Maid of Sherwood Read Free

thoughtfully. For a split moment, Mother seemed unyielding and almost frightening. But that could not be right. It was only Mother, after all.
    “Tomorrow I will summon the seamstress for your final fitting, then we can go into town and shop for more fabrics. The few gowns you have are wholly unsuitable for Prince John’s court.” Mother said.
    Marian drew in a breath to protest, but released it at a glance from Father. She nodded her agreement instead.
    “Well, since we are going to Nottingham, I need to finish my ballad,” Father said. “I am hoping the castle historian will be in attendance when I perform.”
    “I did not know Nottingham still had a historian.” Mother said. “I know there was one when I was at Henry’s court, but it could not be the same woman. She was ancient when I knew her.”
    Father shrugged. “According to what I have heard, she would rather live near the forest than in the castle itself. She is rumored to be rather eccentric.”
    “Why did you leave King Henry’s court, Mother?” Marian dipped her bread back into her soup before eating it.
    Mother glanced at Father before answering. “After Henry died, I had no desire to stay. I had grown tired of court and Richard allowed me to leave to pursue my own interests.”
    “And marrying me was one of those interests,” Father interjected.
    Mother blushed. “Stop it, Alan.”
    “How did you two meet, anyway?” Anytime she had asked the question before, Mother had always deflected the conversation toward something else, but Marian hoped this time would be different.
    Father laughed. “When I first saw your mother, she was standing knee deep in a pud—”
    “Alan, this is hardly the time,” Mother interrupted. “Marian, rather than ask unimportant questions, maybe your focus should be more on the meal in front of you.”
    “Yes, Mother.” What could Mother possibly have been doing when they met? It was obviously something she was not proud of, and absolutely did not want Marian discovering, which made the mystery of it all the more intriguing. She pushed her bowl aside, half empty.
    “May I be excused? I promised Will I would meet him after supper.”
    Mother raised her left eyebrow. “Not in Sherwood, I assume?”
    Marian shook her head. “No. I am meeting him at his aunt’s.”
    “Be sure you both stay in town,” Mother said. “It is not safe in the forest after dark.”
    Marian’s thoughts roamed back to the man she’d met; Robin. No, in this case, Mother was right. The forest was not safe, though not for the reasons she was likely thinking of.
    “We will not leave his aunt,” Marian promised. She cleared her bowl off the table and carried it into the kitchen. Leaving it on the long wooden table, she hurried out the kitchen door before Mother could change her mind.
     
    “So,” Will leaned against the doorjamb of his aunt’s home. “You met a man in the woods, too. Did he invite you to a secret meeting, or am I the only one the outlaws are interested in?”
    Marian sighed. As much as she loved Will, sometimes she detested his sense of humor. “I met one of the outlaws, as I told you. He did not say anything about secret meetings or—or much of anything else.”
    “Did he tell you he was one of Hood’s?” Will picked a piece of wood off the edge of the door.
    “No, but he did not say he was not, either.” She frowned. “Come to think of it, he did not actually say much of anything.” Except for learning his name, she did not know much about him, other than the fact that he lived in the woods. The prospect of finding out more was suddenly more important than learning Mother’s secrets. “When did Little John want you to come back?”
    Will narrowed his eyes. “What are you planning?”
    Marian smiled. “I think Little John deserves a little ‘surprise’ for startling us, do you agree?”
    “You and I have been friends since birth, Marian,” Will started. “And how many times have you gotten me into