#moonacreweek2023

[gertrudethegardenia]

*GOODDAMN* what I wouldn't give to make Benjamin Merryweather call me his sweet child and hug me tight

[a-winters-child]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

A ridiculously late day five submission for Moonacre Week 2023!!

[bedofthistles]

Locket

Its Moonacre week!

In which Maria drops her needle, Robin develops the bad habit of getting lost in pretty girl’s eyes, Sir Benjamin learns to get over himself, Loveday’s level of pettiness is tested, The Coeur De Noir has dealt with one too many Merryweather’s to last him a lifetime, The De Noir boys learn what it really means to be bossed around. And Maria is, unfortunately, truly and properly kidnapped.

Here's a link to where the story will be posted on Archive, or you can just read it here, but mind you its 5k :)

“There’s only one thing that can save us now!” Ms. Heliotrope shared a knowing smile.

“Classical. French. Needlepoint.” Maria said with her, no small amount of relief flooding through her. 

The journey thus far had been terrible, but if she were to live in the countryside, she could at least preserve her more civil pastimes. 

Ms. Heliotrope took out their most recent projects: matching, colorful, beautiful Fluer-De-Lis, embellished by little flowers, ribbons and birds. Ms. Heliotrope was much further along, but she had years of experience under her hands. She was quick and capable with the needle, and Maria - while quite skillful - took her time to make sure each stitch was perfect. 

It took her a moment to realize the carriage had stopped, so focused as she was on her needlepoint. 

Ms. Heliotrope called for Mr. Digweed, and Maria stuck her head out of the window to find that he was standing before a wrought iron gate. He fiddled with a ring of keys, and it seemed their journey could only go on once it was opened.

“Must be a half-wit!” Ms. Heliotrope muttered snidely after Mr. Digweed did not answer their calls. 

Maria laughed, and pulled herself back inside, only to be grabbed, roughly around her shoulders. Now, Maria had never been grabbed so forceful! Ms. Heliotrope was always kind and gentle, and even when she smacked Maria’s wrist with a ruler, it was little more than a quick, reprimanding snap. Her father held her tightly in goodbye hugs, pulling her to him, picking her up in his arms when she was small. His hands had been firm, and strong, and she knew she would not fall. Other than that, no one had ever really touched her, or had any reason to. 

So when sharp fingers dug into Maria’s arms and began to remove her from the carriage window, there was very little she could do besides scream. And scream she did! 

Furthermore, Maria was a Lady, she had never been disciplined in manners of self-defense (a word that was not even in her lexicon). She had only ever met gentlemen with respectful hands, or other young ladies with soft, gloved fingers like her own. But, Maria knew how sharp her needle was, for in the early days of sewing and embroidery, she had pricked her fingers countless times. As it was her only weapon, she took it in her hand, raised it to the one on her arm, and dropped it. 

Maria blinked in surprise as the needle fell to the dirt road beneath her, and disappeared in a cloud of dust. 

“Maria!” Ms. Heliotrope called, her hands around Maria’s waist in a wasted effort to save her, but Ms. Heliotrope herself had been torn from the carriage. The old governess screamed, loud and shrill, as she herself was ripped away and thrown to the ground. 

“Ms. Heliotrope!” But Maria’s assailant was at last successful, and yanked her out through the window. 

Maria struggled against the sharp hands, before she fell onto the dirt road. (Which was a very long way to go when you were more or less hoisted to the top of the carriage.) Maria caught herself on her hands, her palms scraping against the dirt and gravel as she hissed in pain. Maria brushed her shaking hands and began searching the ground for her needle, but her Assailant jumped from the carriage roof and landed beside her. 

His hands took purchase on her shoulders, and he wrenched her to her feet, before he whipped her around, and Maria recognized him. 

“Where are they!”

The boy from London, at her father’s funeral. 

He shook her again, but she was frozen, unable to say anything. 

The very boy who had watched her from afar and disappeared as if into thin air!

He looked away from her, to where she could hear Digweed running towards them, and he shoved her. 

Suddenly, Maria was running, her hand caught in his. 

“No! Let go of me!” Maria dug her heels into the ground, and he stopped. She almost thought she would be able to get away, but the next moment he had thrown her over his shoulder and was running once more. 

To truly understand the predicament Maria found herself in, one must remember that Maria Merryweather was what one might call sheltered. Born and raised in a beautiful townhouse, in the very center of London, she was never without Ms. Heliotrope, or the servants of her house. Then, beside the butler (who more or less handled Father’s accounts in Father’s office while Father was away) and her Father (who was away more often than not, sometimes for months at a time. Maria was surrounded by women. And, above all, Maria was from London, while not free of crime, she had certainly never been the victim of any robberies, burglaries, assaults, murders, or kidnappings, as her shopping expeditions kept her on the safe side.

So, to be carted around the countryside, in the arms of a strange man, who had been stalking her since London, was not in Maria’s wheelhouse of expertise.   

It took Miss. Maria a moment to catch her breath, another to realize they had entered some kind of forest, and a final moment to get her voice back. 

“You put me down this second!” She said, each word punctuated with a sharp smack to his back. 

Her Assailant jostled her, her stomach landed painfully on his shoulder, before he himself spoke. “No can do, Princess, unless you tell me where the Pearls are.” 

Suddenly, the other highwayman - who had shoved Ms. Heliotrope to the ground - broke through the trees. “Robin! They’re trying to come after us!” 

“Shit.” Her Assailant - Robin - hissed. “Go that way, make noise, make a mess, leave an obvious trail, and circle back ‘round to the road.”

The Highwayman - who, now that Maria got a good look at his face, couldn’t have even been eighteen - nodded and followed the order, disappearing back into the trees without a moment’s hesitation.  

This Highwayman was named Henry, and he was a member of the De Noir Clan, not that Maria would know any of this. He was an only child and had kept to himself most of his life. Henry was what most would consider well mannered and polite, but to the loud, rowdy, destructive De Noirs, he was odd. He had found for himself three good friends, one of which was Robin, but he was always afraid they would realize that he was just as odd as everyone said and would abandon him. But nevermind all that. 

Maria did her best to escape Robin’s hold. 

Her methods were not limited to, but included: wiggling like a fish, attempting to crawl down his back, kneeing his stomach, blowing in his ear, rolling, fainting, and tickling. 

These methods made him: annoyed, irritated, and pissed off (though that word was not in Maria’s lexicon). 

They hadn’t gotten far when Robin threw her from his shoulder. 

As soon as he did, Maria ran, but clothed as she was in London’s most fashionable attire, she was woefully slow.

And her Assailant just so happened to not be wearing London’s latest fashion’s, and was much quicker. 

His hand wrapped around her wrist, and while she tried to beat him with her other, much freer hand, he had just grabbed it. With her hands disabled, she began to kick his shins. It was working! She knew this because he was grimacing, and barely concealing his pathetic groans, she just had to keep this up, and she’d be back in Ms. Heliotrope’s arms in a-

Robin pulled tightly on the ropes that now surrounded her wrists. 

“What-?” 

She backed away from him, and tried to get her hands out, but they chafed against the thick rope. She looked up at him, aghast that he would dare tie up a young lady, but he had bent down and was lifting up her skirts!

Maria gasped loudly, she tried to back away, but he snatched her ankle. And she fell like a tree. 

Maria had never fallen in this manner, and it quite hurt. There was a sharp jolt up her spine, and for a moment, she was convinced she had stopped breathing, and was about to die. 

Please be mindful, she had never experienced anything like this before! Being bound and gagged - Robin did take the cotton mask off his nose and tied it tightly to her face - was something that happened in stories! And those were usually the kind she wasn’t allowed to read, as the mind of a young lady was too sensitive for such topics. 

Her Assailant secured her two legs together, and tied the rope tightly, so she could not even wiggle her feet. 

Maria was once again in a state of shock, and she began to truly fear for her life. She could not ask questions, but her fear must have been obvious to Robin. 

A moment to introduce this Assailant. 

Robin was a young boy with a heavy burden on his shoulders. He had been raised with the expectation that he would one day rise up and take over the De Noir Clan as Coeur De Noir.

However, it was clear to any and all that he was the Coeur De Noir’s biggest disappointment. And that was a very impressive thing to manage when your sister, the once pride and joy of the entire De Noir Clan, had been disowned for falling in love with a Merryweather. 

Robin was a foolish boy, with foolish friends, and foolish interests, but he still longed for his father’s pride. 

The most Robin had ever done was track and trap animals, mostly birds and hares, not girls. And, while it was true that the De Noir Clan did not have the best reputation (one might say their reputation was the blackest in all of Moonacre Valley, if not all of England, perhaps not the world, as they’re were plenty of evil people in the world) the De Noirs were innocent of half of the things they were accused of. 

Kidnapping included. 

When they had heard word that Maria Merryweather would be coming to Moonacre, it was clear that she would be the Moon Princess to break the curse. Or at least attempt to. 

And the De Noirs could not have that.

Maria watched Robin’s lips part, and purse, part and purse, part and purse, before he spoke. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“At least!” Maria said, but really it sounded like “Arf veese!” through the gag.

“I promise, alright?” 

Robin, unfortunately, had big eyes, big beautiful, soulful eyes, and he seemed so truthful, and the longer Maria stared up into his big, beautiful, brown eyes, the more she believed him. She nodded. 

He nodded. 

She was on his shoulder again. 

Maria instantly cursed herself. How could she trust this person! How could she have ever even begun to believe a word he was saying! He was a kidnapper! Of course he would say anything to get her to comply! 

He had tied her up! Gagged her! Kidnapped her!

She was thrown over his shoulder like a sack of flour! 

Maria had always supposed she was a sensible girl, intelligent, and not so easily tricked. But of course, there was a difference between supposing and application. 

Most of the time, people who think they’d be brave and strong in certain situations, often aren’t. 

Still, Maria didn’t want to be lugged around like luggage, so she began to work at the gag, moving her mouth until it was out of her mouth, then on her chin, before she reached up…

With her hands… 

Maria furrowed her brow. For a kidnapper, he wasn’t a good one, was he? He should have tied her hands behind her back, rather than right in front of her! 

Maria pulled the gag around her neck and lifted herself up onto her elbows (prodding them into his back and shoulder was just an added benefit) “Please, tell me where we’re going?” 

He jumped in surprise, and he tried to look back at her (an impossible feat, really, since when you turn your head, you're bombarded with the side of the person you have hoisted on your shoulder) before he turned his eyes back to the road. 

“Castle Black.”

Maria did not know what that was. “Why?”

“Because, Moon Princess.” 

Maria shook her head. “I’m not a Princess, and I’m not even sure what a Moon Princess is supposed to be.”

“You’re a Merryweather aren’t you?” He asked, glaring down at his feet in confusion (hoping that he had not kidnapped the wrong person). 

Maria rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

“Maria Merryweather?”

“Yes!”

“Then you’re the Moon Princess.”

She groaned. “I still don’t know what that is!” 

He paused, and while she didn’t see it, he pinched the bridge of his nose. “It's you! The Moon Princess is you!” 

“That makes no sense!” She placed her hands on his shoulder in an attempt to look him in the eye. “What am I? Princess of the Moon!”

“No! Don’t be ridiculous-!” 

But she had finally managed to escape his hold, only she hadn’t been trying to.  

As she lifted herself up onto his shoulder, the hold he had around her knees wasn’t expecting her weight, so she slipped right through. Maria fell to the floor and Robin caught her in his arms as she tumbled backwards, unable to balance due to her feet being tangled together, and her tied hands were caught between his chest and her own. 

To Maria, this was incredibly uncomfortable. To be pressed to someone so closely, that she had no proper relations with other than that he was her kidnapper, was hardly appropriate, and while they were in the middle of a forest, Maria looked around to make sure no one would see her in such a compromising position. 

To Robin, this was incredibly uncomfortable, but for completely different reasons. The one woman he had ever been remotely close to was his sister, who had abandoned him when he was seven years old. To say he was inexperienced with women didn’t come close to the truth of the matter, which was that he didn’t know any women (his father’s consort hardly counted). To hold Maria Merryweather in his arms  was a feeling he was unprepared to deal with.

And, well, no one wants to read on and on about ‘soft, feminine bodies’ because that’s gross. Besides, that wasn’t what made Robin so uncomfortable. It was one of the things, to be sure, but not the major one. 

Maria had lovely eyes. A charming mix of green and brown, with little speckles around her iris, and long lashes that framed them. 

Robin did not make a habit of getting lost in the eyes of pretty girls, but all habits start somewhere, and his may have very well begun here. 

Maria swallowed thickly, and pushed at his chest. He stepped away, but did not let go, lest she fall. “Now, please, tell me: what is a Moon Princess?”

Robin blinked, and shook his head sharply. “A Moon Princess- I don’t know how to describe it without giving you the full story.”

“Give me the full story then.” She commanded, and despite the ropes that adorned her wrists and ankles, she gave the impression of being the one in charge. 

It seemed as if Robin was going to consider it, before Henry broke through the trees. 

Robin quickly bent down, and picked her back up, making her yelp at its suddenes. 

“They’ll be running in circles ‘til nightfall!” Henry proclaimed proudly. 

“Good, that gives us plenty of time, let's go.” 

Maria spent the rest of the journey planning her escape. 

Henry walked ahead of Robin, quicker without a heavy burden, and Robin did not have eyes in the back of his head, so neither saw as Maria used her teeth to untie the knot on her rope. To reiterate, Robin was not a good kidnapper. 

Of course, untying the knot would not solve her feet being strung together. Nevertheless, Maria bit, and spit out fibers, and pulled with her teeth, until it fell loose. It almost fell to the floor, but she caught, and wrapped it loosely around her hands, tucking the end in, so it looked as if her hands were still bound. 

