Rowan had dragged Daniel at breakneck pace through the woods, finally
halting abruptly on a precipice overlooking a breath-taking waterfall. She
put her palms together in front of her, and then drew them apart. "Inner
peace," she murmured, inhaling deeply.
"So, what do you think?" she chirruped brightly, after a second, turning to Daniel.
"It's.stunning," he replied.
Deigning that a suitable answer, Rowan plopped down on a large flat rock nearby. "Have a seat. I'm sure you have plenty of questions by now, and I'm ready to answer them. I think."
Daniel carefully sat down in the indicated spot. "Hmm. Should I really ask?"
Rowan glared at him. "Yes, you should ask. At least, you should ask if you don't intend upon asking if you should ask rather than just asking, because that would make me mad, and then you would never get the questions I know you have answered."
Daniel blinked. "Okay. First off, and no offense by this, but why are you the leader of this tribe?"
Rowan sighed. "I don't know. I've wondered that many times myself, but they picked me. I don't really do anything around here but wear the title 'Rowan Hood.' Everybody else does all the work. Keeping the books and interacting with Robin, even though that is annoying, isn't really working, not worth-a-whole-job kind of work, and that's all I do around here."
"Interesting. Why does this Robin Hood upset you so much?"
"He's the leader of the real band of thieves in this forest. He is a year older and commands a bunch more people than I command do, I'll give him that, but he's a stuck up egotistical prat about it.
"Traditionally, Rowan and Robin Hood work together to protect the poor around here, but lately Robin is taking over more and more of my territory, and he's offering to give it back to me, but at a price. It was hard enough to ignore that, but now he's kidnapped Lari and Annie as if they were my property!"
"What's the price?" Daniel asked gently.
Rowan buried her face in her hands. "It doesn't matter any more."
"Rowan."
"Stephanie."
"What?"
"You can't use that tone with me without my name. So use it. Stephanie Lee Eva Elizabeth Finnegan. Better known as Rowan Hood, but to all those who admonish me, it's Stephanie." She heaved a sigh of martyrdom. "It's the way it works."
Again, Daniel blinked. "Fine then. Stephanie."
She adopted an angelic smile. "Yes?"
"What's this price?"
"You don't really need to know."
"Now I do."
"Do not."
"Do too."
"You have to understand that the title of Rowan, or Robin, Hood is passed on from person to person, not necessarily through familial ties. If the current leader dies, their named successor takes the title. Unless, of course they died by the sword of a contender for the title. Then the title goes to, well, the owner of the sword. That's how this current Robin ended up where he is.
"Now, occasionally there is a Robin and Rowan Hood pair that just.clicks. There really isn't more to it than they agree to work and live together, and tell the tree that, and then the whole of the two groups move to Greentree Palace. If one steps down for whatever reason, everything goes back to the way it was, and everyone packs up and moves out.
"The current Robin thinks that since I am a fairly small person, he could dominate me if that ever happened. Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I don't like him. That's all there is to it. He is self-centered and pompous and never listens to anyone else.
"Anyhow, as I was saying, he thinks he could control me and my territory if he could watch over my every move. So, the price of my getting my territory - and now my friends, too - back, is that I agree to work with him all the time - like that'll ever happen - and we all move into Greentree Palace." She sighed and leaned back, forgetting there was no "back" to the rock she was sitting on and thus falling over.
"Aack!" she screeched.
Daniel reached over and picked her up, pulling her over to where he was sitting. He kept an arm around her shoulders, ostensibly to keep her from doing the same thing again.
"So, you said something about Greentree Palace. What's that?"
"It's where Robin and Rowan traditionally rule from."
"I got that much, but why is it important?"
"It is a palace, really cool, too, but neither Rowan nor Robin are allowed to live there without the other. We're only allowed there to reference the library. And if we try to stay there overnight, weird things start happening."
"Hmm. You said something about 'telling the tree' that you were going to move into the palace?"
"Presumably it's the tree Greentree Palace is built around that makes those weird things happen, and it has to know what is going on for Rowan and Robin to live in the palace."
"Hmm."
"Is that everything you wanted to know?"
"For now."
The pair sat in silence for a little while, enjoying the peace, the view, and each other's presence.
"Time to go back?" Daniel inquired.
"If you really want to," muttered Stephanie.
"People might be wondering where we are," Daniel sensibly replied.
Stephanie heaved a great sigh. "I suppose."
They arrived a few minutes later to a carefully orchestrated chaos.
Eva looked up from a stack of arrows she was checking. "Shit!" she exclaimed. She hurried over, started babbling at Rowan, as the latter seemed to grow a few inches, and adopted a cold gaze.
"-and we though you'd be busy for a while, and we weren't going to let you go anyway, so we figured we'd leaved while you were." Eva glanced at Daniel. ".distracted."
Rowan followed the glance and blushed scarlet. "Fine, fine," she muttered. "I really shouldn't be going anyway. You're right."
Eva's mouth dropped open.
"What?" Stephanie asked, spreading her hands to either side.
Eva's mouth worked speechlessly for a few moments. "You.go.said.I.right."
"Hmph," muttered Stephanie. "I'm not that stubborn."
Eva just looked at her and shook her head. "Yeah, right, honey. Just keep on believing that. I have things to do." With that, she turned and dove back into the chaos.
Stephanie hunched her shoulders, muttering to herself.
"Well, what do you want to do?" asked Daniel.
