A Patch of Sun, pt 2
Title: A Patch of Sun, pt 2
Author: whytewytch4
Word Count: 3177
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Some mention of heavy petting
Characters: Allan, King Richard, OFC, mentions of the gang
Disclaimer: Tiger Aspect and the BBC own the rights to Robin Hood 2006. No copyright infringement is intended. No money is being made.
Summary: Allan gets his just rewards.
It was almost midday when Allan found the king’s steward and asked the man about leaving. The steward assured “Lord Allan” that all would be in readiness in mere moments, as the escort had simply been awaiting their lord’s pleasure. Allan shook his head, still unable to believe his luck, and mounted the fine chestnut stallion they brought forth for him. Others mounted as well, and then a man Allan recognized as one of the guards he had been friendly with, Nathan Whyte, rode up beside him. Nathan was young and cocky, and reminded Allan a bit of Tom. The guard grinned widely at his new master, nodding his head toward the gate.
“My Lord,” he invited, gesturing with his arm. Allan grinned back and put heels to his horse, followed closely by his new household guard.
The day was fine-warm and breezy, with the sun peeking out from behind the clouds, and the trip was uneventful. An hour or so later, the new Lord of Mapperly arrived at his estates, thoroughly expecting them to be some run down village with chickens running amok, and a shack in the middle of it to serve as the manor. Instead, Allan was pleased to see a home much like Knighton Hall-made of stone, with a thatch roof; the surrounding village was as he had imagined, but that was due to the poverty of its residents. Allan knew what it was like to be in their shoes, and swore to himself that he would do right by them now that he was their master. A tall, thin, gray-haired man came to the door of the manor, presumably Harold the reeve, with his wife, who was shorter and chunky, but sported the same gray hair. The daughter was no place to be seen when Allan climbed down from his horse’s back to greet the couple. He had assumed, from the way the king spoke of her, that the young woman would be a child, but seeing Harold and his wife-whose name, he soon found out, was Matilda-he realized she was likely his own age, and was therefore attending to her husband and her children.
“You must be Harold,” Allan greeted the man with a grin, holding out his hand. His new master’s greeting seemed to confuse the reeve, who had been bowing low in respect. Allan stood his ground, hand out, until Harold took it and shook.
“My Lord,” the old man replied, bending low when Allan released his hand.
“Whoa, mate! The king may’ve give me this place, but that’s luck, not blood. I don’t want you bowin’ to me, understand?”
Allan had always wanted a lordship, but suddenly found that the respect he had thought he wanted made him uncomfortable; friendship was one thing, fear quite another. He still had nightmares about some of the things he had done and the way he had acted, as “Sir Guy’s man.” He knew he could never make it up to the people he had hurt, nor to those he had threatened, but he would not continue in the same pattern as Guy-bolstering his own confidence by smashing others under his boot heel.
Harold looked confused still, but contemplative as well. He had heard they were to have a new master, after the old lord had been dragged away kicking and screaming to the cheers of the village; he had expected a man in a similar vein, or perhaps worse, as most commoners who were raised up tended to be quite vicious. Allan A' Dale seemed to be the opposite-his smile was warm, his handshake a bit sweaty, and his blue eyes were friendly. Harold began to think it would be safe for Elaine to come out of hiding, and turned to nod to his wife, who scurried off to fetch their daughter.
“Welcome to Mapperly, My Lord. Won’t you please come and inspect your new home? We have refreshments ready for you in the hall.”
Allan noted that the man had still called him, “My Lord” and made a mental note to either accept it or to work on it. The sun, which had been threatening to hide during the whole ride to Mapperly, now did so. The wind picked up, and fat drops of rain began to fall as Allan followed Harold into his new home; his men took care of the horses, leading them quickly toward the barn.
Inside, the manor was warm and snug, the floor of stone covered in clean, sweet-smelling rushes while a merry fire burned in the hearth. Food and drink were laid out on a table-it looked to Allan like it was enough to feed the entire village. Allan took one look at it all and nearly cried, as he realized that the days of going to bed with his stomach aching from hunger were over. He wished desperately that Tom could have been here.
“My Lord?” a soft voice recalled him to the here and now from the land of wishes. He turned and stared down into the prettiest blue eyes he had ever seen.
“My daughter, Elaine, My Lord,” Harold stated, by way of introduction.
Allan’s grin lighted his face, making Harold regret thinking that it would be safe for Elaine to come out of hiding. She was due to marry a widowed miller from the next village soon, and it would not do to have her tumbled before she arrived at her marriage bed. Lord or no, he would castrate Allan A' Dale himself if the man took his daughter’s virginity; she had only avoided the previous lord’s bed because he had preferred boys.
Elaine sketched a curtsey as Allan leaned forward and took her hand, raising her up.
“I’ve tried tellin’ yer dad that it’s just plain “Allan,” not “My Lord,” but ‘e ain’t listenin’ to me.”
Elaine grinned back at Allan, removing her hand from his and pushing her deep black hair back away from her face.
”How can I help you, Allan?” Elaine rolled her eyes at her father’s scandalized sound.
