Queen Eleanor, having been starved for company during her solitary imprisonment, now began to "hold court" among Robin and his gang.

"Headstrong," she announced, looking at Marian standing at the window.

Marian's head whipped around to face the queen, as she believed herself being insulted.

But Queen Eleanor was only partly alluding to Marian. "That is how my first husband Louis and his French priests described me," she said. "Headstrong and frivolous. You, Lady Locksley, can't very well claim the second moniker, can you?"

"I have never been called frivolous, Your Majesty."

"You do not deserve to be. I would say 'earnest' describes you better. So, it is a very good thing your husband values and creates fun, wouldn't you agree, lest you become too serious?"

Marian was not ready to give Robin credit for anything yet, though he had always been the one who could lighten her heart.

For his part, Robin wished the queen mother would stop talking so he could better think over his plan of escape. But he couldn't tell her to be quiet, the way he could Much. And it was difficult to tune her out, as he was interested in anything concerning Marian.

"Louis blamed me," the queen continued, "for the failure of the Second Crusade. He believed the presence of myself and my ladies tainted it, merely by our presence."

Marian could not help but grow interested, having secretly longed to accompany Robin when he had left to fight the Third Crusade. "If I may ask," she questioned, "how did Your Majesty manage to go on crusade? Was it because you were Queen of France?"

Eleanor smiled proudly, remembering. "I knew asking would meet with refusal, so I took action, along with a dose of deception. Like yourself and Djaq here, I disguised myself and a handful of my willing ladies as men, interspersed ourselves among those lined up to take the crusaders' cross, and it was done! Louis and his priests were furious when they discovered, but could not deny us, lest my Aquitainian soldiers refuse to fight."

"Your disguise must have been more effective than mine," Marian said somewhat sadly.

"Your disguise is perfect," Robin said from across the room, believing he now understood, at least partly, what was upsetting Marian.

"It was fine, when I only came out at night," Marian shot back at him.

"It fooled me in the daytime," he answered consolingly back. "It fooled everyone, until today."

Allan spoke up, apologizing because he felt a special fondness toward Marian. "Yeah, well, I can explain that. I kinda let the cat outta the bag, so to speak, letting it slip she's a girl."

"HA!" Much exploded. "So it isn't always me, admit it, who says the wrong thing!"

Robin gave Much an appealing look to quiet him.

Queen Eleanor, feeling she had begun mending fences between her favorite couple, continued her pointed reminiscences. "Louis blamed me as well for giving him two daughters, when he wanted sons. When my second child Alix was born, he wouldn't speak to me or hold his daughter, but only walked silently from the birthing chamber, bitter and disappointed, thinking he had somehow displeased his Maker."

She let that nugget take hold, knowing that Marian would remember Robin's joy and loving kindness at the birth of their two daughters.

"How horrible for you," Marian said, truly sympathetic to what the queen must have suffered.

"It was indeed horrible. Louis never came to my bed after that. He discovered I had once gone to a soothsayer at a fair, just for fun you understand, and had my fortune told. Of course I didn't believe such nonsense, though she turned out to be surprisingly accurate, predicting I would give birth to many sons, including one who would become a great king."

"Did she really say that?" Much asked, fascinated though somewhat frightened. "That is...that is amazing!"

"Not really," Queen Eleanor answered, "when you realize it was what any queen would want to hear, though it has come true. As I said, I was only having fun, but Louis was sure I had brought down the curse of the Almighty upon our marriage. The trouble with overly pious people, wouldn't you agree, is they miss out on so much fun? Promise me, Big Bear, you will never grow pious."

Little John could only groan an embarrassed response.

"I'll take that for a yes," the queen cheerfully decided. Continuing her discussion, she told Marian, "Perhaps the child you carry now will be a boy."

"We'll be happy either way, Your Majesty," Robin said, "so long as its healthy."

Marian was surprised and annoyed at herself when tears sprang to her eyes. She blinked them back, needing to feel strong and independent, rather than vulnerable.

Robin noticed them and went to her, but she turned her back on him.

"Marian," he said softly.

"Are you going to apologize?" she demanded.

"What for?"

"If you don't know..."

"How can I? Tell me, Marian...what have I done?"

Marian spun around and faced him. "It's Much," she answered. "You always take Much to share in your glory, and leave the rest of us with minor, meager tasks."

"What glory?" Robin asked. "No one was watching me rescue the queen. All eyes were on you. That was the plan."

"Yes, and they mocked me for being a woman. How dare you humiliate me so?"

"I didn't!"

"You know I hate performing!"

"You said you wanted to fight! Your words inspired my plan!"

"And it was so successful."

"It wasn't my fault it failed."

"I suppose you blame me then."

"Marian!"

"Well, don't you?"

The others tried not to watch or listen, but the room was so confined they could not avoid it.

Queen Eleanor only smiled and said, "As I mentioned before, it's a pity they can't be alone to make it up in bed. Such sparks!" Turning her attention to Will and Djaq, she asked, "How are you two getting along in England? You ought to visit me sometime in Aquitaine. We have a mosque there, you know, right beside a Christian church."

Will and Djaq were very interested.

"It's true," the queen continued. "My father allowed it to be built, to encourage trade with the Moors in Spain. They would not bring their goods unless they had a place to worship. We can all get along very well and prosper, so long as we repect each other's rights and not try to force men's consciences to echo our own. That is why my son King Richard is so protective of England's Jews."

"I do not believe, Your Majesty," Djaq said politely, "you were ever frivolous."

"You are very wise for one so young," the queen said, smiling upon her. "How long do you all think it will take," she quietly asked the others, looking again upon Robin and Marian, "before they're once again in each others' arms, and he's wiping away her tears?"

"Anyone fancy a wager?" Allan eagerly asked, calculating in his head the money he might make. "I give it two minutes."

...

(Note: I like to add history to my stories. However, the story about Queen Eleanor disguising herself as a knight to be able to go on crusade is fiction. I made it up for this story, but she really did go on crusade with her first husband, Louis of France, and they really did have two daughters, Marie and Alix Capet. The story of the fortune teller saying she would have many sons, with one of them being a famous king, is found in many novels about Eleanor, but I do not know whether it was invented or based on fact).