The twin brother
~past~
On the outside of the tent Little John had had his arms full the last couple of hours as more and more curious spectators wished to have a look on the newcomer that had arrived with such noise last night. The whole village was buzzing with rumours about the stranger, captured by Robin and some of his men last night. Brother Tuck had, of course, shared his version of the story to anyone who bothered to lend an ear. And his tale about the hideous monster with red, glowing eyes was succeeding even Wolf Little's tale about the stranger he'd seen failing to escape the Sheriff. Wolf on the other hand wasn't too impressed by the monk's ghost stories. Of what he'd heard of the man, that will say- what he'd been able to drag out of his father while guarding the prisoner's tent- was that the man they had captured was the exact same man Wolf had seen on the black stallion. The horse, by the way, had been sighted a couple of times by the boundaries of the forest-village, but every time someone tried to approach it ran away fast as lightning. There was no doubt this horse was people-shy, so how come it had come back for the stranger when he fell off its back?
Wolf decided he'd have another go at brother Tuck. His father denied telling him anything more about the prisoner, for Robin had ordered complete silence about him for now. With a keg of mead as a bribe Wolf tiptoed towards Tuck with a sly smile on his face. Tuck was just finishing his breakfast and looked stuffed and contempt- the perfect opportunity.
"What's that you're hiding behind your back, boy? It wouldn't be a present for ol' Tuck, would it?" The blue green eyes sparkled in the round face and his nostrils became vivid. Wolf's smile broadened.
"May be, my dear monk, may be!" He waved the mug in front of the sturdy man's face and Tuck raised his arms like a baby handing out for a bottle of milk.
"I was hoping you could give me some information on the man they collected last night. And by that I mean what actually happened, not your ghost story- version of it." Brother Tuck started laughing so hard his belly jumped up and down.
"What's wrong with adding some colour to a boring story? I'm not the only one enjoying to paint the dull details with some brighter colours!" Wolf sat down besides the much, still smiling:
"Ah, the secret of every good storyteller! I've learned from the best! But I would like to know what really happened, is it true a dwarf attacked you and nearly choked Bull for kicking his master?"
Uhm.. well, I may have stretched the truth a little on that one.." Tuck said as he snatched the keg right out of Wolf's hands.
"The truth is it was a little girl. A year or two older than you I'd imagine. She had followed Robin, your old man, Bull and Will back here from the castle. Apparently she is a servant girl there, or at least that's what your old man claims. She came screaming out of some bushes just as Little-John was about to search the nasty bugger. The little thing was hysterical, she kicked, screamed and hit anything within her grasp. The little rascal even bit me, a man of the church!" Tuck rubbed a sore arm and a shadow resembling loathing slid over the cheery face.
"Next thing she was all over the stranger, that Bull and Will had dropped in all the yahoo, cooing at him while still screaming at us. Then she started blabbering about the man being a fairy from a distant country, that she was sent to protect him and that his life had to be spared. Because IF he died, all the land and the people would perish too!" Brother Tuck started laughing again and small bubbles of mead shot out of his nose.
"Ain't it grand?! The real story is more unbelievable than the painted one!" He turned towards the spot where Wolf was seated to nudge him in the shoulder: "Ay... Wolf?" Wolf was already back by the tent.
*-*
"Please, father!" Wolf was now pleading for the fifth time, desperately realising that the puppy-eye routine for once didn't work.
"No, Wolf! For the last time, I'm not letting you inside that tent!" John Little stood up to his feet to sate his point.
"Now, please- go feed the horses," he said and poked him fatherly on the shoulder. Wolf stared up at his father with disappointment painting his face, but he always did as his father told him, at least when his father was watching.
"What's with the long face, Wolf? Your father giving you a hard time?" Wolf looked up in surprise to see Robin approach them, followed by what seemed to be the exact content of the camp's male inhabitants. And as the men of the camp were approaching the tent where the stranger was kept, the women and children of the forest village soon followed. Wolf stepped aside as he soon understood he would get his glimpse of the mysterious stranger after all.
"Little John, you handle the girl. I bet she will cost us more trouble than the stranger," Robin said as people gathered around the tent in suspense.
"Are you sure this is wise," John Little whispered: "When everybody sees his face we might have a lynch mob ready to attack him."
