Utterly exhausted, Marian dozed lightly while sitting up, her head on Robin's shoulder, her body encircled in his arms.

Longing to protect her, Robin thought hard, trying to come up with of a plan to escape. Marian, he believed, would be safe for a few months at least, until the baby was born. That bought her time, but he wasn't about to let the king hang him, leaving her alone in a cell awaiting the birth of their child, only to be killed after its delivery.

His thoughts were unfortunately interrupted by the approach of King John and Queen Isabella, strutting down the dungeon steps to gloat at the spectacle of their prisoners, locked up together in their dingy cell.

"Wakey wakey Locksley!" the king almost giggled, so great was his mirth at seeing the mighty Earl of Huntington once again brought to the lowly state of prisoner. "Or should I call you Hood? After all, once I declare you guilty and see you executed, your lands and estates will revert to the Crown, which, may I remind you, amounts to me!"

"When I die, Your Majesty," Robin told him, unconsciously holding Marian a bit tighter, "my property will belong to my heirs."

By this time, Marian had awakened. Still foggy with sleep, she couldn't at first remember where she was. But seeing King John and Isabella gloating on the other side of the cell door, the horrible memory of yesterday's events came flooding back to her, especially her humiliation at being stripped, stared and laughed at.

"What heirs?" the king mocked. "One scrawny daughter won't inherit your property, Locksley! I'll see to that!"

"Well, since I'm innocent, we don't need to waste time worrying over that, now, do we?" Robin stated, his manner light and mocking, though he seethed inside at hearing his little girl threatened and insulted. "In fact, if there's any justice left in England, I plan to be home well before time to welcome my second child into the world."

"Plan all you like," Isabella sneered. "That child will never see the light of day!"

A dreadful silence fell over the dungeon, as Robin contemplated the possible import of her words.

Marian couldn't let Isabella's threat go unchallenged. "What are you saying?" she demanded to know.

Isabella, looking triumphant, only sneered in reply.

"Your wife's a fat cow, did you know that, Locksley?" King John asked, laughing at Marian through the cell door. "To think, it was only a short time ago, she drove me mad with her body! And before me, she drove Gisbourne mad! But look at her now...a fat, swollen, ungainly brood mare, marred with the scars from Gisbourne's blade! I took no pleasure, none at all, eyeing her naked, you know."

Marian, eyes cast down, blushed in humiliation and shame. Robin's eyes widened in horror, as he tried to process this terrible piece of news.

"Oh, yes," Isabella happily informed him. "My husband strip searched her, after she was caught. That's right, Robin! John and I saw her naked, and he didn't like what he saw, did you, my king? After all, Robin dear, you saw me naked. To use one of your sayings, 'Seems only fair.' "

"Everyone's seen you naked," Robin sneered back at her, his heart breaking over Marian's distress. "And my wife's no cow. She's beautiful."

"Beautiful?" King John screeched. "She tried to kill me!"

Robin's mind raced, as he looked to Marian for answers. Had she really tried to kill the king? He couldn't believe it! Sneaking into the dungeon to rescue him, yes, but regicide? No matter how evil John was, he was still England's crowned king, and no man, or woman, had a right to take his life.

"Marian?" Robin asked, needing her to explain.

"It was an act," she told him, and the king as well. "I thought, if Your Majesty believed yourself in danger, you would release my husband, so he could protect you. Believe me, I had no intention of harming Your Majesty."

"Lies, lies, and more lies!" the king screamed. "You shot an arrow into my bedchamber, then wanted to finish the dastardly deed with your dagger! But you'll be the one, Cow, to feel the cold blade of a dagger bite into your flesh! At noon, I'll see you hung, drawn, and quartered, for daring to try to take your king's life!"

"You can't touch her," Robin warned, placing Marian behind him in an unconscious attempt to defend her. "She's expecting a child, so you'll just have to wait."

"Do you think I care about that?" the king cried. "No, Locksley! At noon today, she dies!"

"We have got to get out of here," Robin whispered to Marian, more determined than ever to save the woman he loved. "Don't worry, my love. I have a plan."