All through that Sunday afternoon the storm continued, but inside Locksley Manor all was well.
The little girls were napping, and Robin and Marian were enjoying one another's company before the fire. After holding Marian on his lap, delighting in her conversation and kisses, Robin felt one leg begin to grow numb, so he stood up and stretched.
The kitten Moonlight leaped onto Marian's lap, and Marian stroked its soft grey fur while continuing her conversation with her husband.
"Will and Djaq, of course, are doing well," Marian said, discussing the gang.
"And Much," Robin added.
Marian disagreed. "He's in over his head. Giving him Bonchurch was generous, Robin, but was it wise?"
"He's fine. He has help, you know."
"Yes, you help him entirely too much."
"I don't!" He pondered her words, then asked, "Do I?"
"Remember how annoyed you were by him forcing himself into every aspect of your life-"
"I wasn't!"
"Will you let me finish?"
"Sorry."
"You've forgotten or are in denial, but you are just as guilty. You enjoy taking care of him almost as much as he enjoyed taking care of you."
"Alright, agreed...partly. But what do you suggest I do? I can't let him fail, Marian."
"He won't, I think. We mustn't underestimate his wife, Robin. I know we don't trust her, but she is wise...shrewd even. Given the chance, she can help Much make Bonchurch a success."
"What about Allan? He seems to have gotten past whatever bothered him a few months ago."
Briefly, Allan had fancied himself in love with Eve, and had been bitter and unlike himself.
Marian smiled, having developed a special bond of friendship with Allan from their time living in Nottingham Castle. "He subjected himself to one of his bouts of discontentment and jealousy, believing Much had everything while he struggled, but it didn't last long. It never does with Allan. He's like you, Robin."
"Allan is not like me," Robin said firmly.
Marian's smile turned wry but amused. "It's true you're not jealous or coveting...well, except when I wasn't yours. And Allan doesn't have your looks, your polish, your generous idealism, but essentially, you're both positive, good hearted men. Like you, Allan makes the best of whatever situation his choices place him."
"I'll concede your point, and take it as a compliment. Now, John does concern me, Marian. It isn't my place to intrude in his life-"
"As you do with Much?"
"Much is different. I'm talking about Little John."
"Go on."
"There's a sadness in him, Marian. It's never left him, ever since he found Alys in Locksley, and met his son. I see it, but can do nothing to help. Not that it's my place to try."
"But you do help him, Robin! You turned his life around! You gave him a noble purpose, helping the poor. Thankfully, there are fewer now to help than when the king was away. And he clearly enjoys Ellie and Grace. No one could be sad for long, spending time with them."
The couple smiled at each other, love for their girls and one another shining on their faces, before Robin went to the window and looked out.
"Looks like this rain's not going to let up any time soon. I'd better go see if anyone in Locksley needs my help."
"I'll come with you."
"And get drenched again? You don't have to, my love."
"You don't want my company?"
"I do, but..." He grinned, remembering the nurse's choice of words. "You mustn't forget, Marian, you're in an 'interesting condition.' "
"Believe me, I haven't forgotten! Everything reminds me. Even you, having to get up and move around, unable to hold me on your lap for long."
Robin's grin widened as his eyes began to twinkle. "You're not noticeably heavier than you were before. You've only a small paunch, Marian."
"Paunch? Heavier?"
Robin chuckled. He loved it when she looked at him in anger, so long as her anger wasn't serious. Placing his open palm gently over her belly, he grew tender gazing down at her. "I was only joking. You're gorgeous, you know. But are you hurting, or uncomfortable? You seem to be glowing."
"I'm tired all the time, but it will pass. I am glad about the baby. And I do want to come with you, Robin. It's my village, too. I love helping our people."
"And I love you."
They kissed, then put on their capes and ventured out into the storm, to visit each home in Locksley, making certain everyone had whatever they needed.
...
Later that night, after the storm ended, Prince John lay back in his bed in Nottingham Castle, satisfied to the extent that he believed he would soon have everything he desired...specifically, the Crown of England.
The woman who shared his bed also believed she might achieve her goals, now that she and the prince were together again.
"I'd forgotten just how talented you are," Prince John told Isabella, who lay smiling wickedly beside him.
"I am glad we met again, my king. I had no idea you were in Nottingham."
"And I had no idea you had become a nun! All this time, I believed myself bored by you. But you just proved to me what I've been missing!"
"Not to contradict Your Majesty, Sire, but it isn't half so much as what I've missed! Why do you think I became a nun? It was to grieve the loss of your pleasure."
"Oh, and such pleasure it is! To bask in all of me! To love me! Do you know, I sometimes wish I were two people, my royal self and a common one, just so I could feel what others do in my royal presence!"
"You could never be common, Sire. Everything about you speaks of magnificence!"
"It does, doesn't it? Tell me, is there anything else I can do for you? Now that my brother is overseas and I've locked up my mother again in Pontefract Castle, where the old harridan can't escape, I feel generous to bestow gifts on those who please me. And you, Isabella of Gisbourne, have just pleased me in ways no other woman has since we parted."
"You inspire me, Sire! There is something you can give me that is sure to please us both."
"Indeed? Let's rest up first, and then you may show me what it is. I'll inspire you again with my royal prowess."
"Of course, my king! But there is something outside of the bedroom, that I long for."
Prince John's face turned hard. "Greedy sycophant!" he snapped accusingly.
Unfrightened, Isabella plunged ahead. "Does Your Majesty still hate Hood?" she quickly asked.
Prince John sat up in bed. "Hood? You mean Locksley? But of course I hate him! I loathe the man! He is a thorn in my otherwise perfect existence."
"Good. I loathe him, too, Sire. It is something we share, a common hatred. And I long to hurt him."
"Do tell me! How? How can I inflict pain and suffering on our common enemy?"
Isabella could barely believe her good fortune. That Prince John should have chosen Pontefract Castle, just north of Nottingham, to imprison Queen Eleanor, then sought shelter from a storm in Nottingham, just after Robin had dragged Isabella there in her nun's habit, almost made her believe in the Almighty. Prince John had taken one look at Isabella's naughty yet enraptured expression while cloaked in supposed holiness, and had been enflamed with desire. And now, he seemed willing to bestow gifts on her! Revenge would be sweet! It seemed that Locksley...the manor and entire village, would soon be hers!
It was a shame the man himself didn't belong to her, she thought hungrily, but one couldn't expect everything.
"You know how your father, the late king, took my family's village of Gisbourne from us, and gave it to the Church?" she asked, whispering in Prince John's ear, then taking its lobe in her mouth, lest he should be angry at her daring to insult his father.
Prince John closed his eyes and smiled, distracted by the sensation. "Go on," he advised. "I think I see where you're heading."
"My king is so wise and all knowing! I ask you, Sire, as you have already guessed, to give me Locksley! Kick out Hood, his family and servants, as well as the filthy peasants from the village! Install me in the manor as the head, and fill the village with meek nuns and monks, who will do my bidding."
"Kick out Hood, from the village he loves? Delicious! Oh, you adorable girl!"
"And his people! Their sufferings will multiply his, tenfold!"
"A hundredfold! I shall do it! Shall we ride to Locksley tomorrow, and break the good news?"
"Oh, yes, Sire! But first, allow me to show you how grateful I am."
"Indeed. Earn my benevolent, magnificent gift to you."
"With pleasure, Your Majesty...your pleasure, I trust."
"Begin!"