"That's a chance we'll have to take. We can't hide him forever," Robin answered. Little John sighed and crawled inside the tent where he was met with loud screams as he separated the girl from her master or what ever he was.
"No, no! Let me go, let me go!! I'm not leaving Severi I'm not!" Little John had to drag her outside while she was kicking, biting, and scratching. Outside Will immediately stepped forward and tied her hands to prevent her from doing any more damage to soft skin in arms way.
"There! Try and hit me now, you little..!
"Will, she's just a child!" Little John dragged the screaming girl away from the giggling man and tied her carefully to a nearby tree to prevent her from escaping. He went back to the tent where Robin was ordering the prisoner to come out and show himself. A dark shadow appeared in the opening and then the face John Little last night had believed to belong to the Sheriff ducked out of the opening. A gasp went through the crowd as the man silently rose to his feet, slowly and seemingly very awkwardly. No sound from his lips, just silent anticipation. By the tree the girl was sobbing loudly, jerking at her bonds, and a wave of recognition went through the people staring at the black clad man who looked like he was about to faint any moment.
"It's the Sheriff, they've caught the Sheriff!" an old man croaked and started jumping ecstatically on his old creaking legs. A roar went through the men, women and children. All had suffered great losses due to the Sheriff's iron glow and to see this face in this place, their safe haven made them combust with anger. As Little John had foreseen a lynch mob immediately took form. It would be enough for somebody to toss a stone at the stranger and everyone would attack him, and leave nothing to tell. Robin went forward and pushed the man down. This way he would seem less intimidating to the crowd, although he looked weaker than a fly already.
"This is NOT the sheriff!" he yelled and raised his arms towards the angry gathering to calm them down as much as possible: "Remain calm, I don't want ANY attempts on this man's life, he's more valuable to us alive than dead!" There was an angry growl from the men standing closest to the stranger. Their fingers were itching to give the creature down on the ground a severe beating at least.
"Then WHO is he!" a woman's voice shouted.
"That's what I'm going to find out now!" Robin answered calmly: "There will be no beating, no torture, just questions. Anyone who has a problem with that has a problem with me." He grabbed some of the man's raven black hair and pulled his face upwards.
"What's your name, stranger!" Black eyes were gazing back at him, if they were filled with fear or anger Robin couldn't tell.
"Let.. the girl go!" It was a command, not a prayer. Robin gaped in surprise at the miserable man who should be worrying about his own life and not bother with ragged little girls.
"I would be careful if I were you!" Robin barked and tugged the stranger's head backwards: "You're in no place to make commands!"
"Let the girl go, she's done nothing to you. She's just a harmless and innocent child!" the man hissed. Now Robin had no problem telling the man was angry. That was confusing him. If this man was the brother of George, the Sheriff, he wouldn't care less about the well- being of a commoner.
"Who. Are. You." Robin breathed firmly. The crowd behind him were getting agitated again. If this man wasn't careful he would cause his own death. The stranger's furious black eyes were beaming back at him, but he remained silent.
"I think we should let the girl loose," Little John mumbled beside Robin: "I don't like tying up children, and apparently he won't talk unless she's released." Robin sighed and gestured to Will who were standing next to the girl to set her free. Ten seconds later she was back at the prisoner's side, murder in her eyes as she snarled at anyone who tried to approach the man she was protecting.
"I knew it!" Bull sighed,: "Now we'll have hell separating them again." But then something remarkably strange happened. The stranger who was still on his knees in the snow stared the hysterical girl firmly into the eye one hand on each her cheek to calm her down.
"This is my fight, child. There's nothing you can do now, you have to let me go." His voice was calm and his face showed no traces of the anger that had just marked his features.
"No, Severi! I is to protect you! They don't know your true face, they'll hurt you!" the girl sobbed. The man pulled her close to an awkward embrace that calmed her down, and whispered something in her ear that seemed to do the trick. The girl named Ronja got to her feet and slowly pulled away from the man on the ground, but she shot Robin a warning glance that told him she still was willing to die protecting the man. He stepped forward once more, but this time he didn't have to do anything to make the stranger lift his gaze. He was staring right at him, and although his breathing was rapid he looked calm.
