The Longest Time - Chapter 7
Title, Chapter: The Longest Time - Chapter 7
Author: kegel84
Summary: When the king returned, everything would be right again. But the day King Richard came into the town of Nottingham, Robin and the outlaws had to notice that things didn't turn out as they had always thought in the back of their minds.
Characters/Pairings: The Outlaws & Marian, Pairings: Robin/Marian, Will/Djaq
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers/Warnings: Season 2 till Lardner's Ring (AU after that)
Disclaimer: I do not own the show or the characters and make no money off them.
Notes: Thanks so much to my betas neaptidea and emmithar, neaptidea especially for pointing out when I contradicted myself or made no sense at all, and emmithar for her inspiration. And thanks to laura_isabel for her artwork! :)
Artwork, by laura_isabel
Previous Chapter
Much didn't like this at all. But as little as he liked it, Robin had asked him to leave, to find the others, no matter that Much had tried to insist these last few days that he would never leave him. At least leaving would be a good start. As soon as he was out of here, he could think about the next step.
He tried to think of the ways the outlaws had gotten in and out of the castle in the past. It hadn't always been easy and ever since Allan had told the sheriff all about their secret ways, it had become even harder. Well, at least now he only needed to get out, not in.
He did his best to move along the empty, dimly lit hallways of the castle instead of the more frequented ones. A couple of times he still met a maid or other servant, but no one really paid attention to him. Soon he reached the kitchen, unmistakable by the smells that reached his nose. He smiled. Of course they would cook well for the king.
As he walked into the rooms that were heated by the fires and ovens, smoke filling parts of them, none of the working cooks and maids looked his way. Maybe it would be a smart thing to get some food here, before he tried to get out of Nottingham and back to camp.
He turned to a maid who was just busy cutting turnips. “Well, hello.”
She glanced at him briefly only, not pausing in her work. “Hello,” she said to the turnips.
“Is there a way I could get some... food?” he smiled, though she wasn't looking at him.
“You're working here?”
It wasn't the maid who asked this, but someone behind him, and Much turned around and saw that it was a man in the king's colours, a king’s guard.
“Yes,” he nodded quickly, setting his hat in correct order with one hand and reaching for a head of cabbage with the other. “I'm the cook!”
The other man looked at him gravely. “Then make sure dinner will be ready in time. The king wants pork and beef today.”
“Pork and beef,” Much nodded. “A good choice.”
The guard turned away and left the increasingly fume- and smoke-filled room.
“You're a cook?” the maid asked him then.
Much shrugged. “Yes, but I don't usually get to cook pork.” So it seemed that he could simply stick around for a bit and leave later when no one would pay attention to him. He needed time to come up with a good excuse to leave the town.
>>>----> >>>----> >>>---->
She had been just looking at the room for a while, wondering what she was to do. She didn't know if she even wanted, would even be able to stand going to Locksley, and guessed that she would not be able to make a decision not knowing what was happening to Robin.
A sound behind her made her turn. He had dropped in as he had so often done it before. She only took a hesitant step towards him when she saw his expression.
“Robin.”
Once she had said the word, he was quicker than her, having her in his arms in another moment.
“What is it?” she asked then, knowing that things were not alright. When he didn't speak, she pulled out of his embrace, looking at him closely.
“What is the king going to do?” she asked in a quiet voice. “What are you going to do?”
He looked utterly downcast, and the worry inside of her was mounting.
“I have to leave,” he said then.
“Why?” was her immediate response, images of flight on her mind. If he had to flee, if he had to escape from the castle, from the king's guards... If he was to run from them, no place would be safe... and Sherwood could not be his home forever. Then came the question as to what she would do? Follow him?
“The king wants me to go with him to Normandy, rejoin his private guard,” Robin explained then, not able to look at her.
There were conflicting emotions in her. First there was the realisation of him leaving - again. Of war. Of him never returning. Then there was hope, that he was free, or at least had the chance. That he wouldn't have to run, that he would live.
