The Fellowship of the Hood~A California Girl in Nottingham's Court

Chapter Four

Just as we were leaving to go to our rooms, a fight broke out among the men that were drinking.  Robin glanced at me and a slight smile crossed his lips and mine as I remembered the fight in the tavern at York when we broke Archer out of jail.  It wasn’t funny to me at the time, but  now I could recall it with humor.

Robin, John and I agreed to stand watch in the hallway where the rooms were.  One can never be too careful when delivering precious cargo.  Aylaina and Kate escorted the queen to their room.  Before she closed the door, I kissed Aylaina goodnight and went to the room I shared with Archer and Ian.  Robin would be sleeping here, too when his watch was over.  John went to the room with Elliot and Ian’s soldiers.

It seemed like only moments later when Robin woke me for my watch.  I sat down in the chair at the head of the staircase, my arms across my chest and leaned my head back against the wall. 

Hearing the sound of a door open, I inclined my head to see who it was.  Elliot stepped quietly to where I was sitting and sat down on the top step, resting his back against the stair post.  For a long time neither of us spoke. 

Then Elliot began,  “I’ve hayrd awful things about ye,” he said in a strangled voice.  “How could my mother love ye?”

How was I supposed to answer a question like that?  All I could give Elliot was the truth as I saw it.

 “I do not know, except that she has a forgiving heart.” I breathed a heavy sigh.  “She says her God forgives me if I want it.”

“He is your God, too.”  Elliot replied, though he his tone indicated that he did not like it.

“So, she has taught you from the Bible?”  I inquired.

“As did my grandfather.”  Elliot said, his manner easing up.  He shifted his position to look more fully at me.  I sensed he wanted to talk but was wrestling with his pride.

‘It runs in the family.’ I thought to myself.  I must have loosened my body from it’s tense posture because Elliot began to speak again.

“Has Robin forgiven ye?” he asked.

It pained me that Elliot knew what I had done to Marian.  I replied, “Again, I do not know.  We have come to an understanding and Archer being both our brother, we ...tolerate each other.”  My countenance was at ease now and waited for more questions.

“I have talked a lot to Archer and he felt abandoned by his father.  But ye did not abandon me--because ye did not know of me--and I have a difficult time putting this all together.”   Elliot said, illustrating his clear confusion with having a father he did not respect.

Elliot’s lips curved down at the corners as he spoke.    “My mother never told me about ye.  I found out when my....father’s family sent her back to my grandfather.  But I always had my suspicions because people would sometimes whisper when I was around.”  His eyes lowered when he said this.

Resting my forearms on my knees, I looked at Elliot with real empathy. 

“Elliot, when my mother told me she was going to marry Malcolm Locksley, I was so angry with her.  She was pregnant with his child at the time, but I have only recently found out about it.  I did not like hearing that my mother had a child out of wedlock.  That was before I knew about you.  Knowing the way it happened with your mother and me gave me a  better understanding of my mother's feelings for Malcolm Locksley,”

Sitting back straight in the chair, I went on,  “As I said, I was so angrywith my mother when she told me  she was going to marry Robin's father, that I ran out of my house and went to a place your mother and I shared to get away from the other kids.  She was there and crying because your grandfather had set her to marry Conor MacLaren.