It was at this moment that two other boys came out to greet them.

“Robin! There you are! You’ve been gone- Robin, the hell is that?”

Maria heard his gentle huff. “The Moon Princess!”

“The Moon Princess!” One laughed in disbelief, and she tried to lift herself up and look over her shoulder at the two. 

“Stole ‘er right outta ‘er carriage.” Henry supplied, crossing his arms in a misplaced sense of superiority. 

“Did you?” The last one said, he was quieter than the others, and Maria twisted around to see him. 

Robin had picked Henry to come along because of the four of them, he was the strongest, and when kidnapping someone, it made sense to bring someone strong to do the heavy lifting. Of course, Robin was still holding Maria, and Henry was not.  

“Maria Merryweather.” Robin said, “The Moon Princess.” 

One of them whistled. “Impressive!” 

“We’re taking her to my father. Let’s get a move on.” 

The two come to the other side of Robin, and Maria glared at them. 

“More Highwaymen?” 

One smirked. “We’re a package deal, your Highness!”

The other one simply glared at her. 

These boys were Richard and David, respectively, of the group Richard was the most nimble, he was an excellent lock picker, and a good distraction, especially if it was a lady who needed distracting. Then there was David. David was a very dangerous thing: intelligent. He was the slightest of them all, and rather scrawny, but he had a mind for strategy. He was slow to trust, but adroit in the De Noir business. Which was, of course, preserving their black reputation. 

Maria looked between the two of them, before deciding it was best to keep her eyes on the forest floor. And her hands, to make sure the rope never fell off. 

When at last they came to Castle Black (which had once been foreboding and treacherous, but was now falling apart, and mended haphazardly with ill-fitting wooden structures) Robin set her down on the ground and cut through the ropes around her feet. 

“Let’s go.” He said, and rather gingerly, wrapped his arm around her bicep. 

The boys had formed a circle around her, Robin at her side, Henry ahead of her, David on her other side, and Richard behind, so no one touched her, so no one could really see her. 

Castle Black was not home to many of the De Noir Clan, as a village rested on the other side of the hill. The men that were there, were guards, or workers of the house, however. 

When they came through the gate and up the courtyard, the men gathered around them, forming a jeering and taunting crowd. As she walked by, they shouted and catcalled, the likes of which Maria had never before heard. 

“C’mon, Robin, let me take ‘er to the Coeur!” 

“Got yerself a lil’ Moon Princess, eh boy?”

“Let me haves a look!”

She did her best to ignore them, but her jaw trembled, how could these men be so cruel? 

She wasn’t even fourteen. 

Someone threw something, and it landed on her face. She came to an abrupt halt and gasped sharply, her hands swiped away what she was sure were the rotten remains of a tomato. 

“Henry.” Robin said, and Henry broke off from the group, David came to stand slightly in front of her, and she heard the sounds of a fight breaking out. 

Her head whipped around to see Henry’s fist colliding with a man’s jaw. She gasped at the violence and tripped over her own feet, before Robin righted her and led her on. 

Straight into the Castle’s maw of a front door. 

The jeering men followed after them, into the dark halls, and she felt something pull at her bustle. 

A startled yelp escaped her throat, and she spun around just in time to see Richard’s hand twisting a man’s wrist. The man groaned in pain as he fell to the floor. 

“Come along.” Robin whispered, his hand squeezing her arm, and trying to make her walk a little faster. 

They came out into an open, imposing hall, covered in images of roaring lions and snakes, lit with fire, filled with harsh laughter, and men in dark hooded cloaks. 

A falcon sheriked, everything stopped, and all eyes were on Maria. 

“Well! What do we have here?” A man stood from his chair, and Maria got the feeling that he was very important, as he looked down his nose at her.

She was right, of course. This was the Coeur De Noir, a ferocious, cruel, merciless man (if you believed all that was said about him). A tyrant, a mercenary, an outlaw, save here in his own Castle. 

To understand the Coeur, one must understand his position. 

Moonacre Valley was a bountiful land, the last truly magical place in all the world, and it was his (and the Merryweather’s) in days of old. The De Noir’s had to defend their home from peril and invaders, but it was never enough. It wasn’t until one of the Coeurs, many moons ago, came up with the plan to become a great evil. Or at least, make it appear that they were a great evil. 

Suddenly, the De Noir Clan was feared, and none dared to even enter the forest that they so zealously guarded.  

Ever since, every Coeur was given the same task: to be black, dangerous, and terrifying. 

What more, this particular Coeur knew that the very next full moon would bring about the end of the Merryweathers. It was a great honor, and it was his fate to be champion of Moonacre, so long as he did not fail.

“Welcome, Moon Princess.” He said, when Robin pushed her before him. Maria stumbled, but did not fall. 

As scared as she was - and she was terrified - she did not let it show, choosing instead to glare up at the man. 

“Robin, I had no idea you would be bringing me such a present! Well done.” 

Robin swallowed, unused to the praise, and not quite sure he liked what he was being praised for. His lips twitched into a semblance of a smile. 

The Coeur De Noir grinned at Maria, he stepped down from the platform his table was raised up on, and knelt down next to her. 

“Your downfall means our victory.” His smile was carved deep into his face, curling like devil’s smoke. “Throw her in the dungeons!” 

The men around her burst into vicious cheers, and Robin was hauling her away once more.

He and the three other Highwaymen lead her past the gathered crowds, and to the prison tower.

They crossed a rickety bridge, and Maria got her first real glimpse of Moonacre Valley. She could hardly believe how beautiful it truly was. London was smoke, and stone, manners and restriction; the Valley was anything but that. Vibrant, and alive, and green, and majestic, but all too soon, her view was stolen from her, and she remembered that she was being taken to a dungeon. 

Robin let go of her arm in favor of jabbing at her already abused spine to propel her down the cell-lined hall.

“Leave me alone, you oaf!” She spun around and shouted at him, her annoyance eclipsing her terror. She had had a long and dreadful day; she had been kidnapped, tied up, taunted, she was without her Ms. Heliotrope, being escorted to a dungeon, and this stupid, rude, boy of a criminal still had a mind to push her around! She had had enough, and did not care any longer about propriety, or her fear, or his eyes!

Robin leaned down, so their faces were level, “You know, for someone in your current predicament, I have to admire your spirit.”

But her feet were free, and his legs were parted, and if Maria knew one thing, it was how to kick. 

(Maria, of course, would not know until much later why kicking a man betwixt his legs hurt so much, as a woman’s education on male anatomy was saved until the night of her wedding. Maria merely knew that kicking would be effective in some manner. Not that she knew she was kicking his manhood.)

Her knee met his crotch, and he crumpled in pain. The boys behind him burst into laughter, before he launched himself at her. 

“Feisty, that one is!” One of them shouted. 

“Witch!” And his hands were once again rough and painful as he shoved her in the last cell. 

“I wouldn’t take that from her, Robin!” The boys taunted, “What’re you gonna do, toss her out?” 

“Hey! Lock her in!” Robin snapped at the guard. 

“Right, sir.” 

With one final push, she stumbled into the cell, and the door slammed in her face.

Robin waved mockingly at her, but she didn’t care about that. 

She cared about how stupid she had been. 

The boys laughed as they walked away, leaving her in the cage, locking her away like she was nothing.

“Guard watch her, she’s slippery.” Robin called out, casting her one last glance over his shoulder. There was, of course, some remorse that she had missed. 

Robin wasn’t a bad person, despite the fact that that was what he was born to be, and he couldn’t stop the sour taste in his mouth, as their eyes met.  

The cell door locked. The guard turned away, back to rest in his chair. Maria ripped the rope from her hands and threw it to the floor. She scampred around the cell, looking out the windows, only to find them barred, and high out of her reach. Other than that, there was no way out. 

Maria huffed, and sat down on the floor, rubbing her red wrists as she tried not to cry. 

She began to play with the little bauble that was left to her by her mother. 

It was Saturn, the sixth planet. Maria untied it from her neck, and unlatched it. The inside was hollow, and contained the mementos of her mother.

A lock of her mother’s hair, a pretty curl, that shined in the light like freshly fallen snow. 

A little ring, too big to ever fit on Maria’s child-sized hand. She was pleased to find that it did fit now, on her forefinger. A golden band, with a large pearl set in the middle. 

A tear catcher, filled by her mother’s final tears. It was a small, dark blue bottle that contained little liquid, because her mother had been strong, and she had not cried on her deathbed. She only shed tears as she kissed her daughter goodbye. 

That was what Ms. Heliotrope had told her, however untrue it may be. 

These were her greatest treasures; the very last of what she had of her mother. Maria wore it in times of great tribulation - or when it matched her outfit - and she was glad she had worn it that day. 

Because this was perhaps the greatest tribulation she had ever faced. 

She returned her items to the locket, and wept bitterly.

☾

Ms. Heliotrope and the one she called “Dogwood” ran through the woods for hours, each thinking they saw the back of the two young men’s black clothes, before rushing after them, only to find an empty glade.

“There she is!” Ms. Heliotrope cried, she had seen her ward’s lovely blue travel dress, but as she leapt from the brush and looked around, she realized they had made it back to the place where they had started. “Oh, damn it all!” Ms. Heliotrope beat her fists against her thighs, and squeezed her eyes shut tight, not allowing herself to cry. 

Mr. Digweed burst out of the bush and bumped into her. 

“Oh! Mr. Dogwood, please!” 

“Sorry, ma’am!” He looked away bashfully, before he saw the carriage too. “That’ll be us, then.”

“What do you mean?”

Mr. Digweed stepped around the frazzled city woman and made his way up the steep hill to the coach. 

“Mr. Dogwood! What about Maria-”

“Well, you see ma’am, there’s not much more we can do! I don’t know the forest, and you are run ragged!” 

Ms. Heliotrope blinked away tears. “So- so Maria is gone? Forever?”

“Of course not! I know who took ‘er!” And he smiled proudly. 

“You know- who, my man! Who!”

He jumped, and held his arms in front of his face as if she were close to attacking him (she was). “The De Noirs, ma’am, the De Noirs! We need to tell Sir Benjamin, ma’am! Right away!” 

Ms. Heliotrope glanced back over the shoulder, to the woods where she had been led on a wild goose chase, and relented. “Very well.”

Mr. Digweed helped her back into the coach, and whipped the horses onward.

Ms. Heliotrope picked up her needlepoint, but she did not have the heart to continue. 

The gate was only an hour away from the Manor, but time seemed to drag, and she feared the very worst for her poor girl. 

Ms. Heliotrope was a proud, intelligent, and sacrificial woman. She had been teaching young girls for most of her adult life, but she had always been fondest of a young girl named Elizabeth. Who was a bit sarcastic, a bit stubborn, and a bit foolhardy. She always made Ms. Heliotrope laugh, and when Ms. Heliotrope had doubts about her noble pursuits, she merely thought of her dear Eliza, and carried on. When Eliza married, and grew pregnant, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind who could be there for her. Ms. Heliotrope had even assisted in the birth! Very much out of her wheelhouse, and when Eliza passed, Ms. Heliotrope promised she would always look after Maria. 

So, for Maria to be- For Maria… Ms. Heliotrope couldn’t bear to even put her worry in words. And her settled stomach became quite unsettled. 

When at last they arrived, Sir Benjamin stood in the shadowy doorway like a phantom. “Welcome to Moonacre Manor.” He said as Mr. Digweed opened Ms. Heliotrope’s door and led her out.  

“Sir Benjamin, Sir-!” Mr Digweed began, but so did Ms. Heliotrope, and they spoke over one another. 

“Sir! Not an hour from this very doorstep, we were accosted-:”

“-Those nasty, De Noirs, sir! I know they’re the ones behind-”

“-Frightened for my life!” 

“-but they were too quick for us, sir, and got away-”

“-Please, Sir Benjamin, you must-”

“Enough.” Sir Benjamin’s voice was clear, and firm, enough to put anyone in their place, but that kind of authority came with being an English Lord. “Where is my niece?”

“That’s what we’re trying to tell you, Sir.” Digweed swallowed, and averted his eyes. “The De Noirs, Sir, they took her.”

“What? What do you mean?” Sir Benjamin’s shrewd eyes jumped between them, but they shriveled under his gaze. 

This is when Ms. Heliotrope began to cry in earnest. Mr Digweed was quick to wrap his arm around her shoulders and usher her inside, as Sir Benjamin rolled his eyes and stepped out of their way. 

“Digweed, bring me my whip!” Sir Benjamin called, leaving at once to the stables to ready his horse for departure, it was time he paid the De Noir’s a visit. “After you calm that woman down, that is.” 

[incorrect-quotes-of-moonacre]

Moonacre Week 2023

Day 1- Locket

Day 2- Strawberries and Mint

Day 3- Unforgiving

Day 4- Museum

Day 5- Cave 

Day 6- Resuscitate

Day 7- Matches

[bedofthistles]

Resuscitate

The Coeur De Noir: How do you loose a woman???

Richard: You forget to cherish her

The little white horse went on and on, and Maria began to wonder if she was having delusions. 

It wasn’t entirely impossible that this was some kind of dream, but nevertheless, Maria followed after it. 

With Robin not far behind. 

He did not see the horse, so Maria had no reason to believe it was anything besides her imagination. Maybe that's what happened when you were locked up for too long without air and sunlight. Not that Maria lacked either of those things, but still, she wasn’t getting as much as she used to.

What Maria did not realise, and what you, of course, have already realised, is that this was the mark of a True Moon Princess. The Moon’s familiar, come to guide her directly to the Pearls. We, that is to say you, dear reader, and I, the author, know that those Pearls are mystical and magical and oh so critical to Moonacre Valley’s success or ruination. And, no matter how many different ways the De Noir’s liked to tell the story, none knew the truth of what happened the day the Moon Princess disappeared. 

