Denial II, chapter 33: A Clever Trap
Title: Denial II, chapter 33: A Clever Trap
Author: darkentwisted
Characters/Pairings: Much/Carter, Legrand, Little John, Robin, Brooks, Eleanor
Rating: NC17
Genre: slash, NSFW
Words: 2846
Disclaimer: BBC & TA own; we just want to play in their universe
Notes: Beta'd by jagnikjen& robinfanatic; takes place after AU 2x13 but prior to 3x01
Introduction and chapter links for Denial II are here...
Summary: Brooks and Eleanor hatch a plan. Naughtiness ensues.
Denial II, Chapter 33: A Clever Trap
"Are you sure this will work, yeoman?" Eleanor questioned as she waited for the noblemen to come, at her request.
"I don't know." Charles shrugged. "I'm used to breaking couples up, not putting them back together."
"Well, we will see what happens after several hours in a locked room with each other," the monarch mused. "Still, I can't believe I've been made a part of all this...intrigue."
Brooks smirked. "You love it! You know you do!"
Eleanor glanced sideways at her co-conspirator. "I do." She straightened up as Carter entered the room. "Ah, Lord Wilton! How nice to see you as always."
"And you, Milady!" Carter nodded at Brooks, wondering what he was doing there.
"I heard how brave you and your former squire were in helping to save my son in the Holy Land. I wanted to express my gratitude to you both in private before any public display, if that is all right." She looked around the room, feigning worry. "But where is Lord Bonchurch?"
"He is with his...former master, Milady," Carter replied, wondering just to what extent his friend and new confidante of the queen had informed her.
"Oh, yes, Lord Locksley." She turned to Brooks and whispered in the yeoman's ear. He saluted and walked out of the room. Eleanor then turned back to the blond knight. "Forgive me, but I must take my leave for a moment. Make yourself comfortable, Carter, I will be right back." She quietly slid the bolt closed as she walked away smiling to herself. Her half of the mission was complete.
By this time, Brooks had slipped out the opposite exit and cut off Much at the pass.
"Charles, the queen sent word she needs to see me."
"Yes." Brooks half covered his face with his hand, barely containing his amusement. "In there. She must talk to you at once."
Much nodded and entered the room. He frowned when his eyes met Carter's. Without a word, he spun on his heels and proceeded to walk back to the door when he heard the bolt slide into place.
"Charles...! Yeoman Brooks! What are you doing? Open this door right now!"
"Save your breath. It's a trap." Carter snorted as he poured himself a goblet of wine.
"What is going on?" Much was wide-eyed as he rattled the door again for good measure.
"I think we have been lured into this room by a couple of well-meaning, but obviously deranged cupids." Carter chuckled to himself. He held out the silver carafe to his ex-lover. "Wine?"
"That's right! And no one comes out till there is either fighting or kissing!" Brooks yelled through the door as Eleanor suppressed a giggle.
"More the latter I hope!" Eleanor piped in. She turned to her cohort. "So 'Cupid', what do we do now?"
"We wait it out," Brooks grinned as they walked away arm in arm. "Tea, Milady?"
"My pleasure, Yeoman," Eleanor smiled.
>>>----------------------------------->
"Open this door! I know you're out there!" Much was enraged by this time. It had only been an hour but it seemed like forever...forever with him.
"They're not going to let us out for a while, Much. Just be patient."
"Be patient! We are locked up in this room...together!"
"And that's so bad how?" Carter mused, staring into his wine. "We have food, drink, and last I looked, there was a washbasin and chamber pot behind that screen. Face it, Much, we have been fooled by sharper minds than ours."
Much screwed up his face at the comment. "You are behind all this! Well, it won't work. I have decided. I am going back to England with Robin. Now help me break down this door so I can keep him from doing anything foolish."
It was Carter's turn to be incensed. "You would defy your king's orders for him would you -- risk a deserter's death." He shook his head. "It's always Robin! The man stole you away from me, and you still don't get it. It will never be you, Much. It will always be Marian! Everyone sees that but you!"
"And what did we have, Carter?" Much reacted to the flung venom with his own. "What could we have? No, I am grateful that you took me in and made me as I am now. But we must face reality. What we had could never be real."
