Fic: Bow and Arrow - Chapter 1: Preparation
Here is chapter 1 of my story. Info and disclaimers in the entry below.
Follow the Cut.
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Chapter 1 - Preparation
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“Thank you father!”
Lord Robert of Locksley began to say, “You are welcome,” but was certain that his son did not hear him as he dashed off to use his ‘adult’ bow for the first time.
“Be careful!” His mother yelled after him, though she also knew this was an exercise in futility. “One day, he’s going to take an eye out with that bow and you will be to blame,” she scolded her husband, without looking up from the flowers she was cutting from the garden in front of Locksley Manor.
“He is an excellent shot, Sarah,” Lord Locksley defended his son.
Lady Sarah stood and brushed her hands on her dress.
“I’m off to Nottingham to report the month’s revenue to Edward,” he said as he kissed his wife on the forehead. “Perhaps while I am there we shall discuss future arrangements.” It was a statement, but he raised the pitch of his voice at the end as if asking his wife’s permission to begin marriage negotiations for their son.
“They are still so young, Robert!” Sarah worried that 15-year-old Robin was not ready for the responsibilities of manhood.
“He is only two years younger than we were when we married,” Robert replied. “He is our only child, Sarah, and it is never too early to plan for Locksley’s future,” he said, as he mounted his horse and set off for Nottingham.
Sarah nodded as she watched him turn his horse and set off across the field. It was true, Robin was their only heir, and she worried that the weight of that fact was too much for his young shoulders to bear. She bent down and gathered two handfuls of flowers from her basket and walked past the pond toward the church.
As she walked, she was stricken by a sadness she’d not felt in a long while. Perhaps it was the idea of her son getting married and moving to one of the outlying lodges. Perhaps it was her concern that he ignored his studies and his duties and was not prepared to run the estate. Perhaps it was regret that she deemed herself responsible for his status as sole heir.
As she rounded the back of the church, the field of crosses came into view. She walked to the third row, to two crosses smaller than the others around them. The first belonged to Robin’s brother, lost as he’d entered the world. He, like Robin after him, had almost taken her on to heaven as well. Nonetheless, she would gladly have given her life for his. The second belonged to Robin’s younger sister, Hannah, lost before her second birthday. Since Hannah, there had been two miscarriages, one of which almost bled her to death. Lady Locksley tried hard to set aside her regrets, but sometimes, like this occasion, they overcame her.
The loss of the children had caused such pain for her husband. Robert had been as supportive as any husband could be. At the time, he assured her that there would be other possibilities for children, that she had already provided him with an heir, and that what he wanted most in the world was to have her by his side. Nonetheless, his eyes betrayed him and she could see the sadness and blame in them despite his loving words. The deaths had placed a distance between them, so much distance that most attempts to continue the family had ceased. He came to her as sparingly as he could manage, and it was the most difficult part of their marriage.
She placed the flowers on the graves and said softly, “God bless you, my precious ones.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Sarah?” Lady Kathryn’s eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness of Locksley Manor as she leaned her head inside looking for her friend.
“But Lord Locksley said that she and Robin were here,” young Marian whimpered in disappointment at the failure to locate her friend. Then, the young lass spotted Lady Locksley approaching from the church and ran to meet her. “Lady Sarah, Lady Sarah, we were looking for you!”
“Hello, Marian,” she said as she knelt in place and hugged the child. “You are growing quite tall and beautiful,” she added as she tapped the child on the nose. Before Marian could request young Robin’s location, Lady Sarah anticipated her question. “Robin is over the hill practicing with his new bow.” And with that, the child was gone. Marian had lifted her skirts to her knees and taken off across the field.
“Be careful with your dress,” her mother called after her. “Be a lady!” She turned to Sarah, “She should have been a boy, that one. There is nothing she loves more than playing pranks, getting dirty, and using weapons!”
“Boys are no easier,” replied Lady Locksley, “trust me.” Lady Sarah’s eyes fell from her friend’s face to her abdomen, which was growing larger by the day, and she felt the cold pang of jealousy rise from within her. She suppressed the feeling. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
“I know that to do his work, my husband must be in the castle, and we stay with him most of the time, but I much prefer the coziness of Knighton to that cold dreary place. Sometimes it is like a prison, and my husband would lock me away for fear that the baby might fall out while I’m walking!” The ladies laughed at how little husbands understood sometimes. “Edward has been in meetings with the Lords all day, and I knew that if I walked to Locksley, good company would await me upon arrival.” She smiled and added, “Marian wanted to come as well.”
“Eleanor!” Lady Locksley called for a servant. “Please fetch Lady Kathryn some cool water from the well.”
Eleanor bowed and ran to fetch a bucket.
“Please,” said Lady Locksley as she motioned toward the door of the manor, “come in and sit.”
“Thank you. We passed your husband on the way in,” Kathryn began the conversation. “Is he off to the castle to report the month’s revenue?”
“Yes,” Lady Sarah replied, “and to speak with your husband about…” She stopped midsentence, but Lady Kathryn looked at her straight in the eyes and nodded her head in recognition, fully aware of the discussions their husbands were having.
“But Marian is still so young,” Kathryn said, without looking away, “and Robin…”
Lady Sarah nodded in agreement, “Robin is not ready to be a husband.” They paused in the middle of the hall to contemplate their shared understanding.
The silence was broken by the blur of a body dashing between them and up the stairs. Robin went darting into his upstairs room and returned with his old bow.
