Chapter 3

Inside the Garden of Good and Evil

Robin and Much paced the garden of Salahadin nervously. Robin paced along the top of the thick garden walls and Much walked the grounds. In this formation Robin would be able to see any threat inside the garden and could send Much to deal with it – hanging back in case others attempted to continue the mischief with Much occupied.

Stretching slowly Robin began to think that he could get used to palace life. Guarding King Richard here was much simpler than guarding him when he decided to personally oversee his troops in battle. The landscape was much nicer too.

Looking down Robin could see the manicured walks that wound through the lush green grass and meandered between two small palace ponds. Robin could see marble aviaries filled with exotic birds and formal flower beds that had been tended with care. As he paced along the wall closer to the palace he could just make out the shapes and soft sounds of beautiful young women behind decorative marble grill work on the windows. Underneath one of these windows sat an extensive herb garden.

As Robin peered slightly into the windows - just for a peek mind you, he had never seen a harem after all and he was an inquiring young man of 20 – an older woman shrouded entirely in black opened the grate, which was not a window but rather large delicate doors, and stepped onto its small ledge above the gardens.

Miriam sighed with exasperation. Where had that girl gotten too? The Sultan would want to present her to the heathen King and she was out wandering in the garden with that stupid cub the Sultan had given her. When would that girl ever start to behave like she was the wife of a Sultan? Looking up she spied the young heathen guard standing on the walls trying to look as if he hadn't been peering into the harem. Snapping her fingers at him, Miriam decided to practice the infidel language that so many in the harem were trying to learn. "You, servant; go find the Princess in the garden and ask her to return to the harem so that Salahadin may present her!"

Robin looked at Miriam in shock. Him? Servant? How dare she! Swallowing his pride Robin placed his hands in front of him and bowed before her. Better to take the woman's insult and find this princess than to start a fight with a member of the harem and harm the King's chance at negotiating peace. Besides with the way Salahadin kept her covered from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet she must be horribly ugly. No wonder she's rude, Robin thought, surrounded by beautiful harem girls all day. Definitely part of the political category Robin thought.

As Robin rounded the corner toward the back wall of the garden he began to hear a soft, melodious singing. Watching carefully he could just see the young woman come into sight. She was a light tan color, the shade of soft, well worked doe skin. She was so slender that she seemed to sway as she walked like a delicate river reed. Her emerald green dress was lined with what appeared to be expensive jewels at the neckline and hem and clung enticingly to her curves. She wore no veil, or niqab as the Saracens called them, and her head covering, the chador, had slipped off of her forehead and was around her shoulders almost like a shawl. Her black hair fell almost to the ground in a solid waterfall that glimmered with a blue sheen. Robin could understand exactly why Salahadin was marrying her – his Marian was beautiful but this woman could make time stand still.

Next to this vision scampered a small lion cub, no larger than some of the puppies he had seen in the village of Locksley. Trying to appear like a grown and noble beast it would stalk full of self importance until a bird or butterfly caught its attention and then it would attempt to pounce and play like the cub it was. The poor animal didn't seem that adept at hunting though, as he never managed to capture any of the small flying things that somehow managed to disappear.

Watching carefully Robin soon understood why the lion cub couldn't catch the small animals. They were disappearing into thin air. As Robin watched the young woman would wave her hand and the birds and butterflies would appear. The young cub would then track them one by one and attempt to pounce. As soon as he would pounce on one of them though the young woman would move her hand in the reverse motion and the animal would shimmer and disappear.

Salahadin was marrying a sorceress! The woman was making animals appear out of thin air! He would need to warn King Richard, Salahadin couldn't mean peace if he was marrying a sorceress. Attempting to flee the woman silently Robin tripped over his own two feet and tumbled off the wall and into the very garden the woman was walking in.

As Robin lay on his back, dazed from his wall into the garden, the young woman rushed over to him. Her lion cub was growling and just a step behind her. "Wafeyy, sit! Are you all right?" Peering down at Robin she began to pat her hands across his body. How on Earth had a Crusader in full regalia fallen into the palace gardens?

Staring up at the woman, facing into the sun, Robin realized how young the woman was. She appeared to be the same age as his Marion, 15 or 16 at most. For all that she was still a sorceress, Robin knew what he had seen, and she was a sorceress with an attack lion. "Please sorceress! Don't hurt me! I wasn't spying on you! I was guarding the garden like King Richard and Salahadin told me to do. I came looking for you when some horrid old woman all covered in black told me to come find you. Please don't hurt me!"

Noor sat back on her heels and laughed. Hurt him? Sorceress? Next he would ask if she was going to turn him into a toad. Looking critically at the slight young man in front of her; Noor wondered about the fuss they had been making about the English crusaders in the harem. One of the younger members of Prince Tariq's harem hold told them of stories she had heard from her maid, who had heard stories from some of the other maids in the market, who had heard stories from the maids from the pleasure district, about how some of the English crusaders were wealthy, generous with their gold, and that other aspects of their personalities were 'impressive'. Best not to think about that, Noor reminded herself. The day after next she would be the bride of Salahadin and all those rumors would remain nothing but speculation for the harem and its cloistered inhabitants.

"Are you sure I shouldn't turn you into a frog for spying on me?" Noor asked the young man teasingly. Instantly she regretted it as she realized that he was deathly afraid of her. The young man really did think she was some type of supernatural being. Didn't they have magicians in their lands? "You don't seem to be hurt. Can you stand up and bear your own weight? Just so I can make sure neither of your legs was broken in the fall. It isn't a long fall but you did hit rather solidly."

The young man nodded at her and rose slowly to his feet. He would be hurting later if he wasn't already. His faced was scratched from scraping it on the ground as he fell and his pristine white tabard was now covered in mud. "You said I was wanted at the harem? I assume the horrid old woman you're talking about would be Miriam, my nursemaid. Do you have a compatriot who's also guarding this garden?"

Robin had finally caught his breathe. "Yes to the first, Princess. I don't know to the second, and yes again to the third Princess." Looking down Robin realized just how slight the young woman really was. He was a small framed man, an archer not a cavalry knight, but this woman made him feel like a giant.

Noor brushed the dirt off of her palms. "Well, since there is someone else to watch the garden you may come with me and we'll get your scraped cleaned up. King Richard would not wish to risk such a fine member of his retinue to the fevers of an unclean wound." Walking toward the harem Noor snapped her fingers at the lion cub. "Wafeyy, come!" Turning to Robin she smiled sweetly. "Well, are you coming or aren't you?"