[Robin Hood] The Alchemy of Love: Prologue (1/11)
Title: The Alchemy of Love
Rating: R. There will be violence, mention of domestic abuse, and explicit sexual content in later chapters.
Pairings: Guy/Marian/Isabella/Robin (Guy/Marian, Marian/Isabella, Isabella/Robin, Guy/Robin); a teeny bit of Allan/Will/Djaq
Word Count: 632(/~40,000)
Summary: During her last Nightwatchman gig before her marriage, Marian is caught while helping a woman in need through the forest. Grateful for her aid, Isabella convinces her brother to spare Marian and a friendship is born. Though each have their own goals, Guy, Robin, Isabella and Marian are forced to work together to heal old wounds, learn to trust, and ultimately save Nottingham.
Author's Note: Inspired by An Ever-Fixed Mark and based on the social structure of Ursula K. LeGuin's Planet of O, where society is divided into two halves, or moieties, and marriages are comprised of two men and two women. LeGuin uses the word sedoretu to refer to a union between four people; within the sedoretu there are four marriages, two heterosexual and two homosexual. In the interest of being period- and linguistically appropriate, I've chosen to use the Old French word alyaunce (alliance, betrothal, union) instead. It's pronounced pretty much how it looks. You can find more information on the sedoretu here, though the prologue is intended to lay out the basics.
According to the rules of this society, a relationship between Malcolm and Ghislaine would have been taboo, so in this story I've dispatched with the backstory from 3x11. Guy and Isabella had a similarly tragic childhood, but they did not grow up in Nottingham.
This was written for rhbigbang. It is mostly complete and I hope to have it up in its entirety by the new year. Many thanks to ladykate63 for her excellent beta work!
PROLOGUE
ALLAN
“I can't see why it bothers him that much. I mean, I see why he's not happy about it, because Guy's up in Locksley with his girl and we're out here with a price on our heads, but you can't get married with just two people, you know? And who's gonna marry Gisborne?”
A smile momentarily softened the lines on Will's face. He worried too much, Allan always thought, and now his thoughts were far away with Robin, who'd taken two whole handfuls of arrows off into the woods without a word, leaving Much to tell them all that Marian was going to marry Gisborne.
“Besides Marian, you mean?” Djaq said, settling down with them, a bowl of stew in hand.
Allan snorted.
“Explain it to me. Marriage in Christian lands is with two men and two women?”
Will nodded, while Allan asked, “What do you mean 'in Christian lands'? Isn't that what everyone does?”
Djaq shook her head. “In my homeland, it is one man and one woman, or one man and several women, if he can afford it. And we don't have moiety.”
Will blinked. “Then how do you know who you can marry?”
Allan was occupied with a more practical concern. “Just one man?” he asked. The idea of having more than one . . . available woman in a marriage was attractive, certainly, but it felt unbalanced, incomplete. Unless . . . “So does that mean all the women-” Allan stopped, for out of the corner of his eye he noticed Will shaking his head as wildly as one could while trying not to be noticed by the person sitting next to them. He realized, suddenly, that maybe this was not the sort of thing that was entirely appropriate to ask Djaq. Normally he felt as comfortable with her as with any of the boys, but occasionally he remembered she was a woman, and men weren't supposed to talk to the same way to women as they did amongst themselves, even if they were of your own moiety.
Djaq wickedly left a long pause before she supplied, eyes twinkling, “ . . . share?”
Allan shrugged.
“It does. And marriages there are like marriages here-you marry who your parents want you to, or if you're lucky, who you want.”
“It doesn't sound so bad. Half the fun's gone if you only marry women, though.” Allan looked to Will for agreement, but he was doing that thing where Allan could tell that there was a lot going on inside but Will wasn't saying any of it.
Will only held his gaze for a moment, and then he turned to Djaq, asking, “What do you think of the way we do it?” Allan stirred his stew to hide his interest in the question.
Djaq considered it for a moment. When she spoke, it was more carefully than before. “I think it could be good if you marry the right people, like any marriage. Though,” she added slowly, “how would it work if I didn't have moiety?”
Allan looked up at that, and he could almost swear Djaq was trying not to smile. “We could give you one, I guess.”
“I think you'd be Morning,” Will said, not quite casually enough to fool Allan.
“I think you're right,” he agreed around a mouthful of stew, and Will shot him a grateful look. “So you would need a Morning husband,” he said, barreling on. Just to be sure she understood. “Me, for example. And then we'd need an Evening man, and an Evening woman. Will is Evening, so, in theory, there's almost a whole marriage right here.”
“Completely theoretically,” Djaq said.