“Robin! Excuse yourself,” scolded his mother. “Do you not like your new bow?”
“It is not for me,” he shouted without stopping, and in a moment he was out the door and back over the hill.
The mothers smiled at one another. “Perhaps no arranging will be needed.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Ha Ha!” Robin jumped in celebration at his excellent shots. His new bow was more accurate and more powerful than his former one and he had placed five shots in a row within the inner three rings of the target. He took a large step back and landed a sixth arrow among the others. As he was preparing the seventh, he heard a voice calling him and turned to see a mess of hair and skirt darting up over the hill.
“Robin! Robin….waahh!”
The young man burst out laughing as Marian tripped over the front of her skirts and landed face first in the grass. He was still laughing when he realised that she did not get up right away and he walked toward her to offer some assistance. As he approached, she rolled onto her backside and sat in the grass to reveal the front of her lovely new dress, stained with grass and with a gaping tear about six inches from the hem.
Marian let out an exasperated sigh as she examined the damage. “Mother is going to kill me!”
“Don’t worry ” teased Robin, “now it will match all of your other dresses.”
Marian stared at him and made the meanest face she could manage.
“Marian! Do not look at me that way. I am only telling the truth! I do not think I have ever seen you in a dress that has not been torn and darned.”
Marian sat in her puddle of skirts, fighting back tears. She had heard her parents arguing about her outdoor adventures, and her father complaining at the expense of constantly purchasing new fabric for dresses which were instantly ruined. “No daughter of mine will gallop about Nottingham with patches on her dress,” he had yelled. Marian had convinced her mother to allow her to wear her nice new dress for their visit to Locksley, promising to be careful. Surely her mother would never let her play outside again after this. She would be forced to sit and practice embroidery. Amongst these thoughts, another occurred to her, ‘He pays attention to my dresses?’
She looked up, but the sun was just behind him, causing her to squint and raise her hand to the sky in order to see him. He was merely a tall silhouette against the sky, standing with one hand on his bow and the other outstretched in an offer of assistance. She accepted and upon doing so realized that he was not just tall in silhouette. In the Spring she had been as tall as his nose but now as harvest approached, she was barely as tall as his shoulders.
“Are you alright?” He acted politely though he was still stifling laughter at her predicament.
“I am fine,” she replied as she brushed off her front as best she could. “Is that your new bow?”
“It most certainly is,” he stated proudly. “Watch.” He returned to the spot where he had been standing when she'd interrupted him and fired his seventh arrow, landing it dead center. He immediately smiled and swelled his chest at his accomplishment. He’d been trying for that shot all day. He turned to find her standing right behind him.
“Bet you can’t do that again,” she dared him, poking him in the chest with her finger.
“Bet you I can,” he met her challenge with a cocky grin on his face, “and if I do then you have to fetch the arrows from the target.”
“Fine,” she agreed, placing her hands on her hips and trying to look bigger as she tilted her neck back to look up at him, “and if you don’t make the shot then you have to fetch the arrows and I get to try the bow.”
“Step aside,” he scoffed as he shooed her from his path and set himself to shoot. Robin raised the arrow to eye level and cocked back his elbow. He was surprised to find that as he raised his weapon, his arms shook involuntarily and he fought to control them. His breathing was slightly erratic. Refocusing, he kept in mind everything his father had taught him. ‘Keep your chin up, keep your eye on the target, and remember to take a breath first.’
They both waited with baited breath as the arrow flew through the air and landed just to the right of the bullseye. Robin dropped his head to his chest, embarrassed, as Marian reached from behind him and took the bow. “Kindly fetch me some arrows.”
He needed to think of a way to get back at her, and fast. Then it dawned on him as he saw her standing with the weapon that it was entirely too big for her. She would never be able to shoot it. Surely it would be funny to watch her struggle. “Alright,” he conceded, much to her surprise, and in a flash, he had retrieved the arrows. “Here you go,” he said as he placed them at her feet with a devilish grin on his face. He walked to sit underneath the nearby tree, anxiously awaiting her impending failure.
Marian balanced the bow across her feet and placed the notch of an arrow on the string. When she attempted to turn the bow vertically, it was too long to clear the ground and the end dragged, causing the arrow to fall. She tried again, this time she set the bow vertically first and then placed the arrow at the nock point. She struggled to reach across to the grip, as the space between the grip and the string was slightly longer than her arm. Finally she managed to get her hand in position on the grip, wrapping her small thumb around the arrow to keep it in place. With the weapon in place, she tensed her muscles in her right arm and attempted to pull back the string. It would not budge. She tried again. Nothing. Finally, she pulled with all of her twelve-year-old might and managed to get the string half-way cocked before the string slipped from her fingers, snapping forward and causing her to fall backward to the ground.
Robin’s stomach was hurting from stifling his laughter. As he watched her struggle, he could no longer contain himself and began to chuckle as he grinned from ear to ear.
“Stop laughing, Robin!” She stamped her foot. “It is not funny.”
“Oh, yes it is,” he taunted. “Marian, that bow is as tall as you are!”
“So?”
“It is too big for you.”
“That is not fair! You knew I wouldn’t be able to shoot it when you agreed to the bet.”
“It is not my fault that you made an uninformed wager.”
“Cheater!”
“I am no cheat.”
“Yes you are.”
“No, I am not.”
“Prove it!