Carter hesitated at the words. No amount of alcohol could anaesthetise him from the pain as they broke his heart. "I have been meaning to take this off." He slid the gold band from his finger. "You don't have to talk to me. This room is big enough, and so am I."
For the first time Much saw real emotion behind the cool exterior as he witnessed what the Wiltons referred to as 'laughing on the wrong side of their faces'.
Carter wiped his tears on his sleeve. "I can see now, all I was for you was a way out. Was there anything really between us, Much?" Carter couldn't face those pale blue eyes any more. He turned away to deliver the deathblow, studying the fine woodwork. He tossed the ring at his former lover. "Apparently this meant nothing to you. Good day, Lord Bonchurch!" He walked to the other side of the room.
Time passed. The silence was deafening. Each man was lost in his own thoughts as they tried to avoid each other's eyes. Each replayed the other's words in their heads and the days and events that led to their separation. This meant nothing to you. Much bristled as Carter's words echoed in his head. He remembered Robin's plans for revenge against Gisborne. Was that the life he wanted again, to be cold, hungry, outlawed and unloved? He watched as the man before him wept for them both and what they had. Suddenly, nothing could be more real, and he realized Robin was his past and Carter his future.
Much pouted as he reached down and retrieved the gold band from the floor. "روح واحدة واثنين من قلوب ، وبصرف النظر أحيانا ولكن لم تنقطع أبدا." Two hearts, one soul, sometimes parted but never broken. He read aloud, without thinking, the fine characters painstakingly carved into the gleaming, perfect circle.
Carter snorted with a tragic smile, "I should have never taught you Arabic."
Much focused intently on his former lover at the remark. "No! You are wrong. This...what I can do now...what I am capable of, meant everything to me and I am grateful for everything you taught me. I walked out of that forest as someone's property, and now I can return to England as a man -- an educated man." He shook his head. "I made a mistake, Carter. You're right. Robin...he'll never change. I know that now. I always did. I was just so...confused. Robin was hurting and alone. You never shouted...never fought to get me back. I didn't think it mattered so much to you."
Carter's lip quivered. A tear spilled down his cheek. "How was I supposed to fight? All those years you spent with Robin? I couldn't stand a chance. I had to let you go. I had to hope that you'd figure it out...that you'd come back to me all on your own."
"What I had with you, I never shared with anyone." Much walked over and placed his hand on the weeping knight's shoulder. "I miss this...miss us." He embraced Carter from behind and the knight tensed at first then sighed and leaned against him. They stayed like that for a while, each man's breath matched the other's. Much smiled as he broke the silence. "Now all we need is a field of lavender and a rainstorm." It wasn't meant to be a tease, but having Carter in his arms reminded him of before the breakup when they were happy. They forgot themselves for a moment, touches lingered too long and lips connected. The old days returned in a wash of muscle memory.
Carter was hesitant at first, but the drink and Brooks' comments in his head overwhelmed him. The past was the past and the future was not invented yet. For the moment it was like nothing had ever happened, Robin was never there. "Much..."
"Ssshhhhhhhhh, I know." The former outlaw glanced at his lover conspiratorially. "Think we have time before they figure out their little ruse worked and burst in on us jubilantly?"
"Serves them right to catch us in the act! Busybodies!" Carter smirked as he teasingly undressed his partner.
Both men were naked in minutes and in each others arms. "I missed this... missed you," Carter purred, echoing his lover's words as he took Much from behind.
"Shut up and make love to me," Much joked as he covered his lover's mouth hungrily with his own.
Carter whispered in his former squire's ear as he moved. "I think they're listening behind the door."
"Let them," Much panted as he pulled his lover closer.
>>>------------------------->
Outside the door, Brooks and Eleanor strained to hear like two naughty chamber maids. "I don't hear anything!" the queen whispered.
"That's a good sign...I think," Charles muttered back.
"Should we?"
"Only if Milady wants to be embarrassed," the yeoman shot back.
"You think...?"
Brooks put his ear closer to the richly paneled door then suddenly grinned wickedly. "Men don't usually make those kind of noises during a fight."
