I sat in my room, waiting for her.
All I could think about was her.
I had never imagined that she would have been so damn important to me, and yet, here I am nervously waiting for Maria.
The light scar on the back of my hand made me smile, remembering the first day I had come face to face with her. I thought back to the way she begged me for help before the 5000th moon. Out of all of the people she could have asked for help from, she came to me. She sought me out. I never would have said yes, but...
How could I not?
I remembered the day I first asked her to marry me. 3 years, 2 months, and 13 days. I asked her again and again, and she always gave me the same answer. Until now.
I had been waiting on her answer for days. 8 days, to be exact. I went back to Benjamin, and practically begged him. I never would have considered begging on my knees for a Merryweather's hand in marriage until it happened.
I had barely slept in the past few days from nerves. I stayed up counting the passing minutes. I spent too many hours pacing, not wanting to pressure her any more than I already had.
Was I putting too much pressure on her?
It was Benjamin we were waiting on. He didn't give me an answer right away and had told me he wanted to talk to Maria.
I thought back to all of our little adventures, sneaking around and even getting caught by all of the adults. There wasn't an adult who didn't know about us, even though we continued to sneak around.
I remembered the conversation we had during our first Christmas, when she had convinced me to leave the castle. She wanted a life with me, then. But when the book showed our future, she was hesitant.
We had been through so much together. Dulac, the Moon Goddess, and the newest addition to the Merryweather family.
I smiled as I thought about the day I finally met the child. I had put it off for so long, not knowing how I would be around a baby, but Maria was so in love with the little thing, how could I avoid her forever? They had named her Willow, after a tree that Loveday had seen on her honeymoon with Benjamin. A fitting name for my sister's child. Maria had taken a liking to the child and watched over her whenever she was able to. The thoughts of her with her own child drove me wild.
Maria would be a great mother one day.
I groaned, stood from my bed, and started pacing around my room, doing everything in my power to prevent my nonsensical muttering.
I had changed so much from before she arrived - even after I first met her. I was no longer just a bandit.
I was Robin de Noir, Prince of the Forest.
I still couldn't wrap my head around that part. She had wished me to be a prince, and then I was. Maybe I always had been, but it wasn't until she had arrived that anything was set in stone.
The Moon Goddess had come back, every few weeks. Never long enough for us to see her, but long enough to know she had returned. Maria used the crown to ask her for help when we needed it, and it almost seemed like she came when Maria had asked. Whenever she came back, the valley seemed to get back some of the life she took with her when she left.
It had been like this for the past 3 years.
Finally, I heard a knock at my door. I took a deep breath before opening it. I could feel my expression drop when I opened it.
"Expecting someone else?" My father asked, chuckling.
"Not at all."
"I came to talk to you for a moment, if you don't mind," he said, waiting for me to let him inside. I opened the door further, allowing him in my room.
He only ever did this when it was serious. He rarely ever came into my room without some sort of reason.
I sat on my desk, and crossed my legs over each other, and my father sat on the edge of my bed. I couldn't tell what this conversation would be about, but I could only hope it was about Maria.
"Robin, you're old enough now to make your own decisions. I won't stop you from any of that. But I must know, what will come of this? What do you want from this?"
"From what?"
"From marrying Maria. Is there anything to gain from this?" My father looked at me, almost desperately.
"Do you not want me to marry her?" I asked, calmly, although I felt my blood boiling if he said no.
"It's not that. It's just that... you're still young. You could do what I did and travel before you settle down," he took a deep breath, "You're meant to succeed me, Robin, when the time comes. Will you do that still?"
I hadn't thought about taking over for my father. Maria would tell me to say yes, as would Loveday. But if I said no, I could leave the valley with Maria, and travel somewhere new with her.
"I don't know. I want to, but..." I trailed off, uncertain how to put it into words for him.
"You don't need to decide right now, but I won't be around forever, boy. I'm getting older, as are you. However, I still want to know. Is there anything to gain from marrying the girl?"
"Does there need to be?" I watched him start to smile, but he cleared his throat and regained his gruff composure. "I've been asking her to marry me for the past 3 years. I've waited for her answer every time, and every time she has said we were too young. But now, we're both old enough. This is the longest she's ever taken to give me an answer and I don't know what to think. How long did it take mother to give you her answer?"
"She never did. Her father gave me an answer, and we were married that same day. You'll hear from her soon," he reassured.
"Do you think... Could you tell me more about her?" He was here, and I hadn't asked him about her in years.
"What do you want to know?"
"How did she die?"
"She got sick, when you were a baby, not too long after you were born. None of our remedies were helping her, and we didn't even know what was wrong with her. It only took a couple of hours," he explained quietly. "Her death felt like the start of our bad luck."
"Is it true what some people have heard you say? That Maria has made me act like her?" I picked at my nails nervously.
'Yes. You used to be a younger version of myself until she arrived. But then you started to change, and I started to see more of your mother come out every day. Your mother never would have tried to fight Dulac defenseless, though, so you may still get that from me," he chuckled. I let out a short laugh and shook my head.
"She's helped you be a better man, Robin. A much better man that your mother tried to make me, I'll admit." He stood with a groan and stepped over to me. I got off of my desk and stood in front of him, now tall enough to look him in the eyes. "If she can do that to you as a friend, I can't wait to see what she does with you as your wife."
My father held his hand up and motioned for me to hold out my own hand. I held it out and felt a small item drop into my hand.
"Take good care of her, Robin." With that, he left my room, leaving me to stand alone as I stared at the small object in my palm.
Mother's ring...?
I put the ring in a drawer, in between some folded shirts, to make sure I didn't lose it. I stepped over to the mirror on my wall and stared at myself.
The feathers had gone missing two years ago, as did the red ribbon I usually wore on my face or neck. The jacket changed to something less intimidating, as Maria called it. No more oversized buckles or leather pants, and my hat had disappeared last year. It felt different to be in simpler clothes, but it was more comfortable with how tall I had grown.
I still wore boots, as they were more comfortable to hunt in, and I tucked the bottom of my pants into them. The pants weren't as thick as I was used to, thankfully though, they weren't as scratchy as Benjamin's clothes were.
My shirt was loose, and the V-neck sat deep on my chest. I remember how Maria had reacted when I started to change my clothes and was worried she wouldn't like it. But the longer I stared in the mirror, the more I realized it wasn't for her.
Just as I started to fix my clothes and brush my fingers through my untamable curly hair, I heard another knock at the door.
This time, it wasn't my father waiting for me.