Lady Marian

Chapter 31

"What are you doing, Marian?" Robin asked, as calm as if he had found me trying to sew rags into a quilt back at our cave.

"What are you doing? What about the soldiers, and the grain in Locksley?" I retorted.

"Little John is more than capable of leading the men," Robin answered. "What are you doing here, picking nightshade?"

"It seems you already know. You must have followed me."

"What were you planning to do, Marian?"

"Save us from Sir Guy."

"You were going to poison him, weren't you, Marian? You were going to sneak back into the castle—no, you would go to Arlingford and poison the wine."

"Sir Guy will be conferring with my father on a day like today, after he has stolen the serf's grain."

"You do not understand, Marian, what the prince would do if the sheriff was killed—murdered. What kind of hellfire do you think Prince John would rain upon this place?"

"Do not tell me that I do not understand!" I sheathed my blade before I was tempted to use it. "Do not tell me I do not understand the politics of this situation. I am Marian Fitzwalter, cousin of the king, who for all I know, is still imprisoned, if he is not dead, in Austria. Niece of the queen mother, the former queen of France, bartering her body and soul for papal dispensations to become the most powerful woman the world. And here am I, born and raised to be a pawn for the highest bidder. Join Huntingdon and Arlingford. No, marry the sheriff and control the shire. No, be traded for land and soldiers in Aquitaine and be sacrificed for a war in France—which may have already begun, for all we know. This sheriff, who you could kill so easily with an arrow in the belly or the brain, is keeping us here, in hiding, and I will have no more of it!"

Robin answered slowly, measuring his words like a true baron doling out allotments of wheat and barley. "Of course, you understand, Marian. I should have known. You are as cunning and as deadly as the rest of your family, tempered by sweetness perhaps, but no less calculating. I was a fool for thinking you would stay here for very long, fighting in the forest with a band of outlaws, living in cave. You were born to be a queen, and you will not stop until you take that crown."

"I do not want the crown," I began, trying to put into words the loss I had felt, almost from the moment Robin had left on his crusade so many years ago. "I want to go home with you."

Robin took a step towards me. "Take the berries out of your pocket, Marian."

I looked up, vaguely aware of teardrops plummeting into the snow. "How long are you prepared to fight, Robin?"

Robin took a second step. "Give me the berries, Marian."

I delved my hand into my apron pocket, retrieving the icy black orbs. Glasslike, they seemed no more harmful than the beads on my mother's old rosary. What a curious thought to have had at that moment.

Robin took the berries from my outstretched hand, flinging them far into the woods. "When the thaw comes, I will burn this place."

"When the thaw comes, I pray you won't have to," I murmured as Robin wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I sank into the warmth of his chest. Weary and burdened, we trudged our way in the deep snow back to the camp.