She nodded. “I understand.”
“We are probably going to leave tomorrow,” he added, swallowing.
Marian nodded again. She wrapped her arms around his neck, determined to enjoy the moment.
She wasn't sure how much time was passing, but then she couldn't remember a time when they had been as undisturbed for themselves as they were now. Robin’s kiss lingered for a moment and then he sighed, moving back. She pulled him to her again, moving her hands downwards from his hair to his back. She didn't think about anything else, but after a moments, when they had already moved closer to her bed, the most natural thing for her at this moment, Robin stopped her.
“What?”
He shook his head. “We can't do this.”
She smiled. “We can.”
He looked at her and she pulled him towards her again.
“We are as good as married, Robin.”
He shook his head. “We're not.”
She played with his hair again. “We've made a promise to each other.”
“It is not that I do not want this,” Robin said. “But I am going to leave. What if...?”
He didn't return? She became with child?
She wasn't sure what was on his mind.
“What if we never get to share this?” she returned. “We have waited so long. For things to get better, for the king to return.”
“I'm sorry.” Robin looked down, clenching his hands to fists as they slid off her. “I can't expect you to wait longer. I never should have left you in the first place.”
Stroking the back of his hand till he opened it, she took it in hers, laying the other around his neck to pull him to her again. “We're here now.”
>>>----> >>>----> >>>---->
In the morning, Marian looked at him with a tight smile. “Maybe you can get one of Djaq's pigeons to send messages to me,” she suggested in a light voice, but Robin knew all too well that her words didn't really fit her mood. But then the morning had already moved on, and he would have to leave soon. She didn't want to spoil the rest of their time.
So he smiled back at her while putting on his boots. He himself was having trouble showing the carefree spirits he so often portrayed and that had helped him a good many times. Last night he had given up on it with her, not willing to hide from her how he was really feeling.
“France is not so far,” he said, both meaning it seriously and taking up what she had said. “Not like the Holy Land.” Maybe the king would return to England soon, maybe he wouldn't be gone long...
He was finished dressing now, and they could hear the bells of Nottingham Church sounding outside announcing the hour. It was time to leave. He was expected with the king's men; he would show them that he still stood loyal to the man.
“Robin, there's something I haven't told you yet.”
He looked at her, puzzled. “What is it?”
“It's about Locksley.”
He nodded.
“The king wants me to take it for now. Now that Gisborne is gone...”
The idea stunned Robin at first. Marian at Locksley? Well, her home was destroyed... it made sense...
“He said it's in memory of my father's services,” she went on.
It was definitely good to know. When he had last left, all those years ago, he had not really thought about what would happen in his absence. He had been so eager to leave then, had trusted that Thornton and the other servants remained behind to take care of Locksley, while Edward ruled as sheriff in Nottingham. Life in the villages was usually slow and he hadn't even thought that he would be gone for longer than one, maybe two years. He hadn't expected anything to change for the worse in his absence. Of course, then Vaizey had taken over as sheriff had installed Gisborne in Locksley.
It was good to know now that Marian would be there, at least until she could return to her home in Knighton, or until she married, which he knew everyone would expect her to do, maybe demand her to do, once things had calmed in and around Nottingham. No matter that she might feel herself bound to him.
At least he was not leaving Locksley to be picked up by whatever noble the newly installed sheriff might see as a potential ally or wanted to favour.
He nodded. “It's good to know,” he smiled. She had come over to him and he took her into another hug. “Goodbye.”
“Take care, Robin.”
>>>----> >>>----> >>>---->
It was with some uncertainty that Robin went down to the king's private guard. The last time he had seen many of those men had been a long time ago in Acre, when the king had been attacked, and he himself had been wounded, which had resulted in him being sent home to England. He wondered if the men remembered him as the one he had been then, or saw him as that what he had become by now, an outlaw.
His bow and arrows had been returned to him and Robin was gripping the former gladly, as he made his way to where the private guard was housed. He wondered what his status was going to be now. The king had asked him to rejoin the private guard, but was he supposed to just pick up where he had left in the Holy Land? So many things had happened since then...
