Confused and none too pleased about the king's unexpected visit, Marian debated whether she should rush upstairs to dress herself in a presentable manner, or simply appear before His Majesty in her nightclothes. Her heart warned her to do the former, but her head suggested her story of illness would ring more true if she remained in a state of undress. And because the king had already dismounted, had entered her home and was calling for her, her head won.
By the time she appeared from the servants' quarters, Robin, with Ellen in his arms, was already standing over the king, eyeing him distrustfully.
King John had wasted no time making himself at home. He sat sprawled upon a chair, one leg hanging over an armrest, gulping down wine from a chalice embossed with the Huntington crest.
"Is that the best you could do, Locksley?" he sneered, in a belittling tone.
"I regret the wine displeases Your Majesty," Robin answered, coldly. "I'll have my servants bring a different vintage from my cellar."
"More wine, of course!" King John agreed. "But I was referring to your brat. A scrawny chit of a girl, and speckled, to boot! Believe me, I won't be in any hurry for her to grow up! I prefer my bedmates pleasing to my eyes, such as the lovely Miriam. Where is she, by the way?"
Before Robin could explode with angry objections, Marian stepped into view. First shooting Robin a quick look warning him to be quiet, she sank into a graceful curtsey before the king. She was every bit as disgusted by the king's comments as her husband, but she kept her head, knowing the quickest way to end this unwelcome visit was to avoid angry words.
"King John," she murmured, in her lovely voice. "It is an honor to welcome you to Locksley. However, I must warn Your Majesty, it is unsafe for you to be here. I am ill, with fever and contagion. Please, Your Majesty, for the good of your people, leave our home, and return to the castle."
"What in the name of my harpy mother happened to your hair?" the king cried out, staring at her in disgust.
Her hair! In her concern for Bridget, Marian had forgotten her hair had been hacked off at chin level. She had been trying to be brave and not let it bother her, but now, with the king glaring at her as though she were a leper, she blessed the knife that had chopped it off.
"I cut it," she lied. "I was feverish, and didn't know what I was about. Please, Sire, go, before you catch what I have."
"Oh, Miriam," the king cried, "I weep for the loss of one of your many beauties! Thankfully, you are loaded with others! Stacked with them, one might even say!"
Swinging his legs onto the floor, he rose from his seat and began to saunter toward Marian, who still knelt in a curtsey. Before he could reach her, however, Robin strode into his path, blocking the king from reaching his wife.
"You heard my wife," he said, handing Ellen off to Marian. "Keep away from her, if you know what's good for you."
"That sounds dangerously like a threat, Locksley," the king barked. "Surely you're not threatening your monarch?"
"Just looking out for your health," Robin boasted, his answer an obvious double edged sword.
"Do you know what I hate most about you, Locksley? Your smug arrogance. You've always thought of yourself as better than anybody else. I only want to cure your luscious wife."
"Bed rest will cure her. In fact, it's already been prescribed. Go to bed, Marian."
"Yes!" the king cried, delightedly. "My thoughts exactly! Shall we go to bed together, my dear?"
"I would infect Your Majesty," Marian insisted. "I am ill."
"And I am here to cure you!" King John proclaimed. "Step aside, Locksley, ere I have you removed forcefully. I only want to lay my royal hands upon the heavenly creature, and she will be cured!"
"You're not laying a single finger on my wife, King John," Robin snarled.
"Temper, temper!" the king scolded. "My, my, Locksley! What an unpleasant little beast you're being! I only wish my sister Joan were alive, to see the wolfish glare on your face. Not so pretty now, are you? Did I ever tell you, Locksley, that I secretly witnessed your lovely little moonlit tete e tete with my sister, the night before she set sail to marry King William of Sicily? Lovely, romantic setting, in the castle garden! Full moon, and my sister, rivalling the flowers themselves for loveliness, gripping Locksley here by his arms, begging him to take her maidenhead, so she could have just one night in his arms to remember him by, before being parted forever! Did you know about that tender little scene, Miriam, dear?"
