Why did the sun always have to shine on the days Marian was banished to her room, expected to work on her hated embroidery? For that's exactly what it was doing today, October 15th, the day following Robin's birthday.

Marian was in serious trouble. Part of her wished she could take back shoving Princess Joan into dog doo, part of her insisted she didn't care, and yet another part of her was stubbornly glad she'd done it, even if she couldn't understand why.

The princess was pretty and nice, and Marian had admired her, right up until the time Robin paid her so much attention. Still, it was a mean act, pushing someone undeserving into that smelly, gooey mess. She supposed she deserved her punishment, even if every bit of her wished she could be running about outdoors on such a beautiful day. Determined, however, to take it, Marian pushed her embroidery needle through the cloth, then tugged hard and broke the floss when it caught in a knot.

"Curses," she muttered, then held her breath, lest someone in her household heard her.

She almost shot to the ceiling when light laughter coming from her window startled her.

Angry yet delighted all at once, she ran to her window and challenged, "What are you doing here?"

"Just popping by to see the Condemned," Robin grinned back. "Errand of mercy."

"Mercy would be announcing yourself with our signal, instead of sneaking up and spying on me."

"I wasn't spying! Nice language, by the way. So, that's how proper young maidens speak, when they think no one's around to hear them."

"Watch out. I'm still holding the needle."

Robin's grin widened as he threw a leg over her sill and climbed into her room.

"I didn't hear anyone invite you in," Marian teased.

"Your steward just rounded the corner," Robin told her. "Wouldn't do to get you into deeper trouble."

Robin sauntered around her room, inspecting everything. Despite Marian's objections of, "Don't touch!" he picked up her embroidery, tried not to grimace, and asked, "Why'd you do it, Wren?"

"Do what?"

"You know. Push Her Highness in the...You picked the wrong Royal, you know. You should have pushed Prince John!"

They shared a laugh at that, and Robin invited, "Come out with me?"

"I can't," Marian complained. "I'm being punished, remember?"

"No one will know. Besides, you're wasting your time cooped up here doing your embroidery, when you could be out with me, on a glorious adventure!"

"What kind of adventure?" Marian asked suspiciously, intrigued all the same.

Robin's eyes twinkled. "I have a plan," he told her. "Much has to help out at the mill today, and I want to play with him. So, I was thinking, you and I could disguise ourselves as outlaws, ambush him when he's out delivering flour, rob him of the money he earns, bring him to the forest, and play with him all afternoon!"

"That's your plan?" Marian cried. "What kind of a friend are you? Poor Much!"

"We won't really rob him," Robin explained. "We'll replace every penny he's got with a silver crown, without telling him. Then, just think how pleased his family will be when they open his satchel and see all the silver! And Much won't have a clue how it got there!"

"Where will we get the money?" Marian asked, fascinated by Robin's plan.

"The Queen presented it to me for my birthday," Robin told her casually.

Marian was amazed. "And you want to give it to Much?"

"Of course! But his family won't take it, because they're too proud or something, so I thought if we tricked them..."

"They'd think Much got a really good price for the flour!" Marian's eyes shone with the thrill of the adventure, but most especially with Robin's intended act of kindness.

"Alright," she agreed. "I'm in. But I still think Much'll die of fright when we jump out and ambush him. Couldn't you just distract him, and I could slip the money into his satchel? He's easily distracted, you know."

"I could," Robin agreed, "but where would be the fun in that?"

...

Disguised in ragged boy's garments, with hoods pulled up over their heads, Robin wasn't quite satisfied with their disguises.

"You still look too pretty to be an outlaw," he told Marian. "Come here. Let's smear mud on our faces. That'll make us look fierce."

"Alright." Marian dug her fingers into the mud and rubbed it onto her cheeks, nose, and forehead.

"It would be better if we had beards, instead of dirty faces," Robin decided. "Wash that off, and I'll paint a beard on you."

Liking his idea, Marian splashed water on her face and rubbed it dry with her sleeve.

"Hold still," Robin ordered, as he daubed mud between her nose and mouth and onto her chin. Inspecting his work, he exclaimed, "You look great, Marian! A right, regular outlaw! Now, do me."

Robin held very still while Marian painted his face with mud. Something unexpected came over him, however, with her face so close and her fingertips stroking his cheek. He could feel her light breath on his face as well, and suddenly, he felt an overpowering urge to kiss her!

"What's wrong?" Marian asked, sensing the change in him.

"I don't know," he confessed. "You just look so pretty."

"Better make my beard darker, then," Marian decided. "Outlaws aren't supposed to be pretty."

"You are," Robin said, grinning. "You're gorgeous."

"Stop it. You made me smear the mud. Now I have to start all over."

Robin smirked. He didn't mind. He liked feeling her touch his face, more than he cared to admit. If it took all day for her to paint on his disguise, he wouldn't complain one bit.

...

(Note: Last night, I discovered The Tale of Robin Hood and Much the Miller's Son. In it, Robin really does plan to "rob" Much for a joke, and replace all his pennies with crowns to be kind, with disastrous results for him. When I read it, I thought it too splendid to pass up, so I added it to this story! Hope you enjoy!)