Prince John, Isabella, and the soldiers personally watched as Robin and Marian packed their belongings.
"Hands off, Locksley," Prince John ordered, as Robin began gathering money.
"Prince John," Robin coaxed, hiding his anger behind his incredible charm, "let me take what is mine. You know I'll only break in here and steal it anyway."
Prince John stamped his foot in a fit of anger. "No, no, no! You can't! It's my money! All the money in your chests is mine, stolen from me when you were the outlaw Robin Hood!"
"None of our wealth is stolen," Marian told him. "Every penny we stole, we gave away."
"Well, it's mine now," Prince John pouted. "Guards! Take these chests to Nottingham!"
Isabella put on her prettiest supplicating expression. "But my king, what about me? I thought you were giving me Locksley as a gift!"
"I am," Prince John snapped. "The house, the servants, the land...Good God, woman, what more do you want? The lord, as well? Don't try to deny it. I know the two of you coupled together, when he was an outlaw."
"The biggest mistake of my life," Isabella sneered, trying to appease the prince while stinging Robin at the same time.
"Not as big a mistake as it was for me," Robin argued, then stopped when he saw the hurt in Marian's eyes.
Prince John saw it too, and remembered how much he wanted her. Approaching Marian, he looked right into her eyes and asked, "You haven't packed any of your jewelry, have you, my dear? Tsk, tsk."
"Your Highness said we could pack our belongings," Marian reminded him.
"But not anything of value! Not anything I should like to have!" He smiled at her. "But because I am a benevolent ruler, my dear Lady Locksley, I will make you a deal. You may buy back your jewels. A kiss, for every stone! Diamonds, of course, will cost you more than a kiss."
Robin took a threatening step toward the prince, but was stopped by the guards. Marian lifted her chin, looked Prince John in the eye, and proudly said, "I would rather die first."
There was a pause, as Prince John collected himself. At last he stormed, "Then you shall be penniless! Guards, take her bag and give it to the Lady Isabella! Out, out, all of you!"
The family was ousted from their home. Ellen clutched her rag doll, and Grace her blanket. Marian, having no bag, carried their grey kitten Moonlight. Robin carried a bag containing changes of clothing for all of them, as well as his bow.
His servants were crying, and Robin hastened his family away to the hilltop, keeping his manner light for the sake of his daughters.
They spent the remainder of the day helping the people of Locksley get settled. Will, Djaq, and their children were welcomed by Little John to his forest cottage. Everyone else moved in with family or friends, but Robin assured them it would only be temporary.
It was dark by the time Robin and his family, tired and foot weary, reached Bonchurch.
Bonchurch was lit within by candles, but no one answered Robin's knock on the door. Ellen, barely awake, was riding "piggyback" on Robin's back, and Marian cradled a sleeping Grace. Moonlight walked on her soft paws beside them, weaving in and out between their legs.
There were sounds coming from within the house, and Robin, impatient from waiting to be admitted into his former hunting lodge, pushed open the door.
"Come on," he invited Marian, who hesitated on the doorstep.
He hadn't thought of her trauma resurfacing, arriving at Bonchurch. It was here they had begun their honeymoon after she returned from the Holy Land, alive when Robin had believed her dead. Their beautiful time together had been cut short by Gisbourne's further attack on her, leaving her emotionally scarred. She had overcome the trauma of the rape, but now, returning to the site of her attack, she felt weak and damaged again.
Bravely, refusing to be cowered, Marian took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and followed Robin inside the house.
"What's that noise?" Robin asked, then, recognizing something was bothering Marian, stroked her cheek and gently asked, "Are you alright?"
All at once, he grasped her feelings. How could he have been so insensitive, he asked himself, remembering the horror she had suffered here? She had never wanted to accompany him on his many visits to Bonchurch, and now, he had brought her here without thinking. He would give anything to remove her pain, but could only look deeply into her eyes and try to convey his love, fighting back his renewed hatred toward Gisbourne.
Marian ignored his concern and looked away, feeling she would cry if she admitted her feelings. His gaze said everything and she felt stronger, knowing he understood, yet vulnerable too. "I think it's singing," she answered.
Ralph, Bonchurch's elderly steward, at last emerged, wearing his nightclothes and holding a candle. Shuffling over to them, his slippers scraping the floor, he gasped, then said, "Master Robin! Welcome! I'll alert the master you are here! One moment, please. He and the mistress are in their bath."
Mercifully, the sound of singing stopped once Ralph let Much know he had guests.
"Why does he still call you 'Master'?" Marian asked. "You haven't owned Bonchurch in years."
"Habit, I guess," Robin explained.
Robin could see that Marian was exhausted. Leading the way into another room, he invited her to sit, then placed Ellen, who had just fallen asleep, on another chair.
"You want me to take Grace?" he asked.
"No, but thank you. She's pleasant to hold, now that I'm sitting."
Robin watched Marian's face as she looked at Ellen. He could not read her thoughts of sharing her daughter's trauma, having also been frightened and hurt by Guy of Gisbourne.
"Hey," Robin said gently, "it's alright. I'll get word to the king, and straighten this out. We will return home, Marian."
She nodded her head, blinking back tears. Another trauma confronted her, that of being forced from her previous home, Knighton Hall, when Gisbourne had angrily set it on fire.
She was so tired that she didn't feel she could muster the strength to fight her feelings of despair. But she looked into Robin's beautiful, kind and concerned eyes, and she felt her strength return.
"I love you," she whispered.
"And I love you." He leaned over and kissed her just as Much, dressed in a robe monogrammed with the letter M, entered the room.
"Robin!" Much called happily, then stopped when he nearly tripped over Moonlight. "Cats!" he cried unpleasantly. "You know I hate cats!"
"May we stay with you awhile?" Robin asked. "Prince John's concocted a scheme and kicked us out of Locksley."
"What? Prince John? Kicked you out? Unbelievable!"
"It won't be for long, I promise," Robin told him.
"All of you?" Much asked, looking dismayed. "The wailer, too?"
"Much," Robin said, exasperated.
Much, slightly drunk from having enjoyed a pleasant evening with his wife after putting their three rowdy boys to bed, recovered himself and agreed. "Of course! Of course you may stay! All of you, even the cat, as long as you like! Forever even! I'll tell Eve."
"No need, Much," Eve said, entering the room wearing a matching robe to her husband's, monogrammed with an 'E.' "I'll tell the servants to ready your rooms. Would you like something to eat or drink?"
"Nothing for me, thank you," Robin said kindly.
"Just some water, please," Marian said.
In very little time, the family was installed in a suite of two rooms, one for the children and one for Robin and Marian.
Lying in bed with his arms around his wife and his children soundly sleeping in a connecting room, Robin told Marian, "These were my rooms when I was a lad, and my father would bring me here for hunting trips."
"Why such a large bed?" Marian asked, snuggling closer.
"In case I had a brother. I did, of course, but he didn't..." Robin's voice trailed off, sadly.
Marian knew that Robin's baby brother had died, along with their mother, just after his birth. Robin had been six years old at the time.
The thought disturbed her, making her fear for the baby she carried.
"Robin," she said, tragically.
Robin, knowing she was exhausted and upset by the events of the day, held her more closely and kissed the top of her head.
"It's alright, my love," he assured her, stroking her hair. "Nothing...nothing will hurt you, I promise."
"We're like Adam and Eve, expelled from the garden," she told him.
"No," he said tenderly. "Wherever we are, my love, is close to Eden, as long as we're together."