"What's your name, stranger." This time Robin's question was finally answered.
"Severi," came the reply.
"What's your relationship with the Sheriff?" Robin asked, satisfied the man was starting to respond.
"None," he answered. A roar of distrust went through the people.
"I'd reconsider that last answer if I were you," Robin replied coldly: "Anyone can see that you must be the Sheriff's brother."
"I'm not." Still the dark eyes were staring back at Robin, still the man looked calm. Robin raised his shoulders and smiled back at him.
"Sure, if that's what you claim I'll believe you. Then would you please tell me why the Sheriff and you look so alike and why you're living at his manor?"
"Then would you tell me, please," the stranger said in a sarcastic tone: "why the Sheriff keeps his dear brother in chains, why he keeps his dear relative a prisoner within stonewalls, and why the Sheriff does THIS to someone who's supposed to be his own blood!" He raised the sleeves on his robe and showed Robin arms covered with scars and bruises. Old ones and new ones.
"And then would you please tell me why I'd try to escape the filthy bastard to join you in the woods, naive enough to believe this would be less of a hell than the one I had back at the "mansion"!" The man spat as he lowered his arms again. Robin was, for once, lost for words. This man looked so much like the one man he hated more than anything on this earth. But what he'd never realised was that this man, Severi, seemed to nurture the exact same amount of hate towards his mirror image as Robin did. And they had found him in the quarters of a common servant, chained to the bed and barely breathing, not the way one would normally treat a close relative, was it? The hate painted in this man's eyes every time he spoke of the Sheriff sent goose bumps down Robin's back. He was still sure they were related in some way, but he was also certain Severi hated George with more passion than Robin himself. And who wouldn't after the treatment he seemed to have been getting! As Robin looked closer he saw a sick and weakened man, the victim of deeds done by an unstable man who most likely was his twin brother. Hate seemed to be the keyword here. If George did this to this man he was hating Severi just as hard as Severi hated him. But why?
"All right, that's enough for now, you can return to your tent until further notice," Robin said and waved his hand towards Severi to have him moving. The man looked at him sin silence for a few seconds before he crawled back into the tent followed once more by the girl.
"Listen, the man's going to freeze to death, Robin. He looks sick, and the clothes he's wearing are soaking wet and they don't seem warm at all." Little John watched the strange man in concern as he disappeared behind the tent's canvas. He didn't like the man one notch better than he had when he first got a good look at him, but he knew the value of keeping him alive. Robin on the other hand just raised his shoulders.
"If he's cold I'm sure he'll tell us. I'm not lifting a finger for that sour looking creature. And we only need to keep him barely alive so that we can claim ransom for him. I'm sending Will to arrange with that." And with these words Robin Hood left, not telling anyone the real reason why he was prejudge mental about the man with the hated face.
Little John sighed and returned to his spot by the tent. People were still gathered around it and some of them were shouting harsh remarks towards the man inside. The danger of a lynching wasn't over by far, but at least no response came from neither the man nor the girl inside.
*-*
During the day the temperature in the little forest village rose to enormous proportions. The man they had captured grew less valuable than a rat as fake rumours about what the man had done spread through the camp like wildfire. The beast ate new-born children and drank the blood of his lovers. The stories grew more horrid by the minute and the life of the man who called himself Severi was hanging by a thread. John and Wolf Little were helpless witnesses to the bad turn of the situation. Wolf who still remembered the man from yesterday and Little John who'd tried to kill the man himself but had been stopped in the last second. Robin did nothing to curb the angry mob, he just smiled as story after story about a monster far more hideous than the Sheriff took form.
"Wolf, I might be needing your help in this," John Little took his son aside: "We need this man to stay alive and the way things are going right now the man should be lucky if he lives another hour. I need you to help me stand guard, and remember- the man might be a murderer or worse, but he's worth nothing to us dead." Wolf nodded. Pride shone on his young face as he went to the other side of the tent to stand guard there. He didn't believe all the ghost stories that were floating around, he was convinced the man was someone special. He wished he could talk to Severi, find out if he was really a fairy. But he knew his father would stop him long before entering the tent and settled by the side where he noticed the shape of someone leaning against the canvas, the girl by the looks of it. He wondered if he should try talking to her, but found it best not to. He didn't want to do anything to rise his father's temper in this situation.