“Alright, I will. Stay there.” And with that he ran back toward Locksley Manor.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Night was falling when Lord Locksley returned from Nottingham. He found a single candle lit for him on the table. His family had retired for the evening and he would normally have lounged in his chair and fallen asleep, but on this occasion he had good news to share with his wife. The future of Locksley was looking brighter than ever and he was excited to tell her the news.
He quietly ascended the stairs and entered their bedchamber to find his sleeping wife. He sat on the side of the bed and gazed at her, gently caressing her face as he tucked a few strands of her sand-colored hair behind her face.
“Sarah,” he whispered, to see if she was awake, “Sarah.” Even though he whispered, his excitement was clear in his voice.
“Hmmm,” the Lady of the Manor rolled from her side onto her back and opened her eyes to see her husband looking down at her.
“It is settled, Sarah. If Lady Kathryn bears a son, Knighton will remain in Edward’s line, but if no son comes, Robin will have the combined lands of Locksley and Knighton, and Marian as his wife.” Robert beamed at the excellent arrangement he had made for their son.
Lady Locksley gazed at her husband. She had not seen him express so much joy in a long time. His eyes sparkled like they had when he courted her, when he chased her and convinced her to do things she knew she should not. She smiled, “Robert, let’s not tell Robin yet.”
“Oh,” he said inquisitively, “why not?”
“Because from what Lady Kathryn and I saw today, we may not need to force the match at all.”
“Oh!” he said again, but this time with an entirely different inflection as his smile broadened and his chest vicariously swelled with pride. “Going after the pretty ones, eh? That’s my boy!”
Lady Sarah placed her hand on her husband’s arm and gripped it, as if embracing just that small part of him. “Thank you, Robert,” she said.
“For what?” he asked.
“For making such fortunate arrangements for our son,” she said as she raised her palm to his face. “And for continuing to love me, despite…everything. I know that there was nothing you wanted more than to sit at your table surrounded by your children, and I know that I have not given that to you.” Tears were welling in her eyes.
“Shhh,” he said, lowering himself to the bed and taking her in his arms. “I do not know what I would do without you. You are my strength. And now…now I have made provision for Locksley’s strength, for Robin’s future. The Locksley heritage may be a small one, but it is proud.”
“Yes,” she replied, “it is proud. I am proud…of my husband…and my son.” She smiled and began caressing his arm again, but this time in a gentle and suggestive way. Her touch stirred in him desires he fought hard to quench. For so long he had mostly denied himself the pleasure of his wife’s body, for fear that he would cause himself to lose her. But as she lay on the bed in her nightclothes, she just looked so lovely.
“Sarah,” his voice reflected the mischief in his mind, “what are you doing?”
“Nothing,” she replied, in the most innocent voice she could muster.
“That is not nothing,” he answered as he began to let himself go. At that moment, there was nothing he wanted more than to share his joy intimately with her and the desires he had fought for such a long time overcame him as he leaned down to kiss her.
“We should celebrate,” she suggested, returning his kisses with vigor and passion.
“Yes, we should,” he smiled. And they did.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In life, the onset of grief is often sudden and unexpected, and during these times, solace can also be found in the most unexpected of places - in arms that display tenderness and understanding beyond their years. As Robin of Locksley carefully rode his horse through the moonlit night, he considered that this was not the end he’d expected for this day. As he stared at the stars, he was filled with a sense of warmth and satisfaction that was not befitting to one who had just lost his mother. Yet as he rode, he could still feel those understanding arms around his waist as she had huddled against him to keep out the chill.
After waking in the morning and finding his father still asleep in his chair, having consumed two flasks of wine the evening before, he had spent the entire day greeting the mourners who had traveled to Locksley Manor to pay their respects - an arduous task. Exhausted and unable to deal with both his father’s grief and his own he had taken refuge from the misery of Locksley Manor in the company of his bow.
After several failed attempts to evade her nurse that afternoon in the market, Marian had finally escaped and found her closest friend exactly where she’d expected, sitting under the tree over the hill, near his favourite spot for target practice, and just out of view of Locksley Manor. She approached. He said nothing. He made no gesture of welcome or refusal. He simply stared off into the darkening sky with such scorn that Marian knew he was cursing his maker.
She sat opposite him in the grass, being sure to leave a good amount of space between them. She wanted him to know that she was there, but also knew that he did not like to be cornered. Should she speak? For the moment she decided against it, hoping that her mere presence would somehow be comforting to him. She watched him carefully, waiting for him to meet her gaze. After a few moments, he did, and she could see his eyes well as he bit his lip and tried to hold the tide of emotions within him.
‘Why is she here?’ Robin asked himself, though he immediately realised that he was glad she was. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly so as to not lose his composure in front of her. Then she did something…unexpected. She did not try to comfort him with the words others had spoken all day as they called at Locksley Manor. She did not buck his chin and tell him to be strong like men should. She merely spoke two simple words, “I understand.”
Robin tried to hold his emotions inside. He was nearly sixteen now…a man. He should not cry like a child. But his grief could not be contained and it began to shake his torso in its attempts to escape. Finally, he fell sobbing into arms he least expected - arms of a twelve-year-old girl. Arms that though they were young, held him with a kindness and sympathy that only she could provide.
“It does get easier. I promise,” she whispered as she rotated herself to lean against the tree so that she might support Robin’s heavier frame. He sobbed for a period of time that escaped them both, before settling his head into her lap and falling asleep to the feeling of her hands in his hair and the sound of her peaceful humming. Marian eventually slumbered as well.