Heartbroken, the poor girl took her lion, her unicorn, and her pearls before disappearing into the forest, never to be seen again. You knew that, of course, what you did not know was that each and every Moon Princess, every Lord Merryweather, and every Coeur De Noir was doomed to repeat the same incident over and over.

There was a long line of De Noirs who looked just like William De Noir, and plenty of daughters on both sides that bore the resemblance to the Moon Princess, not to mention the countless heartbreakers who carried Sir Wrolf’s bearings. Born far enough apart that no one remembered what they looked like when they came fresh out of the womb, and could not tell when one babe came out a copy of the last! 

That was the thing with tragedies, they tend to bear repeating, hoping, but never succeeding, for a happy ending. 

A Moon Princess that falls in love with a Merryweather. 

A Couer De Noir who loses his daughter to greed. 

A Sir Merryweather, with pride too great to bear. 

But, a chance to repeat history, usually ends poorly for those in the titular roles. 

That was why the Moon had graced Maria Merryweather with Princess-hood. 

Maria, with her autumn hair, instead of golden, and forest eyes instead of ocean. A shorter stature, a younger start, a fresh scene. 

Loveday was bound to fail, her face a mirror image to the original, but Maria was bound to win, her face pure of every past life. 

 So, when the Little White Horse led her through the forest, to the dark and twisting hollow, Maria laughed as she ducked inside. 

“Are you coming, Robin, or are you scared?” She taunted, when Robin did not immediately follow. 

Robin’s wide eyes flickered from the towering tree, back to her own, where she peered at him through the roots. 

“You can hold my hand if you are.”

Robin glared at her, though it lacked any heat, as he trudged in. “I’m not scared, it's just… Haunted.”

Maria scoffed. “You believe in ghosts as well? What next, vampires?” 

“No.” Robin pouted, but followed Maria as she travelled down the tunnel. “You know, there’s a lot of things that are unexplainable.”

“And yet to be explained by science.” Maria flashed him a smile - it was quite condescending, and a bit flirtatious, which just happened to be her flirting style, though she did not know that yet, as Robin was the first person she had ever flirted with! - before she came face to face with a door. “Robin, look at this!” 

“It's a door.” He said, stumped by the existence of such a thing. 

Maria pushed it open, and was surprised by how little effort it took, she sent him a breathless smile over her shoulder. This was an adventure she could get used to. Discovery, not fighting for one’s life! 

The air left Maria as she stepped into the little room, grey with dust, the sunlight dappled the floor in shadows and cast rainbows on the wall when they hit the glass prisms that hung from the ceiling like a disassembled chandelier. 

“Robin, I can't- ooh!” Maria tripped over a stray tree root, which had looped out of the ground just enough to catch her toe. Maria did not fall, as she caught herself on the wall with a single hand. She breathed in relief, as she did not fancy falling flat on her face. 

Robin, however, watched as the stone statue glowed, and the stone beaded necklace that statue wore transformed into glowing pearls. His eyes widened, and while he had in fact, been poised to lurch forward and catch her, he was transfixed. 

Maria straightened, and when her hand returned to her side, the necklace had come with. 

“Maria, the Pearls!” Robin’s face split into a grin, but Maria did not share his mirth.

She examined the pearls, looked back at the statue, and then back to her hand. “They’re quite pretty, aren’t they?” 

“Maria, those are the Moon Pearls, we can brea- I mean-”

But Maria rolled her eyes. “Are you still on that?” 

“Still on- Yes! Maria, you just followed a magical horse to the exact place where the pearls have been this whole time!” 

Maria blinked at him, she had almost forgotten he was crazy. That did put a bit of a damper on things, but Maria could look past it. “Here, help me put them on.”

She held out her hand, but Robin backed away, holding his hands up in warning. “No thanks, don’t really need my heart’s turth to be revealed at the moment! Who knows what will come out of my gob.” 

“Probably nothing intelligent. Fine I’ll do it myself.” And Maria gathered her hair over her shoulders and brought the clasp around her neck. 

They did seem to glisten as they settled over her collarbones, but other than that, they felt like normal pearls to her. No magic. 

“They aren’t revealing my heart, so perhaps they aren’t so magical after all.” Maria smirked and crossed her arms. 

“Maybe you’re too pure hearted, and there’s nothing to reveal.” He said, in an ‘a-ha!’ kind of tone, but Maria’s harsh smirk turned into a gentle smile. 

“Well, come along then, I’m sure there was more to the forest than just this creepy and haunted treehouse you wanted to show me.” Maria held out her hand, and Robin did not hesitate to take it. 

They left the treehouse together, without finding the bridal gown, or the secret entrance that would have lead them to the sea amphitheatre, but they had the pearls, and while only one knew of their importance, Maria had ready proved herself to the most worthy of all Moon Princesses. 

Now, it will do well to remember the exact words of the Moon Princess’ curse. As, clearly, the exacts of the curse have gotten lost in time. But once, many moons ago, the Princess said this: 

Hear me! You have spurned the gifts of Nature, and you shall suffer for it! Nature will wreak her revenge and put a curse upon this valley! One day, a pure heart will walk among you, and if she is not heard, when the 5000th Moon rises from the sea, this valley shall be plunged into eternal darkness! 

Couldn’t have said it better myself! 

But the Moon Princess was clear. She had one condition. 

To hear, and listen. 

☾

The Coeur De Noir tapped his fingers against the table. 

Everyone ate without him, as they had no manners and never waited for their Lord to take the first bite, save two. 

The seat to his left, reserved for his son, and his son alone, and the one to his right, which, without reason, now belonged to the Moon Princess, were empty. 

Not even Dulac had any claim over the seat, and he sat a few chairs down (as he did his best to avoid her and her sound scoldings) as he viciously tore into a leg of… something, the Coeur was never sure why Dulac remained so ravenous with the good food they had, but nevermind that. 

The Coeur De Noir was missing two very important people who were usually always here.

But then, even Robin's friends were missing, and they usually lapped up every little bit of exceptional treatment given due to Robin’s status.

“Pardon.” The Coeur said to no one in particular as he rose from the table and walked off down the hall. No one cared that he had gone off, of course, too busy indulging in their lunches. 

Odile flew to the Coeur’s shoulder as soon as he stood, and he stalked off to the family wing. 

He was lucky, when he stopped himself just before he rounded the final corner, as the boys - what were their names? He knew David, since he was distantly related, but then who wasn’t in the Clan? There were two others, the annoying one and the stupid one, the Ceoeur couldn’t be bothered to remember their actual names - arguing about what they were going to do. 

And the Coeur, who had once been just as sneaky as them in his youth, flattened against the wall so he could eavesdrop. 

“-anything bad, does it?”

“Of course it's bad!” David, the Coeur thought, called out. “She could have escaped!” 

“But why?” That sounded like the stupid one, well not stupid entirely, he just wasn’t the brightest. “She likes it here, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah, as much as a bird likes being in a cage.” That was the annoying one, the Coeur knew because his voice was grating on his old ears even now.

“But, why would Robin go?”

“Maybe she tricked him.” Good David, always the brains. “Found a way to get him to take her out to the woods so she could escape.”

“The woods?” The stupid one. “But, tonight is the full moon! If they’re out in the woods…”

Oh, perhaps not so stupid. 

Why on earth would they go out into the woods-

But the Couer remembered his boy’s longing stares, the way he followed after her like a starving dog, how he stood by her rather than his friends whenever they all gathered, always too close, almost touching but not quite. Then, another memory came to him. He had been looking out over the forest, when a flash of movement caught his eye. The Coeur had turned his head and watched his son willingly do work. Willingly! It took every threat in the world to get Robin to get out of bed, and yet there he was, tending the garden. 

No, the Coeur realised, not tending the garden, harvesting. 

The guards reported to him about how the girl was not eating… 

So, the whole time… 

Lost in his thoughts, the boys had continued on, making plans to go out into the woods to search. The Couer chose to reveal himself then, stepping into the centre of the hall, with a frosty look to his eye that his father always gave him when he was not doing as he ought. 

“So, the girl escaped, has she?” He said coolly, his voice just loud enough to call them to attention.

The boys paled as they whipped around. 

“No!” They chorused. “Not at all! She’s just out on a walk!” The annoying one. 

“With Robin.” The stupid one. 

The other two glared at him, but then Daivd stepped forward, and the Coeur tightened his eyes. 

“Sir, if we may, we would like to go out into the forest to bring them back home before-” David’s mouth pursed before he continued. “Before the curse comes to pass.”

“Denied.” The Coeur said, and the boys began to argue with him right away, but he merely held up his hand. “I shall send my men out to collect them. It was foolish, for them to venture into the forest, but we will get them home safely.” 

The boys relaxed, before volunteering for the mission. 

The Coeur couldn't help but smile, however faintly and hidden by his moustache, Robin had chosen his friends well. “If you think you know where they have gone, you may offer that information now, but I have a more important task.”

They shut up quickly, though David had to elbow the annoying one.

“Should they return, you must send Odile to me.” The Coeur gently nudged her talons until she hopped onto his hand, he held out the bird to them, but they backed away. Good, the Coeur smirked, he had trained her to be a fearsome creature. 

David, of course, stepped forward and offered his arm, the leather of his jacket protection enough.

“Click your tongue twice, and she will know to take flight.” The Coeur instructed, before turning on his heel and marching back to the dining hall. The boys trailed behind him. 

As he looked down over the dining hall, he did little more than clear his throat for their attention. 

“Lunch is over! It seems our Moon Princess has disappeared into the forest-”

“Father!” 

And everything stopped. 

Across the Hall, stepping into the torchlight, was his once most beloved child. “My daughter.” He said, rather pathetically, as he was hit with the years of grief and anger he had suffered all over again.

“Where is Maria Merryweather?”

She was just like Odile, a vicious creature with talons sharp enough to kill, and she stood with hardened eyes. The Coeur once believed she was too soft to be his child, but he learned quickly enough what a proper De Noir she was. 

The Coeur did not want to admit that he had lost the Princess. Not that he had, of course, the truth was she and his son were out galavanting through the forest. 

“Yes…” He said, uncertain as all eyes looked to him. “About that.”

☾

The pearls had a lovely weight to them, the shorter strand sat perfectly at the hollow of her throat, and the longer strand hung just below her breastbone, but somehow didn’t bounce with each step. They were lovely, more lovely than any of the costume jewellery Ms. Heliotrope allowed her to wear, and Maria loved them. 

“Do you think I would be allowed to keep them?” 

“No, you should throw them into the sea.” Robin said, as he had been eyeing them warily all afternoon, waiting for the curse to come flying out of the beads, or some other horrible fate, like the string tightening around her throat until she couldn’t breathe. They were beautiful, and against her creamy skin sat beautifully, but Robin knew they were no good. They were the pearls, after all, that had wrought destruction! It was no wonder he didn’t trust them. 

He had half a mind to cut them from her neck and throw them into the sea himself. 

But Maria wouldn’t let him. 

She simply rolled her eyes. “I mean, I did find them, but they must belong to someone.”

“Trust me, Maria, no one lives in that tree.” 

Maria stopped in her tacks and twisted her mouth into a grimace as she looked at Robin. “You really don’t like these pearls, do you?”

“Of course not! They’ve caused us nothing but misery!” 

Maria rolled her eyes. “It is not these silly pearls, but pride that curses the valley! Honestly, look at yourselves! De Noirs versus Merryweather, and what for? Because of a fairy tale? You and I get along just fine! That in and of itself should tell you the long history between our families is nothing but worthless pride!” Maria shook her head, but stopped. “You said to throw them into the sea?” 

Robin nodded his head. 

“Very well, take me to the sea, and I’ll dispose of them.”

“Really?”

“If it makes you feel better, yes, though it's quite a shame to lose such beautiful pearls.”

Robin smiled in relief. “One day, Princess, I’ll get you a strand of pearls far superior to those.” 

“We’ll see about that.”

☾

“What do you mean you don’t know where she is!” Sir Benjamin shouted. 

“I meant exactly what I said!” The Coeur De Noir replied. “What I do know is we must find her!” 

“We?” Loveday and sir Benjamin cried out incredulously. 

“Yes! Tonight is the night of the 5000th Moon!” And The Coeur De Noir, for the first time in his life, looked fearful. “The Curse will come, and they will be in danger!” 

Sir Benjamin shook his head, filled with unadulterated rage, as he launched himself at the Coeur, Loveday and Henry were able to take hold of his arms and hold him back before he physically assaulted the Coeur De Noir. “Danger? Danger! It is your fault she is in danger! You who stole her-!”

“Actually, I had no hand in her kidnapping!” The Ceour admitted. “It was my son’s plan.”

Loveday blinked, as she put two and two together. “Robin?” 

In her mind, Robin had not grown up, he had stayed bright-eyed and loose toothed and chubby-cheeked, but it had been ten years for all of them. And Robin was a man now. 

A man capable of great evil just like her father. 

He had done this? Her little bird? Who could not go to sleep unless she sang to him goodnight? 

What kind of monster had he become while she was away? 

“Yes! And now they are in danger! Please, we must go at once! No one can be in the valley this night, and yet they are!” The Couer called out, and Loveday (all in attendance for that matter) were surprised to witness the single tear that had snuck past his careful watch and fell down into his beard. 

“We must away.” Loveday said she lifted a gentle hand to her Sir Benjamin’s cheek and tugged until he was looking at her, and not glaring at her father. “We must act! Before moonrise!”

