Standing outside in the scorching heat with the sun bearing down on her neck and forcing her eyebrows to perspire, Regina fantasized heavily about a rain cloud swimming into their area, bringing with it a welcome breeze. Blocking the sun's light and heat. A sweetly-scented rain giving them a bit of a shower.

She could use it.

If only she could control her purple magic.

A bluebird flew by. Regina froze, standing by Robin's horse.

Robin was still confined to the hospital. Will was supposedly escorting Regina to where bluebirds don't sing, but she didn't quite trust him. Robin's crew was standing in a clearing in the forest in the ghastly and sweltering sun, waiting for Will Scarlet to return and tell them it was safe to resume the path they'd been headed down. Each human stood beside a horse.

Judging by the position of the sun, they'd been waiting for two hours. Regina was beginning to feel like fly juice.

Nobody else—not even the replaceable horses—displayed a decimal of discomfort. Though the equines occasionally displayed restlessness by shifting their legs. Regina felt like she was a dirty pig writhing in mud while the others were pretty show pigs who found her lack of class off-putting.

If the way she sat—spreading her thighs and stacking them beside her—was any indication, Marian the widow and the other wives were obviously ladies. Long skirts next to Regina's thigh-hugging pants. Crossed legs with expressions that indicated all they cared about was being beautiful. Regina was the odd woman out. She wasn't interested in being beautiful, and she rode a horse like a man. The way these women rode horses made her eyes cross and lips quiver with the need to guffaw until she fell over.

Robin had never married, and part of her time spent sweating had her mulling this over. Did the great Robin Hood maybe find men attractive? Was that why Will was part of the band? But what would Robin find attractive about the man with such hideous ears to the degree he would show favoritism toward him? It bothered her like an itch she couldn't quite reach because Will's personality was so repellent.

He did claim his sister was the reason for Robin's welcome, but all the other men (except Will) had wives. Robin was handsome enough for a lady. She couldn't understand why—

But maybe these thoughts flitting in her mind had more to do with the sun bearing down on her than Robin himself.

"What's up with Dumbo Ears?" she asked Marian while slapping a fly off the back of her neck. Marian was the person closest to her; the others spread further away. Marian's horse was a bay with a crescent moon shaped star on his forehead, and the horse had been Little John's. It was shorter than the horse Marian had given to a little boy in a village they were in this morning.

Stiffly, as if answering or even acknowledging Regina would make her less of a woman, Marian barely moved her lips. "If you mean why does Will Scarlet think he's entitled to my hand in marriage," she patted her chest, "because my husband died, that's just who he is."

Surprised, Regina said, "I didn't notice anything. He was harassing me at dinner last night…he's really…?"

Marian nodded with a grimace. "He tried to tell me last night after most everyone had gone to sleep since my husband died, I belong to him."

Scrunching up her face, Regina uttered disgustedly, "He did what?"

Shuffling her feet, Marian relented, "In his defense, when I was seven, I was so beautiful, several men asked my father if they could purchase me for a child bride."

Appalled, Regina the orphan gasped. "That's disturbing. I hope he wasn't tempted."

The corners of her lips drifted upward in smugness. Marian replied suavely, "They didn't offer pennies, but he loved me too much to sentence me to such a life. Especially because those men had already had child brides they murdered at their first blood."

Regina's eyes nearly popped out of her skull. "What awful men they are." She reached to her boot, caressing her dagger. "Vermin! Scum of the earth!"

Watching her out of the corners of her eyes, Marian commented, "But Will believes he is entitled a wife for being born a man. It has," she scoffed, "nothing to do with me. He's lazy and expects a woman to take one look in his eyes and hear fifty birds twittering. Then she's supposed to be hanged for all his wrongdoings for the rest of his life."

"Oh my," Regina mustered.

"He's the youngest of four brothers," Marian explained off-handedly, "so he might be extremely spoiled."

"I had no idea he had brothers. He never mentioned them."

Sneeringly, Marian rebuffed, "I didn't think the two of you were mentioning families to one another."

"He did mention his sister though."

Expressionlessly, Marian debased, "He doesn't have a sister."

Shaking her head, Regina insisted, "You wouldn't know. Just because he told you about his brothers—"

"He told me nothing. Our families were friends. When Little John proposed to me, Will was bored with our village, so he came along."

The back of Regina's neck grew clammy, as if the clouds she wished for were indeed cornering the sun. "What?"

Sneering, Marian stepped closer to her horse, nuzzling her neck against his. "You've only met me. It would be stupid to expect you to take one person you've never met's word over another person you've never met…" Will returned to usher their party on. Cynically, Marian added without leaving room for debate, "But one of us is lying, and what's my motive?" She lifted a foot to a stirrup, hoisted herself in the air, and threw her other foot over her saddle.

Regina's heart hammered too hard. She could easily come up with several motives for Will but none for Marian.

Maybe it was paranoia, she cautioned herself as she studied Marian's profile.

One thing was for certain: one of them was lying.