Neither awoke until the sun had been down long enough to dissipate the heat of the summer day. Robin was disoriented as he opened his eyes in response to a chill traveling down his spine. It took him a moment to realize where he was and with whom he was. As his eyes came into focus, he found himself staring up at her, sleeping against the tree. Her hair was down, rather than in its normal braids, and it framed her face in a way that made him take notice when he hadn’t before. He carefully sat up so that he did not disturb her. He noted to himself that she looked even prettier right-side-up. ‘Prettier!’ He scolded himself, ‘She is twelve!’ He stood for a moment and walked away, as if distance would erase the thought from his head. How had this happened? Why had he allowed himself to…
He shook his head and rubbed his face with his hands as he remembered the events of the past several hours. He could feel the dried tears on his cheeks. Surely Edward had half the castle guard out looking for her by now! He needed to escort her safely back and explain this…somehow.
He turned to wake her, again noticing how pretty she was as she slept. He thought of carrying her sleeping body over the hill to Locksley, putting her in the guest quarters, and then traveling to Nottingham himself to assure Edward that she was well, but decided against it. He had no idea what condition his father was in. It was just that she looked so peaceful.
He squatted beside her and gently brushed her cheek with the back of his finger. “Marian,” he said in a sweet, low voice, “Marian.”
The peacefulness of her face was immediately replaced with fear as her eyes shot open and she looked at him as if to say ‘My father may very well kill both of us!’
“Come with me to the stables,” he offered her a hand. “I will take you home.”
The air in the stables seemed thick and close, but it was not the sweet smell of hay or heat of the animals that made it so. When Robin reached for his saddle, he realised that he had been holding her hand since he had offered it to her on the hill. He fumbled with the saddle as he buckled it into place, and the horse, sensing his nervousness, did not accept the bridle willingly.
“You ready then?” he asked, as he turned to look at her for the first time since stripping her of his hand. A beam of moonlight shimmered in her shiny hair, and outlined her tiny frame in a halo of light.
Marian nodded as she shivered from the nighttime air.
“Hold on a moment,” he raised a finger toward her before darting out of the stables and returning a few moments later with his cloak. “Here,” he said as he placed it around her shoulders and adjusted the buckle to the smallest setting. “Now let’s go before your father sends the entire castle guard to look for you.”
The guards at the portcullis stared at Robin as he escorted Marian into Nottingham Castle that evening. He could feel their disapproving glares. As he rode into the courtyard and helped her from the back of the horse, he could hear the washerwomen and servants gossiping in hushed tones. Their opinions did not matter to him, though he was self-conscious of their talk. Edward on the other hand, was another matter.
“Where have you been with my Daughter?!” the booming voice could be heard from inside the castle doors before the Sheriff appeared. “And YOU, young lady…your nurse returned without you, saying you had evaded her yet again!”
Robin and Marian stood beside one another at the bottom of the steps, heads bowed as two children being scolded for stealing from the market. Then Robin felt Marian brush her little finger against his, giving him the strength to speak.
“My Lord Sheriff,” he thought it best to show as much deference as possible, “your daughter was wonderful this evening.”
Poor choice of words. Edward was now directly in front of him, staring at him without blinking. “I mean she was very kind to me in a time of need.” Not any better. Edward glared at him to the point that Robin was beginning to fear being thrown in the dungeon overnight. “I mean…Lady Marian was helpful to me.”
“Helpful?”
Robin took a deep breath. He was not helping himself at the moment. “Yes…helpful…in only the most honorable of ways,” he said as he closed his eyes tightly, turned his head to the side and cringed in preparation for a punch from Edward.
It did not come. Instead the Sheriff turned to his daughter, who was fighting a grin from the fact that Robin had called her ‘Lady Marian.’
“Marian, were you acting honorably?”
“Yes Father. Robin was upset because of Lady Sarah and I understand how he feels.”
The tension eased and Edward backed away at the memory of his Kate, gone to heaven eight months with their second child. “I see.” He was relieved that there seemed to be no impropriety in their interactions. “How is your father, Robin?”
“Honestly, not well sir. He has not eaten nor left the house for two days except for the funeral. Thornton says that I may have to make the rounds this week.”
“Perhaps I shall visit him tomorrow,” Edward stated with a tone only a fellow widower could express. “As for you, young lady, you are not to evade your nurse any longer. Do you hear me?”
“Yes father,” Marian replied, fully intending to contradict his order again in the very near future.
“And Locksley…if she visits again without her escort, I expect that you will send her away.”
“I tried sir,” he lied, “but your daughter is very persistent.” At least the second half of the statement was true. He saw Edward fighting a smile of recognition. “I thought it best that I escort her home this evening so that she would not be alone after dark.”
“Well then…I thank you for my daughter’s safe return.”
“If that is all, sir, I will take my leave.”
Edward nodded.
Robin turned. “Lady Marian,” he said, acknowledging her with his voice but not with his eyes as he ascended to his saddle. He kicked the animal to a gallop and headed for the gate.
“Robin!” Marian ran after him, removing the cloak as she did, “Thank You.”
“No,” Robin replied, fidgeting with the garment’s buckle in front of him. He could not stop his mind from racing. “Thank you,” he said, almost inaudibly, glancing at her for just a moment.
Marian was young, but she had known Robin all her life and his actions betrayed that he was not simply thanking her for returning his cloak. She could not tear her eyes away from the empty street after he galloped through the gates and disappeared into the night.
