Maid Marian's Bodyguard

Maid Marian's Bodyguard (+18)

Three months have passed, after King Richard came back to England from the Crusades, bringing back the order and peace all over the kingdom. He even punished his snobby brother, Prince John, the latter he had to pay for all his mistreatment towards the people; including all the knights and soldiers who have been loyal to their corrupt ruler.
All of them, but one man.

Henry was the one and only knight who defied the prince. It all started when Henry was knighted after his achievements in the Crusades and gained the respect of the nobility, especially from King Richard himself. But after King Richard departed, Henry showed the greatest disagreement and displeasure when John took over his older brother's throne, before raising the taxes which would lead the poverty for the people of England.

Of course, Prince John didn't take Henry's protests well and decided to demote him and threaten him for defying to the crown. But that prompted the young man to plan a rebellion by leading the helpless people to raise arms against the injustice from John's men. He confronted the tax collectors in front of the peasants have joined his cause, inspiring them to chase them out of their village.

After that, the former knight spoke to the whole village about the misery and exploitation Prince John brought, and with fervor he declared it's now the time to show they had enough and rallied to fight back. They were moved by his speech and decided to join the fight, and so Henry started to recruit and train the peasants who had the strength to hold a pitchfork. Though his methods were controversial because of the fear of starting a new war, more people joined his side. Therefore, Henry formed up a small army of free men, whose purpose was to dethrone Prince John.

The news of the rebellion didn't take long to spread across the country, until they reached to Prince John's ears. Outraged, he put the bounty on Henry's head, turning him into the second most wanted man in all England, which got him the attention to the famous archer and thief, Robin Hood, who had decided to meet Henry face to face.

Both men had the same goal to liberate England, but they had different ideas. Robin Hood was against Henry's declaration of war because he was putting the lives of the innocent people in danger. Henry couldn't deny the outlaw's disagreement, but then he surprisingly offered an alliance with him. While Robin Hood hesitated that first, he eventually accepted it.

The alliance had a huge impact because by combining their forces, Henry and Robin worked together to steal plenty of money, weapons and supplies to strengthen their army of free peasants, until Prince John's soldiers had lost much of their territory and retreated to their last defense, King Richard's castle. However, instead of attacking the castle, Henry decided to keep them surrounded, because he knew Prince John was now unable to fight back, and the only thing he could do is pray that his older brother won't give him a death sentence.

Eventually, King Richard had returned, and he was told by Henry, Robin, and his people, about what his younger brother have done during his absence. Not only he punished John and his followers, Richard also knighted Henry once more for his act of valor of protecting the people in the desperate times. As for Robin Hood, he was also knighted by King Richard, for which he gave up his life as an outlaw and made a new living in Nottingham. But this was just the beginning.

The King of England also put Henry's services to Maid Marian, to become her personal bodyguard, much to his shock when he learned it was the request by the noblewoman herself. Henry knew Maid Marian pretty well after he was knighted, but as far as he's concerned, they just started to get to know each other.

Henry was convinced there must be a good reason behind her request and he had to get to the bottom of this.

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