☾

Robin led Maria down to the beach, it was hard to reach, as they had to climb down the cliffside, but they managed. It would have been easier without Maria’s dress, but what was the young lady to do? Strip down to her under things?

Once on the sandy shore, Maria actually took off her shoes and let the sand cover her feet. She gasped in delight at the warmth and the strange sensation of the millions of grains that trickled like water down her toes.

“Have you ever been to the ocean?” Robin asked, and Maria shook her head. “Well, maybe we can come back tomorrow and spend… the whole day here.”

Maria whipped around to face him and the almost shy smile he wore. “I would like that, Robin.”

“Good, now go get rid of those pearls!” 

Maria chuckled as she shook her head. Unbelievable! Such fine jewels, only to be wasted! 

Maria came to the edge of the water, and let the seafoam lap at her ankles, she giggled in delight as she let go of her skirt to unclasp the necklace. The hem of her dress quickly soaked, and the pearls fell into her waiting grasp. 

She pressed them softly to her lips, before tossing them out as far as they would go. 

Then, Maria watched as the pearls sank beneath the waves only to rise again. She furrowed her brow as the sea brought them back to her. 

She turned back, to face him, but he seemed just as confused as she. 

Maria tried once more, and again and again, until the sky had turned pink, and then blue with twilight. She plopped down in the waves, uncaring if she got wet, as she examined the strange pearls. 

“Do you believe me now?” Robin asked, as he squatted next to her. 

“No. They float, so what?”

“Maria, pearls don’t float! If they did, they’d be lining the shore!” 

Maria pushed him and he fell back into the sand, but he quickly scrambled back up. 

“Well, I can’t get rid of them, maybe I shouldn’t.” 

In her ear, Robin gasped sharply, before shaking her shoulder. “Look!” 

Maria tore her gaze away from the pearls to find just what Robin was telling her to look at.

“Oh! I’ve never seen the moon so large! It's beautiful.” 

“Maria! The moon is going to destroy us! The curse is coming true!” 

Maria huffed as she struggled to stand in her heavy dress. “Please, Robin! I know you’re smarter than this! You can’t honestly believe this- this-”

“Maria!” 

But, Robin was too late, the wave came crashing into her, and pulled her down. 

Robin was left on the beach, alone, with the Moon growing closer and closer.

☾

Wrolf was a dog.

He was a great dog!

Only, he wasn’t actually a dog. 

He was a mystical companion, a terrifying and rare black lion! 

But, as the magic faded from the valley, so did his magic. Wrolf didn’t mind being a dog. It was quite nice, and people weren’t as afraid of him. 

He was able to stay inside this nice big house, safe from rain, he was well loved, and oh - oh! - scratched right behind the ear, and sometimes a solid belly rub- 

Well, ahem, Wrolf had grown used to a life of comfort. 

He was rather happy, but every once in a while, some of that old magic returned, and he sprung to new life. 

It had happened, some ten years ago, and it happened once more, a month ago. 

It was as if he had woken up from a long sleep and filled with brand new purpose. 

Not brand new, no, as it was always the same. 

To love the Moon Princess.

It was easy, because no matter who the Moon Princess was, she was always kind, and smelled just as she was supposed to, and he always felt the most loyal to her. 

Renewed, Wrolf waited to meet the new Moon Princess, but she never came. 

Eventually, Wrolf went back to sleep, realising she must still be far away. That happened sometimes, and it would take a few years for her to come back into his life. This was just one of those times. 

But, this was different.

Wrolf had never felt more like himself than he had these past few weeks. That is to say, he never felt more like the ferocious lion he was meant to be, rather than the lapdog he had become. 

The old him, back from the dead, ready to serve his princess. 

Wrolf was sharper, and he could sense the distress from the man who took care of him. But, it wasn’t until the day of the 5000th Moon that Wrolf knew he needed to act. 

Rising from his bed, he raced out of the Manor, his paws carrying him farther than he had gone in a long time. 

Back to the place where it all began.

☾

“Maria!” Robin called again and again, he charged into the waves with little forethought, he had simply thrown his heavy jacket back onto the shore along with his hat, and dove in. 

But it was dark, and the waves were relentless, and he was losing hope. 

“Maria!” He shouted, only to get a mouthful of salty sea water. He spit it out and dove back in, opening his eyes despite the sting. It was too dark, however, and she was wearing a blue dress! 

He never felt stupider, from now on she was only allowed to wear red and white, and if this ever happened again, he would at least be able to find her.

Robin broke through the waves to get a fresh breath of air before going back under. He had swum past the worst and most brutal of the waves, and they no longer crashed into him, but the farther he went out with no sign of Maria filled him rising horror.

Robin kicked his legs, which burned from exertion, and held the air in his lungs as he refused to breath in the saltwater. The moon, so large in the sky, did seem to brighten the water a bit, so it was not pitch back. Robin was almost grateful to the Moon Princess for casting her curse. But, without the curse, they would not be in this predicament, would they? 

No, without the curse, it was quite possible that they would have lived in peace. 

That Loveday and Benjamin would have been married without issue. 

That the Merryweathers and De Noirs could have been great allies. 

That he and Maria could have spent their childhood growing up together rather than despising each other. 

As Robin continued to dive deeper and deeper, his vision began to blacken, though he did not realise it, as his world as so dark to begin with, then, with very little notice, Robin’s eyes did close, and his body, which he had pushed to the point of death, ceased moving, and Robin floated lifelessly in the sea. 

Maria was back on the shore.

The pearls, gone, and a horse was by her side. 

Maria had dismounted quickly, as she tried to find Robin, only to find him… not there. 

“Robin?” She called, and suddenly, he bobbed to the surface. 

Maria’s lungs seized, and she felt strangled. She called his name again and again, but he did not move. He moved, of course, with the waves that tossed him to and fro, but he did not lift his head, or row his arms, or kick his feet to get back to her.

Maria ran back into the sea, the water immediately weighing her skirt down, but she could not stop, she had to get him, lie him on the sand and make him breath.

The horse returned to her side, suddenly it was easier to move, and she cut through the water like a fish. Maria wrapped her arms around Robin’s sodden middle and hoisted him back to the shore. The water aided her, in its own strange way. It remained enough so Maria could drag his weightless body, but drew back, so she was not battling the current, the push and pull. 

Once she had drug him out as fall as she could, she rolled him onto his back, and pressed her ear to his heart. 

It still beat, but just so. It was faint, very faint. 

“Wake up, Robin, please, wake up!” Her lip began to wobble, and she held his face in her hands, cold to the touch and covered in the grains of sand that had once filled her with so much joy. “Please. Listen to me, please, you promised you wouldn’t hurt me! But- but if you don’t wake up, that will hurt me more than anything!” 

But Robin did not listen, and Maria could not stop the racking sobs that overtook her body. 

They started softly enough, her eyes, already soggy from the waves, did not need much more help to spill the saltwater her own body produced for such moments such as these. Then, her breathing began to shake, each one sucked in through her mouth, and out again, ragged and uncontrollable. Her shoulders shook, and her breaths turned into low wails, and her whole body was crying. She recognized this cry.

This pathetic, all-consuming cry. It came upon her when the ones she loved died. 

It happened when her mother passed (Maria had no memories of her mother, only the grief she remembered as her small body trembled) and again when her father was murdered. 

It was hard not to let the sobs consume her, and it was the completely wrong time to realise just how much she loved Robin. 

She pressed her forehead to his, she felt his shallow breaths on her lips until they stopped completely.

“Ro-?”

“Maria!” 

Maria raised her head, and there, coming out from the mouth of a cave, was the Coeur De Noir, as well as two other people she did not know. 

Maria threw her arms around Robin protectively, pulling his body into her lap. 

“How dare you!” She cried. “This is all your fault!” 

The three of them stopped, and while she did not recognise any of them outside of the Coeur De Noir, it was not hard to see her father’s face in her Uncles. And the Coeur’s in the woman’s. 

She had no doubt they were her Uncle, and the old Moon Princess. 

“Maria-” One of them began, but she would not have it. 

“You perpetuate old myths as fact! You live in fantasy! Pearls and Moon Princesses! It has destroyed you! Maybe there is a curse, but it has already come to pass!” She drew in a shaking breath, tears still streamed down her cheeks, but she was angry, perhaps angrier than the first ever Moon Princess. “You are all surrounded by darkness! The petty need to see one family destroyed in favour of the other!” 

The man who must have been her Uncle stepped forward. “Maria-”

“No! Don’t you dare come near me!” She tightened her hold around Robin’s shoulder, smushing his body to hers. “I have heard the stories! Of how you were supposed to marry the Coeur’s daughter! But you turned her away! And- and now look…”

“Maria, who is that?” Loveday asked, because who else could she have been? 

No one now. Maria thought, not a stupid boy wearing feathers, or the son of a lord, or even a horrible kidnapper. 

“You should all be ashamed of yourselves!” She cried out, and bowed her head to Robin’s, and rocked gently. 

Sir Benjamin breathed deeply, he looked to Loveday, and held her hand in his. 

“Coeur De Noir… I would like permission to marry your daughter.” 

“What?” Loveday popped, the question completely unexpected. 

“Maria is right, we have been blinded by foolish pride. And while we have yet to meet, I am afraid she has a greater understanding of my character than she has a right to.”

Maria sniffled, as she tucked her chin onto Robin’s shoulder. 

The Coeur De Noir, pursing his lips, looked to the young girl who had come in and spun Castle Black on its head. “Only if my daughter may forgive me my hatred.” 

Loveday ran to her father’s side and enveloped him in the first hug either had received in the past ten years. “Oh father, you have so much more love in you than you know!”

“Then… yes! Yes, I bless this union! In fact, I bless every Merryweather and De Noir interaction! From here on out, there shall be no more war! No more hatred, and… no more pride.” 

The Coeur De Noir reached out and shook Sir Benjamin’s hand. 

Maria squeezed her eyes, and once again missed the glowing light that came as a result of magic, as the Moon’s brilliant glow burst out across the valley. 

All she knew was one moment, Robin lay motionless in her arms, and the next, he had wrapped a single arm around her waist.

“Were you worried, Princess?” 

Maria tore herself away from him. “But-! How-?” 

“Magic.” He said teasingly, despite it being the truth. 

Robin hadn’t been all the way dead, as Maria assumed, only mostly- oh nevermind. 

His heart rate had slowed, and his breathing came so incrementally, that Maria could not feel it. Of course, if it had not been for the breaking of the curse, and the Moon returning order and all magic to Moonacre Valley, he would have been a goner! 

“Robin!” Loveday called, and she ran to his side. 

She knelt down on the other side, and touched his cheek. 

“Oh look, you’re still alive.” Robin remarked. “Hello.”

“Hello, Little Bird.” She said, and kissed his forehead. 

The Coeur De Noir came and knelt by Robin’s head. “What in hell’s name happened?”

Robin shrugged. “Ask the Moon Princess, she was the one I was saving.”

The three adults turned to look at her, but before Maria was finished rolling her eyes there was a mighty roar. 

“Hell’s teeth!” Sir Benjamin cried as a black lion ran out onto the beach. 

He bounded forward, a bit late, and came to rest besides Maria nonetheless, purring mightily in his throat as he pressed his head into her side. 

“Come on, Princess, you have to believe in it now!” Robin said, but Maria scoffed. 

“Black lions are not magical! They have an abundance of melanism!”

“Did you get rid of the pearls?” Robin asked, he was still lying in Maria’s lap, and yes he was more than well enough to get up, but you see, he didn’t want to. 

Maria whipped her head around the beach, looking to see if the pearls would wash up somewhere, but there was no sign of them. Perhaps she had done her job, and they had been returned to the sea. 

“Yes, I think so.”

“Good, let's go ho-” Robin blinked. He lifted himself up onto his elbows. 

He was going to say, let's go home, but remembered that Castle Black was not her home. 

If anything, it had been her prison.

And, well, there was no reason for her to be there any longer, was there? 

“Yes, Maria, let’s do go home.” Sir Benjamin said. “You have- you have no idea how long I’ve been trying to find you.”

Maria’s face softened considerably as she looked at Sir Benjamin. 

“I- I wanted so badly to meet you, I’m- I’m sorry I wasn’t able to come to you sooner.” And Sir Benjamin began to leak. 

Maria lifted herself out of the sand, using the lion’s back to help her stand, and found herself being tightly held by her Uncle. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Uncle.” At long last, Sir Benjamin was able to hold his niece.

The lion began encircling them, rubbing his head against them and purring loudly. 

“Well there we are then, nothing more to be done.” He said as he pulled back and smiled down at her. 

Sir Benjamin was lying of course, there was much to be done! But, there’s still one more chapter, isn’t there? 

[bedofthistles]

Museum

The De Noirs to Maria: stop being so mean to mean, or I swear to God I'm gonna fall in love with you!

The Eastern Chambers had been swept, mopped, de-cobwebbed, dusted, and aired out as best a room could with a single window that was little more than a slit someone forgot to mortar up than a window. 

And the whole time, Robin stood stationed by the door. His eyes locked on the Moon Princess. 

She was adorable. 

As soon as they had marched back into the room, two men were already there, taking down the boards. They were about to leave when Maria cried out: “Oh I think not!” And ordered them to clean the room. 

The two men had stared at her in disbelief. 

They looked to him, to confirm the order, and Robin simply nodded. 

“It is filthy and disgusting!” She declared as she followed them in. “Look at the state of this place! There is not a single clean thing in this room, and if I am to stay here I shall like it to be pristine.” Then, she changed her wording, when they didn’t seem to understand. “Clean! Spotless!” 

“Right away, ma’am!” They said, and Robin bit his lip before he laughed out loud. 