As light vanished the last reason within people's minds also disappeared. A whisper claiming blood spread from heart to heart as a silent conspiracy was planned against the only man currently holding stand against the mob, John Little. Robin kept in his cabin and didn't interfere. Dead or alive, the ransom for the man would be claimed, and he found no reason protecting the man who didn't bother to plea for his own life and seemed to have some strange hold on his Marion.
"NOW!!!!" a roar went through the village as a hundred men and women stormed towards the tent where the only prisoner was kept. Total chaos erupted as Little John and his eldest son tried to calm the angry mob running towards them. The battle was lost already before it was begun... The stranger was hauled out of the tent by his hair, and the girl was easily quieted by a forceful blow to her head. As she fell lifeless to the ground the till now limp stranger awoke with a howl and he tried his best to throw off his opponents. He was stopped easily enough with a rough beating to calm him down.
"Kill the Sheriff's freak brother!" came an angry cry.
"Let him taste the pain of his victims!" came another. Still the man fought back, desperately trying to get to the unconscious girl on the ground a few meters to his left.
"Stop this insanity!" But Little John's voice drowned in the angry growl. Nothing but a miracle could save the man now..
*-*
He was alive, and for that he was grateful. But what faith awaited him? Severus didn't feel safe at all as he crawled back inside the tent. Still, he found some comfort in the girl who immediately curled up against him as he weakly lay down.
"These are kind folk, Severi, they will take care of you!" she whispered gently into his ear as he fell asleep once more. Little did he know about the process going on outside, and little did he know about the tiny changes taking form in his body. Slowly, slowly the magic in his soul sparked to life, as the agent wood did its best to heal the chosen one. He was hurt badly, it would take time to heal him, but the process had begun.
Severus awoke by nightfall as the cry of angry men and women reached his ears. This was it. The tent was ripped apart and men with murder in their eyes dragged him out by the hair. Severus didn't fight it. He had accepted his faith a long time ago and knew when all hope was abandoned. Behind him the girl was screaming helplessly until a sickening 'thud' cut her scream off. That awoke his old instincts and fury.
"Let go of me!" he screamed and fought against the hands holding him down. By the corner of his eye he saw the young girl fall to the ground apparently lifeless. If only he had his wand!! He roared towards his laughing depressors, no decent men did this to children. Then the beating began, fists were hailing towards him, knocking the wind out of him. He ended up down on the ground with his clothes half torn off, silently begging for it to stop as a terrible pain spread down his spine. He was dragged up to his feet and a woman approached him, tears running down her face. "Your brother killed my little Emily!" she sobbed and slapped his face with a flat hand before she walked away. Severus would never forget her face and the grieve in her eyes.
"He's not my... brother..." he groaned, and was rewarded with a heavy blow to his tender midsection. He fell to the ground once more, no longer struggling to get away. What was the use, these barbarians had killed the only one who cared for him in this hellhole anyway..
A sudden sound of approaching hoofs made the entire crowd turn around to see, and what they saw made them gasp in surprise. They moved aside just before a black mass of massive muscles would've trampled them down. Ben Johno who was the one having the pleasure of beating the defenceless man in the side just managed to jump away as the furious horse headed straight for him. Shadow had returned for his master. It stopped besides Severus with an intimidating neigh and turned to handle possible attackers, stamping his hoofs in the snow, nostrils flaring.
"Shadow." it was barely a whisper from the man on the ground, but the horse turned instantly towards his master. It nudged him carefully with its muzzle, wanting him to stand up from the freezing ground but Severus was too weak to even move.
"What is going on here?!!?" it was the fair voice of the woman Robin trusted his heart to. The wizard saw two of her as she jumped down from her white horse and ran towards the spot where he was laying.
"Robin!!!!" she yelled as she knelt besides the half unconscious man. Warm hands ran over the naked parts of his body.
"You must be freezing! Who's done this to you?"
"Marion.. what are you doing here???" the voice of Robin sounded surprised to say the least as he cautiously approached his love. She bore an expression of absolute disgust in her face, but to Robin's great surprise the disgust was aimed for him and the people of the camp, not towards the filthy creature down on the ground.
