The sun beat down almost too warmly, yet a light gentle breeze softened its strength, making it feel like a perfect day in June.

Robin and Marian leaned side by side on the woven willow fence surrounding the pasture, watching the foal Lochinvar gallop playfully around his mother. Robin noticed his eight-year-old stable boy Ian look wistfully toward Luke Scarlett and a group of other village boys wading and splashing each other in Locksley Pond, and understanding, he cheerfully told the boy, "Go on. Join your friends. Lady Marian and I will watch the horses."

"Thank you, Master Robin!" Ian cried in his piping voice, before dashing away to play.

"That was kind," Marian said approvingly.

Marian could feel Robin's kind, penetrating gaze study her, seeking to know what troubled her. The world seemed so beautiful right now, yet the gossip, the threat of her father being replaced, and her aunt's callousness weighed heavily on Marian's heart. She couldn't hide her feelings any longer, not with Robin's eyes trying to see all the way into her soul. A tear rolled down her cheek, followed by others. The more she tried to blink them away, the faster they came.

Robin folded her into his arms. The vest he wore for her aunt's visit was one of his finest, made of silk. Marian pulled her face away, saying, "My tears will ruin your clothing."

Gently, she felt him stroke the back of her head and place it onto his chest again. "Shh," he said.

She didn't mind being shushed. In fact, she loved that he cared more for her tears than for the vest they would ruin. But she pulled her face away again and suggested, "Take it off first. Save me from Much's outrage, when he sees your vest spotted with tears."

Without a trace of a snicker, Robin loosened the lacings on one side of his vest and pulled it over his head, then placed it on the fence. Marian no longer felt the need to weep, yet she longed to rest her cheek against his chest and feel the comfort of his strong arms around her. Positioned so, she sighed.

She could hear his heart beating within his chest. Her own heartbeats seemed to join with his, and love flooded her senses. Could anything be stronger...sweeter than this feeling of being one with him? Lifting her face, she reached for his lips.

The kiss was slow, searching, and tender. Marian ached from the sweetness of her love for him, and nothing in the world seemed to matter any more, as long as Robin loved her too.

"I'm sorry I brought on the gossip," Robin told her softly, when the kiss ended. "I meant no dishonor. Believe me?"

She nodded her head, then asked him, "Do you think my father's position is safe? My aunt believes the new king might replace him."

"Richard won't do that." He brushed away a tear still remaining on her cheek. His gaze, his smile, his entire self seemed focused so lovingly on her, Marian felt truly safe and treasured. "Trust me, Marian," Robin continued, tenderly. "The only men who need worry about losing their positions are those Richard knows to be corrupt."

"You are sure?"

"As sure as I am of...us."

They kissed again, and would have continued kissing if they weren't in view of his village. "I have the feeling Aunt Mary is staring at us, out the window of your house," Marian told him, smiling.

Robin chuckled. "I have the feeling it's Much, looking on."

"He's used to it. Robin, how long will you gone for the coronation?"

"A week. Two, if the king requires it. If we were already married, you could come with me."

"I would love to go! Are you out of favor now, for refusing to fight for Richard?"

"I doubt it. He knows I'm loyal. And if he doesn't, I'll find a way to prove my loyalty."

"How?"

He shrugged, and she warned him, "Don't go looking for trouble."

"I never do! Trouble comes looking for me."

"Well, don't let it catch you!"

He wanted to kiss her some more, and knowing he mustn't, he turned his attention back to the horses. "Come on," he said, the good natured warmth of his smile banishing all Marian's concerns. "Let me introduce you to Lochinvar."

Without warning, he scooped her up in his arms, held her a moment longer than was necessary, then placed her on her feet on the other side of the fence. With easy grace, he vaulted himself over the fence and joined her. "Watch where you step," he warned her, jokingly.

Lochinvar was nursing, his head under his mother, while Sapphire calmly continued to graze. Very slowly, Robin led Marian to the foal.

Marian trembled with excitement. A newborn foal, a flower strewn pasture on a warm, sunshine filled day, the sound of boys playing and splashing in the pond, and Robin, handsome and tender and loving. A new young king on the throne, one filled with ideals and virtues! There was so much to be thankful for. She had been foolish to cry. The world seemed a lovely, perfect place. Nothing, Marian thought to herself, could ever be wrong again.