they could enjoy their time together in this beautiful, romantic place with no more talk tonight of business. But Robin was so driven to save his king, he couldn't let it go just yet.
"He did tell me about Aggstein," he said, thinking out loud. "Do you think the king could be there, or was it just one of Isabella's tricks?"
Marian stopped herself from groaning. "I wish you hadn't mentioned her. I want to forget all about the Gisbournes while we're here."
"I have a plan, Marian, to get into that castle."
"Already? Shouldn't you find out more first, before charging into that den of thieves? You heard what Friederick said. They throw people from their battlements."
"Not Benedictine monks, they don't."
Marian's eyes widened. She had to admit, disguising themselves as monks was a brilliant plan. "And how do you expect to find the king, once we're inside?"
He flinched at her question. He had no intention of including her or Djaq, not after hearing the count say the Aggsteins raped women. But he answered her with confidence. "By searching, of course! And if Richard's not there, there's bound to be plenty of treasure we can steal, to contribute toward his ransom. You heard your friend the count. The Aggsteins are robber barons. So, I suggest we rob them."
"You never give up, do you? I love you, Robin."
"And I love you." They kissed at last, and Marian was pleased they could finally put their work aside and focus on each other and the beauty of the Bavarian night.
Holding one another by the hand, they resumed walking around the lake, but with a slow, leisurely pace now. It felt so romantic to be alone together in such a lovely place with a nearly full moon reflected on the silvery lake. Their hearts were full of each other, and Robin wished he had words to tell her how he felt. Marian would have liked to hear them, but she knew his heart, and it was more than enough.
Their all too brief romantic interlude was interrupted by Count Friederick joining them.
"Forgive the interruption," he said. "I thought perhaps you might enjoy hearing the legend of the lake."
Neither one of them cared at that moment, but both tried to be polite.
"It is very amusing," the count continued. "The lake is said to be inhabited by a Nixie, who tries to pull people under water and drown them."
"Nixie?" Marian asked.
"Like Jenny Greenteeth," Robin explained, both having heard that legend of their own River Trent and Locksley Pond, to try to keep them away from their banks and possible drowning, when they were children.
"No," the count disagreed, "more like Melusine, a beautiful being, half woman, half fish."
Robin smiled. "I met the actual Melusine," he told them, "in Cyprus. But she didn't have a fish tail. Only legs, like any other woman. She was Guy de Luisigan's wife."
"How do you know she had legs?" Marian asked, teasingly.
He grinned back at her. He didn't want her to know he'd nearly gone to bed with the beauty while he'd been recovering from his war wound, but had been interrupted by her husband, whom he'd had to fight off in a sword duel, wearing nothing but a blanket around his waist. No, he definitely did not want to tell Marian that.*
The count, wise in the ways of the world, quickly picked up that there was more to Robin's story, and he respected his right to hide it. But he never lost an opportunity to compliment such a beauty as the Lady Marian. "This Melusine is an actual woman?" he asked Robin.
"It's not her real name," Robin explained. "I believe the legend came first, and people began calling her after it, because she's so beautiful."
"Ah! Surely not as lovely as this lady here? It would be impossible!"
"Thank you, Count," Marian said, giving Robin a triumphant smile.
Robin did not enjoy being bested in gallantry. "Of course not," he said. "Marian already knows she's gorgeous." His mood was quickly turning sour.
"There are legends, too, of these mountains," the count continued, wishing to amuse Marian. "We Germans have many tales. Perhaps you would like to hear one?"
"She's married to a legend," Robin told him.
Marian shot him a look, trying to remind him to show politeness. Facing the count, she said, "Perhaps we should save it for another time. It's growing a bit chilly. I'd like to return indoors, if we may."
"Of course!" the count complied. "I forget, you're wearing a thin gown. But it's very becoming on you."
"More than on your former mistress?" she asked, teasingly.
Robin did not approve of her teasing the count. His was a different kind of jealousy than he'd felt toward Gisbourne. He hated Gisbourne with all his being, but he never believed Marian had liked him. He could actually envision Marian being happy, married to this ugly, undersized German.
"Shall I teach you a game of cards, when we are inside?" the count asked. "And perhaps another glass of wine?"
Robin was about to say that he and his wife were tired and would like to go to bed, but Marian spoke first. "That would be lovely," she said, giving the count her beautiful smile.
...
*(Robin's adventure occurred in another one of my stories, You Must Have Had Suitors).