"What the hell do you let these people do to this man?!?!? He's sick, and he'll freeze to death in these rags! What kind of mercy is the "great Robin Hood" granting this man, huh?! And what evil deeds has this man done to deserve such treatment?!" Then she discovered the girl. She stood up with an anger more petrifying than any anger fit the Sheriff could come up with and went straight towards Robin and smacked him on the cheek.
"I'd never believe you would steep so low as to start hurting children!" the loath in her voice burned Robin's soul like hot acid.
"Mary! Go back to the mansion and fetch some warm clothes and blankets, and some food too!" Marion yelled to her maid who immediately turned her horse around and galloped away.
"Shame on you, shame on all of you!" she screamed towards the crowd around her that now had gone remarkably quiet. The black stallion was still standing loyally by his master's side, stamping its hoofs to anybody who tried to approach it. Little John walked forward towards Marion. He lay a heavy hand on her withering shoulder.
"Don't be to hard on him Marion, he's only human. He'll learn of his mistakes." he mumbled as he bent down and picked up the now unconscious man. The horse neighed warningly at him but seemed to understand that his intentions were good. Marion went to see to the girl. Thank god, she was breathing! She seemed to be knocked out, but she wasn't seriously hurt.
Chapter 16
Pain. Severus wished he'd stayed unconscious. He was fed up and tired of waking up like this, with his whole body aching from cuts and bruises, put to his expense by desire or hate. To his great surprise he wasn't freezing anymore, at least that was something. How could that be? After all he wasn't exactly dressed to be outdoors in the middle of February. And the town hillbillies had done a pretty good job ripping his dressing gown apart during the attack. The attack... The girl! He opened his eyes as he remembered the lifeless features of his young protector and felt sick to his bones. They had killed her in cold blood! He was inches away from having a heart attack when a hand brushed his cheek. He hadn't noticed the woman sitting by his bed-lay.
"How are you feeling?" The voice was kind and without traces of hostility. Her face was swimming in front of the wizard's eyes, but his soul immediately connected to the person. His throat was useless and all that hauled its way out of his mouth was unintelligible wheezes. A tender finger closed his lips.
"Don't try to talk, you've been beaten up pretty bad, Sire. I beg your forgiveness for these people. They've endured much hardship from the Sheriff, but that's no excuse for what they've done to you." A rattle went through Severus' chest.
"The... gihrl.." he managed to moan as his throat threatened to collapse: "They.. killed.. an innocent...gihh.." He closed his eyes, denying himself the opportunity to grieve both the death of his only companion and their just begun friendship.
"Dear Sire, she's alive and well!" the voice sang in his ear: "She got a nasty bump to her head, but she will be just fine. She's sleeping right over there." Hands were fidgeting over his blanket, tucking him in, making him comfortable. But Severus heard only five words, over and over again in his tired brain:
A cup of water was offered to him and he soaked it all greedily up in one sip, afraid the cup would be taken from his lips if he stopped drinking for just one second. He felt strangely safe, and almost forgot about the pain in the stranger's care. He was still in the camp, he was still alive and no angry mobs seemed to be in the immediate vicinity. There was just one thing worrying him right now and that was his stomach. It was too quiet. He'd received many powerful blows to his vulnerable belly, no matter how hard he tried to protect it. No tiny twinges, no kicks or careful brushes of a hand, nothing. He still savoured no feelings towards the thing growing inside him, but it was his job to protect it and Severus was now starting to fear he'd failed. As the woman was still sitting nearby him he didn't dare search his stomach for signs of life, he reckoned he had to wait until the stranger got fed up with watching him.
Finally his vision cleared and he was able to look around. Severus let out an audible gasp as he had his first real look on the woman that was nursing him. The long, curling hair, red as a Weasly, the big green eyes... Maiden Marion. She was by his side the moment his gasp escaped his lips.
"Are you in pain?" Her eyes bathed in concern as she held a hand to Severus' forehead to check his temperature. It came to him as a rush of uncontrollable feelings not making any kind of sense. The simple touch of this woman sent shivers down his spine and rooted deep down in his stomach like a healing charm.
"Marion," he whispered, not even aware his lips were moving. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"From where do you know my name, Sire?" she asked and tilted her head curiously to the side.