Follow the Cut.
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Chapter 1 - Preparation
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“Thank you father!”
Lord Robert of Locksley began to say, “You are welcome,” but was certain that his son did not hear him as he dashed off to use his ‘adult’ bow for the first time.
“Be careful!” His mother yelled after him, though she also knew this was an exercise in futility. “One day, he’s going to take an eye out with that bow and you will be to blame,” she scolded her husband, without looking up from the flowers she was cutting from the garden in front of Locksley Manor.
“He is an excellent shot, Sarah,” Lord Locksley defended his son.
Lady Sarah stood and brushed her hands on her dress.
“I’m off to Nottingham to report the month’s revenue to Edward,” he said as he kissed his wife on the forehead. “Perhaps while I am there we shall discuss future arrangements.” It was a statement, but he raised the pitch of his voice at the end as if asking his wife’s permission to begin marriage negotiations for their son.
“They are still so young, Robert!” Sarah worried that 15-year-old Robin was not ready for the responsibilities of manhood.
“He is only two years younger than we were when we married,” Robert replied. “He is our only child, Sarah, and it is never too early to plan for Locksley’s future,” he said, as he mounted his horse and set off for Nottingham.
Sarah nodded as she watched him turn his horse and set off across the field. It was true, Robin was their only heir, and she worried that the weight of that fact was too much for his young shoulders to bear. She bent down and gathered two handfuls of flowers from her basket and walked past the pond toward the church.
As she walked, she was stricken by a sadness she’d not felt in a long while. Perhaps it was the idea of her son getting married and moving to one of the outlying lodges. Perhaps it was her concern that he ignored his studies and his duties and was not prepared to run the estate. Perhaps it was regret that she deemed herself responsible for his status as sole heir.
As she rounded the back of the church, the field of crosses came into view. She walked to the third row, to two crosses smaller than the others around them. The first belonged to Robin’s brother, lost as he’d entered the world. He, like Robin after him, had almost taken her on to heaven as well. Nonetheless, she would gladly have given her life for his. The second belonged to Robin’s younger sister, Hannah, lost before her second birthday. Since Hannah, there had been two miscarriages, one of which almost bled her to death. Lady Locksley tried hard to set aside her regrets, but sometimes, like this occasion, they overcame her.
The loss of the children had caused such pain for her husband. Robert had been as supportive as any husband could be. At the time, he assured her that there would be other possibilities for children, that she had already provided him with an heir, and that what he wanted most in the world was to have her by his side. Nonetheless, his eyes betrayed him and she could see the sadness and blame in them despite his loving words. The deaths had placed a distance between them, so much distance that most attempts to continue the family had ceased. He came to her as sparingly as he could manage, and it was the most difficult part of their marriage.
She placed the flowers on the graves and said softly, “God bless you, my precious ones.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Sarah?” Lady Kathryn’s eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness of Locksley Manor as she leaned her head inside looking for her friend.
“But Lord Locksley said that she and Robin were here,” young Marian whimpered in disappointment at the failure to locate her friend. Then, the young lass spotted Lady Locksley approaching from the church and ran to meet her. “Lady Sarah, Lady Sarah, we were looking for you!”
“Hello, Marian,” she said as she knelt in place and hugged the child. “You are growing quite tall and beautiful,” she added as she tapped the child on the nose. Before Marian could request young Robin’s location, Lady Sarah anticipated her question. “Robin is over the hill practicing with his new bow.” And with that, the child was gone. Marian had lifted her skirts to her knees and taken off across the field.
“Be careful with your dress,” her mother called after her. “Be a lady!” She turned to Sarah, “She should have been a boy, that one. There is nothing she loves more than playing pranks, getting dirty, and using weapons!”
“Boys are no easier,” replied Lady Locksley, “trust me.” Lady Sarah’s eyes fell from her friend’s face to her abdomen, which was growing larger by the day, and she felt the cold pang of jealousy rise from within her. She suppressed the feeling. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
“I know that to do his work, my husband must be in the castle, and we stay with him most of the time, but I much prefer the coziness of Knighton to that cold dreary place. Sometimes it is like a prison, and my husband would lock me away for fear that the baby might fall out while I’m walking!” The ladies laughed at how little husbands understood sometimes. “Edward has been in meetings with the Lords all day, and I knew that if I walked to Locksley, good company would await me upon arrival.” She smiled and added, “Marian wanted to come as well.”
“Eleanor!” Lady Locksley called for a servant. “Please fetch Lady Kathryn some cool water from the well.”
Eleanor bowed and ran to fetch a bucket.
“Please,” said Lady Locksley as she motioned toward the door of the manor, “come in and sit.”
“Thank you. We passed your husband on the way in,” Kathryn began the conversation. “Is he off to the castle to report the month’s revenue?”
“Yes,” Lady Sarah replied, “and to speak with your husband about…” She stopped midsentence, but Lady Kathryn looked at her straight in the eyes and nodded her head in recognition, fully aware of the discussions their husbands were having.
“But Marian is still so young,” Kathryn said, without looking away, “and Robin…”
Lady Sarah nodded in agreement, “Robin is not ready to be a husband.” They paused in the middle of the hall to contemplate their shared understanding.
The silence was broken by the blur of a body dashing between them and up the stairs. Robin went darting into his upstairs room and returned with his old bow.
