E-Written: Pirate Hood

"Do you think that's so, John? Am I acting like I am under her compulsion?"

"You are acting like maybe you are having second thoughts. Getting a little reckless. Thinking more on her than what you should be."

"Don't worry about me, John. I will do my part. Just leave the girl alone, let me worry about her."

Robin realized as he sat in another fine receiving parlor, that he WAS focused on her too much. He was thinking about her almost constantly as the young Hesther sat draped over his arm and smiling up at him. Twice now, her hand had slid up his leg dangerously close to impropriety as he caught it barely in time.

The third time, he turned to her with a scowl and hissed, "Are you really so shameless a creature? You think that is all men want? You think that is how you will win me? Touch me that way again and you will lose your hand."

Hesther had gone red and moved away quickly, opting to sit alone in a chair.

Robin wasn't a prude, not by a long shot, but he knew how nobles were supposed to behave and it wasn't like that. The girl was completely shameless.

It did, however, make him think of Marion and how warm she had been in his arms. He imagined what her hands would feel like gliding over his skin, how her lips would taste...

He had to leave early and find companionship for the night in one of the lesser parts of the city. He closed his eyes as the girl used her mouth on him, imagining Marion.

What he came to discover over the next three weeks, was that nobles were not at all as prude and upright as people were led to believe. Especially the women. Fawn and Hesther were not alone in the way their hands roamed and groped. After the fourth such occasion, Robin let it happen. He was obviously wrong on this point and it would seem odd if he didn't allow his soon to be 'wife' to show her appreciation of him with her mouth. They all seemed to think that was their way around staying 'chaste'. Using their mouths and hands rather than what was between their legs.

It amused him that they seemed twice as appalled when they discovered their true fates.

He didn't tell Marion, he was sure she already knew how most the noble women were. She stayed quiet and stoic, but her anger was always barely suppressed. She wanted a better life for all of the girls, but it was taxing on her to be so nice to him and he could see it.

It was even more hard on her on the nights where she had to sleep next to him, his arms around her. He made the feeble excuse that it was to make sure she didn't try to do anything while he slept, but they both knew that it was because he wanted to. They also both knew that she slept as well as he did on those nights.

He came in one morning, grinning with yet another girl on his arm as he looked Marion over. They almost all said the same thing, asking if Marion was his daughter, those who did not know her.

This one was one of the latter. "Mare?" she asked in surprise. "What are YOU doing here?" she asked almost angrily.

"Hello Daphne," Marion said coldly. "Can't say I am sorry to see you here."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Daphne snapped, her chin going high.

"Old friends, I see," Robin said, moving to pour himself a drink and watch.

"She is no friend of mine!" Daphne practically hissed. "My sweet Richard, her family and mine are bitter rivals. Her sister took my love from me not long ago. Now I know why! I was destined for greater things, but Marion did so rub my nose in it when her whore of a sister..."

"That is enough of that," Robin said quickly. "I met Scarlett and her fiance. I doubt it had much to do with her being a whore and more to do with her not being a troll. I wouldn't have looked twice at you either if Scarlett was my other choice."

"Richard! You don't mean it!"

"Alan! Show Daphne to her quarters. When the others get deck time, she does not, am I understood?"

"Yes Robin," Alan said quickly, leading the indignant girl away.

"For once I wish to see her face when she is told," Marion said angrily, her cheeks pink.

"Would you like to tell her yourself?" Robin asked curiously.

"No," Marion answered softly, lowering her face in shame.

"Would you still offer the same deal to save them all, even her?"

"Yes."

"Good to know. What else would you be willing to do to save those girls from their fates?" he asked, tossing a drink back.

Her anger gave way to fear as she looked at him.

He smirked and looked down at his glass. "For example... would you retire to an island with a pirate and keep him company? Keep his bed warm?"

"If that is what is required to keep them from being sold as slaves..." she answered, her cheeks flaming with shame and... something else. Pride, perhaps?

"What if I required that they stay on the same island as well. With my crew."

"Will they be slaves to them?"