"I.. asked the Sheriff.. about you.. the day.."
"we saw each other in the dining hall," Marion completed for him. She bent closer, gazing at his every feature: "It's so peculiar, ever since that day I caught that glimpse of you in the hall I've been wondering who you were, how you looked... Somehow I.. worried about you, feared for your well-being." She smiled awkwardly.
"I must admit, I got a bit of a shock when I first saw your face, but with a second look I saw that you are not like him. You're kind." Severus swallowed, not able to believe the kindness and open- mindedness from this fair creature.
"You don't know that.." he answered her with a raspy voice: "You can't know by one look if I'm good or evil. For all you know.. I could be more evil than the Sheriff..."
"No." Marion shook her head and a smile appeared on her face, revealing a string of white teeth.
"Somehow I felt it. There's no evil in your heart. For example, if you were evil your horse would never have returned for you. An evil man treats his horse with cruelty, and a horse like the black stallion that led me to the camp today has too hot blooded to be tamed by an evil man. He could break the horse's neck, but never tame his will. But a good man is a just master, and he treats his horse with respect and love. The black stallion led me to you because he knew I could help you, and he returned to you because you are a good man. The face don't make the man, his soul does."
"Shadow.. he.. led you here??" Severus gaped.
"That's right!" Marion said and smiled: "I was just getting ready for bed when Mary, my maid, came running inside my bedchamber like a stampeding cow. She told me there was a horse in the courtyard, black as the night, with steam coming out of its nostrils. The poor thing was near hysteria when I decided to go outside to have a look at it, and panicked even more when I decided we both should follow it. It was obvious it wanted to show us something, and it led us straight into the forest and to the forbidden camp of Robin Hood. We reached you just in time, they were going ballistic. Luckily they calmed down when we came; I reckon they were surprised to see me here." Her smile faded as a shadow appeared on her face.
"I don't understand why Robin didn't stop them.." Severus lay his hand on top of hers in a fumbling move:
"Don't blame him for this." Shadow had led Marion to him! During their short time together Severus had earned the trust and loyalty of this magnificent creature.
"Where.. where is Shadow?" he asked, as he filled with concern for his four-legged friend. Marion smiled as she answered:
"Right outside your tent together with Mary, keeping the nosy ones at arms length. He truly is a beautiful horse, I can't imagine how many hours of training you must have had with him."
"Actually we've just met twice," Severus answered sheepishly. He thought about himself as 'the great horse-tamer' but, given the fact he had no clue on horses what so ever he wasn't the man to take credit for Shadow. He had a feeling that was all Shadow's achievement alone.
"Twice???" Marion's eyes became dangerously large. At the same time there was a tiny moan from the corner where the girl was resting, followed by a sharp yell.
"Severi!! Severi, they took the fairy!!!" Marion rushed to her side to calm the now hysterical girl down as she struggled to sit up.
"Hush, my child. Your master needs his rest. You're only upsetting him acting like this."
"Severi.. is alright?" Tears welled up in the girl's eyes as she relaxed a little. But as soon as Marion let go of her Ronja crawled to the side of the fairy she was set to guard.
"No, child you're.." Marion didn't say more. The watery eyes of the battered man who was receiving the most heartfelt hug she'd seen in a lifetime said it all.
"I thought you was dead, I couldn't stop them, they were too many too strong. Ronja tried, but they took you anyway!" She snuggled beside Severus who discovered he was moved, almost to tears.
"So Ronja's the name of my guardian angel?" he whispered and ran weak fingers through filthy red locks. This child had lived through hell; still she didn't give a second thought to her own miserable situation. Severus had always been the one giving with all his heart, not demanding anything back, never had he been the one to receive such a gift, until now..
*-*
The reunion between the girl named Ronja and the man called Severi was so moving Marion had to bite her lip from start crying herself. What was it with this man that made her so... determined to protect him? Why was all of her body and mind screaming at her to protect this man from any danger? Had she been hit by the same spell as this young girl now kneeling beside him? No, she thought not. The girl acted like a guardian. Marion was acting more from a feeling that this man was of great importance. Ever since that day she'd gotten the first glimpse of him it was like the protecting urge of a mother had awoken inside her. Her every nerve told her to protect this man, but they never gave her the answer why. It wasn't love, nor lust, just this weird feeling they were bonded some way. Her heart belonged to Robin, there was no way this stranger would ever replace him, but she had a sneaking suspicion Robin wasn't too sure of that. She remembered only too well how odd and far away he'd become the other night when she had told him about the stranger and the weird feelings she had for him.
