Robin's welcoming smile toward Maggie quickly turned to one of embarrassment when the young prostitute began upbraiding him so noisily, she drew a curious crowd of spectators.

"Don't you flash your gap mouthed teeth at me!" Maggie barked at him. "What did you do, givin' my jewels to that pale, pasty, look-down-her-nose-at-me chancellor's wife, when you gotta wonderful woman right here? I want 'em back right now!"

"Those are your jewels?" Marian asked Maggie, alarmed. "Robin! I can't believe you gave that woman anything, after she accused you! If you really need everyone to love you so badly, you really are a fool!"

"Shh!" Robin ordered his wife, finding her onslaught much more severe and disturbing than Maggie's. "It's not what you think, Marian! It was all part of my plan, to get your earrings back!"

"Oh! And that worked well, didn't it?"

"What about my jewels?" Maggie demanded, her ruddy face rivalling the false color of her hair.

"I'll return them to you, I promise," Robin told her, confident he could appease her. The appealing look in his eyes would have melted any woman, but Maggie drew back with a grimace, shook off her disgust, and told him, "You better go get 'em right now! I ain't here to look at horses! I need 'em, to drum up business for the Cherry Pit!"

"Well?" Marian said, unforgivingly. "You heard Maggie! What are you waiting for? Go tell that little fool she's wearing Maggie's jewels."

"I didn't give them to her, Marian," Robin tried to explain. "Allan did!"

"Allan?" Maggie cried out, then swore a profanity so loudly the mothers who were listening covered their children's ears. "Where is he? If he doesn't wanna come see me no more, well, I can take it. But give my jewels to such a shitfaced, prim and touch-me-not, well, that's just..."

Marian put her arm around a stricken Maggie, telling herself she'd have a word with Allan a Dale! She really had no idea Maggie cared so much, but Maggie was hard, and soon brushed off her tears.

A trumpet announced the arrival of the King and Queen, and Marian surprised Robin by dismissing herself, leaving Robin alone to comfort Maggie.

"I'll get your jewels back to you first thing tomorrow," he promised. "I have a plan to steal them back from Mistress Fitzhugh, along with a rescue!"

"You better!" Maggie warned him. "Your face is already smashed in enough, without me having Bruno slug you in the nose. And whatever you do, don't show up so damn early!"

...

Unbeknownst to Robin, Marian had a plan of her own to help save the poor, accused barber. Knowing the king changed his mind more often than he changed his shirt, Marian decided the quickest and easiest way to rescue the barber was to convince the king his new haircut was attractive.

"Your Majesty," she said, dropping a graceful curtsey before his throne on the raised dais.

"Miriam?" King John gasped in delight, while his queen looked as if she'd just swallowed something decidedly sour.

"It's Marian, Your Majesty," Lady Locksley again reminded him. "Forgive my boldness, but I had to come! Your Majesty looks remarkably well today."

"You, my lovely, have our royal permission to be as bold as you like with your sovereign! Come closer. Don't be afraid."

"My king," Isabella snapped, trying to reclaim her husband's roving attention. "Send her away. It is time for you to begin the horse race!"

It was indeed time. Marian quickly glanced back, and caught a glimpse of Robin dashing toward his horse, then vaulting into the saddle over his horse's rump. She couldn't help but smile, admiring his aplomb, but thinking how sore he'd be tonight.

"Looks like Locksley's late again," King John distastefully declared. "Good. Won't it be a splendid change, to watch him lose, for once." Then, without waiting for Robin to be able to take his place beside the other riders, the king dropped his handkerchief and announced, "Be off!"

"Come, my dear," he lustfully coaxed Marian. "Sit with me."

"Your Majesty," Marian said, watching as Robin made up the distance between himself and the other contestants, "I am honored, but really, there's no place for me to sit."

"Sit here, on my lap," the king coaxed, holding out his arms.

Isabella bit her lips in anger. "My king," she begged. "I am your queen! You wouldn't flaunt your attentions to this pregnant woman before all these people, with me beside you?"

John turned smilingly toward her, while Marian continued watching the race. "Wouldn't I? But no, my sweet. I intend to give the lovely Lady Locksley all my attentions, in private! I'm only asking her to take an available seat, on my lap. Nothing remiss." His tone turned harsh and threatening. "But if you find it so, you had best watch your back, lest you meet a worse fate than my first wife."

Marian found herself too engrossed in the horserace to pursue her plan of flattery, at least for the moment. Robin's horse had pulled ahead, but was being challenged by a dappled grey, so beautiful that Marian almost pulled for him to win.

Robin was thrilled by the challenge of the horse thundering alongside his, making up his mind then and there to buy him for Marian before the fair was over. As the last final yards between himself and the finish line closed in, he'd thought of an even better gift he could give his wife, in addition to the grey.

The race was over, and Robin had won by a length. Congratulating the second place finisher, he asked for a word with him later, then strode toward the royal dais to claim his prize.

The king hadn't paid much attention to the race, and was in a foul mood when he saw that Locksley had won. But Marian, wanting to save the barber, flashed her dimples at him, just as Robin drew near enough to see.

"Marian?" Robin asked, confused and jealous.

"Congratulations," she told her husband. "I was just telling His Majesty how much I like his hair! Doesn't he look handsome?"