The two men returned with three maids and enough cleaning supplies to scour the whole castle, and began their work. 

Maria did not sit idly by, oh no, she shouted commands befitting a general. “The bedding please, it's thin as parchment, and moth-bitten.” Then, “Do you see that, up there? On the ceiling? It's an orphanage for arachnids, any long stick will get the job done!” And of course, “Every step I take brings up more dust! Please, if someone knows how to manage a broom? And perhaps a mop, that would be oh so appreciated!” 

Soon, there was an army of his father’s servants looking to Maria for instruction. 

“What’s going on in here?”

Robin turned his head, even as his eyes remained glued to her, as Richard, Henry, and David entered the once closed off chamber. “The Princess.” 

“Annie said there was a big commotion. Is she allowed to do this?” Richard asked, crossing his arms as a smile split across his face. 

“I mean, really, how am I supposed to wear these? Take them all out at once! Have them laundered and returned, if you please!” Maria said, and two maids began emptying her wardrobe. 

“I’m not sure,” Robin shrugged. “But I’m not stopping her.”

“She’s certainly whipped them into shape better than Dulac has. Or even your father.” Henry said, his voice a whisper, as admitting such things was mutinous. No matter how true.

“Speaking of my father-” Robin said, pushing himself off the wall, he beckoned the boys to follow him outside into the hall. 

His own chambers were across from hers, and his father’s was at the end of the hall, given that Loveday’s old room was, wouldn't you know it, in the family wing. Robin, however, wanted to keep his sights on her, and didn’t enter his room. They just needed to be away from the nosy servants. 

“New duties, mates.” Robin said, his eyes flashing to each of theirs in turn before returning to where Maria was berating one of his father’s men. “Father doesn’t want Maria to be out of our sights.”

“Our sights? Our sights?” Richard asked. “As in, we have to watch her?”

Robin nodded. “It shouldn’t be too hard. Just make sure she doesn’t leave that room.” 

“No.” David said. 

“No?”

“No! I’m not watchin’ her. It's your fault she’s here!” David said. 

“You can’t say no to the Coeur.” Robin said. 

“I can and I have and I will. Besides, I have too much on my plate already! I’m not adding ‘watch silly girl to my list’.” David crossed his arms, and settled Robin with a glare. 

“You have to.” Robin said. “No arguing. Look, it won’t be that bad, will divide it up evenly-”

“Evenly!” David shook his head. “No, here’s what we’ll do.” David gestured to himself and then Henry and Richard. “We’ll watch her during the day, and you can watch her all night. ‘Cuz I sure as hell ain’t waking up in the middle of the night.”

“Oh c’mon-”

“I second!” Richard said, flinging his hand up into the air. 

Then, David, Richard and Robin turned to Henry. 

Henry sighed, “Sorry Robin, if I disagree they’ll make me take the night shift.”

Robin rolled his eyes, but at least they were complying. “Fine, I’ll make it work. You can divide up the day between yourselves, I’m going to go report to my father. But- Maria knows about the tunnels.”

“What? Robin!” Richard groaned, as Henry scoffed and David rolled his eyes, “Of course she does!”

“It was the only way to hide her when Merryweather came by the other day! I had to hide her.” Robin said, but shook his head. “So, she knows, and if she’s smart enough, she’ll try to use that to escape.” 

“She’s smart enough.” David said. “No doubt about that.”

☾

At long last, Maria’s room was spotless, and underneath all the dust, she saw how beautiful it was. The walls had been painted with pale and faded paints, but mimicked that of a garden in full bloom. Roses, iris, geraniums, crawling ivy. The tapestry that had been hung on the wall had been taken out and beaten and now boasted bright and beautiful threadwork. Her bedding had been replaced with a summer appropriate quilt - red and black in color, but she digressed. Even the powders on her vanity had been replaced and updated. 

“Robin, I- oh.” She bit her tongue when she was confronted with the Highwayman from the other day rather than Robin himself. “Hello, may I ask where Robin has gone off to?”

“To report to his father. He’ll be back by nightfall.” 

Maria nodded and clasped her hands behind her back, her fingers playing with the trailing ribbons. “I see. My name is Maria Merryweather, though, I suspect you already knew that.”

The boy smiled, and nodded. “Yes, my name is Henry.” 

“It’s a pleasure to formally meet my other kidnapper.” She smiled, but Henry was able to identify the sarcasm her words were dripping with. “Tell me, why did you do it?”

Henry blinked in surprise, but before he answered, Maria was off once more. 

“Is it because you too believe me a Moon Princess, or the Moon Princess, I should say, since it sounds like there is only one at a time. Though, I still have no idea what makes any of you think I am the Moon Princess.” 

Henry opened his mouth, but he was not quick enough. 

“Countless young girls were just in here! Any of them could have been Moon-worthy, but no, it must be me! Somehow, I think it has little to do with me being Moon Princess and more with me being a Merryweather! Though, besides the silly story Robin told me, I can’t imagine why there would be so much discord-”

“It’s not a silly story.”

“Pardon?” Maria paused in her ranting.

“It’s not a silly story.” Henry repeated, voice stronger even in the face of such a ferocious little lioness. “It’s our history.”

Maria pursed her lips. But of course, they all believed it. They had all fallen victim to some shared delirium, like those people who danced themselves to death in France. The De Noirs were French after all, so maybe it was a French thing. But they were in England, and the English were sensible, if nothing else, so Maria was determined to get this knot untangled and everyone set right. 

“Please, tell me your version of the curse. I’d love to hear it.” Maria nodded to Henry. She sat primly on the edge of her bed and waited for him to speak. 

“It began long ago, nearly four hundred years have passed since the Moon Princess cast her curse.” Henry spoke, his voice soft despite how large and lumbering he was. “A maiden blessed by the Moon, and loved by Nature. She was given the gift of the Pearls, which reflected like a mirror, men’s hearts and the truth that resided within.”

Already a discrepancy. 

Maria supposed the Pearls could do more than just grant wishes, but that was the thing, wasn’t it? Myths and legends changed with time and tongues. The storyteller allowed to add whatever pretty flourishes they wanted. 

“The two men who ruled peacefully over the Valley, her father and Sir Wrolf Merryweather, each wanted the Pearls for their own use. To rule over the land. The Pearls revealed their hearts' intent to the Princess, and they fought viciously over the pearls. Though neither died on the other’s sword, the Princess knew peace would never be theirs. She called upon Nature, bidding it do her will, and cast the curse. Great darkness would fall upon the land until a pure hearted girl came to the Valley, and fixed what was broken.” 

“Finished?” 

Henry blushed, but nodded. “Yes.”

Maria shook her head as she stood and hovered to the tapestry. It depicted a moon, shining down brightly over a churning sea. In the waves, silver horses weaved in and out of the water. 

“Why does the Coeur De Noir want the Pearls? What power do they possess?” 

“My mother always said the pearls contained all magic.” 

“Oh do they?” Maria rolled her eyes. “Such a shame they are lost.”

Maria cast a glare over her shoulder, but Henry was staring straight ahead, and it seemed the conversation was over. 

Henry left shortly thereafter, only to be replaced with the blond one. 

Richard, he introduced himself to her, bowing lowly and kissing her knuckles. 

“You know, my governess warned me about boys like you.” She said, “That usually they come with syphilis.” 

Richard jumped back, “I-! I don’t have-! I’m in perfect-! You take that back.”

“No.” Maria smirked. “But if you would please tell me about the Curse over this Valley, I may apologise.”

“The Curse? With the Pearls?” Richard blew out air between his lips as he crossed his arms and ankles to settle against the wall. “Simple. The De Noirs and Merryweather’s got into a big ole fight about who got possession of the Pearls, and the Moon Princess cursed them.”

Maria blinked, oh good lord. She didn’t think she’d ever ask Richard anything ever again. 

What kind of answer was that? 

It was even worse than Robin’s stuttering tale about the tragedy, and Henry at least told her what the pearls did! 

“Well?” Richard asked. 

“Well, what?” 

“You insulted my integrity, I told you about the Pearls.” 

Maria blinked owlishly, before crossing her arms. “You think I’m going to apologise when that is what you offered me?”

Richard shrugged, “I’m no muse-”

“Clearly! It's possible you’ve even been cursed by the muses!” 

Then, Maria went to the bookshelf and pulled one down at random, and began to read it. 

“They say the Pearls were lost forever, and only a true Moon Princess would be able to find them.”

“And do what? Let the Coeur De Noir have it so he can take over the valley?” Maria sent him a dry look. “What do the stories say about breaking the curse? Or what happens when you don’t?”

Richard shrugged. “Ma always said the Valley would be plunged into eternal darkness.”

Maria snapped the book closed. “Really? And you want this to come true?”

Richard shrugged. “Well, we’re not really in the Valley, so-”

“So you think you just won’t be affected?” Maria shook her head. “And how is the curse broken?”

“I think you have to throw the pearls into the sea, return them to Nature.” 

“Throw them into the sea?” Maria lifted a single haughty brow and went back to her book. “I’m sure that’s the best I will get out of you, so I apologise for the implication that you are riddled with disease.” 

“Accepted!” He said, with a bright grin on his face. 

Richard did his best to engage her in conversation, and she did her best to ignore him, but then he asked about London, and she couldn’t resist such a topic. 

“Sounds stuffy.” He said. 

“Stuffy! London is perfect in every way!” 

“Sure, but what about freedom?”

“Freedom?” Maria had taken position at her vanity, she was a good portion of the way through her book, even with Richard’s inane attempts at conversation. 

“It sounds like London doesn’t even have blue skies.” 

Maria sighed, “What does London need blue skies for?”

“Beauty.” 

Maria glared, and Richard smirked, but after that, he left her alone. 

At six o’clock, a servant came and dropped off two meals, though it seemed Robin did not have the opportunity to make her something more tolerable, for on the tray were two bowls of the awful stew. 

Richard tucked into it, but Maria set it aside. 

Richard told her a few - horrible and lewd - jokes to pass the time, even sang a song, though he was a terrible singer, and his voice cracked when he tried to sing notes that were out of his register. 

Then, at nine, the door opened and Robin slipped in. 

“Oh thank goodness you’re here! Please remove him at once!” Maria yelled over Richard, who’s singing only grew louder and louder, more shrill with each line. 

Richard laughed as Robin kicked him in his side. 

“Oh, she’s all yours Robin! Quite the handful.” Richard jumped to his feet as he stepped outside. 

Maria sighed in relief as she massaged her temples, and did not hear Robin approach her, his footsteps too quiet. 

“You didn’t eat-”

“Ah!” Maria jumped out of her skin, as Robin had spoken right into her ear. “Heavens above, you are the quietest person I have ever-!”

“You didn’t eat, Maria.”

“No, I refuse to eat that slop!” 

“It’s cold now, but I can ring up a servant to bring you-”

“Robin, please, I can’t eat that!”

“Why not?”

Maria crossed her arms, and when she dared look up at him, she, unfortunately, met his eyes. 

Soft and lovely, she always thought villains had cruel eyes, sharp and unyielding, it made looking up at Robin unbearable.

But, what Maria had yet to realize was just why Robin was so hard to look at. 

Looking at Robin made her heart pound, it made her tongue feel thick in her mouth, made her palms sweaty, and made her lose all thought, she could hardly argue with him in such conditions! 

Her symptoms only worsened since the day he had stolen her from her carriage. 

At first, there had been a slight stutter in her heart, a malignant palpitation she had attributed to the fact that she had been stolen. But time spent with Robin proved this to be false; it was not the adrenaline making her heart beat so fast, but Robin himself. 

When she had come face to face with the Coeur that morning in the dungeons, her heart had spiked, but calmed relatively quickly. And when she faced the other boys, Henry and Richard to be exact, her heart remained steady. 

Now, in that moment, with her sitting at the vanity, and him leaning over her shoulder, her heart was getting away from her, and she wondered if he could hear it. 

Maria had always been quick-witted, she was intelligent, and Ms. Heliotrope made sure to tell her as often as she was able. She always impressed her father’s company with how well she was able to keep up with their adult conversations. But she was rapidly losing composure whenever Robin was near, and her sharp tongue had stopped being so sharp. 

Then, were the matter of her palms, which had never acted in such an inappropriate manner before! She kept wiping them against her skirt, playing it off as if she were smoothing wrinkles, when in reality it was to dry them. 

This sickness only ever appeared in Robin’s presence. 

The disease? A simple crush. You figured that out, of course, but Maria was quite stubborn, and refused to admit to herself that she had fallen in such a way. 

Feelings were unladylike, afterall, it was best to always mean cool and calm, but how could she remain cool and calm when he was looking at her with his eyes! Such a soft expression, such a beautiful-

Maria found herself leaning forward, and stopped herself just short of making a fool of herself. She tore herself away from the vanity stool and strode over to the slim window, allowing the cool breeze to touch her face. 

She was surely going to die, her heart was going to keel over at this rate! Maria thought that would be good, a nice and easy escape to this torture. 

“It’s not that bad, Princess.” 

His voice made her skin prickle with gooseflesh! Perhaps she needed to lie down. Or kiss him.

No! Nope, no. Lying down would certainly do her wonders! 

Or even a walk outside, to get some fresh air and stretch her legs… 

“I’m quite tired, I think I’ll retire.”

“Sure.”

Maria looked over her shoulder, and he had shifted to sit against the vanity. “Leave.”

“Can’t.”

Maria’s mouth fell open. “Whatever do you mean? You don’t intend to stay here-”

“I do. You heard my father, we need to keep an eye on you.”

“I- I did not think- I need privacy!” 

“I’ll close my eyes.” 

She was close to crying again. 

Its not as if she wanted to, truely, but this was still far from an ideal situation. 

