Pockets of fog hung thickly on the cool damp air, shrouding the early morning light, as Marian rode into Sherwood the following day, seeking Much, and answers.

Believing herself near Robin's camp, Marian steered Vesper slightly off course toward the stream, to allow Vesper to drink.

Before reaching the stream, however, she reined her horse and leapt down from the saddle, surprised by the sound of a soft, warm, female voice, speaking in a harsh, clicking, foreign tongue.

Djaq! Marian had unknowingly come upon the Saracen at her morning prayers!

Secretly watching her, Marian wondered how she could have ever believed the small young woman was a boy. For although Djaq's bust was hidden behind a loose vest, her eyes were too lovely, her mouth and chin too soft, her thighs, hips, and buttocks too rounded to belong to any male.

I never bothered to really look at her before, Marian realized. Not until I learned the truth.

But what exactly was the truth? Burning with jealousy, Marian could only guess.

Somehow, in the Holy Land, the young woman must have met Sir Robert of Locksley, Earl of Huntington and Captain of the King's Private Guard. One look at the handsome young Crusader's devastating smile and the Saracen was slain, Marian felt certain, as surely as his arrows slayed Djaq's brethren.

Sharing no common language between them, the couple must have communicated with their eyes, and their lips. Marian was only too familiar how skilled and comfortable Robin was, letting his lingering looks and kisses speak for him.

And then, needing more, they must have schooled each other in their respective languages, holding lessons between kisses. After all, Djaq spoke nearly perfect English, and Marian knew Robin had returned from war with a tongue fluent in Arabic.

Letting her mind whirl and spin with all these "facts," Marian found it hard to breathe.

"Lady Marian?" Djaq's musical, accented voice was asking. "Are you alright? Should I bring Robin?"

"No," Marian answered, tersely. "I don't want him. I'm here looking for Much."

"Find one, and you find the other," Djaq commented, with a smile, which Marian did not return.

"Yes. It must be difficult for you, finding time alone with...with..."

Djaq's brilliant mind immediately guessed the underlying meaning of Marian's words, even as she recognized how incorrect and off the mark she was.

So! Lady Marian, learning her gender, had assumed Djaq would challenge her claim to Robin's heart! The lady's proud defensive stance, coupled with the burning challenge in her eyes and her labored breathing, informed Djaq of Lady Marian's preposterous, incorrect assumption.

Not every woman plays lightly with her own heart, or with the hearts of men, as your friend Lady Cecily does, Djaq was thinking. I have never been one to fall in love easily, nor do I wish to. I need no man to complete me, just as I suspect you are complete in and of yourself. And as for Robin...I respect and admire him, but there is no attraction between us. But since you seem so ready to believe there is, I will play along, and hopefully teach you a lesson.