Enemy of My Enemy

Chapter Eight - Challenges

Carter was gone. Now Robin sat, moodily flicking sticks into the fire. They'd arrived back at camp to find Marian sleeping; Little John had let the others know she was safe, when he left Nottingham with her.

Much – aware of how awkward things could soon become – was prattling on about how it was quite likely the sheriff would come and take Clun's oxen sometime.

"He did it to Nettlestone last year, remember? So, if Clun can't pay their taxes, which no one ever can, it'll surely just be a matter of time. The sheriff doesn't have a care about how hard it makes it then to plough their fields, oh no, and how next year it will be harder again to pay what they owe..."

...it was a measure of his preoccupation that Robin refrained from telling him to shut up.

Robin knew Marian had had a scare that day, and he was sorry for it. But if she hadn't been in Nottingham in the first place, she'd have known what was happening. He'd been furious, when he first found out.

A good liar, he'd thought. Takes a kernel of truth, makes it more believable. He was surprised how much this bothered him. He knew Marian had lied to Guy, repeatedly, but it had always been with good cause. But now, seeing that she would lie to the gang...will she lie to me as well?

It didn't help that she'd ignored him by leaving the camp. He'd planned for them to go around the forest drops together that afternoon. He hadn't told her that; he'd wanted to see if she'd co-operate, for his own peace of mind.

And all that had got him was to place him in a quandary, torn between seeing that thing with Carter through, and his worry for Marian's safety. At least the fact they were going to Nottingham had meant – once their business with the sheriff was done – that they'd be able to look for her.

And her lie had ensured the gang had been handy to Clun when the guards began terrorising the villagers there. But, not the point. Robin still couldn't shake the feeling that she'd made a fool of him, of all of them.

He heard a small noise behind him then, and waited for Marian to join him. With the ease of practise, the gang slipped away, finding tasks elsewhere.

She remained standing, beside the log.

"I thought you were dead," she said dully, without preamble.

"I know," Robin replied. He reached out his hand, and she took it; he squeezed, gently, and drew her down beside him. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Marian leaned into him, relaxing her head against his shoulder. Robin knew she'd had a shock; so soon after Edward's death, it was the last thing she needed. Marian ran her hand up and down his arm, reassuring herself of his solidity, of the fact that he was there. Robin didn't want to upset her, but he wondered how to broach what needed to be said; things couldn't go on this way.

"It was my own fault, you're thinking." Matter-of-fact. In the end, Marian did it for him. "But it was just as well I went, because I saw Allan...."

Robin sighed, interrupting her.

"Marian," he said, even-toned, "you can't go off on your own like that. No one can, it isn't safe..."

"....you do..."

He ignored this.

"...why do you think we go in pairs? There needs to be a watch. Always. Sure, it was Allan who spotted you today, but what if it had been someone else? You're well known in the castle, and around town. There's a reward out for you, and they'll be talking about you....about Sir Edward....it's news at the moment, everywhere. You need to lie low, at least until this dies down a bit. That's why I wanted you to stay here."