"Oh...oh!" The queen blushed, listening closer herself. "My... they do sound... energetic."
>>>------------------------>
The two men had switched to utilizing the well stuffed settee in the room as Much stared deep into his lover's eyes. They embraced as they sent each other over the edge, moaning into each other's mouths as they came. They held each other for a while as Carter waited for the break the former outlaw usually provided but it never came.
"Much?"
"Yes, my love."
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine."
You're not talking." Carter smiled.
"I'm afraid to."
"Why?"
"Cos if I do, this won't be real and if... if it isn't real, then it's over." He studied his lover as he leaned back and looked at him. "I don't want it to be over, Carter. I don't want to ever let you go again."
"We are locked in a room, with our perverted friend and the Queen Mother of England listening in on us,no doubt. I don't think I'm going anywhere for a while." Carter pulled the throw off the back of the settee and wrapped it around them. He put his arms around Much and pulled his former squire's head to his shoulder. "If you would like, we shall never leave this room again."
Much nodded as sleep overtook him. "I would like that."
>>>------------------------->
"I can't take it anymore!" Much said as he studied himself in the silver reflection. He turned to Robin as he tried to steady his nerves. "Please tell me I'm making the right decision."
"Well, it's not like what you two are doing is legal," the outlaw leader mused, straightening his own tunic. "It's not even real. It's merely symbolic, a romantic gesture on the part of her majesty."
"I should stay with you." Much reasoned. "You need me."
"I'll be fine." Robin leveled his eyes at his former squire. "I will find Gisborne alone."
"I wish you would wait, Robin. We will hunt for him together and bring him to the king to decide his fate."
"Robin will be fine, Much," John piped in from his plate of pilfered hors'd'oeuvres. "Brooks and I will go with him as protectors, back to England."
"Robin?" Much questioned.
"Leave us, John. I must have a word with our friend in private." Robin smiled as the giant outlaw snorted and took his plate of bonbons into the next room.
"I should go back...with you."
"No talk of that now," Robin shushed. "Whatever decision I make does not concern us at the moment." He placed his arms around his friend as their foreheads touched. "I was wrong and I'm sorry. I came between my two friends because they had something I did not." He focused his green eyes on Much's pale blue ones. "You need to be with Carter. As I said before, he can give you something I never could, Much. He can give you the life you deserve. If you go with me you will once more be an outlaw." The archer's brows upturned as his eyes glittered. "I could not live with doing that to you again."
Much blinked back his own tears as their lips connected. "Thank you, Robin."
>>>--------------------------->
The pacing was driving Brooks and Legrand crazy. Carter was wearing a hole in the expensive rug as he parried and thrusted against his pretend opponent.
"Mon ami..."
"Don't start, big guy. He won't let up. I tried. Just let him walk it off." Brooks studied the knight pacing the floor with a grin. "You would think he was going to battle."
Carter stopped pacing and sheathed his sword long enough to stare at the two men. "I'm sorry my nervousness is causing you two so much amusement."
"I just don't see what there is to be nervous about? It's still wrong in the eyes of God and the church." Brooks snorted. "The only difference is that you have a very permissive queen quietly giving her blessing to the two of you."
"Choose your words carefully, cher," Legrand warned the yeoman. "She is our queen and would never consider publicly acknowledging anything so blasphemous."
Brooks put up his hands in mock surrender.
Legrand laughed. "But you're right, she is a strong-willed woman and when she decides two people should be together..." He laughed heartily. "Locked them in a room, you say?"
"The servants are still complaining about the stains on the settee," Brooks smirked.
"I just...I don't know." Carter looked up at his two friends. "You know how I feel about him. What if he decides to leave with Robin again? What if...?"
"Too many 'what ifs', not enough 'why nots', and enough time in the world between the two of you to work it out." The yeoman shook his head. "Come on... Let's go."
>>>---------------------------->
Carter entered the ornately decorated room like a man condemned. Much entered from the other side wide-eyed with fright. Robin and Brooks gently prodded them both along. Their small group of friends lined both sides of the small chapel and the queen sat on the throne surrounded by lavender. It was a private ceremony by its very nature and, as Robin had said, a special gesture by the Queen Mother herself. As the doors closed, she stood up, bound the two lover's hands together and began. "Dearly beloved...We are gathered today to witness the union of..."