“Completely.”
Chapter One
Rating: R. There will be violence, mention of domestic abuse, and explicit sexual content in later chapters.
Pairings: Guy/Marian/Isabella/Robin (Guy/Marian, Marian/Isabella, Isabella/Robin, Guy/Robin); a teeny bit of Allan/Will/Djaq
Word Count: 632(/~40,000)
Summary: During her last Nightwatchman gig before her marriage, Marian is caught while helping a woman in need through the forest. Grateful for her aid, Isabella convinces her brother to spare Marian and a friendship is born. Though each have their own goals, Guy, Robin, Isabella and Marian are forced to work together to heal old wounds, learn to trust, and ultimately save Nottingham.
Author's Note: Inspired by An Ever-Fixed Mark and based on the social structure of Ursula K. LeGuin's Planet of O, where society is divided into two halves, or moieties, and marriages are comprised of two men and two women. LeGuin uses the word sedoretu to refer to a union between four people; within the sedoretu there are four marriages, two heterosexual and two homosexual. In the interest of being period- and linguistically appropriate, I've chosen to use the Old French word alyaunce (alliance, betrothal, union) instead. It's pronounced pretty much how it looks. You can find more information on the sedoretu here, though the prologue is intended to lay out the basics.
According to the rules of this society, a relationship between Malcolm and Ghislaine would have been taboo, so in this story I've dispatched with the backstory from 3x11. Guy and Isabella had a similarly tragic childhood, but they did not grow up in Nottingham.
This was written for rhbigbang. It is mostly complete and I hope to have it up in its entirety by the new year. Many thanks to ladykate63 for her excellent beta work!
PROLOGUE
ALLAN
“I can't see why it bothers him that much. I mean, I see why he's not happy about it, because Guy's up in Locksley with his girl and we're out here with a price on our heads, but you can't get married with just two people, you know? And who's gonna marry Gisborne?”
A smile momentarily softened the lines on Will's face. He worried too much, Allan always thought, and now his thoughts were far away with Robin, who'd taken two whole handfuls of arrows off into the woods without a word, leaving Much to tell them all that Marian was going to marry Gisborne.
“Besides Marian, you mean?” Djaq said, settling down with them, a bowl of stew in hand.
Allan snorted.
“Explain it to me. Marriage in Christian lands is with two men and two women?”
Will nodded, while Allan asked, “What do you mean 'in Christian lands'? Isn't that what everyone does?”
Djaq shook her head. “In my homeland, it is one man and one woman, or one man and several women, if he can afford it. And we don't have moiety.”
Will blinked. “Then how do you know who you can marry?”
Allan was occupied with a more practical concern. “Just one man?” he asked. The idea of having more than one . . . available woman in a marriage was attractive, certainly, but it felt unbalanced, incomplete. Unless . . . “So does that mean all the women-” Allan stopped, for out of the corner of his eye he noticed Will shaking his head as wildly as one could while trying not to be noticed by the person sitting next to them. He realized, suddenly, that maybe this was not the sort of thing that was entirely appropriate to ask Djaq. Normally he felt as comfortable with her as with any of the boys, but occasionally he remembered she was a woman, and men weren't supposed to talk to the same way to women as they did amongst themselves, even if they were of your own moiety.
Djaq wickedly left a long pause before she supplied, eyes twinkling, “ . . . share?”
Allan shrugged.
“It does. And marriages there are like marriages here-you marry who your parents want you to, or if you're lucky, who you want.”
“It doesn't sound so bad. Half the fun's gone if you only marry women, though.” Allan looked to Will for agreement, but he was doing that thing where Allan could tell that there was a lot going on inside but Will wasn't saying any of it.
Will only held his gaze for a moment, and then he turned to Djaq, asking, “What do you think of the way we do it?” Allan stirred his stew to hide his interest in the question.
Djaq considered it for a moment. When she spoke, it was more carefully than before. “I think it could be good if you marry the right people, like any marriage. Though,” she added slowly, “how would it work if I didn't have moiety?”
Allan looked up at that, and he could almost swear Djaq was trying not to smile. “We could give you one, I guess.”
“I think you'd be Morning,” Will said, not quite casually enough to fool Allan.
“I think you're right,” he agreed around a mouthful of stew, and Will shot him a grateful look. “So you would need a Morning husband,” he said, barreling on. Just to be sure she understood. “Me, for example. And then we'd need an Evening man, and an Evening woman. Will is Evening, so, in theory, there's almost a whole marriage right here.”
“Completely theoretically,” Djaq said.
“Completely.”
Chapter One