Wasting an entire day in bed was something Robin could never understand, but today he did not mind doing so in the least. There was nowhere else he'd rather be, than lying in bed beside his wife, holding her protectively in his arms.
"Why can't we get up?" Marian asked, shaking off the refreshing effects of her nap, and the last of the drug's induced stupor.
"Because, my love," Robin answered, tapping her lightly on her nose, "your doctor and mine ordered the pair of us on temporary bedrest."
Marian sat up and looked at him, her eyes snapping. "Doctor? What doctor?"
Chuckling under his breath, Robin pulled her back against him, delighted to see the fire within her return. "Just a figure of speech," he explained, grinning. "I was referring to Matilda as yours, and Djaq as mine, though Matilda had plenty to say to me, as well."
"I'm sure she did," Marian smirked, beginning to smile at last. "What's wrong with you, anyway?"
Sitting up, Robin, pulled back the cover to reveal his bandaged thigh. He was dressed in no more than a shirt and his linen undershorts, while Marian looked stunningly beautiful in a simple, white nightdress.
"Isabella injured us both," he informed her. "You with poison, and me...let's just say she used her fangs on me."
"She bit you?" Marian cried out, indignantly, making Robin laugh.
"I suppose 'fangs' wasn't really the right thing to say. She jabbed at me, with her hairpin. Wouldn't have hurt at all, except she managed to strike an artery. But, the silver lining is, I get to spend an entire day in bed, with you."
He bent close to kiss her but could not claim his prize, for Marian playfully turned her cheek away just before his lips reached hers.
"I thought this was supposed to be bedrest," she teased.
"It is! I can kiss you so restfully, you'll doze straight back to sleep."
"I doubt that."
"A challenge?"
"You'd better not kiss me like that!" Marian cried, reaching her arms around his neck and pulling him to her. "Mmmm, that's better," she sighed, after enjoying a warm, lovely kiss.
Fingering the ends of her hair, she resigned herself and asked, "Do I look horrible?"
"Never," he said with conviction. "Trust me. You look gorgeous."
"I suppose it will be easier to care for, short," she sighed. "Besides, it will grow back. And it's certainly better than your haircut!"
His monk's tonsure had begun to grow back, but the hairs at his crown he'd shaved were still so short, they stood straight up, like bristles. Marian lazily lifted a hand and rubbed them back and forth, teasing him quietly by saying, "Hedgehog."
They kissed again, softly and sweetly, and Robin kept the passion he felt rising within him in check. After what she'd been through, he only wanted to hold her close, and shelter her from harm.
"I remember everything that happened to me, Robin," she confessed, "and I hated feeling so helpless. I don't ever want to feel that way again."
"You won't. I swear it. I let John and Allan take care of Bruno, so he'll think twice before doing Isabella's dirty work ever again."
"She has my ring, you know," Marian told him, then wished she hadn't mentioned it. The look in his eyes turned lethal.
"Let it go, Robin," she warned. "It's only a ring."
"She took your earrings. I won't let her have your ring. I'll get it back."
"No. Keep away from her! Anyway, there's no need. I have a plan of my own."
"You?"
"Yes. Does that surprise you?"
"No, it doesn't. You never learn. I mean it, Marian. Let me handle it."
"Oh, so you can be arrested again?"
"It's better than..."
"What? Tell me."
Their argument was cut short when Ellen toddled into their room, lifting her arms to be picked up, so she could join them on their bed.
"Forgive me, Master, Mistress," Nurse Mattie blushed, from their doorframe. "She got away from me."
"No harm done," Robin told her, placing his tiny daughter between him and Marian on the bed. "Her timing was perfect. Wasn't it, Boo?"
Ellen snuggled happily on Marian's lap, and her parents' argument was shelved for a time.