"Where's Marian?"
Robin tried not to show how worried he was, but he couldn't hold back the question. All of his men and Queen Eleanor had arrived at the oratory in Barnsdale Forest except for Allan and Marian, and no one knew where they were.
When Robin had taken off running after scaling Pontefract Castle's outer wall, he expected Marian had joined him. When he discovered Much instead, he had been annoyed.
"You?" he had asked Much. "What happened to Marian?"
"I can explain," Much had answered, trying to catch his breath. "I was caught up in the moment, just like old times you understand, and besides, Marian's angry at you, and I'm not. Not to mention, she likes Allan a whole lot more than I do. So I just thought..."
"You didn't think! You just ran after me-"
"Well, excuse me for loving you!"
Robin brushed off his annoyance. "It's alright, Much," he decided. "For all I know, Marian prefers going with Allan."
"You don't mean that."
Robin shrugged his shoulders.
Much smiled, enjoying the moment. "You know, you should be glad of my loyalty. 'What happened to Marian?' " he mocked. "A lesser man would be wounded, you know."
"Come on," Robin said, and took off running again toward the oratory.
...
Allan and Marian were not recaptured by Prince John's soldiers, as Robin feared, but were taking their time reaching the oratory.
"You didn't mean what you said," Allan mentioned, sauntering his way through the forest, "about Giz respecting you more than Robin."
Marian hadn't meant it, but wasn't willing to admit it.
"Yeah, right," Allan pursued. "Giz was so respectful when he tried to force you to marry him, and burnt down your house when you didn't. And what about the time he stuck his sword through you, and later, his other sword? That really showed respect, oi?"
"What other sword?" Marian asked.
"You know..."
Marian shuddered, not wanting to remember any of those traumas Gisbourne had done to her. "Of course I didn't mean it," she answered.
"I know what you meant, though," Allan told her. "Between the two of us constantly working on him, Giz did become almost human at times."
But Marian had no desire to reminiscence over Guy of Gisbourne. "I only wish Robin would take my fighting skills seriously!" she cried out.
Allan smiled. "That's never gonna happen. Face it, Mar, he loves you too much. He can't risk losing you a second time. He was a mess when he thought you'd died."
"I could die in childbirth. He has no problem..." She stopped herself, blushing.
"Sowing his seed?"
"Grow up!"
"Yeah, well, you brought it up, not me! I just finished your thought! But seriously, Mar, Robin was a mess when he thought you dead. He got a lot better after Tuck helped him, much as I despise Tiar *uck, but he wasn't really himself 'til you came back. He tried...God how he tried, and he showed bits of his old self...you know, kindness and bravery and all that, but he never really showed his sense of humor...you know, his cleverness, and his, 'Where would be the fun in that?' sort of self."
They walked on silently for a time, until Marian said, "He allows Djaq to fight."
"Yeah, well, Djaq..."
"What?"
"Djaq's fierce! You ever watch her with a sword in her hand? Will's said it more than once...she fights like a man!"
Marian groaned in exasperation. "Well, I fight like a woman," she continued, "which is every bit as good. I knocked you out once."
"Yeah, you're good," Allan admitted. "Look, don't be mad at me, just because you're angry at Robin. Save it up for him, and give him hell. I think he kinda likes it."
"That's another way he fails to show me respect," Marian fumed. "Sometimes when we argue, he snickers happily and claims he loves it when I look at him in anger. It's infuriating!"
"That's probably why he does it. Maybe you oughtta try it on him sometime, when he's really mad at you."
"I have," Marian admitted quietly. "It didn't work."
"What happened?"
"It didn't make him any angrier, I can tell you that."
"Yeah, but what?"
"It's none of your concern."
"You ended up in bed, didn't you? Sounds like it worked to me!"
"You're infuriating, too. You and Robin have more in common than either of you care to admit."
"Naw, we're different. I'm not so high and mighty."
"Yes, you're far more unmannerly."
"Unmannerly," Allan snorted. "You mean crude! I admit it. But I like to call it 'honest.' "
"And Robin's not? Robin is the most fair minded, honest man I know! He doesn't 'spin yarns,' as you like to call your lies."
"Now who are you mad at?" Allan laughed. "I'll say this, I know why Robin can't help chuckling when you get mad."
"Men!" Marian cried. "If I didn't look the way I do, would you still find me humorous?"
"Depends. Who you wantta look like? Queen Eleanor? Or Little John?"
"Ooh!" Marian groaned again.
...
At last, Allan and Marian arrived at the oratory.
"There you two are!" Much cried out accusingly. "Robin's not here! He's gone off to hunt for you!"
"Are we so late?" Marian asked.
"If Robin of Locksley considers you late," Queen Eleanor scolded, "then you are very late indeed. Now, where was I in my story? Oh, yes. I was telling how my husband King Henry conquered Ireland, just so Prince John could have a share of land to rule over. I had given Richard Aquitaine, and our dear departed son Henry was to inherit England until he died of fever, thus making Richard heir. John, being the nasty scoundrel he is, made a disaster of Ireland, proving himself utterly unfit to rule. Yet he remained Henry's favorite child. John can be charming, you know, despite all his flaws. Anyway, once Richard became heir to England, my husband demanded I take Aquitaine from him and give it to John. Never would I consent to that! And that is why Henry imprisoned me a second time. Fours more years I languished in Winchester Castle, adding to my previous ten, until Henry died, and my beloved son Richard became king and freed me!"
Marian barely listened, until the word "Winchester" brought back ugly memories of the man who had betrayed her father and tried to abduct her. She longed for Robin to return, and fretted over his absence. But her worry was short lived.
"God save King Richard," Robin's voice rang out. Looking happy and relieved, he gazed at Marian and said, "Glad you and Allan decided to join us...finally."
"I didn't realize you were timing us," Marian answered, but she couldn't stop herself from smiling back at him.
"Every moment apart, seems an eternity," Robin told her, leaning in and speaking quietly, with ardor.
"New dribble, Locksley?" Marian teased, her heart singing. "I'm not impressed."
Robin chuckled, delighted with her teasing. "Now," he said, turning to face the queen. "Shall we to Nottingham?"
"Why Nottingham, Robin?" Queen Eleanor asked. "I already have the bravest, finest escort a queen could have, in Robin Hood's famous men. And women," she added pointedly. "I suggest we head straight to Locksley, and restore your house and village to their proper owners. Lord and Lady," she emphasized.
"And throw Izzy out on her ass," Allan added.