“You can start by findin’ someone to bring all this food ‘round to the villagers-just leave me one plate an’ I’ll be good. Make that two plates. Then you can sit down an’ keep me company fer dinner.”
Harold gave his daughter a reproving look that she ignored as she stepped to the door and called for some of the men to come and collect the food. She set aside two plates as Allan had asked her to.
Allan turned to Harold. “Would you an’ yer wife see that this gets put ‘round to them what needs it most first?”
Harold nodded, motioning his wife out the door as he glared at his daughter.
“’e don’t like me much,” Allan declared, his eyes alight with mischief.
“Oh, I’m sure he likes you very much, My Lor…Allan. It’s just that I’m to be married to William the Miller from Trent and father does not approve of your attentions.” Elaine sat where Allan indicated that she should before he sat as well across the table from her.
“Do you want to marry William the Miller?” Allan asked in his usual blunt manner.
Elaine thought for a moment before answering. “He is older than me by a dozen years. He has eight children. He needs someone to take care of them.”
“But do you want to marry him?” Allan persisted.
“Father went to great trouble to make the match for me. I’m a bit of a handful, he says,” she replied by way of an answer.
Allan quirked an eyebrow at her.
“I’m not bein’ funny, but ‘andful or not, you’re easy on the eyes. I don’t think yer dad went to as much ‘trouble’ as you think.” Allan could feel his old charm returning as he spoke to this woman, who once would have been above his reach, but now would be considered “not worthy” of him. Odd thing, that fate.
Elaine blushed, the red in her cheeks accentuating her skin, which had been tanned from time spent out of doors.
“My Lord, if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you were flirting with me,” Elaine responded.
At that moment, Harold walked in, interrupting the scene, to report that the villagers had been fed.
“They wish to thank you, My Lord. I will attend you at your bath before we make the rounds to introduce you to your serfs.”
Allan grinned sardonically at Elaine before following her father up the stairs to his room where a bath was being prepared. Allan slipped into the nearly boiling water, hissing in pain as his rear hit the surface. Roughly-yet somehow not disrespectfully-Harold shoved Allan fully into the tub. Allan barely had time to stifle the yelp and close his mouth before Harold had him under the water to wet his hair. Allan came up spluttering, and the reeve began immediately washing his lord; normally he would have chosen one of the older women to do such a job, but he wanted there to be no chance for his daughter to slip in amongst the wash women. The reeve scrubbed and scrubbed, and Allan winced as he swore the man was removing a layer or two of flesh along with all the dirt. By the time he went out to meet “his” people, Allan nearly shone with cleanliness.
The next morning, Allan found himself waking up in a fine bed with a feather pillow. He yawned and stretched, opening his eyes to find himself in his bedroom on the upper floor of his house. His bedroom, his house, he thought in amazement. He had half expected to awaken in the dungeon on a dank, disgusting mud-packed floor that smelled of urine and feces, shivering from the cold. Instead, he was warm and comfortable under the covers, and the fire was giving off a wonderful smell from the fresh herbs that had been sprinkled on it.
The chamber pot was clean and empty, and a fresh bowl of water had been left for him for his morning ablutions as well, with a towel that was actually soft beside it. Allan decided then and there that he could get used to being a lord, and shook his head in wonderment that Robin had left all of this to help the poor. Lazily, he pulled on his clothes and made his way down the stairs, following the smell of frying bacon that wafted on the air.
Downstairs, Allan continued to follow the scent until he came to the kitchen door; he stopped in the doorway as he spied Matilda and Elaine cooking breakfast and chatting amiably. He was about to speak up when he heard his name mentioned and so instead, he hid back in the shadows.
“Do you not think Lord Allan is a fine looking man, Mother?” Elaine asked, and in the dark, Allan grinned in delight.
“I think you do not need to be noticing fine looking men,” her mother admonished, and Allan’s grin turned to a frown.
“But if one were to be noticing fine looking young men, they should definitely take note of his lordship,” Matilda continued.
Elaine laughed, the sound pure and wonderful in the warm little kitchen.
“Mother, if one were to notice fine looking young men, they should definitely take note of his pretty blue eyes,” Elaine added.
“And eyelashes a woman would kill for,” her mother agreed.
“He looks to have strong arms, that would keep a woman safe from harm,” Elaine maintained.
Her mother pursed her lips in thought. “And a generous mouth that seems to enjoy smiling.”
Elaine giggled. “And a fine, wide chest with a stomach that has not seen much of over-indulgence.”
“And good teeth, and a fine rear…”
“Are you two sizing the man up for selling at the horse fair or what?” Harold broke in on his wife, startling the two women as he came into the kitchen from an outside door; he was irritated with the women for their gossip, yet glad that their lord did not appear to be cruel. In fact, he wished his daughter were worthy of a lord, for Lord Allan was the type of man he would like to see her with, and he would have given anything to see his youngest daughter settle with a husband and raise a family here, where he could watch the young ones grow up.
Recovering, Matilda went on the offense. “Now, Harold, we were only taking our measure of the new lord. Wasn’t so long ago that he was like us, and he does seem right nice.”
