This is a one-shot, which means I will not be adding to it.
I started this story at the end of the two parter: 1x12 (The Return of the King) and 1x13 (A Clue: No).
I finished it after watching the second part, so if you do not want spoilers (And trust me, you don't.) wait to read this until you watch both episodes!
That being said, I do not own Robin Hood. Just a fangirl.
I run to where Marian's body lays on the makeshift bed, the only thoughts in my head are no, no, no.
The physician was lying. He has to be lying. Marian is not dead. She cannot be dead.
And there she is, on the many blankets and with sacks for a pillow.
Suddenly my feet are made of lead, and I have to drag them in front of me to reach the body. Marian.
I kneel down and take her hand.
There is nothing.
No heartbeat.
No sign of life.
No life.
"Marian..." I vaguely hear my choked whisper, but my mind is full of an unrelenting buzzing. "Marian...I..."
Her hand is so cold. Her face does not smile. Her eyes are closed.
The tears do not come, and I wonder if it is because there is none of me to release. Marian is my love, she has my heart.
And my heart is gone now.
"Marian, I love you..." The pain is there. An empty, forever throb, like a knife in my heart. Like the knife that drove into Marian.
The reason she's dead.
She's dead...
"I love you, Marian...Why didn't I ever say? Did I forget to say...?"
Cold.
Empty.
Gone.
Lifeless.
Dead.
Marian is dead.
I kiss her lips, and suddenly remember those fairytales I was told as a boy; the ones where the maiden was asleep and was woken with true love's kiss.
But Marian does not wake.
This is no fairytale. This is my life. Pitiful. Worthless.
My head falls above her, the dry sobs racking my body.
A broken man and his dead love.
What a hero I am.
I want to scream in anger and grief, but am unable.
"Robin!" A sing-song voice calls. "Oh, Robin!" It is the sheriff, come to fight his enemy who has fallen into a perfectly devised trap. "Come out; come out, wherever you are!"
Anger.
Hate.
Revenge.
This was Gisborne's doing. This was the sheriff. They are responsible, and they will pay dearly.
I raise my head, eyes focused. Rising, I walk purposely away from my love, into the cave's entry chamber, and grab my bow and throw on my quiver. Notching an arrow on the bowstring, I stalk out of the cave and into the open air.
They are there. The sheriff, Gisborne, and at least twenty guards. The physician is there as well, standing outside of the danger.
"You look upset, Robin," the sheriff crows. "What's wrong?"
"Why, I think his Night Watchman friend is dead!" Gisborne gloats. "You should be glad, Locksley, Nottingham is rid of another law breaker, after all!"
"Master..." Much's timid voice sounds from my left. "Is it true...Is...Is..."
"Yes." The simple answer strikes all the hearts of my friends, and I'm reminded that Allan and Will never returned. I hardly care, though I know I should.
"You monster!" Much bellows at Gisborne. "You tyrant! You killed her! You-"
"Shut up, Much!" I growl, silencing him at once.
"Her?" The sheriff gasps in mock surprise. "Oh, naughty, naughty Robin. How many women do you have in this gang of yours? Next you'll be telling us that chubby here is a woman!" He laughs, gesturing to Little John.
"She tricked you." I spit at Gisborne, striding over to him, unafraid of the guards around us all. If I lose my life, well...It isn't such a loss now. "You were wrapped up in her cleverness and couldn't stop to think. Your enemy was someone so close to heart."
"Do not speak in riddles, man." He snorts at me. Even still, he seems unsure. "Say what you mean and be done with it. You won't live much longer now."
I step closer, now in his face. The sheriff sends a signal to two guards, and I whirl around and shoot them dead before they can reach me. The others do not dare to test me. "You will never get your wedding day now." My voice cracks, but I don't even care. I have no pride worth preserving. My pride is the reason I lost Marian, because it sent me to the Holy Land.
"What are you saying?" Gisborne shouts, grabbing the front of my jacket and shaking me.
"Your love for her wasn't enough!" The tears are coming now, strong and fast. "You said you loved her and then you killed her!"
"I killed the Night Watchman!"