“Robin of Locksley,” he was called from behind, and as he turned around, he found himself facing Harold, a man who had been with the king for many years.
“Harold,” Robin nodded towards him.
“You are back with us?” the other questioned.
“Yes.” He wasn't quite sure how much the other knew. The men certainly couldn't have failed to hear what had happened, but it was not certain that he knew that Robin was not back here quite voluntarily. Not that it really mattered. He was not going to let it affect him either way.
“The king is eager to leave today,” Harold continued. “But I'm sure you know that, Robin. Always the king's favourite?” he laughed.
“No, he didn't tell me,” Robin returned. He had expected that they were to leave soon, but nobody had told him exactly when. But then he knew that Harold didn't mean to aggravate him with the supposition. The man was just frank. “How long do you think the campaign in Normandy will take?” he asked.
Harold shrugged. “How long can it take to run up John? He's hiding his backside somewhere and making trouble from there. But once we're done with him, who knows where the king is heading for next?” the man laughed again. “He's never been one to sit at home.”
“No,” Robin shook his head in agreement. Behind Harold he could see another man coming up, and he smiled as he saw him. “Carter.” He hadn't known the man was with the king again, having planned to return to the Holy Land to visit his brother's grave. He had not mentioned that he wanted to rejoin the fighting.
“Robin,” the man stepped close to him, taking his hand in greeting. “The king requested you rejoin him?” he asked quietly. His tone indicated that he knew of the implications behind his question.
Robin nodded. “What about you? Have you been to the Holy Land again?”
Carter nodded as well. “But I didn't spend much time there. I decided to return to England, see if the king could still need me,” he explained. “He let me join his private guard, and I've been with him ever since London.” He frowned. “Where's Much? Isn't he with you anymore?”
“No, I asked him to leave.” Carter’s frown deepened at this. “His home is here. He's followed me long enough. I want him to make his own life now.” He didn't know how that life would be, but anything would be better for Much than going back to war. Robin knew that it had been harder on Much than on him even.
“The king is going to leave Nottingham today,” Carter went on.
“Yeah, Harold told me. Where are we heading?”
“To Clipstone at first, but then we're heading south.”
Robin nodded once. If they were to go north into Sherwood Forest first, it would take a while before they would even cross over to France. It could take weeks, months even.
>>>----> >>>----> >>>---->
Much was running. He'd first headed for the forest, but had been cut off when he'd spotted men in the king's colours coming from there, and it was them he wanted to avoid. It felt odd to do so, as he was supposed to be their friend after all.
It had been easy to leave the castle's kitchens after he had stayed there for a while, helping out with the cooking and getting a meal in return. The trouble had started once he left the town. The gates were still heavily guarded and Much had tried to leave inconspicuously, but when one of the guards had set on him, he had lost his nerve and broken into a run.
He was quite sure to have lost any pursuers soon, but didn't feel well walking too slowly. After the forest turned out not to be a good direction to head into, his feet carried him on the way towards Clun, which was closest to Nottingham after all.
All the while he was walking, Much considered the problem he had. Robin had told him to find the others, but then he had thought that it might be a good idea to follow where Robin was going, make sure he wasn't getting into any trouble without him. But what if he got Robin into more trouble because he tried to follow and was caught?
Much came to a stop, turning to look back at Nottingham, which was only a small patch of houses and walls in the distance now. Turning away from the town again, he continued on the way to Clun. He would need to go back to camp, rest and eat there. Then he would decide. He knew in his heart that he would not be able to stand not going after Robin. He also had to find the others.
They were certainly still around here, probably even waiting at the camp. He would find them, and then he would find Robin. For what else was he to do? The sheriff was gone, but still things were not right. He hadn't really had plans like Robin had. Well, maybe he had some. There was Bonchurch of course, but that had been pushed to the back of his mind for so long, and now it was even further away. He also remembered how he had once told her what he would do when things were right again.