“Robin! Excuse yourself,” scolded his mother. “Do you not like your new bow?”
“It is not for me,” he shouted without stopping, and in a moment he was out the door and back over the hill.
The mothers smiled at one another. “Perhaps no arranging will be needed.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Ha Ha!” Robin jumped in celebration at his excellent shots. His new bow was more accurate and more powerful than his former one and he had placed five shots in a row within the inner three rings of the target. He took a large step back and landed a sixth arrow among the others. As he was preparing the seventh, he heard a voice calling him and turned to see a mess of hair and skirt darting up over the hill.
“Robin! Robin….waahh!”
The young man burst out laughing as Marian tripped over the front of her skirts and landed face first in the grass. He was still laughing when he realised that she did not get up right away and he walked toward her to offer some assistance. As he approached, she rolled onto her backside and sat in the grass to reveal the front of her lovely new dress, stained with grass and with a gaping tear about six inches from the hem.
Marian let out an exasperated sigh as she examined the damage. “Mother is going to kill me!”
“Don’t worry ” teased Robin, “now it will match all of your other dresses.”
Marian stared at him and made the meanest face she could manage.
“Marian! Do not look at me that way. I am only telling the truth! I do not think I have ever seen you in a dress that has not been torn and darned.”
Marian sat in her puddle of skirts, fighting back tears. She had heard her parents arguing about her outdoor adventures, and her father complaining at the expense of constantly purchasing new fabric for dresses which were instantly ruined. “No daughter of mine will gallop about Nottingham with patches on her dress,” he had yelled. Marian had convinced her mother to allow her to wear her nice new dress for their visit to Locksley, promising to be careful. Surely her mother would never let her play outside again after this. She would be forced to sit and practice embroidery. Amongst these thoughts, another occurred to her, ‘He pays attention to my dresses?’
She looked up, but the sun was just behind him, causing her to squint and raise her hand to the sky in order to see him. He was merely a tall silhouette against the sky, standing with one hand on his bow and the other outstretched in an offer of assistance. She accepted and upon doing so realized that he was not just tall in silhouette. In the Spring she had been as tall as his nose but now as harvest approached, she was barely as tall as his shoulders.
“Are you alright?” He acted politely though he was still stifling laughter at her predicament.
“I am fine,” she replied as she brushed off her front as best she could. “Is that your new bow?”
“It most certainly is,” he stated proudly. “Watch.” He returned to the spot where he had been standing when she'd interrupted him and fired his seventh arrow, landing it dead center. He immediately smiled and swelled his chest at his accomplishment. He’d been trying for that shot all day. He turned to find her standing right behind him.
“Bet you can’t do that again,” she dared him, poking him in the chest with her finger.
“Bet you I can,” he met her challenge with a cocky grin on his face, “and if I do then you have to fetch the arrows from the target.”
“Fine,” she agreed, placing her hands on her hips and trying to look bigger as she tilted her neck back to look up at him, “and if you don’t make the shot then you have to fetch the arrows and I get to try the bow.”
“Step aside,” he scoffed as he shooed her from his path and set himself to shoot. Robin raised the arrow to eye level and cocked back his elbow. He was surprised to find that as he raised his weapon, his arms shook involuntarily and he fought to control them. His breathing was slightly erratic. Refocusing, he kept in mind everything his father had taught him. ‘Keep your chin up, keep your eye on the target, and remember to take a breath first.’
They both waited with baited breath as the arrow flew through the air and landed just to the right of the bullseye. Robin dropped his head to his chest, embarrassed, as Marian reached from behind him and took the bow. “Kindly fetch me some arrows.”
He needed to think of a way to get back at her, and fast. Then it dawned on him as he saw her standing with the weapon that it was entirely too big for her. She would never be able to shoot it. Surely it would be funny to watch her struggle. “Alright,” he conceded, much to her surprise, and in a flash, he had retrieved the arrows. “Here you go,” he said as he placed them at her feet with a devilish grin on his face. He walked to sit underneath the nearby tree, anxiously awaiting her impending failure.
Marian balanced the bow across her feet and placed the notch of an arrow on the string. When she attempted to turn the bow vertically, it was too long to clear the ground and the end dragged, causing the arrow to fall. She tried again, this time she set the bow vertically first and then placed the arrow at the nock point. She struggled to reach across to the grip, as the space between the grip and the string was slightly longer than her arm. Finally she managed to get her hand in position on the grip, wrapping her small thumb around the arrow to keep it in place. With the weapon in place, she tensed her muscles in her right arm and attempted to pull back the string. It would not budge. She tried again. Nothing. Finally, she pulled with all of her twelve-year-old might and managed to get the string half-way cocked before the string slipped from her fingers, snapping forward and causing her to fall backward to the ground.
Robin’s stomach was hurting from stifling his laughter. As he watched her struggle, he could no longer contain himself and began to chuckle as he grinned from ear to ear.
“Stop laughing, Robin!” She stamped her foot. “It is not funny.”
“Oh, yes it is,” he taunted. “Marian, that bow is as tall as you are!”
“So?”
“It is too big for you.”
“That is not fair! You knew I wouldn’t be able to shoot it when you agreed to the bet.”
“It is not my fault that you made an uninformed wager.”
“Cheater!”
“I am no cheat.”
“Yes you are.”
“No, I am not.”
“Prove it!