Marian knew little of it, but it did not come as a surprise. She'd met Princess Johanna, and saw the way her emerald green eyes had sparked whenever resting upon Robin, with a flame inside them akin to the elusive blue flame within her lost emerald earrings.
"My husband is blessed with almost too much appeal," she calmly admitted. "Women of all rank and stations prove susceptible to his charms. Even Your Majesty's wife," she couldn't help adding, taking a stab at Isabella.
Instantly, she regretted having said it. The king, knowing it to be true, turned jealous eyes, glittering with hatred, on Robin.
"Of course, I have better taste than to look twice at your wife," Robin quipped, with that smug, self satisfied air the king detested.
"No wonder you bought that dappled horse," the king snorted. "Spotted, just like your brat."
"She's not spotted," Marian argued, rising to her feet and holding Ellen close. "She has freckles, and they're lovely."
"I'll take the horse off your hands, Locksley," the king whined. "You may give it to me, as a gift."
"I bought him as a gift for my wife," Robin snarled.
"Buy her something else," the king commanded. "A hood, for instance, to cover up her hair. You should be well acquainted where to find one, Hoodie."
"The horse belongs to Marian," Robin insisted, through clenched teeth.
"Not anymore it doesn't! It's mine! All mine! I can't wait to show everyone what a magnificent image their king makes, seated upon its back! Why, an artist should sculpt me! What's this, Locksley?" he suddenly asked, his short spanned attention focusing upon several heavy volumes on a table.
Robin hoped the king would forget the horse when hearing his answer. "Those books contain the laws of England, as set down by your late father, King Henry," Robin explained.
The king grimaced, as if he'd bitten into a bad oyster. "Boring!" he sang out. "What are they doing in your house?"
"I've been studying them," Robin said forthrightly, "ever since you were crowned."
"Why?"
"I want to know exactly what the law states. I want to make certain justice prevails in my country."
"Your country? Your country? It's my country! I'm the king! I make the laws, not my dead daddy! I can do anything I like, and you can't stop me, Lawyer Locksley! Tell me, Miriam, my sweet, when does your husband find time to read through such boring volumes?"
"He sometimes gets up during the night, when he's had a dream, or can't sleep," Marian explained. "I've often had to coax him back to bed."
King John burst into mocking laughter. "I won't be leaving your bed to curl up with a book, you may be sure of that, my dear!" he chortled. "Oh, no! Locksley, you're an even greater fool than I imagined!"
"No husband is no fool," Marian argued, making Robin's eyes shine with pride. "He's familiarizing himself with every nuance of the law, to help the people. He'd much rather be in bed, believe me!"
"Of course he would, with you there, my fiery beauty! Tell me, is it your fever that brings out such fire in you, or desire for me?"
"It is fever, I assure Your Majesty. Nothing but fever."
"Then you must let me lay my hands on you, and cure you! Step aside, Locksley, you law clerk."
Robin responded by taking one step closer to the king, further blocking him from Marian. The king, infuriated, snapped his fingers, and instantly, five guards charged forward and, after a quick struggle, hauled Robin aside.
"Outnumbered, Locklsey! I wondered how many men it would take to outnumber you, without your pathetic little outlaw band at your side. Now I know!" Turning a leering grin on Marian, he continued. "And now, my poor, weak, sickly, beguiling pet, I will place my hands upon you, and perform a miracle! I, your king, will cure you!"
Before Marian could think where she should put Ellen, the king reached for her, placing a grasping hand on each of her breasts and squeezing. Holding Ellen on her hip, Marian reacted with a fight move Robin had taught her years ago to defend herself from harm. Flinging up her knee with all her force behind it, she jabbed the king where it would hurt him most.
King John roared aloud with pain, releasing his grip on Marian. "Arrest them both!" he screamed. "Lock them in my dankest dungeon, and throw the keys into the moat! How dare they harm the king's person?"