But they weren't.
Next Chapter
Author: kegel84
Summary: When the king returned, everything would be right again. But the day King Richard came into the town of Nottingham, Robin and the outlaws had to notice that things didn't turn out as they had always thought in the back of their minds.
Characters/Pairings: The Outlaws & Marian, Pairings: Robin/Marian, Will/Djaq
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers/Warnings: Season 2 till Lardner's Ring (AU after that)
Disclaimer: I do not own the show or the characters and make no money off them.
Notes: Thanks so much to my betas neaptidea and emmithar, neaptidea especially for pointing out when I contradicted myself or made no sense at all, and emmithar for her inspiration. And thanks to laura_isabel for her artwork! :)
Artwork, by laura_isabel
Previous Chapter
Much didn't like this at all. But as little as he liked it, Robin had asked him to leave, to find the others, no matter that Much had tried to insist these last few days that he would never leave him. At least leaving would be a good start. As soon as he was out of here, he could think about the next step.
He tried to think of the ways the outlaws had gotten in and out of the castle in the past. It hadn't always been easy and ever since Allan had told the sheriff all about their secret ways, it had become even harder. Well, at least now he only needed to get out, not in.
He did his best to move along the empty, dimly lit hallways of the castle instead of the more frequented ones. A couple of times he still met a maid or other servant, but no one really paid attention to him. Soon he reached the kitchen, unmistakable by the smells that reached his nose. He smiled. Of course they would cook well for the king.
As he walked into the rooms that were heated by the fires and ovens, smoke filling parts of them, none of the working cooks and maids looked his way. Maybe it would be a smart thing to get some food here, before he tried to get out of Nottingham and back to camp.
He turned to a maid who was just busy cutting turnips. “Well, hello.”
She glanced at him briefly only, not pausing in her work. “Hello,” she said to the turnips.
“Is there a way I could get some... food?” he smiled, though she wasn't looking at him.
“You're working here?”
It wasn't the maid who asked this, but someone behind him, and Much turned around and saw that it was a man in the king's colours, a king’s guard.
“Yes,” he nodded quickly, setting his hat in correct order with one hand and reaching for a head of cabbage with the other. “I'm the cook!”
The other man looked at him gravely. “Then make sure dinner will be ready in time. The king wants pork and beef today.”
“Pork and beef,” Much nodded. “A good choice.”
The guard turned away and left the increasingly fume- and smoke-filled room.
“You're a cook?” the maid asked him then.
Much shrugged. “Yes, but I don't usually get to cook pork.” So it seemed that he could simply stick around for a bit and leave later when no one would pay attention to him. He needed time to come up with a good excuse to leave the town.
>>>----> >>>----> >>>---->
She had been just looking at the room for a while, wondering what she was to do. She didn't know if she even wanted, would even be able to stand going to Locksley, and guessed that she would not be able to make a decision not knowing what was happening to Robin.
A sound behind her made her turn. He had dropped in as he had so often done it before. She only took a hesitant step towards him when she saw his expression.
“Robin.”
Once she had said the word, he was quicker than her, having her in his arms in another moment.
“What is it?” she asked then, knowing that things were not alright. When he didn't speak, she pulled out of his embrace, looking at him closely.
“What is the king going to do?” she asked in a quiet voice. “What are you going to do?”
He looked utterly downcast, and the worry inside of her was mounting.
“I have to leave,” he said then.
“Why?” was her immediate response, images of flight on her mind. If he had to flee, if he had to escape from the castle, from the king's guards... If he was to run from them, no place would be safe... and Sherwood could not be his home forever. Then came the question as to what she would do? Follow him?
“The king wants me to go with him to Normandy, rejoin his private guard,” Robin explained then, not able to look at her.
There were conflicting emotions in her. First there was the realisation of him leaving - again. Of war. Of him never returning. Then there was hope, that he was free, or at least had the chance. That he wouldn't have to run, that he would live.
She nodded. “I understand.”