"They will be free, but I am sure my men will bring them around to their way of seeing things if you know what I mean. They can never leave the island. You could never leave the island."

"You speak as though it is already a real place and not just some dream."

"Oh it is. The first thing I did when we hit the second port was send four of my men off with that first payment to buy the island I had in mind and start preparing it. I know where it is, how large it is, exactly what is needed when we get there. I have been sending shipments off at every port, supplying the island, making it ready. So your friends, these girls, they will have a choice. They can go their own way on the island, build their own houses by themselves, or find a way with my crew. They seem industrious girls, most of them."

"That choice is hardly better than..."

"Would you rather I drop them on a barren island with no one, alone? Make them find a way to fend for themselves and survive on their own? Or I could sell them as I planned. You want to find fault in my plans for them, then I will go with what is easiest for me."

"And for them to be... free. To be able to choose and live their lives without being sold into slavery... I have to what? Agree to be your companion?"

"The more common term is wife."

She froze, staring at him in horror.

"Is that too onerous for you?"

She spun away, pressing herself to the far wall as she shook her head. "How much time do I have to consider this... proposal?" she asked, tears choking her voice.

"There are three more ports I intend to stop at. I am skipping the smaller ones now, I see no reason to gather up small change and risk exposure. Going after the last three big ones and taking off forever. So you have three ports. A little over a week. Is it a hard choice, Marion?"

She glowered at him and he gave her a grin. He couldn't help but be amused by her.

"Will you miss me?" he asked, pausing at the door.

Had he not been watching so closely, he would have missed the small, startled blush at being caught out before the furious shake of her head. "Why would I?"

He laughed as he left, heading into the city. His mind was so out of the game he said the wrong name twice, but it didn't seem to matter. The nobles only heard what they wanted to hear.

By the time he ducked into his cabin to see Marion again, she looked very different. She had been trying hard to keep herself tidy and ladylike, trying to prove she could behave for the sake of the other girls freedom. Now she looked disheveled, her feet bare, her hair unbrushed, pale. She looked less wild though, and more sick.

"Marion?" he asked, ignoring the woman who had followed him in.

"Richard?" the woman asked shrilly. "What is that?"

"John! Get her out of here!" he yelled, not caring that they were still in earshot of the port. He went to Marion and turned her face up to his. "Marion? Are you ill?"

"Must I really marry you for their freedom?" she asked softly, her lip trembling slightly.

He felt as if he had been dealt a blow as he blanched back. "You have made yourself sick over... over fearing having to marry me? I am not a bad person, Marion, you act as though I have..."

"You are! You are a monster! Taking innocent girls from their families! Selling them as slaves, threatening rape if they do not comply! You are a horrible horrible person! We do not deserve to be treated this way, yet you think you have some right! Some justification to steal and cheat and lie! You are no better than those you take from! You are an opportunist and a liar! A thief! A pirate!

I will do what I must to see the others safe, but I hate you and I will always hate you!"

Robin stood angrily. "Is that so? Perhaps you are lying to yourself, Marion. Anyway, I think you need a bit of a lesson. Dale! Dale, get Alan. Take Marion below and lock her in the cages."

"Her?" Dale asked, looking terrified.

"Her," Robin demanded, then growled. "Nevermind, I will do it myself," he said angrily, unlocking her chain from the post and dragging her along behind him as he took her to the cages.

The other women were there, pleading and begging, making promises. The newest, Margaret, was the loudest and shrillest.

Robin ignored them as he shoved Marion into the smallest cage, locking her chain to the bar so she could hardly move. "Perhaps now you will understand how much I have afforded you, how generous I have been with you! You will see how badly off you could have been this whole time! You can bide your time down here with the others while we sail to the southern isles to the slave ports!"

He turned and left, his face red with anger. Spiteful, angry little creature! Acting as though marrying him would be a fate worse than slavery for ALL of them! He had been willing to give her everything! Work with her, allow her to have things her way!

She had thrown it back in his face.