Sniff! John rubbed at his nose as he stood next to Legrand who stood beside Eleanor's throne. The blond knight leaned in to the consort. "A kerchief, mon ami?"
"Too much lavender in the room," the giant outlaw snapped as he daubbed at his eye with a corner of the cloth.
The two large men stood and watched as their best friends were united by the queen and remembered the rocky road each man took that led there. Legrand produced a second kerchief and daubbed at his own eyes. "Oui, cher. Too much lavender." They linked hands behind their backs as the ceremony commenced.
>>>-------------------------->
Candlelight cast shadows on the familiar smiling faces of their friends as the lovers moved around the room.
A tentative glance...
A look...
A blush...
Feet swept the floor, carefully at first, unsure as the moment of their first embrace.
A clumsy misstep and then their eyes met; their bodies became one.
The world turned to lavender and rain at the touch of each other's hands.
The dance continued long after the music ended and the lovers were left to themselves.
Alone in the dim candlelight, only their hearts kept time to their movements.
A tear...
A sigh...
A kiss...
The night belonged to the lovers and this dance to them alone.
>>>---------------------------->
"Married."
"It's official now," Carter teased. "You can never leave me again, the queen says so herself." He pulled his lover closer. "She is some woman." He chuckled. "Clever trap indeed."
"Her Highness has never heard you snore," Much clucked. "She would annul the union immediately!"
"That snoring is coming from you, Lord Bonchurch," Carter parried in return, snuggling the blond knight's neck. "You wake yourself up with it at night."
"Oh." Much pouted for a moment then smiled. "Well...I can cause you to make noises, too."
He emphasized the point with a few deft strokes, gently making Carter's length stiffen as his lover let out a small moan. Carter smiled. "Uhhh...those noises I can handle."
As the two knights made love, a lone man on horseback made his way silently out of the castle gate.
Robin looked over his shoulder at the candle lit window as he rode away. "Enjoy your new lives together, my friends."
While their thoughts were filled with hope and love, his were of hate and revenge.
Author: darkentwisted
Characters/Pairings: Much/Carter, Legrand, Little John, Robin, Brooks, Eleanor
Rating: NC17
Genre: slash, NSFW
Words: 2846
Disclaimer: BBC & TA own; we just want to play in their universe
Notes: Beta'd by jagnikjen& robinfanatic; takes place after AU 2x13 but prior to 3x01
Introduction and chapter links for Denial II are here...
Summary: Brooks and Eleanor hatch a plan. Naughtiness ensues.
Denial II, Chapter 33: A Clever Trap
"Are you sure this will work, yeoman?" Eleanor questioned as she waited for the noblemen to come, at her request.
"I don't know." Charles shrugged. "I'm used to breaking couples up, not putting them back together."
"Well, we will see what happens after several hours in a locked room with each other," the monarch mused. "Still, I can't believe I've been made a part of all this...intrigue."
Brooks smirked. "You love it! You know you do!"
Eleanor glanced sideways at her co-conspirator. "I do." She straightened up as Carter entered the room. "Ah, Lord Wilton! How nice to see you as always."
"And you, Milady!" Carter nodded at Brooks, wondering what he was doing there.
"I heard how brave you and your former squire were in helping to save my son in the Holy Land. I wanted to express my gratitude to you both in private before any public display, if that is all right." She looked around the room, feigning worry. "But where is Lord Bonchurch?"
"He is with his...former master, Milady," Carter replied, wondering just to what extent his friend and new confidante of the queen had informed her.
"Oh, yes, Lord Locksley." She turned to Brooks and whispered in the yeoman's ear. He saluted and walked out of the room. Eleanor then turned back to the blond knight. "Forgive me, but I must take my leave for a moment. Make yourself comfortable, Carter, I will be right back." She quietly slid the bolt closed as she walked away smiling to herself. Her half of the mission was complete.
By this time, Brooks had slipped out the opposite exit and cut off Much at the pass.
"Charles, the queen sent word she needs to see me."