“We are probably going to leave tomorrow,” he added, swallowing.
Marian nodded again. She wrapped her arms around his neck, determined to enjoy the moment.
She wasn't sure how much time was passing, but then she couldn't remember a time when they had been as undisturbed for themselves as they were now. Robin’s kiss lingered for a moment and then he sighed, moving back. She pulled him to her again, moving her hands downwards from his hair to his back. She didn't think about anything else, but after a moments, when they had already moved closer to her bed, the most natural thing for her at this moment, Robin stopped her.
“What?”
He shook his head. “We can't do this.”
She smiled. “We can.”
He looked at her and she pulled him towards her again.
“We are as good as married, Robin.”
He shook his head. “We're not.”
She played with his hair again. “We've made a promise to each other.”
“It is not that I do not want this,” Robin said. “But I am going to leave. What if...?”
He didn't return? She became with child?
She wasn't sure what was on his mind.
“What if we never get to share this?” she returned. “We have waited so long. For things to get better, for the king to return.”
“I'm sorry.” Robin looked down, clenching his hands to fists as they slid off her. “I can't expect you to wait longer. I never should have left you in the first place.”
Stroking the back of his hand till he opened it, she took it in hers, laying the other around his neck to pull him to her again. “We're here now.”
>>>----> >>>----> >>>---->
In the morning, Marian looked at him with a tight smile. “Maybe you can get one of Djaq's pigeons to send messages to me,” she suggested in a light voice, but Robin knew all too well that her words didn't really fit her mood. But then the morning had already moved on, and he would have to leave soon. She didn't want to spoil the rest of their time.
So he smiled back at her while putting on his boots. He himself was having trouble showing the carefree spirits he so often portrayed and that had helped him a good many times. Last night he had given up on it with her, not willing to hide from her how he was really feeling.
“France is not so far,” he said, both meaning it seriously and taking up what she had said. “Not like the Holy Land.” Maybe the king would return to England soon, maybe he wouldn't be gone long...
He was finished dressing now, and they could hear the bells of Nottingham Church sounding outside announcing the hour. It was time to leave. He was expected with the king's men; he would show them that he still stood loyal to the man.
“Robin, there's something I haven't told you yet.”
He looked at her, puzzled. “What is it?”
“It's about Locksley.”
He nodded.
“The king wants me to take it for now. Now that Gisborne is gone...”
The idea stunned Robin at first. Marian at Locksley? Well, her home was destroyed... it made sense...
“He said it's in memory of my father's services,” she went on.
It was definitely good to know. When he had last left, all those years ago, he had not really thought about what would happen in his absence. He had been so eager to leave then, had trusted that Thornton and the other servants remained behind to take care of Locksley, while Edward ruled as sheriff in Nottingham. Life in the villages was usually slow and he hadn't even thought that he would be gone for longer than one, maybe two years. He hadn't expected anything to change for the worse in his absence. Of course, then Vaizey had taken over as sheriff had installed Gisborne in Locksley.
It was good to know now that Marian would be there, at least until she could return to her home in Knighton, or until she married, which he knew everyone would expect her to do, maybe demand her to do, once things had calmed in and around Nottingham. No matter that she might feel herself bound to him.
At least he was not leaving Locksley to be picked up by whatever noble the newly installed sheriff might see as a potential ally or wanted to favour.
He nodded. “It's good to know,” he smiled. She had come over to him and he took her into another hug. “Goodbye.”
“Take care, Robin.”
>>>----> >>>----> >>>---->
It was with some uncertainty that Robin went down to the king's private guard. The last time he had seen many of those men had been a long time ago in Acre, when the king had been attacked, and he himself had been wounded, which had resulted in him being sent home to England. He wondered if the men remembered him as the one he had been then, or saw him as that what he had become by now, an outlaw.
His bow and arrows had been returned to him and Robin was gripping the former gladly, as he made his way to where the private guard was housed. He wondered what his status was going to be now. The king had asked him to rejoin the private guard, but was he supposed to just pick up where he had left in the Holy Land? So many things had happened since then...