He paced in his cabin. It wasn't as if she truly mattered, she was a passing distraction. He ordered them to put into the next port, though it wasn't one he had planned on stopping at. He gave the men leave to spend coin on women and wine over the next three days, even having one of the women come back to his ship.

He hated that he had to close his eyes and imagine Marion just to get into the mood. He sent the woman away, never having used her. Instead he raged more at the girl in the cage belowdecks, telling John and Tucker and Will all the reasons he had for just sending her off as a slave.

It was Tucker who finally spoke sense.

"Why not just have her. Get her out of your system. Once you have a taste of her, you won't think on her so much and you can move on."

Robin stared at Tucker, then at John and Will who were also having a drink with him in his cabin.

"Sounds reasonable to me," John said, shrugging.

"Never seen you so torn up over a woman, I am telling you, she is a witch. She has you bewitched. You get betwixt her legs and the spell will be broken," Will said, slurring drunkenly.

"Dunno about all that," Tucker said, shaking his head. "But I know any time I am keen on a girl, I lose all interest as soon as I have had her in my bed. I am ready for the next adventure."

"There's sense in that," John agreed. "It's the chase that is drivin' you. Once that's done, she won't be in your head so much."

"Speakin' of head," Will laughed. "I think I will go below. That Hesther is good at suckin' cock even through them bars if you bring her an apple or orange. Few others will to, but Hesther is best at it."

"The tall blonde keeps askin' me, but I'm afraid she'll try and grip my bits," John said warily.

"Ahh, nah. They are all hopin' we take enough liking to them we won't sell'm. Let her. If it's that Rhianna, she'll bend over for you too, let you fuck her in the ass."

The men laughed and joked, talking about which women were best at sucking and fucking as they left. Robin sat back and thought about Marion and if he should try it. Take her and get her out of his system so he could move on.

He shook his head. He didn't want to move on. He wanted to hold her at night, feel her hands on him... feel her mouth on his, taste her.

Ungrateful little creature.

He fell into bed, leaving it for a time when he was more sober.

They left that port the next morning, Robin still surly as they made their way to the next mark. They were almost done. One more after this one and they were already so rich they would never want for anything.

He wanted to see Marion, but he made himself stay away. She would suffer through these last days, just so she could see how well he had been treating her. How good she had had it compared to the others.

It occurred to him then that that might not be the best tack with her. She wanted them to have better conditions, to have better lives, she didn't want them to suffer. Making her suffer alongside them would only make her realize how badly they had had it and she would be more upset, think him even more of a monster.

He sighed dismally.

Winning her wasn't going to be done by punishing her or being nice to her. It was going to be done by being nice to the rest of the women.

He spoke to John as they put into port, explaining what he wanted done, then went below and moved Marion himself. He chained her back into his cabin and ignored her as she glared at him venomously.

He left her alone and went into the city, his mind on what he was going to have to do to win her.

Getting away with the girl again was easy enough that it was just annoying now and Robin had no patience left for this con. He wanted to move on already, win Marion over. He knew he sounded annoyed while saying the vows and turned distastefully away as the girl had moved to try and kiss him.

Why couldn't Marion be so eager to kiss him?

Robin stayed on deck as they left the dock, pretending to listen to John as the girl stood waiting for him, watching him with eager eyes.

"Take her below," Robin interrupted as soon as they were far enough from the dock that he felt safe. He turned when John took hold of the girl and went to his cabin.

He grinned, he couldn't help it. Marion was there and his cabin was covered in paint. 'Monster', 'Thief', 'Liar', 'Pirate'. Crude and rude images everywhere. He laughed as he looked around. "You have been busy," he said lightly. "One final stop, then on to the island. I have been thinking on a name. My ship is The Heart of Sherwood, what do you think of simply, 'Sherwood'?"

"I think you should call it 'Hell'."

"I can see you are in a wonderful humor. Why don't we go below?"

"You think you can scare me?" she demanded as he unlocked her chain from the post.

He said nothing as he pulled her out and led her below.

She stared.

The cages were gone, in their place were beds. Screens for privacy, a bath. Tables to sit at with bowls of fruit and breads and cheeses. The women all had chains around a single ankle, but they could move around and do as they pleased. There were even books and sewing and other small things for them.

