"Liberty By Law"

By ALWrite

He watched her bent over the old man a last time. Her back was to him and his gaze travelled over her slender form, the dark blue woollen coat and her long, thick tresses. The hair he longed to touch again but wouldn't – couldn't because it might give away his feelings for her.

She stepped down from the bonfire and went to stand in front of him. He looked into her face as she approached. There were no tears, but her eyes radiated the pain she felt.

The flames began to eat at the straw. There was no wind, the smoke rose up straight. Soon the flames would devour the body.

The body of the old man who had declared him his son. At the time he had thought it preposterous, an outrageous scheme that could not work. But it had. The village people had accepted him as Sir Robert Loxley, and the old man himself had done his level best to impose on him... some sort of obligation. As if he were really his father.

His father...

This was Sir Walter Loxley's true legacy to him, Robin thought. He had given him back the memory of his true father, the stonemason. A painful memory, to be sure, but its retrieval had carried something in its wake that he had never had before: a past, and a home.

Barnsdale.

Where he had spoken out about the charter and his own burning wish for liberty.

And Nottingham. Where he had fallen in love with that strong woman who was standing in front of him now.

Nottingham. Where he would return to after the coming battle.

But did Marion want him to come back?

For a moment a panic seized Robin Longstride. What if she didn't want him to return? Where would he go then? To Barnsdale where he had been born? To seek service with Baldwin?

Marion... no, the 'Lady Marion Loxley'... needed him to keep her lands, didn't she? This alone was reason enough to welcome him back. Perhaps it was her only reason, he mused.

She was so strong, he could not imagine her truly needing him. Those tiny moments when he had caught her looking at him, observing him with interest... were they what he thought it to be, or was it just his burning wish that she might recognize him? Perhaps she was not interested at all. If this were so, was it worth returning?

Yes! He wanted to return to her, even if it meant he would have to keep on pretending. Even if it meant he would have to live a lie for the rest of his life. All depended on whether or not she would take him back.

The bonfire had died down and everybody left.

He knew he wouldn't ask. Couldn't. The risk of refusal was too great.

He would have to prove himself in battle first, and when he returned... if he survived... then he would have to think of things to say and do to prove himself TO HER.

Without a word Robin turned and walked to his horse. He was checking up on the tack and saddle as he always did before mounting when he felt Marion walking up close to him...

END OF PART 4

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