The Troubles from Monsters and Men (The Secret of Moonacre Fanfiction)

Of Prophecies and Books

The early morning sun found three De Noir boys mounted on their horses. They were waiting for Henry by the castle gates. Richard was towards the end so that he could continue to glower at the back of Robin's head. He still wasn't happy with Robin's irritability earlier.

Henry came running out of the castle. He was adjusting his clothes, tucking in his shirt, and fastening his suspenders.

"Where were you?" Richard asked. "Did you sleep in dreaming of Lizzy?" At least he could still joke with Henry without drawing any wrath.

"Dungeons." Henry snorted as he ran past Richard. Robin's ears perked, hoping to catch more, but Henry had long run past them towards the stables.
After a short wait, he came back out with his black stallion all saddled up.

"Why were you in the Dungeons?" Robin asked.

Henry looked at the other boys before shrugging his shoulders. "Just having a word with Charles. Don't worry about it."

"Besides, not like you'd believe us anyways," Richard muttered under his breath, but Robin heard him. He glared at Richard and kicked his horse forwards, getting ahead of his friends.

David shook his head and smacked Richard's arm. "Why'd you do that for?" He whispered out of earshot.
Richard waived him off. He was growing tired of Robin. They all were. He was just the only one willing to challenge his attitude.

"Drop it, the lot of you," Henry warned. Despite their growing frustration with Robin, Henry wanted to keep the peace for as long as possible. There were too many problems already, he didn't need his friends fighting as well.
They were all worried Robin would be weak to another attack from Althea. To prevent this from happening, they decided, along with Mr. De Noir and Mr. Havisham, to keep Robin away from the dungeons at all costs. It wasn't like they were keeping Robin in the dark. They did tell him the full story and would tell Robin of any new information; they just didn't tell Robin that Althea was in the dungeons.... or that every few nights the boys would go down to interrogate her without him. They didn't want to tempt him to go down there alone. Henry, in particular, was worried Althea would gain control of his mind as she did with the guards.

It was a silent ride from the castle. Henry, Richard, and David were tired from their late night, and Robin was once again lost in his thoughts. As they neared the border of Moonacre valley, the sound of a galloping horse coming up from behind interrupted their silence. It was Loveday riding on Primrose.

"Good morning!" She called out. "I thought I might catch you all here. My father told me you were all heading off to London today."
The De Noir gang stalled their horses and waited for Loveday to catch up. She was flushed red and her golden curls flew wildly about her. Robin noticed a few grey strands that weren't there before. She looked tired and he was sure she had just woken up.

"I have a small request...." She continued, "As you all know, Maria's back at school, and we're worried for her. When you're around, could you stop by and see her, make sure she's alright?"

The boys nodded their heads, but Robin vehemently shook his. "Why should we have to look after her? She's the one with magic after all!"

"Robin, please. She could be the key to your memories! You spending time with her could help recover them!"

Robin shook his head. "What's to say I want them back?" He retorted. This was clearly a lie, and he knew it, but he didn't want to be around the Merryweather girl. He didn't trust her. "No. I already don't want to make this trip, I will definitely not be seeing her!" He grabbed his horse's reins and continued down the path, not bothering to say goodbye to his sister.

"Don't worry," Henry said. "We'll keep an eye out for her."

"Thank you. Though I'm afraid it's going to be hard with Robin. He's bound to put up a fight."