And of course, Robin caught on quite quick to her change in mood. 

After all, he had come down with the same bug. 

It can be very contagious, at times, and he just so happened to be patient zero. 

“Ah gee.” He said. “Your soup is colder than my dearly departed mother, why don't I go down and get you another bowl? Can’t go to bed on an empty stomach.”

Then, Robin picked up the bowl and marched out of the room. 

In the hallway, with the door shut between them, he cursed himself. He knew he was being foolish, since the moment he got down on his knees and picked her strawberries. He wasn’t in the right state of mind. 

He would never admit why, however. 

The De Noirs were many things: they were rude, degenerates, lawbreakers, crude, spiteful and many, many other wondrous qualities. What De Noirs were not, however, were lovesick fools. 

They let the Merryweather’s have those sticky feelings. 

It had been said that the Coeur De Noir had not shed a single tear at his first wife’s funeral, and took another bride before the mourning period was through. Then, sighed in irritation when she died not shortly after. His current consort was the newest in a long line of consorts because he aptly refused to marry any more women who would simply go off and die on him. 

His father had even told him, countless times, that once he reached a marriageable age, a betrothal would not be too far behind. 

That’s what the De Noir’s did. Fathers argued, traded chickens and goats (sometimes cows, if she were beautiful enough) and the result was the furtherance of the Clan. No messy feelings involved. 

No hammering hearts, or pounding heads, no slack-jaws or bitten lips, no weak knees, no sweaty palms, no longing stares, no love. 

But hey, maybe that’s why they were so bitter. 

Actually, no. 

From what Robin had been told about love, it was a holy feeling, the song of muses and old gods, a power that made you feel powerful, only, Robin felt anything but powerful. 

He felt a rotten mess! In utter disarray! How was this supposed to feel good? He felt awful! Sick, mostly. Each second made him more and more irritated with himself. 

Maria was no better. She knew her time was limited, but she couldn’t help but stare listlessly at the door he had disappeared though. 

It was honestly kind of pathetic. 

It’s even morally correct, when you think about it. 

He will always be the one that kidnapped her. So, whatever Maria was feeling in her heart, needed to stop. 

And, Maria reminded herself, she was far too young for such feelings! Perhaps at sixteen, the youngest she could be out in society, but that would not be for two years and a month. 

Maria shook her head, to get a hold of herself. She had only so much time, and getting undressed was bound to be tricky. 

Then, Maria paused. 

There was no one watching her. 

And, if she wanted to, she could sneak out through the tunnels.

They had given her fresh candles, and matches, so it would not be dark. But, she wouldn’t know where she was going. The tunnels twisted and turned, she had not seen it, but she felt it with each step as Robin guided her. 

When Robin returned, Maria was dressed in a plain white nightgown, brushing her hair to braid.

“Here.” He said, placing the fresh bowl next to her. “Try it. It’s not as bad as you think.”

“What’s in it?” Maria asked, leaning away from it as it stank up her air. 

“Cream, mushrooms, some other vegetables, carrots, I think. Fish. We add to it continuously. So its always changing, but those are the basics. Go on, you owe me.”

Maria looked up at him in disbelief. Of all the arrogant things to say! 

He was right, of course, but Maria was stubborn. 

“I didn’t have to leave the room, could’ve just turned my back, and who knows, maybe tomorrow I won’t be able to give you the same-” 

But whatever he was about to say was cut off, as Maria shut him up by taking the spoon and taking a mouthful. 

His face turned… earnest, and it seemed he was eager for her reaction. 

Maria had plugged her nose in a rather childish maneuver, but once it was inside of her mouth, the jarring and repugnant smell disappeared. 

And to her great disappointment, it was good. 

“It’s alright.” She shrugged, before taking another spoonful.

“Just alright? Oh no, that won’t do.” Robin smirked. “You love it. I can read it on your face.” 

Maria did the polite thing and glared at him. “You must be illiterate then.” And she took a third spoonful. 

“You can’t hide from me, Princess.”

“I can and I will!” Maria took the bowl of soup and moved away from the vanity, despite it being her only table, she successfully turned her back on Robin, and scarfed the rest of it down. 

“My my, is that the sound of a dainty princess of a glutinous beast?” 

“You have some nerve!” She cried out, wiping her chin as it dripped with cream. “If I were in London, and I met a boy like you, I’d-!” 

“You’d what?” 

Maria turned back around, and there it was again. That earnest expression that seemed so real, he almost had her convinced that he was hanging off her every word. 

“I’d set Ms. Heliotrope on you, for one thing.”

“Ooh, not Ms. Heliotrope.” He held up his hands as if in a fright. 

Maria rolled her eyes before setting the empty bowl on the vanity. “I’ve gotten enough bruises from her ruler not to take her lightly. And she’d do much worse to you!” 

“I’m sure she would, Princess. Why don’t you get some sleep?”

“Why? I’m not tired, all I’ve done is walk in circles in this little room! It's hardly enough to make one sleepy.” 

Robin shrugged, “Or, you could talk to me more.”

Maria feigned a yawn, “Goodness, it's getting so late, I must retire.” 

☾

Maria nearly screamed when she woke up.

Well, she did, she just didn’t scream as loud as she could have. 

The main problem was the boy hanging over her. It was not the boy she was thinking endlessly about (who had even snuck into her dreams) but a different boy. The crabby, sullen looking boy who Maria wanted nothing to do with.

But, of course, he had his head craned over her bed, poking her face with a rather concerned (as concerned as this boy could get) expression slightly pushing at his features. 

David had come in two hours ago, at seven, and was promptly concerned about why the Moon Princess had not yet risen. 

It was entirely the other boy’s (the one she was thinking endlessly about) fault. Despite Maria tucking herself into bed at a proper hour, and Robin settling into a corner near the door (a position that allowed him to keep an eye on Maria and both doors) to try and get as much sleep as he felt comfortable with, neither did.

They simply talked. 

Chatted. 

Conversed. 

The way two people who do not know each other, yet feel as if they have known each other all their lives do. Wait, scratch that, not two people who feel as if they have known each other already, rather, it was very much like two people who had been waiting for each other their whole lives, finally meeting in the most unexpected way imaginable. 

Neither would admit it, but they wanted to know every last detail about each other. 

When Maria did fall asleep, it was in the wee hours of the morning. 

So now, the crabby and sullen David was concerned she might have died. 

After all, it was well past the waking time for most of the De Noirs. 

When Maria screamed, David screamed. 

Maria rolled away and fell out of bed, while David jumped back and pulled his dagger. 

Which led to Robin (who, after such little sleep, had retired to his room across the hall) bursting in, only half awake. 

“Don’t kill her, David!” Robin shouted, at the same time Maria shrieked, “What is wrong with all of you!”, at the same time that David cursed out, “Jesus, I thought you were dead!”

It took several moments to get everyone calmed down, but once they did, Maria made them both leave the room so she could change. 

David began to disagree, but Robin simply pulled him along. 

“I don’t think she should be left alone-” David stated, before being cut off as Maria entered the hallway. Somehow managing to dress herself, style her hair, and accessorize in the minute Robin and David were in the hall. 

“You believe in the curse as well, I assume?” She asked David with an unamused set expression. 

“‘Course.”

“Magic Pearls? Moon Princess? Decimation of the Valley?”

“All that and more.” 

Maria sighed, “I require fresh air and sunlight.”

David cocked his head like a bird. “Sorry, what did you just say?”

Maria jutted out her chin. “A walk. Out of doors. Before I deteriorate inside.” 

“I- You- Robin!” 

Robin shrugged, his hands lifted in defeat as he turned back to his room and shut the door. 

Maria turned to walk down the hall, the long white gown trailing behind her on the stone, her boots clicking with each measured step. “Come along! Before I figure out how to escape!” 

David cursed under his breath before chasing after her. 

☾

The Coeur De Noir could practically taste the Valley. 

Soon, it would be his! He had everything: the Moon Princess, loyal minions, a Dulac. 

Well, nearly everything. 

He no longer had his most beloved daughter, or the Moon Pearls, and he feared his son would be lost, just as his daughter had been, but he did not let those things bring him down! The Destruction of the MErryweathers was close at hand! And he would have a front row seat for the closing act!

He was flying Odile, sending her out and back again so she could spread her wings when he heard her voice again. 

Her voice. 

The Moon Princess.

Who was supposed to be locked up!

The Coeur turned around just in time to see Maria and the young DuBois boy strolling - strolling! - through the courtyard. 

Odile screeched just in time for the Coeur to raise his arm for her to land on. 

Then, he watched as his son ran to catch up to them both. It was clear he had just risen as he wasn’t even wearing his hat or any of his scarves. (Three, the boy wore three scarves, and while he had told him that was too many scarves, the boy was at that age where he just refused to listen to sense!) 

Well, he would put an end to this!

“Good morrow, Princess!” He shouted, when he was a few steps behind them, he was hoping to startle her, but to his surprise, it was the boys who jumped. 

The Moon Princess simply turned back around and curtsied to him. “Le Coeur.”

Oh! Her accent was perfect. 

That was besides the point. 

“It’s a lovely morning, sir, and I decided to take a walk.”

“You decided?” He asked, almost- amused. 

Maria nodded shallowly. “Your accommodations are much more suitable now, but as the room is little more than a stone box; I found I lacked for air.”

“Oh, and we can’t have you lacking for anything!” He said, his voice a false sincerity. 

“Sir, if I may?” And Maria stepped forward, despite the boy’s efforts to hold her back. 

“Please.” The Coeur, curious as to what she had to say.

“I do not think you and your lot are particularly good kidnappers, or guards for that matter.” 

The Couer stopped himself from chuckling, but a faint smile rose on his mouth. Hopefully, his beard was enough to hide it. “No?”

“No, sir, I doubt very much that you have ever done this before.”

Then, he did chuckle. “You would be correct in your assumption. Tell me, how did you come to such a conclusion?”

He began to walk forward, and Maria took her cue to walk with him. 

“For one, my hands were tied in front of me, rather than behind my back. Second-”

His son and the DuBois boy trailed behind him, and he could feel their nervous energy. The Coeur fed off it, enjoying their discomfort more than anything, but at the same time, he could not help but feel the young lady’s gravitational pull. 

Perhaps, because of her predicament, she felt she no longer had to grace them with kindness and consideration, as the Coeur knew most ladies restricted themselves to. She was haughty, defiant, rude, and had no issue complaining to him about how he ran his castle. 

“-they looked at me as if I were insane! But, I would expect a servant would know how to dust the high ceilings! My father’s servants certainly knew how to complete their duties without issue.” She held her chin high, and kept her eyes forward, her steps were not too quick, and he had slowed to match her. She was a small little thing, but she reminded him so much of his late wife, he could not help but feel sentimental. 

“Lads,” He said after a moment, “I am sure you have something more important to do other than dawdle.” 

The Coeur watched as both Robin and David’s eyes widened. 

“Sir, I’m watching over the Princess-”

“Yes, I have it handled, now go! Make yourselves useful.” He dismissed them, and turned back to Maria as if nothing had happened. “Do go on, my dear.”

Maria smiled and did just as he instructed. “I suppose I could tell you how you ought to improve, but that would only make me suffer more, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, I suppose it would. Princess, why don’t you come with me?” He said, before turning sharply and returning to the castle. 

“Oh, I was not ready to return to my quarters-”

“No, no, my dear, I have something else to show you.”

Maria gave him a discerning look, before she nodded. Then, the Coeur De Noir offered her his arm, and she took it. 

Once inside, the Coeur led her to a small room that had been added decades before. 

While the Castle was falling apart, this had been the Coeur De Noir’s attempt to make it more livable for his wife. 

His second wife.

The one he loved. 

His first wife had been an arrangement. Just as all Coeur’s are tasked to find a wife before the age of twenty-five, his father had found him a suitable partner. 

But, she was not the woman he had loved. 

“Princess, if I may tell you a story?”

Maria sighed, “I have heard enough fairytales to last me a lifetime.”

“Oh no! This one is true, I promise.”

Maria’s head whipped around to his and an odd look grew on her face. “Very well.”

“You may think me very old to have a son as young as I do.”

Maria shook her head, “No, sir, I know many old men with young brides.” 

The Coeur laughed, as she had said it with such disdain. “My first wife, I took as a young man, and she produced for me a beautiful daughter.”

“Loveday?”

The Coeur froze, but cleared his throat. “Yes.”

“Did she pass?”

The Coeur’s eyes fell to the floor rather shamefully. No, she was not dead, but there was no hope that he would ever see her again, so she may as well have been. “As you may well know, I need a son to one day lead the De Noir Clan.”

The Coeur paused before a wooden door, the iron wrought with his own hands, the door carved with ivy he had carved himself. He watched as Maria’s eyes devoured the door, and he smiled, just as his lovely Jenny Wren had. 

He opened the door and ushered her inside the barely used greenhouse.

It was kept, yes, but rarely used. Just by himself and Robin. 

Maria gasped, and her hand fell away from his arm. She walked in and brushed her hands against the many blooming plants, smelling roses and admiring the fountain.

“When my first wife passed, I took a second.” The Coeur sat down on the bench before the fountain. “She was the daughter of the trapper, and had not taken a husband. She had grown old, past a marriageable age, and took on her father’s business when he himself became decrepit.”

Maria turned, her hands behind her back, as she gave him her attention. It was rather sweet, and the Coeur recognized the return of the London Lady. And the fact that Maria was, perhaps, showing him some respect. “She was my childhood sweetheart, I loved her, but she was not my chosen bride, as her status was too low.”

“So, you married her after the passing of your first wife?”

The Coeur smiled and nodded. 

