Chapter 2
Marian, Robin and Alex all met at that exact location every day for the next 8 years. In those 8 years, a lot changed. Starting at age 16, Alex noticed the way Robin and Marian’s relationship grew. Up until then, Robin and Alex both thought of Marian as a prissy, annoying tagalong who thought WAY to highly of herself. Alex and Robin would play, race or swim while Marian would watch with distaste.

However, as they grew older, Robin started being kinder to Marian. Alex thought nothing of it at first but soon she found that Robin’s attention for Marian left very little for Alex. Worst of all, Marian absolutely adored the way Robin looked at her and how he was so attentive towards her. She used him as if he was a puppet and Marian was working the strings. Robin was completely oblivious to this little act Marian put on. Robin and Alex had grown up too and instead of childish frolics, they had moved on to games where they would steal or trick the common folk in their villages. All the while, Marian would follow them and watch their antics with her beady, unwelcome eyes. At first the villagers were suspicious and uneasy about having Marian wandering on their side, but soon, it became as normal as every other part of their simple lives.

Now Marians every wish, to Alex’s utter horror, was Robin’s command. Altered were Alex’s feelings as well. Every morning, Alex would find herself searching hopelessly for something with which to smooth or brush her hair. She had long dismissed her wearing breeches. Now, she would wear simple and unclean dresses that she herself had sewed from scraps of material. All this fuss was over and emotion. A silly and reckless emotion called love. Every time she saw Robin, her heart fluttered like a dragon fly’s wings.

As winter turned into spring, into summer and into autumn, Alex wished nothing more than to be older, and to have Robin merely notice her. Ironically, soon there would be a time when Alex would give anything to have the blissful innocence of a child.
That winter signified the beginning of the end.