Part 32

Mary watched Maxwell closely as he moved carefully into the road. They were at the spot where Michael and Elizabeth had likely tried to meet up with the Queen's cortège, right at the fork in the road which led to the Convent of St. Mary in one direction and Nottingham in the other.

She still could not believe that they had left Lord Edmund's body swinging from that tree. She had not even known the man and it had been difficult to do so. Seeing Max turn his back on his guardian like that, it had reinforced two things in Mary's mind - one, that Maxwell was willing to do anything to assure the safety of those most dear to him and, two, he could be as cold as any king she had ever known of when forced to be.

Mary had only met one king - King Richard - and that had only been one time. Even before he had taken the throne upon the old king's death, the Queen had not spent a lot of time with her son, even though he was her favorite. Richard had been off fighting for his inheritance, constantly on the verge of being disinherited by his father in favour of one of his brothers. When he [I]had[/I] finally taken the throne, his first order of business had been to go on Crusade to the Holy Land, partly to assuage his soul of the fact that he had constantly rebelled against his own sire, partly because making war was his life's work.

But that one time that she had encountered the golden god many called Coeur-de-Lion... It had stayed with her since. She had been a mere maid of thirteen at the time, but his very presence had practically hummed with power and confidence. She had thought "Here is a man who knows what is his, but also knows what he wants to [I]make[/I] his. And he will do whatever it takes to make it so."

Maxwell's very being reflected the same understanding of who he was, of what he was capable of and what was important to him. While the Lionheart's goal was victory in battle and the conquering of foreign lands in the name of his God, this new king's desire was much simpler, but no less significant.

He wanted to hold those he held most dear close and keep them safe at all costs.

And now that the situation was completely out of his control, through no fault of his own, he was slowly losing his focus. The supreme irony was that the one person who could bring that focus and the person who had disrupted it were one and the same. Elizabeth clearly still had no idea how much her well-being, merely her [I]presence[/I], meant to Max.

But how could she? She had not witnessed the healing in the Forest, had not seen his complete desperation when he thought he might lose her, had not seen him pull himself together to assure that he did not. She had not witnessed the complete loss of control when she had run off to the Queen against his express wishes. In fact, Elizabeth had not been in Max's company nearly as long as even Mary and Alexander, had, of course, never seen him when she was not around. Not to mention, Elizabeth inherent modesty would make it unlikely that it would even occur to her that she could be so important to the man she loved.

Losing her would kill this man - this king. And Mary had the feeling that even Maxwell was only beginning to truly understand this.

"They are not here." Max said unnecessarily now, turning back towards the spot where she hid. "And yet I see no sign that any sort of company has passed this way."

"Do you think mayhap the Queen had already passed and they followed her into the city?" Mary asked, gesturing for him to return to the safety of the tree cover. But Max's eyes were not on her. He was gazing at something just off the road on the other side. "What is it?" Mary demanded in a loud whisper.

Maxwell ignored her, moved forward and then leaned over and picked up whatever it was that lay there. Mary was beginning to see him more clearly in the brightening light of dawn, which was just coming to the Forest. "What is it?" She repeated more insistently.

Max turned slowly, held it up for her perusal. It was a simple circlet of gold, one that Mary didn't immediately recognize.

It wasn't until she saw the expression on Max's face that she realized what it was. It was Elizabeth's wedding band.

"Oh my sweet Saviour...." Mary gasped. "It was a trap?"

But Max was paying her no mind. His eyes closed abruptly and he gasped, almost seemed to stop breathing. Mary ignored the fact that being so exposed on the road was dangerous to them both, darted out of the Forest and grabbed him before he keeled over.

"Max! Maxwell! What is it?" The only thought that passed through her mind was that if something happened to Maxwell, she would be all alone. How could she save Michael and Elizabeth is she was all alone?

But Max seemed to be recovering already. He was staring down at the ring, his face white, but he didn't not seem on the verge of losing consciousness any more. "What happened?" Mary demanded, starting to get angry. She always reacted thus when she was frightened beyond comprehension. Anger was a much easier emotion to deal with than fear. Anger she could control to a certain extent.

"On occasion, in tense situations, we - Michael, Isabel, Tess and I - can get flashes." Max explained, still gazing past her as though trying to recall something. He focused on her briefly, saw her look of confusion and elaborated. "Visions - of what has occurred and of what might occur." He twisted the ring between his fingers. "I saw a vision. The Sheriff's men have them. Michael fought well but there were too many of them. I could not quite get a read on what happened exactly though. The flash was somewhat muddled." He was frowning in concentration, as though trying to pull the information he had received together into some sort of workable solution.

"You saw all that from a little ring?" Mary demanded, amazed. But, she shook her head, just decided to accept it. It seemed that every time she turned around her new friends were demonstrating some different, miraculous gift. "Are they still alive?" She asked breathlessly.