"Better?" he asked, turning to look down at Marion.

"It's a start," she agreed with a nod.

"I also intend to make them their own hall. They will not have to rely on the kindness of my crew, they will have a place to live and will be provided for. Or they could seek companionship. Their choice."

Marion gave another nod. "You won't... sell them into slavery?"

"No. They will all be well cared for."

"And in return, I must..."

"Regardless of what your answer is. I will see them taken care of... even if you are among their number and not... my wife. Come," he said softly, leading her back up to his cabin.

She said nothing as he relocked the chain.

John came in soon after and they sat at the table, John opening a ledger with names and lists. Something they always did before the next port.

"This port you will be finding Guy Gisborne. He has a daughter about to turn nineteen. He is incredibly wealthy, enough to rival Nottingham and Manderlay. This is one third of his wealth and this is what we should ask for ransom. He has a new wife, very new, so he should be eager to be rid of his daughter."

"You are wrong," Marion said, sitting at the table.

"What?" Robin asked her with a smirk. She had never joined them in planning before, thought she had always listened.

"Ser Guy, he does not want rid of his daughter at all. He is waiting for the perfect match. Also, he will not be nearly as easy to fool as the rest, he is suspicious and cynical in everything."

"You speak as though you know him well."

"He spent three months in my home, Merise and I know each other well."

"What was he doing in your home?"

"He was trying to talk my father into letting him marry Scarlett and my father marry Merise. After the first two weeks, he changed it and asked to marry me when I came of age instead."

"And what did your father say to that?"

"Guy is a bitter, older man and my father would not subject Scarlett or I either one to that. He said no. Guy stayed and tried to persuade him. Tried to persuade me. Had Merise try and persuade me. He finally left when I filled all of his trunks with manure from the stables. He will not be easily deceived though, he is distrustful and clever. He will see through your ruse easily. He lives near the capitol, he knew Ser Richard."

"If you knew him, you'd know I look just like him," Robin said, smiling.

"Perhaps a bit, but even my father commented on how young you looked. How you had not seemed to age at all, and he had only seen Ser Richard from a distance. Guy is not my father. He knows the court well and he knew Ser Richard well."

"I am good at being able to feel out danger, Marion," Robin said with another smile.

"You were. You have lost your touch completely," she said with a shrug.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, his voice sounding concerned.

"You stopped noticing things. With the others, it did not matter, but with you, you should have noticed things you did not."

"For example?"

"When a fork was missing from my dinner plate. Or a knife. I have four of each now, secreted throughout the room. You have not noticed a single time when you came back and the lock was on a different link that it had been. Even when it was three off. You did not notice the new paints or pencils or even wonder where they might have come from. You did not notice the new hair comb with the silver spikes, though I did not have it until after three ports back. You have questioned or noticed nothing that you should have, which means you no longer have your touch."

"My touch deals in danger to myself or my men..." Robin said, looking around warily. "Where DID that comb come from? And that easel! What have you been up to, Marion?" he asked, his eyes sparkling.

"I am small enough to fit through those small windows and your men never check on me when you are gone. I can do as I please. And I have. My father will have gotten the courier by now, as well as the capitol. Your name, John, Will, Tucker... everyone really. I have heard the name of every single man on this ship ten times over again. They are waiting for you, surrounding you."

"You're bluffing!" Robin said, "John, turn us, now! Take us south!"

"It's too late," she shrugged. "They have you cut off my now, you took your time, sailing right up and pinning yourself neatly into this trap. You think I would have told you if it wasn't already too late?" she asked, picking up an apple and taking a bite.

Robin threw back his head and laughed, then got up. He took hold of her face with both hands and leaned in, kissing her forcefully. She yanked away and glared up at him, but he was already unchaining her from the post. He pulled her above and went to the wheel, John close behind him.

"How far?" he asked John, taking the wheel from Tucker, who was grinning at him.

"Four, maybe five days?" John answered.

"Look there, Marion, do you see that?"