"Yes." Brooks half covered his face with his hand, barely containing his amusement. "In there. She must talk to you at once."
Much nodded and entered the room. He frowned when his eyes met Carter's. Without a word, he spun on his heels and proceeded to walk back to the door when he heard the bolt slide into place.
"Charles...! Yeoman Brooks! What are you doing? Open this door right now!"
"Save your breath. It's a trap." Carter snorted as he poured himself a goblet of wine.
"What is going on?" Much was wide-eyed as he rattled the door again for good measure.
"I think we have been lured into this room by a couple of well-meaning, but obviously deranged cupids." Carter chuckled to himself. He held out the silver carafe to his ex-lover. "Wine?"
"That's right! And no one comes out till there is either fighting or kissing!" Brooks yelled through the door as Eleanor suppressed a giggle.
"More the latter I hope!" Eleanor piped in. She turned to her cohort. "So 'Cupid', what do we do now?"
"We wait it out," Brooks grinned as they walked away arm in arm. "Tea, Milady?"
"My pleasure, Yeoman," Eleanor smiled.
>>>----------------------------------->
"Open this door! I know you're out there!" Much was enraged by this time. It had only been an hour but it seemed like forever...forever with him.
"They're not going to let us out for a while, Much. Just be patient."
"Be patient! We are locked up in this room...together!"
"And that's so bad how?" Carter mused, staring into his wine. "We have food, drink, and last I looked, there was a washbasin and chamber pot behind that screen. Face it, Much, we have been fooled by sharper minds than ours."
Much screwed up his face at the comment. "You are behind all this! Well, it won't work. I have decided. I am going back to England with Robin. Now help me break down this door so I can keep him from doing anything foolish."
It was Carter's turn to be incensed. "You would defy your king's orders for him would you -- risk a deserter's death." He shook his head. "It's always Robin! The man stole you away from me, and you still don't get it. It will never be you, Much. It will always be Marian! Everyone sees that but you!"
"And what did we have, Carter?" Much reacted to the flung venom with his own. "What could we have? No, I am grateful that you took me in and made me as I am now. But we must face reality. What we had could never be real."
Carter hesitated at the words. No amount of alcohol could anaesthetise him from the pain as they broke his heart. "I have been meaning to take this off." He slid the gold band from his finger. "You don't have to talk to me. This room is big enough, and so am I."
For the first time Much saw real emotion behind the cool exterior as he witnessed what the Wiltons referred to as 'laughing on the wrong side of their faces'.
Carter wiped his tears on his sleeve. "I can see now, all I was for you was a way out. Was there anything really between us, Much?" Carter couldn't face those pale blue eyes any more. He turned away to deliver the deathblow, studying the fine woodwork. He tossed the ring at his former lover. "Apparently this meant nothing to you. Good day, Lord Bonchurch!" He walked to the other side of the room.
Time passed. The silence was deafening. Each man was lost in his own thoughts as they tried to avoid each other's eyes. Each replayed the other's words in their heads and the days and events that led to their separation. This meant nothing to you. Much bristled as Carter's words echoed in his head. He remembered Robin's plans for revenge against Gisborne. Was that the life he wanted again, to be cold, hungry, outlawed and unloved? He watched as the man before him wept for them both and what they had. Suddenly, nothing could be more real, and he realized Robin was his past and Carter his future.
Much pouted as he reached down and retrieved the gold band from the floor. "روح واحدة واثنين من قلوب ، وبصرف النظر أحيانا ولكن لم تنقطع أبدا." Two hearts, one soul, sometimes parted but never broken. He read aloud, without thinking, the fine characters painstakingly carved into the gleaming, perfect circle.
Carter snorted with a tragic smile, "I should have never taught you Arabic."
Much focused intently on his former lover at the remark. "No! You are wrong. This...what I can do now...what I am capable of, meant everything to me and I am grateful for everything you taught me. I walked out of that forest as someone's property, and now I can return to England as a man -- an educated man." He shook his head. "I made a mistake, Carter. You're right. Robin...he'll never change. I know that now. I always did. I was just so...confused. Robin was hurting and alone. You never shouted...never fought to get me back. I didn't think it mattered so much to you."