"Marian was the Night Watchman!" The woods are silent at my scream, and Gisborne takes a step back.
"You are lying!" Gisborne bellows back, shaking his head in denial. "Guards, grab him!"
Five men come at me this time, and I only manage to shoot down one before the others force my bow from me and hold my arms tightly behind me.
"She told me she loved me, did you know?" I cry out. "She loved me! She did not love you, she never did!"
"That is a lie! She agreed to marry me!"
"To protect her father! That is the only reason she ever tolerated you!"
"Enough of this!" The sheriff says in a loud, bored voice. "Look what you've done to Gisborne! He's in no useful state like this. You have no proof, so don't rip your heart out about it."
"Yes," Gisborne says gruffly, stalking towards me. "You could be lying. You are lying. Another one of Robin Hood's clever tricks, eh? Well it won't work on me!"
The anger swells in me once again, refusing to be ignored. I thrash in the guard's arms, trying to get to Gisborne. I want to hurt him, to kill him. Stab him in the stomach like he did to Marian. The four men around me are too strong, and one kicks my knee, sending to the ground.
"She lies dead in the cave!" I roar. "She is there like she was as I held her hand while we tried to patch up her wound! I was there to help her, unlike you ever were! You thought you had true love, didn't you, Gisborne? But love cannot be true when the other person does not share it! She never wanted to marry you! She never wanted to be yours!" I'm ranting, I know I am, but I do not care. Not now that everything is done and gone.
"La de da de da..." The sheriff sings. "I am bored of this, Locksley. The world is rid of a law breaker, and now it will be rid of you as well. If the night watchman - or sorry, watchwoman - was indeed Marian...Well...Not such a loss is it? She never listened anyway."
This time I am able to break free of the rough grasps, and I barrel into the hateful man. He screeches in fear, and I am reminded of his cowardice. My fist collides with his face as I pin his body down with mine. The guards are on top of me in an instant, but are unable to pull me off of the sheriff before I aim another punch to his nose.
I'm thrown to the hard ground violently, and see Gisborne running to the cave entrance.
"When you see her," I call after him, voice cracking once again. "Remember that it was your doing! You killed her, Gisborne! It was you!" And then the tears are there again, uncontrolled. I slump on the forest floor, weeping.
"I must say," the sheriff pips up, a little of his normal enthusiasm gone since I attacked him. "This has been quite the show. Watching such a broken man sobbing over his lost love. It almost makes me want to cry!"
Before I can reply, there is an awful, anguished cry from the cave, and a moment later Gisborne emerges.
"Well?" The sheriff asks impatiently.
"It is true." Gisborne's voice is pitiful, but I feel nothing for him. No compassion. He howls in a fit of rage, evidently looking for something to punish. Djaq is closest to him, and he grabs her by the shoulders and throws her to the ground. Much and Little John shout in protest, only stopped by the guard's swords. Gisborne's foot makes ready to kick Djaq's ribs-
"You are already responsible for one woman's death," I bark. "Do not add another!"
The shock on his face is evident as he backs away, before running off into the forest.
"Gisborne!" the Sheriff roars, stomping his foot. "Get back here this moment!" The murderer doesn't listen to Vaisey, instead increasing his pace. With a signal from their leader, four guards run after Guy. Good luck with that. "Soldiers, go after him!"
My gang jumps into action. Little John barrels into two guards next to him, Much slices at another man's side, and Djaq kicks down the one nearest to her before stealing his sword.
I leap to my feet and slam my fist into the face of another guard, grab his sword, and send it into his gut.
"Robin!" The sheriff protests in a loud, startled voice. "We made a deal - you cannot kill my men-"
"The deal is over!" I roar, cutting another soldier down. Looking around, I see the only enemy left standing is Vaisey himself. "Now. Leave." At my cold tone he turns and runs in the direction of Gisborne, coward that he is.
"Master..." Much says tentatively.
I ignore him, instead running into the cave and back to Marian, to her side.
And that's when I see it.
The rise and fall of her chest as if in sleep.
Her eyes flicker open.
And my world is returned to me.