"They were when they left this clearing." Max replied firmly. "Which means that the sooner we get them out of Nottingham Castle, the less opportunity Sir Kyle will have to change that."

"We must find Isabel and Alexander!" Mary exclaimed. "We can't do this on our own."

And, for the first time in a long time, something finally went right. Just as she voiced the words, her brother and Max's sister melted from the trees further down the King's Highway. Mary almost rubbed her eyes, believing that they were a trick of the light.

But, moments later, when her brother had pulled her into a tight embrace, she knew that they were real.

"We came at once." Isabel explained, after hugging both Max and Mary. "The Sheriff is working for Prince John. We saw them leave with the stolen taxes. The men who accosted us days ago Max. They were trying to hide what they were doing."

Mary gasped. "I can't believe this of the Sheriff. He has done many evil things over the past few days in support of his son, but he is no traitor."

"I saw it with my own eyes Mary." Alexander argued.

"As did I." Isabel added.

"Alexander, you did not spend nearly as much time in Sheriff James's company as Lizzy and I did. He is no traitor." Mary insisted. "In fact, he spoke of plans he had for the Shire upon King Richard's return. He refused to undertake any of them without the King's direct approval, even with Queen Eleanor's permission. My guess that if anyone is behind this plot, it is Sir Kyle, using the Sheriff's good name to advance it! Think Alex! It is the only thing that makes sense. No baron in his right mind would betray the King. Not for that weasel John, especially with Richard on the verge of being ransomed."

"But if the taxes never reach London, Richard will not be ransomed." Alex countered, still clearly sure that he was right. "And there are many who believe that John would be a much better king. Richard does not care about England. He does not even speak the language, only wants the crown and the money that goes with it. John was born in England, is a good administrator. He might be the better choice."

"Bite your tongue!" Mary snapped back. "Queen Eleanor would have your head if she heard that!"

"Queen Eleanor is somewhat blind when it comes to those she loves." Alex returned wryly. "Present company excluded of course." He continued, glancing at the bow in Mary's hand meaningfully. Mary felt like slapping her brother for his treacherous words. He apparently finally seemed to notice this, because he backed up a step and grinned. "Mary mine. You know I am simply playing Devil's Advocate. I would never support John against the rightful king."

Mary could see that Max's eyes were narrowed in thought as he listened closely to their argument. "This does all seem slightly odd." He allowed. "But it is of little import who is behind the plot. The important thing, for now, is that we now have information to use as a bargaining tool."

"A bargaining tool?" Isabel asked. "For Tess?"

"Not only for Tess." Mary sighed, explained what Max had seen in his flash.

Mary saw Alex raise his hand to rub the bridge of his nose in exasperation, trying to hide his worry. "Lizzy." He sighed wearily under he breath. "What have you done?"

"What has come before is of no consequence." Max interjected firmly. "All that matters is getting them back. There are many things to be done." He turned to Alexander. "You must ride to London with all haste my friend. You are the only one who will be able to get to the Queen. You are also the only one she will believe regarding what is happening here."

"I will go at once." Alexander bowed slightly. Mary blinked. It still amazed her how, under dire circumstances, they all listened instinctively to Max. Based on her brother's gesture of a moment before, loyalties were constantly shifting in their small band. Perhaps her brother's lack of true concern over who possessed the throne of England had little to do with John or Richard at all.

It seemed that Alexander of Whitfield had a new liege lord.

"You may ride Evander." Maxwell added. "He is still at the hunting lodge, which is quite near here." Mary followed his gaze as he turned to Isabel, who was staring at Alex, concern on her visage. "Bella, you are going to dreamwalk Michael. We must know if he is still alive, must try and understand what happened to he and Liz. If they both still live, then they are likely safe for the moment. If Sir Kyle intended to kill them straight off, it would be done already." Mary could tell by his tone of voice that he was trying to ignore what it would mean if they [I]were[/I] dead. She was trying to ignore that possibility herself. It was too, too horrible.

Losing Lizzy...Inconceivable.

And Michael...

The thought of never seeing Michael again, of never finding out where their tumultuous, yet exhilarating connection was meant to lead....

She squashed the thought mercilessly. No time for doubts.

"Dreamwalk?" Mary inquired instead, for the benefit of both she and Alexander.

"It is Isabel's gift." Max explained quickly. "She can enter the dreams of others."

"Oh." Mary closed her eyes, shaking her head again. Just accept it Mary and move on, a small voice in the back of her head advised her. "And what will I do?" She asked.

"You are with me Martin of York." Max quirked a grin at her. "I'll need your bow for what we are about to do."

"Which is?" Mary felt a shiver of anticipation, mixed with a healthy dose of dread, descend her spine.

"We are going to turn truly outlaw," Max replied with relish, "and steal those taxes back."

To be continued...