Carter's lip quivered. A tear spilled down his cheek. "How was I supposed to fight? All those years you spent with Robin? I couldn't stand a chance. I had to let you go. I had to hope that you'd figure it out...that you'd come back to me all on your own."
"What I had with you, I never shared with anyone." Much walked over and placed his hand on the weeping knight's shoulder. "I miss this...miss us." He embraced Carter from behind and the knight tensed at first then sighed and leaned against him. They stayed like that for a while, each man's breath matched the other's. Much smiled as he broke the silence. "Now all we need is a field of lavender and a rainstorm." It wasn't meant to be a tease, but having Carter in his arms reminded him of before the breakup when they were happy. They forgot themselves for a moment, touches lingered too long and lips connected. The old days returned in a wash of muscle memory.
Carter was hesitant at first, but the drink and Brooks' comments in his head overwhelmed him. The past was the past and the future was not invented yet. For the moment it was like nothing had ever happened, Robin was never there. "Much..."
"Ssshhhhhhhhh, I know." The former outlaw glanced at his lover conspiratorially. "Think we have time before they figure out their little ruse worked and burst in on us jubilantly?"
"Serves them right to catch us in the act! Busybodies!" Carter smirked as he teasingly undressed his partner.
Both men were naked in minutes and in each others arms. "I missed this... missed you," Carter purred, echoing his lover's words as he took Much from behind.
"Shut up and make love to me," Much joked as he covered his lover's mouth hungrily with his own.
Carter whispered in his former squire's ear as he moved. "I think they're listening behind the door."
"Let them," Much panted as he pulled his lover closer.
>>>------------------------->
Outside the door, Brooks and Eleanor strained to hear like two naughty chamber maids. "I don't hear anything!" the queen whispered.
"That's a good sign...I think," Charles muttered back.
"Should we?"
"Only if Milady wants to be embarrassed," the yeoman shot back.
"You think...?"
Brooks put his ear closer to the richly paneled door then suddenly grinned wickedly. "Men don't usually make those kind of noises during a fight."
"Oh...oh!" The queen blushed, listening closer herself. "My... they do sound... energetic."
>>>------------------------>
The two men had switched to utilizing the well stuffed settee in the room as Much stared deep into his lover's eyes. They embraced as they sent each other over the edge, moaning into each other's mouths as they came. They held each other for a while as Carter waited for the break the former outlaw usually provided but it never came.
"Much?"
"Yes, my love."
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine."
You're not talking." Carter smiled.
"I'm afraid to."
"Why?"
"Cos if I do, this won't be real and if... if it isn't real, then it's over." He studied his lover as he leaned back and looked at him. "I don't want it to be over, Carter. I don't want to ever let you go again."
"We are locked in a room, with our perverted friend and the Queen Mother of England listening in on us,no doubt. I don't think I'm going anywhere for a while." Carter pulled the throw off the back of the settee and wrapped it around them. He put his arms around Much and pulled his former squire's head to his shoulder. "If you would like, we shall never leave this room again."
Much nodded as sleep overtook him. "I would like that."
>>>------------------------->
"I can't take it anymore!" Much said as he studied himself in the silver reflection. He turned to Robin as he tried to steady his nerves. "Please tell me I'm making the right decision."
"Well, it's not like what you two are doing is legal," the outlaw leader mused, straightening his own tunic. "It's not even real. It's merely symbolic, a romantic gesture on the part of her majesty."
"I should stay with you." Much reasoned. "You need me."
"I'll be fine." Robin leveled his eyes at his former squire. "I will find Gisborne alone."
"I wish you would wait, Robin. We will hunt for him together and bring him to the king to decide his fate."
"Robin will be fine, Much," John piped in from his plate of pilfered hors'd'oeuvres. "Brooks and I will go with him as protectors, back to England."
"Robin?" Much questioned.
"Leave us, John. I must have a word with our friend in private." Robin smiled as the giant outlaw snorted and took his plate of bonbons into the next room.
"I should go back...with you."