“Robin of Locksley,” he was called from behind, and as he turned around, he found himself facing Harold, a man who had been with the king for many years.
“Harold,” Robin nodded towards him.
“You are back with us?” the other questioned.
“Yes.” He wasn't quite sure how much the other knew. The men certainly couldn't have failed to hear what had happened, but it was not certain that he knew that Robin was not back here quite voluntarily. Not that it really mattered. He was not going to let it affect him either way.
“The king is eager to leave today,” Harold continued. “But I'm sure you know that, Robin. Always the king's favourite?” he laughed.
“No, he didn't tell me,” Robin returned. He had expected that they were to leave soon, but nobody had told him exactly when. But then he knew that Harold didn't mean to aggravate him with the supposition. The man was just frank. “How long do you think the campaign in Normandy will take?” he asked.
Harold shrugged. “How long can it take to run up John? He's hiding his backside somewhere and making trouble from there. But once we're done with him, who knows where the king is heading for next?” the man laughed again. “He's never been one to sit at home.”
“No,” Robin shook his head in agreement. Behind Harold he could see another man coming up, and he smiled as he saw him. “Carter.” He hadn't known the man was with the king again, having planned to return to the Holy Land to visit his brother's grave. He had not mentioned that he wanted to rejoin the fighting.
“Robin,” the man stepped close to him, taking his hand in greeting. “The king requested you rejoin him?” he asked quietly. His tone indicated that he knew of the implications behind his question.
Robin nodded. “What about you? Have you been to the Holy Land again?”
Carter nodded as well. “But I didn't spend much time there. I decided to return to England, see if the king could still need me,” he explained. “He let me join his private guard, and I've been with him ever since London.” He frowned. “Where's Much? Isn't he with you anymore?”
“No, I asked him to leave.” Carter’s frown deepened at this. “His home is here. He's followed me long enough. I want him to make his own life now.” He didn't know how that life would be, but anything would be better for Much than going back to war. Robin knew that it had been harder on Much than on him even.
“The king is going to leave Nottingham today,” Carter went on.
“Yeah, Harold told me. Where are we heading?”
“To Clipstone at first, but then we're heading south.”
Robin nodded once. If they were to go north into Sherwood Forest first, it would take a while before they would even cross over to France. It could take weeks, months even.
>>>----> >>>----> >>>---->
Much was running. He'd first headed for the forest, but had been cut off when he'd spotted men in the king's colours coming from there, and it was them he wanted to avoid. It felt odd to do so, as he was supposed to be their friend after all.
It had been easy to leave the castle's kitchens after he had stayed there for a while, helping out with the cooking and getting a meal in return. The trouble had started once he left the town. The gates were still heavily guarded and Much had tried to leave inconspicuously, but when one of the guards had set on him, he had lost his nerve and broken into a run.
He was quite sure to have lost any pursuers soon, but didn't feel well walking too slowly. After the forest turned out not to be a good direction to head into, his feet carried him on the way towards Clun, which was closest to Nottingham after all.
All the while he was walking, Much considered the problem he had. Robin had told him to find the others, but then he had thought that it might be a good idea to follow where Robin was going, make sure he wasn't getting into any trouble without him. But what if he got Robin into more trouble because he tried to follow and was caught?
Much came to a stop, turning to look back at Nottingham, which was only a small patch of houses and walls in the distance now. Turning away from the town again, he continued on the way to Clun. He would need to go back to camp, rest and eat there. Then he would decide. He knew in his heart that he would not be able to stand not going after Robin. He also had to find the others.
They were certainly still around here, probably even waiting at the camp. He would find them, and then he would find Robin. For what else was he to do? The sheriff was gone, but still things were not right. He hadn't really had plans like Robin had. Well, maybe he had some. There was Bonchurch of course, but that had been pushed to the back of his mind for so long, and now it was even further away. He also remembered how he had once told her what he would do when things were right again.
But they weren't.
Next Chapter