“Alright, I will. Stay there.” And with that he ran back toward Locksley Manor.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Night was falling when Lord Locksley returned from Nottingham. He found a single candle lit for him on the table. His family had retired for the evening and he would normally have lounged in his chair and fallen asleep, but on this occasion he had good news to share with his wife. The future of Locksley was looking brighter than ever and he was excited to tell her the news.
He quietly ascended the stairs and entered their bedchamber to find his sleeping wife. He sat on the side of the bed and gazed at her, gently caressing her face as he tucked a few strands of her sand-colored hair behind her face.
“Sarah,” he whispered, to see if she was awake, “Sarah.” Even though he whispered, his excitement was clear in his voice.
“Hmmm,” the Lady of the Manor rolled from her side onto her back and opened her eyes to see her husband looking down at her.
“It is settled, Sarah. If Lady Kathryn bears a son, Knighton will remain in Edward’s line, but if no son comes, Robin will have the combined lands of Locksley and Knighton, and Marian as his wife.” Robert beamed at the excellent arrangement he had made for their son.
Lady Locksley gazed at her husband. She had not seen him express so much joy in a long time. His eyes sparkled like they had when he courted her, when he chased her and convinced her to do things she knew she should not. She smiled, “Robert, let’s not tell Robin yet.”
“Oh,” he said inquisitively, “why not?”
“Because from what Lady Kathryn and I saw today, we may not need to force the match at all.”
“Oh!” he said again, but this time with an entirely different inflection as his smile broadened and his chest vicariously swelled with pride. “Going after the pretty ones, eh? That’s my boy!”
Lady Sarah placed her hand on her husband’s arm and gripped it, as if embracing just that small part of him. “Thank you, Robert,” she said.
“For what?” he asked.
“For making such fortunate arrangements for our son,” she said as she raised her palm to his face. “And for continuing to love me, despite…everything. I know that there was nothing you wanted more than to sit at your table surrounded by your children, and I know that I have not given that to you.” Tears were welling in her eyes.
“Shhh,” he said, lowering himself to the bed and taking her in his arms. “I do not know what I would do without you. You are my strength. And now…now I have made provision for Locksley’s strength, for Robin’s future. The Locksley heritage may be a small one, but it is proud.”
“Yes,” she replied, “it is proud. I am proud…of my husband…and my son.” She smiled and began caressing his arm again, but this time in a gentle and suggestive way. Her touch stirred in him desires he fought hard to quench. For so long he had mostly denied himself the pleasure of his wife’s body, for fear that he would cause himself to lose her. But as she lay on the bed in her nightclothes, she just looked so lovely.
“Sarah,” his voice reflected the mischief in his mind, “what are you doing?”
“Nothing,” she replied, in the most innocent voice she could muster.
“That is not nothing,” he answered as he began to let himself go. At that moment, there was nothing he wanted more than to share his joy intimately with her and the desires he had fought for such a long time overcame him as he leaned down to kiss her.
“We should celebrate,” she suggested, returning his kisses with vigor and passion.
“Yes, we should,” he smiled. And they did.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In life, the onset of grief is often sudden and unexpected, and during these times, solace can also be found in the most unexpected of places - in arms that display tenderness and understanding beyond their years. As Robin of Locksley carefully rode his horse through the moonlit night, he considered that this was not the end he’d expected for this day. As he stared at the stars, he was filled with a sense of warmth and satisfaction that was not befitting to one who had just lost his mother. Yet as he rode, he could still feel those understanding arms around his waist as she had huddled against him to keep out the chill.
After waking in the morning and finding his father still asleep in his chair, having consumed two flasks of wine the evening before, he had spent the entire day greeting the mourners who had traveled to Locksley Manor to pay their respects - an arduous task. Exhausted and unable to deal with both his father’s grief and his own he had taken refuge from the misery of Locksley Manor in the company of his bow.
After several failed attempts to evade her nurse that afternoon in the market, Marian had finally escaped and found her closest friend exactly where she’d expected, sitting under the tree over the hill, near his favourite spot for target practice, and just out of view of Locksley Manor. She approached. He said nothing. He made no gesture of welcome or refusal. He simply stared off into the darkening sky with such scorn that Marian knew he was cursing his maker.
She sat opposite him in the grass, being sure to leave a good amount of space between them. She wanted him to know that she was there, but also knew that he did not like to be cornered. Should she speak? For the moment she decided against it, hoping that her mere presence would somehow be comforting to him. She watched him carefully, waiting for him to meet her gaze. After a few moments, he did, and she could see his eyes well as he bit his lip and tried to hold the tide of emotions within him.
‘Why is she here?’ Robin asked himself, though he immediately realised that he was glad she was. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly so as to not lose his composure in front of her. Then she did something…unexpected. She did not try to comfort him with the words others had spoken all day as they called at Locksley Manor. She did not buck his chin and tell him to be strong like men should. She merely spoke two simple words, “I understand.”
Robin tried to hold his emotions inside. He was nearly sixteen now…a man. He should not cry like a child. But his grief could not be contained and it began to shake his torso in its attempts to escape. Finally, he fell sobbing into arms he least expected - arms of a twelve-year-old girl. Arms that though they were young, held him with a kindness and sympathy that only she could provide.
“It does get easier. I promise,” she whispered as she rotated herself to lean against the tree so that she might support Robin’s heavier frame. He sobbed for a period of time that escaped them both, before settling his head into her lap and falling asleep to the feeling of her hands in his hair and the sound of her peaceful humming. Marian eventually slumbered as well.