"No talk of that now," Robin shushed. "Whatever decision I make does not concern us at the moment." He placed his arms around his friend as their foreheads touched. "I was wrong and I'm sorry. I came between my two friends because they had something I did not." He focused his green eyes on Much's pale blue ones. "You need to be with Carter. As I said before, he can give you something I never could, Much. He can give you the life you deserve. If you go with me you will once more be an outlaw." The archer's brows upturned as his eyes glittered. "I could not live with doing that to you again."
Much blinked back his own tears as their lips connected. "Thank you, Robin."
>>>--------------------------->
The pacing was driving Brooks and Legrand crazy. Carter was wearing a hole in the expensive rug as he parried and thrusted against his pretend opponent.
"Mon ami..."
"Don't start, big guy. He won't let up. I tried. Just let him walk it off." Brooks studied the knight pacing the floor with a grin. "You would think he was going to battle."
Carter stopped pacing and sheathed his sword long enough to stare at the two men. "I'm sorry my nervousness is causing you two so much amusement."
"I just don't see what there is to be nervous about? It's still wrong in the eyes of God and the church." Brooks snorted. "The only difference is that you have a very permissive queen quietly giving her blessing to the two of you."
"Choose your words carefully, cher," Legrand warned the yeoman. "She is our queen and would never consider publicly acknowledging anything so blasphemous."
Brooks put up his hands in mock surrender.
Legrand laughed. "But you're right, she is a strong-willed woman and when she decides two people should be together..." He laughed heartily. "Locked them in a room, you say?"
"The servants are still complaining about the stains on the settee," Brooks smirked.
"I just...I don't know." Carter looked up at his two friends. "You know how I feel about him. What if he decides to leave with Robin again? What if...?"
"Too many 'what ifs', not enough 'why nots', and enough time in the world between the two of you to work it out." The yeoman shook his head. "Come on... Let's go."
>>>---------------------------->
Carter entered the ornately decorated room like a man condemned. Much entered from the other side wide-eyed with fright. Robin and Brooks gently prodded them both along. Their small group of friends lined both sides of the small chapel and the queen sat on the throne surrounded by lavender. It was a private ceremony by its very nature and, as Robin had said, a special gesture by the Queen Mother herself. As the doors closed, she stood up, bound the two lover's hands together and began. "Dearly beloved...We are gathered today to witness the union of..."
Sniff! John rubbed at his nose as he stood next to Legrand who stood beside Eleanor's throne. The blond knight leaned in to the consort. "A kerchief, mon ami?"
"Too much lavender in the room," the giant outlaw snapped as he daubbed at his eye with a corner of the cloth.
The two large men stood and watched as their best friends were united by the queen and remembered the rocky road each man took that led there. Legrand produced a second kerchief and daubbed at his own eyes. "Oui, cher. Too much lavender." They linked hands behind their backs as the ceremony commenced.
>>>-------------------------->
Candlelight cast shadows on the familiar smiling faces of their friends as the lovers moved around the room.
A tentative glance...
A look...
A blush...
Feet swept the floor, carefully at first, unsure as the moment of their first embrace.
A clumsy misstep and then their eyes met; their bodies became one.
The world turned to lavender and rain at the touch of each other's hands.
The dance continued long after the music ended and the lovers were left to themselves.
Alone in the dim candlelight, only their hearts kept time to their movements.
A tear...
A sigh...
A kiss...
The night belonged to the lovers and this dance to them alone.
>>>---------------------------->
"Married."
"It's official now," Carter teased. "You can never leave me again, the queen says so herself." He pulled his lover closer. "She is some woman." He chuckled. "Clever trap indeed."
"Her Highness has never heard you snore," Much clucked. "She would annul the union immediately!"
"That snoring is coming from you, Lord Bonchurch," Carter parried in return, snuggling the blond knight's neck. "You wake yourself up with it at night."
"Oh." Much pouted for a moment then smiled. "Well...I can cause you to make noises, too."
He emphasized the point with a few deft strokes, gently making Carter's length stiffen as his lover let out a small moan. Carter smiled. "Uhhh...those noises I can handle."
As the two knights made love, a lone man on horseback made his way silently out of the castle gate.
Robin looked over his shoulder at the candle lit window as he rode away. "Enjoy your new lives together, my friends."
While their thoughts were filled with hope and love, his were of hate and revenge.