"Wait," Rowan replied shortly, and she melted into the trees in the direction of her clearing.
Daniel shrugged and followed her. At a distance.
"So, what do you think?" she chirruped brightly, after a second, turning to Daniel.
"It's.stunning," he replied.
Deigning that a suitable answer, Rowan plopped down on a large flat rock nearby. "Have a seat. I'm sure you have plenty of questions by now, and I'm ready to answer them. I think."
Daniel carefully sat down in the indicated spot. "Hmm. Should I really ask?"
Rowan glared at him. "Yes, you should ask. At least, you should ask if you don't intend upon asking if you should ask rather than just asking, because that would make me mad, and then you would never get the questions I know you have answered."
Daniel blinked. "Okay. First off, and no offense by this, but why are you the leader of this tribe?"
Rowan sighed. "I don't know. I've wondered that many times myself, but they picked me. I don't really do anything around here but wear the title 'Rowan Hood.' Everybody else does all the work. Keeping the books and interacting with Robin, even though that is annoying, isn't really working, not worth-a-whole-job kind of work, and that's all I do around here."
"Interesting. Why does this Robin Hood upset you so much?"
"He's the leader of the real band of thieves in this forest. He is a year older and commands a bunch more people than I command do, I'll give him that, but he's a stuck up egotistical prat about it.
"Traditionally, Rowan and Robin Hood work together to protect the poor around here, but lately Robin is taking over more and more of my territory, and he's offering to give it back to me, but at a price. It was hard enough to ignore that, but now he's kidnapped Lari and Annie as if they were my property!"
"What's the price?" Daniel asked gently.
Rowan buried her face in her hands. "It doesn't matter any more."
"Rowan."
"Stephanie."
"What?"
"You can't use that tone with me without my name. So use it. Stephanie Lee Eva Elizabeth Finnegan. Better known as Rowan Hood, but to all those who admonish me, it's Stephanie." She heaved a sigh of martyrdom. "It's the way it works."
Again, Daniel blinked. "Fine then. Stephanie."
She adopted an angelic smile. "Yes?"
"What's this price?"
"You don't really need to know."
"Now I do."
"Do not."
"Do too."
"You have to understand that the title of Rowan, or Robin, Hood is passed on from person to person, not necessarily through familial ties. If the current leader dies, their named successor takes the title. Unless, of course they died by the sword of a contender for the title. Then the title goes to, well, the owner of the sword. That's how this current Robin ended up where he is.
"Now, occasionally there is a Robin and Rowan Hood pair that just.clicks. There really isn't more to it than they agree to work and live together, and tell the tree that, and then the whole of the two groups move to Greentree Palace. If one steps down for whatever reason, everything goes back to the way it was, and everyone packs up and moves out.
"The current Robin thinks that since I am a fairly small person, he could dominate me if that ever happened. Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I don't like him. That's all there is to it. He is self-centered and pompous and never listens to anyone else.
"Anyhow, as I was saying, he thinks he could control me and my territory if he could watch over my every move. So, the price of my getting my territory - and now my friends, too - back, is that I agree to work with him all the time - like that'll ever happen - and we all move into Greentree Palace." She sighed and leaned back, forgetting there was no "back" to the rock she was sitting on and thus falling over.
"Aack!" she screeched.
Daniel reached over and picked her up, pulling her over to where he was sitting. He kept an arm around her shoulders, ostensibly to keep her from doing the same thing again.
"So, you said something about Greentree Palace. What's that?"
"It's where Robin and Rowan traditionally rule from."
"I got that much, but why is it important?"
"It is a palace, really cool, too, but neither Rowan nor Robin are allowed to live there without the other. We're only allowed there to reference the library. And if we try to stay there overnight, weird things start happening."
"Hmm. You said something about 'telling the tree' that you were going to move into the palace?"
"Presumably it's the tree Greentree Palace is built around that makes those weird things happen, and it has to know what is going on for Rowan and Robin to live in the palace."
"Hmm."
"Is that everything you wanted to know?"
"For now."
The pair sat in silence for a little while, enjoying the peace, the view, and each other's presence.
"Time to go back?" Daniel inquired.
"If you really want to," muttered Stephanie.
"People might be wondering where we are," Daniel sensibly replied.
Stephanie heaved a great sigh. "I suppose."
They arrived a few minutes later to a carefully orchestrated chaos.
Eva looked up from a stack of arrows she was checking. "Shit!" she exclaimed. She hurried over, started babbling at Rowan, as the latter seemed to grow a few inches, and adopted a cold gaze.
"-and we though you'd be busy for a while, and we weren't going to let you go anyway, so we figured we'd leaved while you were." Eva glanced at Daniel. ".distracted."
Rowan followed the glance and blushed scarlet. "Fine, fine," she muttered. "I really shouldn't be going anyway. You're right."
Eva's mouth dropped open.
"What?" Stephanie asked, spreading her hands to either side.
Eva's mouth worked speechlessly for a few moments. "You.go.said.I.right."
"Hmph," muttered Stephanie. "I'm not that stubborn."
Eva just looked at her and shook her head. "Yeah, right, honey. Just keep on believing that. I have things to do." With that, she turned and dove back into the chaos.
Stephanie hunched her shoulders, muttering to herself.
"Well, what do you want to do?" asked Daniel.
"Wait," Rowan replied shortly, and she melted into the trees in the direction of her clearing.
Daniel shrugged and followed her. At a distance.