"Marion! See me out side, please?" The well familiar voice came from outside the tent.
Marion thought and had one last reassuring look at the odd pair before she crawled outside. Robin had a desperate frown on his forehead and he immediately reached for her hand when he approached her.
"I'm sorry, Marion! I should never have let it go so far!"
"You're right, you shouldn't!" Marion answered briskly, but she didn't remove her hand.
"I think we all went over our heads. You know, the way he looks and all, it was like we had the Sheriff in our hands."
"But he's not the Sheriff!" Marion said: "He's an innocent man who's by the looks of it has been through enough hardship to last him a lifetime. He was covered in scars, Robin! Old ones and new ones. Mary could hardly believe her eyes when she removed his shirt to patch it up. Who knows what he's been through!" Her eyes reflected the sorrow her heart felt.
"Listen, Marion. We don't know anything about him. For all we know he might be the Sheriff's brother, sent here to stake us out. Thankfully he doesn't know where in the forest he is, therefore I'm going to have him exchanged for a ransom in the morning." Marion's cheeks went bright pink within a second as her fury re-emerged. She jerked her palm away from Robin's with a scowl.
"What did you just say?!" she whispered, scorched anger underlining every word.
"I'm sending him back." Robin said, voice no longer as certain and brisk as a second ago.
"Robin of Loxley, if you send that poor defenceless man back.. so help me god I will never speak to you again!!" she growled as her eyes narrowed to small slits and her hands clenched to fists at her sides.
"Marion!" Robin looked like his heart had been torn right out of his chest: "You don't mean that?!" The horizontal line of her lips told him otherwise.
"That man needs care and compassion, not a friendly ride back to a slow death! I'll pay you whatever ransom you demand if you let him stay here and let him be safe from your "well meaning men"!" Robin wasn't the wisest of men, but he knew when he had no options. With a sigh he agreed to her terms.
"All right, Marion, he'll stay. But don't expect me to treat him like a king."
*-*
Back inside the tent Ronja gave the fairy a concerned look.
"You look sad, what's wrong?" Severi's eyes darted downwards for a short moment.
"Nothing." It was a lie. Ronja could tell a lie by a mile away. She tugged aside the blanket to where the fairy's naked belly was hidden. The maid named Mary had undressed Severi while he was sleeping to patch his torn shirt. The gasp of surprise from him told her he wasn't even aware he was laying there without his shirt on. She lay her cheek against the soft skin of the swell of his stomach, carefully waiting for any sign to reveal life from his inside. His right hand brushed helplessly against his own stomach as they both held their breaths in suspense. A sudden twinge from below the fairy's bellybutton made them both sigh in relief.
"He's a strong one," Ronja whispered and tucked Severi back into the blanket the kind woman had brought them. She couldn't read the expression on the fairy's face as he closed his eyes again. Was it relief or despair hiding in his features?
*-*
He had never felt this way before in his life. Robin tried to drown it in a keg of mead, but it stayed with him as his gaze stayed by the canvas of the tent where the stranger was kept. It reminded him remotely of the dark cloud of anger that attacked him when his father found himself a lover after the death of Robin's mother. It never occurred to him that this feeling had a name, jealousy, and that jealousy was the reason he'd never interfered with his men when they had tried to exterminate the reason to all his bad feelings. What could Marion possibly see in that foul face? What could possibly make her choose that man in front of him? Why was she so set on protecting a man she'd never met until today? Robin felt his stomach turn of all the unanswered questions. Now Marion had returned to her mansion, after having him promise over and over again that the stranger would be safe here. He would never do anything to jeopardize what they had, so he would gladly offer her the moon if that would've calmed her anger. At least they parted fairly friendly, and she gave him a quick peck on the cheek not minding the ones around them looking. Robin was starting to wish he'd never met the man with the Sheriff's face..
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