The group successfully made it up the mountain without incident, causing Robin to give thanks for the effectiveness of their monk disguises. Otherwise, they would have surely been attacked, forced back or captured, robbed, and thrown into the gorge.
Nearing the castle entrance, Robin gave Count Friederick one final word of encouragement. "Thank you for helping us. I couldn't trust anyone better than you for this job."
"I am glad you think so. I must admit, I am nervous."
"Good. You won't do anything rash. Think of it as a high stakes game. No one else I know can bluff as well as you can, or read others trying to bluff them. You're ideal for this job."
"And you are ideal for Marian. I realize now, I am not."
Despite the danger facing them, Robin laughed. "Well, you see, I like a challenge."
"So do I. Maybe just not such a difficult one, with all respect to your beautiful wife."
Knowing they were being watched, Robin meekly bowed his head and retreated back to Marian's side, directly behind the count.
The count could not put on his usual "buffoon" persona to make his gaming opponents off guard. This situation called for meekness and humility, so that Baron von Aggstein would not suspect them. He adjusted his expression, bowed his head, then raised his fist to knock upon the castle gates. Before he even knocked once, the gates creaked open.
A tall young man approximately Robin's age glared back at them with only one eye. Where the other eye ought to have been was an empty socket, scarred as if from an arrow wound. One shoulder was noticeably higher than the other, yet despite these infirmities, the man bore a resemblance to the baron's son Odo, whom the gang had recently captured and left tied to a tree. This had to be the baron's other son Siegfried, who had clearly been watching their ascent up the mountain.
Robin was pleased the baron's son himself had opened the gates rather than a castle guard. It boded well for the castle not to be heavily guarded. With their reputation for violence and for hoarding their stolen wealth, the Kuenringer Aggsteins probably had trouble keeping men in their employ, Robin realized.
Only German was spoken, so Robin and his gang could only guess what was being said.
"We are monks on a pilgrimage to Rome, who have lost our way," Count Friedrick told Siegfried. "We humbly ask for shelter. In return, we will give your home a blessing, and offer you and your household absolution from your sins. May we come in?"
They were allowed inside. Marian kept her head down, yet she could almost feel Siegfried's one eye leering lustfully at her.
"Sister Maria Angelica," the count told his host, feeling protective. "We are all weary pilgrims. Is there somewhere we may rest?"
"This way," Siegfried grunted, as if unused to speaking. He turned and led them down a dark and dampened stone corridor, then through a door into an empty room.
"John, now," Robin whispered, and Little John wedged his staff against the door to prevent it being locked from the outside, which indeed is what Siegfried tried to do.
Believing he had locked them in, Siegfried went to find his father.
Within the room, Robin chuckled, pleased at their success so far. "Good work, lads," he said. "We're in."
"Can you believe this place?" Much asked. "Not even a stool to sit on! I must say, our camp in the forest is better equipped than this horrible, horrible place!"
Will was missing Djaq. "What happens next, Robin?" he asked.
"We look for the king. Well, some of us do. We need enough bodies here, in case one of them comes in to look at us. Will, search upstairs. Allan, this floor. I'll look below. Be careful, and don't let yourselves be seen."
"What if we are?" Will asked.
"Don't say anything, but look pleased, as if you were looking for them."
"I'll pretend I'm lookin' for a privy," Allan said. "You know, fart, to make it more believable."
"And if they return here?" Count Friederick asked, looking distastefully at Allan.
"Offer to hear their confessions," Robin told him. "They'll probably take you somewhere else to do that, so look about you for any possible place they might hide the king. Good luck."
The three men left the others to begin their searches.
As Robin made his way through the darkened dungeons below, he got the feeling he was being followed. He stopped and held his breath, but not another breath stirred to confirm his impression. Yet he was sure of it. He took another three steps forward, then spun about and seized the person behind him.
He knew that body, loving it more than his own. "What are you doing?" he demanded to know.
"Obeying orders," Marian answered him. "You told me to shadow you."
"Not here!"
"Why not? I know castles better than you, having lived in one."
"This isn't Nottingham, Marian."
"I know that. But it isn't so very different. These dungeons are laid out nearly the same."
"That one-eyed monster noticed you," Robin reminded her. "He'll miss you, if he returns and finds us one nun short."
"I already thought of that," she said proudly. "Much is wearing the wimple, pretending to be me, while I join you looking for the king."
"Much?"
"Who else? Not Little John! And even though Friederick is small and clean shaven, we need him as our interpreter."
"Leaving only two monks, and one very ugly nun," Robin said, exasperated. "Siegfried might not have counted us when he let us in, but even with one eye, he could tell there were more than two monks in our group. And he'll never believe Much, after having seen you."
"Why are you being so difficult?"
"Me?" He would have laughed had the situation not been so dire. "Go back, Marian. It's too risky for you here."
"I take my own risks, Robin, for England, as well as for us. Have you already forgotten what you told me when you asked me to marry you? 'Together, we're stronger.' Did you mean it, or were you only saying it to get me to say, 'Yes?' "
"You know I meant it, every word. But just for now, I'm stronger with you back with the others. I need you there, Marian. Please."
"Let's return together. There's no one down here but us, and some rats. That's clear, Robin. Listen to the silence."
She was right, he realized. If the king had been held in the dungeons of Castle Aggstein, he wasn't here any longer.
"I've never kissed a nun before," he told her.
"Unlike Allan, you mean? I've never kissed a monk."
"I love you, Marian."
"I love you, Robin."
They kissed, then he sighed yearningly, saying, "Ahh! Sister Maria Angelica!"
"Your sins are forgiven," she teased him. Then, seriously, she said, "I'm glad you've forgiven me."
"I can't stay mad at you. You know that. Come on! We need to get back, before we're missed."
He was disappointed they hadn't found the king, but hoped Allan or Will might have had better luck.
But on their way upstairs they froze, horrified by a human scream coming from outside the castle.
"They've thrown someone into the gorge," Robin realized, sick with worry it was one of his men. Or, just as awful a thought to him...the King of England.