“How? If she was still only a lowly trapper. And a spinster!” 

The Coeur laughed. “My father had passed, leaving me Coeur, and I was able to do whatever I wanted.” 

Maria grinned. 

“I built her this green house as a courting gift. She was pregnant within the first year of our marriage, but she did not survive the birth.”

Maria’s grin faded, and she came to sit beside him. 

The Coeur was old, and not used to pity, but he accepted it from her. 

“That must have been terribly hard on you.” Maria said.

“It was.” The Coeur patted her hand. “But, she gave me my son, and I never took another wife.”

Maria looked back out to the greenhouse, the revelation opened her eyes and she took it with a fresh perspective. 

The Coeur told her many more stories about his wife, and the relationship they had kept over the years, the secret letters, the acceptance that they would never marry. The guilt he felt when his first wife passed and he felt nothing but joy. 

It was perhaps not the afternoon he should have spent. Talking with a prisoner - she was right, they were terrible at this - and showing her the parts of his heart that were still bleeding and red, and not charred and blackened, but he did. 

☾

Maria’s days began to dissolve into each other. 

She woke to David, who was traded out for Henry, and then Richard. She was able to bully David into taking her wherever she wanted in the Castle. She had since discovered a library, the kitchens, the grand hall (where the Coeur De Noir invited her to sit with them at lunch), a grand ballroom, and a music room. No matter where she was, the boys were always on time for their rotations, and she found she didn’t quite mind them. David was sharp and clever, and could keep up with her intellectual remarks. Henry was kind, and easy to trick, all she had to do was pout, and she had him wrapped around her finger. Richard was all talk, and all Maria had to do was talk bigger, and it seemed he liked to get in a spot of trouble every now and then. 

Robin came at night, with stew, or strawberries, or fresh greens, or bread. He left her alone for fifteen minutes to change for the night, and when he returned she was settled between her sheets. He settled in for the night as well, but each day he inched closer and closer until he was right beside her bed, just a hair’s width away. 

From there, they talked and talked and talked until their throats were dry. 

The Coeur De Noir, when he was able, took a shine to Maria, and led her around the Castle, showing the tapestries, the broken stained-glass windows that once displayed their proud history, and the hall of portraits of all the Coeurs and their families. 

Maria had argued with the cook about the smell of the stew, she made sure at least two maids returned to her room by the end of the week to clean it once more, she had even gone toe to toe with Dulac about how he shouldn’t bring a loaded pistol inside. 

And soon, it was the end of July, and August came creeping in. 

[a-winters-child]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Little oneshot...not quite for Moonacre Week since it doesn't fit the themes but in honour of it!!

[bedofthistles]

Strawberries and Mint

It's good soup

“Princess, I heard you weren’t eating.” Robin came up to the cell and leaned against it, his arm somewhere above his head and one ankle crossed behind the other. (One might know this as a common flirting technique, cleverly called ‘leaning’, it's a very masculine form of flirting, in which a man opens up his body, raises his arm above his head to make himself appear taller, and leans forward, usually crowarding a woman. When done correctly, and by the right person, the effect is one of offering protection, cutting off the rest of the world so that it's just the two of you. When done incorrectly, it's annoying, claustrophobic, and chauvinistic. So be careful, and use the lean appropriately, lest come off as an overbearing he-man.) Robin, in this specific moment, was not flirting (consciously), he was trying to evoke a more predatory stance, like a bear. What more, leaning as a technique doesn’t reach its full potential when there’s a fucking door in the way. 

But, nevermind that. 

Maria had been, to put it politely, stubborn. 

Her absolute refusal to eat the gruel they brought her could be heard all the way to the Coeur’s office, and probably all the way to Moonacre Manor. 

She had called it: a disgusting slop that would not even be sniffed by dogs. It looked rotten, poisonous, toxic, and had a sweating, greasy veneer that would most-likely coat the insides of her stomach and then destroy her lining. Most likely made from old stockings, the rotten tomato they had thrown at her, and mire.

This shouting was almost drowned out by the growls of her stomach. 

In truth it was a pretty good stew, it wasn’t pretty, but it was packed with nutrition, and she hurt the cook’s feelings when he heard. Almost all of the De Noir’s were insulted, as that was their favorite dish, and they had tried, and failed, to recreate it at home, many times.

Robin, was a little insulted himself, as he was one of those who liked that stew, but then he remembered. 

Loveday had hated that stew, as well.

Robin wasn’t really allowed to remember his sister, she was as good as dead, and her memory had been erased from Castle Black. Her room was boarded up, and a place no one was allowed to enter. Even just the mention of her name was enough to get one sentenced to the stocks. (And yes, the De Noir’s still had stocks). 

Robin did his very best to not remember Loveday, but sometimes - and the mind is funny in this way - memories popped without him meaning to. 

Like in this instance, Loveday turning her nose up at the stew, and eating- 

“I have an alternative.” He said.

Maria had tucked herself away in a dark corner of the dungeon. She had her thighs up to her chest, and her face buried in her knees, and her eyes were not filled with tears, because she cried herself dry. It was nearing nightfall, and she was tired, stressed, hungry, aching in many places that had never ached before, and above all she didn’t want to have to look at Robin ever again. 

So, she didn’t answer what was obviously a cruel and unjust taunt. 

“Strawberries. And mint, as- uh- a garnish.” 

Maria knit her brows together in confusion, and lifted her head just enough to peer out over her folded arms. Robin leaned (not flirting) against the cell and offered a wooden bowl, he adjusted his hold so that she could see the tops of bright red strawberries. 

He tilted his head, his eyes searching hers, his mouth not in a twisted and mocking grin, but a slim line. 

Maria sniffed. “You probably hid the gruel under it.”

“Please, just listen before you pitch another fit? I’m only doing it to shut you up.”

Maria fumed as she shot up off the floor. “Do you have any manners? Or were you raised specifically to be a great, big oaf?” 

Robin scoffed, “You should see yourself, Princess! Insulting our favorite food, that's how you be polite!” 

“There is no way that is anyone's favorite food.” She crossed her arms defiantly. 

“It’s my favorite food.” 

Maria pursed her lips. “You’re lying.”

“Come hold this.” He said, and pushed the bowl through the heart-shaped window. 

Maria rolled her eyes, and compiled before she knew what she was doing. She snatched the bowl away from him, and cocked a brow. “Well?” 

Fortunately, one of the bowls of stew that she had refused (and not thrown) was still by the door. Robin sat down, crossed his legs, and began to eat it. 

Maria bit her tongue, and waited for the moment of utter disgust to cross his features, but it never came. 

“Sit down, Princess, eat.”

Maria clutched the bowl tightly, but then her stomach grumbled in discontent. In defeat, she sat down and put the bowl on her folded legs. She poked around, looking for hidden gruel. “Alright, I suppose I could eat-” But Maria gasped in surprise, for when she looked up, Robin had lifted the bowl to his mouth and was slurping down the final dregs of soup. 

He wiped the back of his mouth with his hand, and her nose scrunched up. 

“That’s appalling!” 

“No, it's good soup. Well, go on.” Robin pointed to her bowl, before leaning back on his hands. 

“My hands are dirty, you don’t potentially have any utensils on you?”

He held up the dirty spoon he had just used. 

Maria’s lips twisted, “Nevermind.” She would forgo etiquette, just for a moment. 

She devoured the strawberries, she had not intended to. She meant to show him up, by eating slowly and delicately, but she was monstrously hungry, and her hands scraped at the empty bowl. 

“Thank you.” She said, because she needed to say it, social convention required it of her, she only hoped she hadn’t been loud enough for him to hear.

“Sorry, what’s that?” Robin held a hand to his ear like an old man. 

She glared at him. “Thank you.”

Robin smirked. “Very kind of you, Princess, it was quite a valiant effort on my part.”

Her glare only hardened. “You’re a kidnapper, any display of basic human kindness is not a valiant effort.” 

Robin shrugged. “We showed you basic human kindness with our People’s Soup, you’re the one who was being fussy, and refused it. I on the other hand, had to go down, pick the strawberries-”

“You did not pick-”

“Yes I did! I went down into the fields, I picked the best ones.” His smile grew wider and wider on his face as hers contorted in disbelief. He, of course, had picked her strawberries. 

Loveday preferred fresh fruits and vegetables, and the Castle garden had since been stocked with her favorites, even after her disownment. (She liked good food, after all.) Strawberries, squash, peas, there was even an apple tree, though they were not ripe yet. If Maria was still there in the autumn, he would pick those for her as well. 

The mint, of course, was not planned, as he was just going to bring her the fresh fruit, but then he saw the herb in the kitchen, and remembered how much Loveday liked the two paired together. Since Maria was a fancy city lady, he was sure she would prefer the pairing as well. 

“I cut off the tops, I chopped the mint, and I got it all prepared, just for you.” Robin wore a pretty self-satisfied smirk, right up to the moment when Maria asked:

“Why?”

Then, the smirk fell. 

This is where silly teenaged emotions, hormones, adolescence, young love, and all that comes in. 

Maria was a pretty little thing, she was feisty, and she had those lovely eyes he couldn’t stop staring at a chapter ago. 

Robin could puff up his chest and lie, to her and himself, about why he did it, and it went something like this: “Can’t have our prisoner die of self-inflicted starvation.” But, in reality, it was because his little heart had begun beating after hers. 

She was hungry, and the strange, irresistible desire to feed her and satisfy her needs, became too great to ignore. 

That was why he had stayed, he could have handed her the bowl and walked away, but his heart needed to see her eat her fill, it could be satisfied no other way.  

He didn’t think about it too much, he simply trusted it. Robin relied heavily on his instincts, and he learned to listen to them well. They didn’t always make sense, but more often than not they rang true. 

But, she had asked “Why?” and now Robin was giving those instincts some thought. 

Why had he gone through so much trouble for a girl who had, one: kicked him in the balls, two: was a De Noir captive, and third: was a Merryweather. 

Who he hated. 

He didn’t know why he hated them, just that he did. As his father hated them, as all De Noirs hated them.

But, he didn’t hate Maria. 

He should have, but he didn’t. 

How could he? Look at her! She was so pretty, and soft, and brave. 

Robin shook his head, collected the bowls, and stood to leave, but Maria called out his name. 

“Robin, wait.” She rose up onto her knees, and had wrapped her hands around the bars. “You- in the forest, you were going to tell me about the Moon Princess. I- I still don’t know what that is.”

Robin looked over his shoulder, down the empty hall (evacuated, because of Maria’s shrill dismissal of the People’s Soup) and sighed. He plopped back down and put the bowls aside. 

Maria settled back down on her folded legs, and clasped her hands in her lap, before looking at him expectantly. 

How did Loveday tell it? That was his favorite version. 

“Well, a long time ago, the De Noirs-” He pointed to himself. “- and the Merryweathers -” and to her. “- lived in peace. And Moonacre Valley was magical I think? Anyway, there was a girl, who was pure-hearted, and good, and brave. Nature loved her like a daughter-? No, the Moon?”

Maria’s brows knit together, he wasn’t the best story teller, but they couldn’t go and find someone better, that was for sure. Maria did her best to control her stupefied expression, and nodded for him to continue. 

“Yeah, I think the Moon. So the Moon gave her these magic pearls, that could… grant…?”

“Wishes?” Maria supplied, trying to be helpful. 

“Of course, but I think there was a limit?”

“That’s djinn.” 

Robin scrunched his face up, “I think I’m getting it mixed up.”

“That’s alright. So this woman was the Moon Princess?” 

“Yeah, but so are you.”

Maria blinked. “Am I her granddaughter?”

“No, she was a member- let me just, finish, I think it’ll come together.”

Maria bit her lip, and nodded, but very much doubted that it would ‘come together.’

“So, the Moon Princess was in love with a Merryweather, and on the day of her wedding, they were exchanging dowries- I think the Merryweaher gave a Unicorn to William De Noir, in exchange for her hand in marriage.” 

“A Unicorn?” Maria refused to believe this story was legitimate in any way. 

Robin pressed his lips together and raised his arms in a I-don’t-know gesture. “That’s the story!” 

“Well, its terrible! This a fairy tale! You’ve kidnapped me because you believe in a fairy tale!” Her hands fisted into her skirt. 

“It’s not a fairytale! It’s the history of Moonacre!” 

Maria lifted herself up onto her knees to glare down at him. “You’re all insane!”

But two could play at that game. Robin scrambled to his knees, reclaiming the advantage of height. “Would you listen, Maria! I haven’t even finished! There’s still more.” 

Maria crossed her arms, but he was doing that thing with his eyes again (he wasn’t actually doing anything with his eyes, his heart was simply begging her to listen, and that resulted in his eyes softening, just a bit). Maria was finding it harder and harder to remain strong and stubborn. She huffed and turned her glare to the floor. “Explain it well and fast.” 

“At the wedding, her father, William De Noir, and the Merryweather began to fight over the pearls; they each wanted to use their power to rule over the Valley.”

“That I can believe.” Maria snarked under the breath, but Robin caught it, and laughed.

“So, instead the Princess cast a curse over the Valley. At the 5000th Moon, those guilty would suffer the consequences, and be destroyed.” 

Maria crossed her arms as she considered the words.

“But, one day a girl with a pure heart would enter Moonacre, and break the curse, freeing all from punishment.” 

When Maria’s gaze rose, Robin’s head was tilted towards hers, trying to find her eyes. “Me?”

He nodded. “You.” 

Maria still thought he was crazy (and the rest of the De Noirs), it was clear he believed his delusions, but that didn’t mean she had to. “You don’t want the curse broken?”

Robin shrugged, “Father says the curse will bring an end to the Merryweathers. That, after the 5000th Moon, we’ll have the Valley.” 