“Aye, that’s true, but you remember that he’s not like us any more, no matter that he sounds and acts like it. Plus, Elaine’s already engaged, so don’t go getting ideas.”
Elaine sighed in aggravation. “I know, Father, but it’s okay to look still, isn’t it?”
“No!” Harold growled shortly before heading toward the door.
Allan backpedaled quickly, placing himself by the stairs so that it appeared he had just run down them. He greeted Harold with a smile as the older man did his best to smile back and pretend all was well.
Harold began instructing Allan on all he would need to know to run the manor that morning as the women served breakfast. Harold kept asking for his lord’s attention, as Allan kept grinning at Elaine. Finally, with breakfast over, Allan’s first full day as Lord of Mapperly began with checking on his villagers. He found them as poor and starving as any of Locksley’s citizens, and set about rectifying the situation.
Allan began by sending people out to the woods to trap rabbits, then he sent for Djaq as her ridiculous idea of eating leaves played in his head, and he realized that even leaves were better than starving. Later that day, Djaq and Will showed up, offering their services to help the villagers with finding the edible leaves and berries, and patching up their homes against the weather. The couple teased him mercilessly for the next month about the amount of time he spent with Elaine, before they bid their tearful farewell.
With Will and Djaq gone, and the village beginning to run as it should thanks to the advice of Harold, Allan found himself having to devise ways to spend time with Elaine. Allan was used to tumbling willing women and moving on, but he found Elaine stubbornly uncooperative about lying with him. He knew she wanted him-her ragged breathing and hard nipples when he held her close, kissing her and stroking her body told him so-but she insisted that she must “remain pure” for her wedding.
“Father will kill you if William finds me no longer intact,” she insisted once more, pulling her lips from his. Her wedding was less than a month away, a fact that continued to grate on Allan’s nerves.
Allan sighed in frustration, laying his forehead against hers. He wanted her, and he had been irritated to find himself unable to ease his body on other women. Every time he tried, he thought of Elaine, and of how she would be hurt if she found him in another woman’s arms; his ardor would cool immediately at that point.
He had talked to Robin on one of Locksley’s visits, and Robin had laughed at him.
“You’re in love, my friend!” he had declared with amusement, much to Allan’s ire. Thinking of Robin’s words and of the fact that he would soon be losing Elaine to another man had Allan’s temper flaring.
“Why must you always speak of your wedding to William?” he asked her hotly, yanking himself away from her to pace to the other side of the barn. He leaned against the wall, forcing his body to calm down.
Elaine stood where she had been, her hands folded in front of her.
“Because no one else has offered me any other options,” she claimed sadly. Allan turned at the tone of her voice-he knew pain when he heard it.
“Elaine, I…look, it ain’t like I don’t like you. I do. It’s just…”
“What, Allan? I’m not good enough for you?” Elaine could barely disguise the anger and hurt she felt. Allan was a commoner, just like her, raised up at the whim of the king.
“You know that ain’t it! It’s just…I ain’t exactly a good choice for a ‘usband. I was a thief, and I like to drink and gamble and…” he paused, thinking he no longer liked to tumble lots of women, “I just wouldn’t make a good ‘usband, is all.”
“You would make me marry William instead, when my heart is with you?”
Allan hung his head, not wanting her with William, but afraid of failing her as a husband, afraid of being a husband. Rain began to patter on the barn roof in the silence; he heard Elaine sniffle once, and then looked up to find her hand on the door. All at once, the idea of losing her to the miller became too much.
Bugger it! he thought hotly. He hated even small hours when she was away-how could he stand days, weeks, months, or years? Better a small pocket of happiness than none at all.
“Elaine!”
She turned her tear-stained face to him and he rushed to her side.
“I ain’t gonna lie to you-well, not right now. But I’m sure I will at some point. And I won’t promise I’ll always be easy to live with. If Prince John ever makes it to power, we’ll ‘ave to leave England-quick-like, too. But I don’t want you marryin’ William.”
Elaine paused, wiping the tears from her face, waiting for him to continue. She looked up at him expectantly, but his next words were not the ones she expected.
“Well? Ain’t you got nothin’ to say?” Allan looked at her with lowered eyebrows, thinking he had made a damned fool of himself for nothing.
“Like what?” she asked, hands going belligerently to her hips.
“Like, ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or ‘don’t be an ass’!” Allan replied angrily.
“And what question am I supposed to be answering?”
“The one I asked about you and me and you not marryin’ William!”
“Allan A' Dale, did you just ask me to marry you?”
”What do you think I was askin’? What way it is to London?”
“That has got to be the worst proposal in the history of proposals, but I’ll marry you, and there’s an end of it. Now, you’ll have to figure out how to pay off William and appease my father.”
Allan stared, non-plussed, going over the conversation once more in his mind, feeling like an animal that has just been caught in a trap, albeit with a nice hunk of food and warm blankets. Suddenly he grinned, knowing he would sort it all out in time. He was finally getting a piece of the sunlight he so craved.
( Part 1 )