Neither awoke until the sun had been down long enough to dissipate the heat of the summer day. Robin was disoriented as he opened his eyes in response to a chill traveling down his spine. It took him a moment to realize where he was and with whom he was. As his eyes came into focus, he found himself staring up at her, sleeping against the tree. Her hair was down, rather than in its normal braids, and it framed her face in a way that made him take notice when he hadn’t before. He carefully sat up so that he did not disturb her. He noted to himself that she looked even prettier right-side-up. ‘Prettier!’ He scolded himself, ‘She is twelve!’ He stood for a moment and walked away, as if distance would erase the thought from his head. How had this happened? Why had he allowed himself to…
He shook his head and rubbed his face with his hands as he remembered the events of the past several hours. He could feel the dried tears on his cheeks. Surely Edward had half the castle guard out looking for her by now! He needed to escort her safely back and explain this…somehow.
He turned to wake her, again noticing how pretty she was as she slept. He thought of carrying her sleeping body over the hill to Locksley, putting her in the guest quarters, and then traveling to Nottingham himself to assure Edward that she was well, but decided against it. He had no idea what condition his father was in. It was just that she looked so peaceful.
He squatted beside her and gently brushed her cheek with the back of his finger. “Marian,” he said in a sweet, low voice, “Marian.”
The peacefulness of her face was immediately replaced with fear as her eyes shot open and she looked at him as if to say ‘My father may very well kill both of us!’
“Come with me to the stables,” he offered her a hand. “I will take you home.”
The air in the stables seemed thick and close, but it was not the sweet smell of hay or heat of the animals that made it so. When Robin reached for his saddle, he realised that he had been holding her hand since he had offered it to her on the hill. He fumbled with the saddle as he buckled it into place, and the horse, sensing his nervousness, did not accept the bridle willingly.
“You ready then?” he asked, as he turned to look at her for the first time since stripping her of his hand. A beam of moonlight shimmered in her shiny hair, and outlined her tiny frame in a halo of light.
Marian nodded as she shivered from the nighttime air.
“Hold on a moment,” he raised a finger toward her before darting out of the stables and returning a few moments later with his cloak. “Here,” he said as he placed it around her shoulders and adjusted the buckle to the smallest setting. “Now let’s go before your father sends the entire castle guard to look for you.”
The guards at the portcullis stared at Robin as he escorted Marian into Nottingham Castle that evening. He could feel their disapproving glares. As he rode into the courtyard and helped her from the back of the horse, he could hear the washerwomen and servants gossiping in hushed tones. Their opinions did not matter to him, though he was self-conscious of their talk. Edward on the other hand, was another matter.
“Where have you been with my Daughter?!” the booming voice could be heard from inside the castle doors before the Sheriff appeared. “And YOU, young lady…your nurse returned without you, saying you had evaded her yet again!”
Robin and Marian stood beside one another at the bottom of the steps, heads bowed as two children being scolded for stealing from the market. Then Robin felt Marian brush her little finger against his, giving him the strength to speak.
“My Lord Sheriff,” he thought it best to show as much deference as possible, “your daughter was wonderful this evening.”
Poor choice of words. Edward was now directly in front of him, staring at him without blinking. “I mean she was very kind to me in a time of need.” Not any better. Edward glared at him to the point that Robin was beginning to fear being thrown in the dungeon overnight. “I mean…Lady Marian was helpful to me.”
“Helpful?”
Robin took a deep breath. He was not helping himself at the moment. “Yes…helpful…in only the most honorable of ways,” he said as he closed his eyes tightly, turned his head to the side and cringed in preparation for a punch from Edward.
It did not come. Instead the Sheriff turned to his daughter, who was fighting a grin from the fact that Robin had called her ‘Lady Marian.’
“Marian, were you acting honorably?”
“Yes Father. Robin was upset because of Lady Sarah and I understand how he feels.”
The tension eased and Edward backed away at the memory of his Kate, gone to heaven eight months with their second child. “I see.” He was relieved that there seemed to be no impropriety in their interactions. “How is your father, Robin?”
“Honestly, not well sir. He has not eaten nor left the house for two days except for the funeral. Thornton says that I may have to make the rounds this week.”
“Perhaps I shall visit him tomorrow,” Edward stated with a tone only a fellow widower could express. “As for you, young lady, you are not to evade your nurse any longer. Do you hear me?”
“Yes father,” Marian replied, fully intending to contradict his order again in the very near future.
“And Locksley…if she visits again without her escort, I expect that you will send her away.”
“I tried sir,” he lied, “but your daughter is very persistent.” At least the second half of the statement was true. He saw Edward fighting a smile of recognition. “I thought it best that I escort her home this evening so that she would not be alone after dark.”
“Well then…I thank you for my daughter’s safe return.”
“If that is all, sir, I will take my leave.”
Edward nodded.
Robin turned. “Lady Marian,” he said, acknowledging her with his voice but not with his eyes as he ascended to his saddle. He kicked the animal to a gallop and headed for the gate.
“Robin!” Marian ran after him, removing the cloak as she did, “Thank You.”
“No,” Robin replied, fidgeting with the garment’s buckle in front of him. He could not stop his mind from racing. “Thank you,” he said, almost inaudibly, glancing at her for just a moment.
Marian was young, but she had known Robin all her life and his actions betrayed that he was not simply thanking her for returning his cloak. She could not tear her eyes away from the empty street after he galloped through the gates and disappeared into the night.