“The Valley that’s going to be destroyed?” 

“Were you listening? Only those guilty will get destroyed.” 

Maria shook her head, how dense could this boy’s skull be? “Are you not guilty?” 

“No! Of course not! I didn’t scorn Nature!” 

“Why should that matter?” 

“Because- that’s the reason she curses them! Because they were greedy and power-hungry-“

She lifted a brow. “And you’re not?”

“Well- we’re not- I mean-” 

“Oh, I see, that explains it! Very well then, I’m perfectly content in my nice, cozy cell, and you can all watch the Valley being decimated!” 

He scoffed. “Don’t you understand?”

“I understand perfectly! Two families both alike in dignity! From ancient grudge break new mutiny! Oh!” She pressed her finger tips to her temple. “This is ridiculous, and I would like to leave!”

“I’m sure you would. My father will release you after the 5000th Moon-”

“After the curse takes place and everything you love is gone?” 

A heated argument can make or break a lot of people. Some can’t stand the fighting, and when it becomes too much, they leave. Others enjoy the passion, the pounding hearts, and the quick-witted tongues. It is possible to have a disagreement without arming one’s self, but humans are fickle, and stupid, and tend to rise up in defense of themselves without keeping calm. 

In Maria’s life, most people didn’t disagree with her. She was a Lady, most people listened to what she said, and answered in a polite “yes ma’am” or “I can see your point, my lady”, no matter their feelings or opinions on the matter. Ms. Heliotrope was really the only person who told her she was wrong, and while Maria had tried to argue with her, that usually didn’t turn up in her favor. 

“No, Maria!” 

“But-”

“Maria, go put that down! It belongs outside!” 

“But-”

“Now!” 

And that was the end of disagreements between herself and Ms. Heliotrope. 

In Robin’s life, the opposite was true. Most of the time, people were telling him what to do, and arguing or talking back, resulted in a quick smack upside his head. In an environment such as this, one learns to keep one’s mouth shut. In his group of friends, he wasn’t the ‘leader’ but they deferred to him. For instruction, what they were going to do that day, etc, etc, because he was the Coeur’s son, and would be the next Coeur soon. 

And, if they did disagree with him, they usually did so with the intention of getting a rise out of him. 

Maria was making sense, but it also went against what he had been raised to believe his entire life. 

Robin was not making sense, but he had such conviction, Maria felt a certain amount of pity for him. 

“Robin, please, how is the curse coming to fruition good for anyone?” Maria looked at him through the bars, they were quite close, though neither had come to realize it just yet. As they argued, they had scooted incrementally closer to one another until the only thing that truly separated them was the cell door. “You’ve kidnapped me because of my name, and my name alone?”

“You’re the Moon Princess.” 

 “I’m a Merryweather! First and foremost! You’ve stolen me from my coach because of that fact! How do you know I am the Moon Princess? Could it not be another De Noir girl? Why is it me?”

“The Moon Princess is always born to one of the families, the last Moon Princess-” Robin looked back over his shoulder, double checking no one was there, before he whipped his head back around to face her. Only, now he had broken the spell, and he saw how close she was to him. Close enough that if he wanted to, he could reach between the bars, grab her face, and- Robin shook his head. Silly, teenaged hormones. “Was my sister, Loveday.”

“Did she die?” 

Robin wasn’t sure how to answer. When someone was dead to you, that didn’t mean they were no longer breathing, but to admit, after all this time, that she was alive and out there somewhere in the world? Rejected not only by her family, but the man she loved? 

“I don’t know. But that doesn’t matter, what does is you’re here now, and you’re the Moon Princess. It’s not Loveday anymore, so it has to be you.”

Maria tilted her head. “You truly think that?” 

“Of course.”

“Well, I don’t! So, you should let me out, because I’m certainly not going to go running around in a bizarre attempt to break a fake curse!”

 Robin chuckled. “Why don’t we settle it this way? You stay here until the 5000th Moon, whether or not the curse takes place, and then we’ll let you go?”

“You were going to do that anyway!” She craned her head further. 

“Trust me, Princess, this is the best thing for you.” 

Maria pouted. “When is the 5000th Moon?”

“Beginning of August.”

“You’d have me stay in this cell for a month!” She looked back over her shoulder in disgust. “There’s not even a bed.” 

She was right, although it depended on how you defined the word “bed”. There was hay on the floor, and she could have made her “bed” out of that, but that wasn’t how Maria defined “bed”. 

This of course, fired up that strange and irresistible desire within Robin to meet her needs and see to her satisfaction. But there was a difference between strawberries and a whole room.

He could get her strawberries, he very much doubted whether or not he could get her a whole room to herself.

Of course… 

There was Loveday’s room…

Completely unused…

Untouched…

Unvisited…

He was going crazy, he was going insane, he was losing his mind, and all over some stupid, insolent girl, with the loveliest eyes he was, at the moment, getting lost in. 

“Goddamnit-” He muttered before rising up and walking away from her. He dug his hands into his hair, and kicked the two bowls as he passed. 

The cell door rattled, and he could imagine her pretty face peering out through the heart shaped hole. 

“Just… just wait, okay?” He threw his hands up, and chuffed as he walked away before she could convince him to do anything else. 

But, as he walked out into the fading sun, and across the rickety bridge, he saw a stern-looking man dismounting a chestnut stallion, demanding to speak with the Coeur. 

Robin had never seen Sir Benjamin, but there was no doubt in his mind that that was who stood in their courtyard.

That had been the worst year of his life. Loveday had been disowned, and Robin’s not-yet-seven-year-old heart broke. Robin did not know his mother, she had died in childbirth, but he had known Loveday. She had raised him, and loved him more than he deserved to be loved. His father disowned her, and forbade all of the De Noir Clan from speaking her name. It was more than he could understand at the time. 

But, the day of their nuptials came, and… well, Sir Benjamin had scorned Loveday. 

No one knew the whole truth, but they did know that they had not gotten married that day. 

The Coeur’s spies came to report that Sir Benjamin was scouring the woods for her. 

The Coeur had laughed, half in pride, half in cruelty. “Serves him right for trying to take my daughter! She knows the forest too well, she’ll stay hidden as long as she wants to stay hidden!”

So, Sir Benjamin was the man who had stolen Loveday from him, and the man who had broken her heart. And his heart, subsequently. 

Maybe hatred towards the Merryweather’s was based on nothing but blind hatred, but hatred towards Sir Benjamin was well deserved. 

“Merryweather!” His father shouted from the ramparts. He came down the wooden steps, and gave Sir Benjamin a victorious smile. “To what do we have the honor?”

“Coeur De Noir! If you have laid a hand on her I’ll-” But Sir Benjamin didn’t speak another word as he launched himself at the Coeur.

He was quickly restrained, and the Coeur was not touched. 

“Who?” 

“My niece! Maria Merryweather!”

The Coeur lifted a confused brow. “I’m afraid you must be mistaken! I didn’t even know you had a niece.”

Several of the guards that surrounded them laughed stupidly. 

“Shut up.” Robin grit out, despite being too far away for anyone to hear.

“My coach was attacked this morning! It was carrying my niece to me! I would like her returned.” 

Robin crossed his arms, not liking the man for a second. Who was he to demand Maria? 

(Her Uncle, for one.) 

“I do apologize, Merryweather!” The Couer’s eyes flashed to Robin’s, and he straightened, not misunderstanding the order. “She is not here, if you would like, you can look around-”

Robin ran back into the tower and down the hall. “Maria!”

Maria appeared in the heart-shaped window, and lifted a single brow in response.

“You wanted a different room? C’mon.” Robin knelt down by the lock and began to pick it, his skills nowhere near matched Richard’s, but he was second best. 

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t have keys, those are with the guard.” 

“Are- are you breaking me out?”

Robin paused, in truth, he did want to break her out, take her to a place she would be safe, never to be found by his father or her uncle, but that would be treason. And there were some rules you just did not break. 

Betraying his father was one of those rules.

“I’m moving you, whether or not anyone knows about it however…” The door unbolted and he rose to his feet as he swung it open, “Do I need to tie you up again, or can I trust you?” 

“You probably shouldn’t trust me, but I would rather not be tied up.” Her hands rubbed her wrists, and he could see the red marks left by the rope. 

“I could carry you ag-”

“I would rather not.” 

“Well, then…” Robin looked down at his feet, trying to think, when the red of his scarf caught his eye. “That’ll work.”

 “What?”

Robin pulled the scarf off his neck before taking her wrists and binding them together. “How’s that?”

Maria glared at him so strongly, he was sure she had the full force of the sun radiating in her eyes. He smothered a laugh before pulling her along. 

They went down, rather than across the rickety bridge, and into the old De Noir tunnels. 

They zigzagged beneath the castle like a maze, and led to a variety of places. Castle Black was, after all, a fortress, and it did no good if there were not a few easy escape routes handy. 

For the boys, it always resulted in summers full of exploring the tunnels, knowing exactly where they lead, the myriad of paths one could take to get to the kitchen, or the forest, or the village of Lamour. All that experience meant Robin could lead her anywhere inside of the Castle. 

While his father probably intended for him to just hide Maria, Robin thought this was an easy solution to her complaints. 

“It's dark.” Not that he could solve every complaint. “Robin, I can’t see!” 

“Trust me, I know where I’m going.” He did, but his hand was upon the wall, and he was able to feel where he was going, Maria on the other hand could not. 

She wasn’t afraid of the dark, but she was afraid of falling on her face because she tripped over a damned rock because she couldn’t see! 

“Alright.” Robin turned and took hold of her shoulders. She jumped in surprise, but this time his hands were gentle, and they did not stab into her. Their only intention was to stop her, and perhaps to comfort her, but that was beside the point. “Just wait right here.”

Then, he disappeared.

In the pitch black, Maria did not see him at all, and she could not hear him at all, he had simply let go, and this was perhaps worse than falling flat on her face and breaking her nose. He had abandoned her, and was going to leave her down here to rot! 

She never should have said anything! At least her cell had sunlight, and air, oh god, how much air was in underground tunnels?  

She was hyperventilating, she was trembling, she couldn’t move. “R-Robin?”

Robin hadn’t abandoned her, but two feet ahead of them was a tall ladder that - he hoped - would lead to Loveday’s old room. This one, or the next one. And as he climbed, he didn’t hear Maria’s pathetic mewling. He got higher and higher, until he reached out and pulled on a horse head lever that would open the door. 

He blinked at the light, and allowed his eyes to adjust before he immediately sneezed. 

“Argh!” He sniffed and looked around the dust covered room, yep, Loveday’s room. It was in much worse shape than he had remembered, but it would do, and it had a bed, so it was better than the cell. Ha ha!

Robin began to descend, and small hiccupping cries met his ears when he got close enough to hear. 

“Maria? Maria!” He jumped down the last few rungs, and stretched out his arms to find her in the blackness. His hands bumped against her and he took hold of her arms. “What’s wrong?”

“What- what's wrong!” Her voice high and shrill and watery. 

Robin flinched. 

“What do you think is wrong! This has been the worst day of my life-” She choked on her words and took a few stuttering breaths. “How was I to know if you would come back at all? Or if you planned o-on leaving me here! In an oubliette!” 

Then, Robin had another memory of Loveday pop into his head.

He was young, the memory blurred around the edges, but there were two things of utmost importance. The first being that Robin had been injured, and was bawling. 

The second, that Loveday had pulled him into her lap, stroked his hair, and held him until he stopped crying. 

But then another memory came, this one after Loveday had left, he had fallen from a tree, he was a blubbering mess as he approached his father. But the Coeur De Noir only sneered at him and told him to get a hold of himself. 

The words, get a hold of yourself, almost passed over his lips, but as Maria continued to shake and cry, he couldn’t help but feel that that would only make it worse. 

So he took the Loveday approach. 

Using his pre-established grip, he pulled her into him, cupped the back of her head and pressed her face into his chest, and wrapped his hand around her back. 

Maria stopped crying instantly, not because she was being comforted, but just at the surreality of the situation. 

“I-”

“You can let go now, Robin. I apologize for losing my composure.” 

And he did, he stepped away and held his hands behind his back. “I didn’t mean to make you think I was leaving you behind.”

Maria sniffled and nodded, “That’s all well.”

“There’s a ladder two feet in front of you, it will go up to a room.”

Robin took her by her wrists and led her to the ladder, when she knew where it was, he removed the scarf, so she could use her hands. 

“I’ll go ahead of you so I can pull you out.”

Maria scoffed. “Fine.”

Maria did not relinquish her grip on the ladder, too afraid she wouldn’t find it again, but stepped aside so Robin could go up first. She waited a few moments, and began to climb herself. 

When Robin reached the door at the top of the ladder, light streamed down through the tunnel, and Maria winced at the brightness. 

“Come along.” He said, kneeling on the floor and offering his hand. 

Maria rolled her eyes, but kept climbing until her head poked into the very dusty room. She looked around in disgust. “This is almost worse.” Her footsteps disturbed the dust, and it rose in clouds around her, making her sneeze. “My goodness! How do you expect me to stay here?” 

“I could take you back.”

Maria pursed her lips, because she knew this was the better option. “No, thank you.”

Robin left through the trapdoor down the ladder, and the door shut, disappearing into the floor, as if there never had been a secret entrance there. 

Maria ran to the door and pulled on the handle, but of course, it was locked. She ran to the slim window, and looked out, but all she could see was the darkening horizon, and the dim stars that were beginning to twinkle. 

Maria turned down the bed, but it too was more dust than bedding, and Maria almost couldn’t bear to sleep there. 

Almost.

When she woke the next morning, there was another bowl of strawberries and mint on the floor.