Disclaimer: The show and all the characters and the show are the property of BBC and Tiger Aspect.
Warning: This story contains scenes of carnage and violence.
Luck & Love for the Legends
I'm going to marry Robin Hood! I love Robin Hood!
The words echoed through the deserted courtyard, a torrential downpour of the truth.
Marian of Knighton smiled broadly, and her smile dazzled, so open and almost childlike in her great happiness. She had told Guy the truth! She felt a resurgence of something she had not felt for many months – light happiness and abundance of joy.
But as she caught a glimpse of Guy's furious face torn between disbelief and shock, all her positive emotions were crushed — right along with his hope to survive the battle of Imuiz.
It was one of the most heartbreaking and terrible moments in Marian's whole life. Her heart was full of fear as she stared into Guy's brutal eyes.
Guy would kill her for her supposed betrayals, and she will never see her beloved Robin, the love of her life, again. Though were her lies to him betrayals? Marian had been forced to lie to protect her father, to help Robin thwart the sheriff's plans, and mostly to protect her beloved from Guy's hatred.
Guy had done many despicable things, but she still had seen some good in him. Until this moment.
She had been waiting for the moment when she would be able to discard all the masks she had been forced to wear and to proclaim to everyone she loved Robin Hood. But she had not expected that the moment of the truth would probably become the moment of her death. What good could possibly come out of her confession but her death and Robin's grief? She did not want to die; not now, not when they were so close to having all that she and Robin dreamt of.
Mortal dread filled Marian's heart as she watched Guy take another menacing step to her and lift his sword before making a final blow. All her life flashed before her eyes, and she could not hold back the memories as they flowed into her head. Memories of the many happy moments she had spent with Robin! She thought her time had come, and she prepared to meet her maker.
But no blow came! She heard Robin's loud war cry that echoed through the air and reverberated off of the stone walls of the yellow Arabic buildings on the square. There was pain, despair, and hatred in that cry too, and Robin's voice felt to her like as a sharp and cruel sword that would kill anyone who dared threaten her and would save her from death. Robin had come to save her in time!
Marian was pushed to the ground, but she quickly turned her head to see Robin and Guy starting a lethal battle. Robin was a very impressive, intimidating sight as he attacked Guy with fierce vigor and strength. The two men moved too quickly back and forth in the courtyard.
"I will not let you kill Marian!" a furious Robin shouted.
Marian shivered at the implacable hatred in her beloved's voice. Even when Guy had been Robin's captive in the woods and Robin had intended to kill the traitor, she hadn't heard him speak so. But she did not blame Robin for his hateful feelings towards her almost murderer.
Guy was surprised with the outpouring of hatred, smirking. "So much hatred, Robin Hood! Where is your legendary kindness you extend to your enemies?"
Robin sighed and parried a blow. "Not to you, Gisborne." As he moved back and forth, his blade in constant motion, he decided to concentrate on a fight instead of mocking Guy as he usually did.
Worried about Robin and still shocked, Marian sat on the sand, watching the battle of two enemies. She slanted a quick glance at King Richard who was obviously alive, and then gazed back at Robin. The battle between the two enraged men raged with a symphony of clashing swords and cries of rage.
Robin parried a blow and dealt one in return, getting into a fighting stance and waiting for Guy to approach him. Guy bellowed in anger and attacked Robin again while Robin lunged his sword at the face of his archenemy only to have the sword of Guy slightly scratch his shoulder.
Guy's came upon Robin again, before Robin had fully recovered. This time, Robin dodged the sideways slash, but not quickly enough, and Guy's word sliced into his upper arm. Robin yelled in pain and staggered backward, and his scimitar slipped from his hand, but he did not fall. Guy broke into a malevolent laugh, taking a step forward and lifted his weapon at Robin, ready to kill his foe.
"Robin!" Marian heard her own voice, not recognizing it. "Robin!" she screamed in terror again. Robin could not die! All the while, Guy's triumphant laughter rang in her ears, so nasty and loud that her ears were hurting. Never had the man clad in black leather abhorred her as much as he did now.
"Prepare to die, Hood!" A loud booming voice of Gisborne echoed throughout the courtyard.
Marian's blood ran cold as she observed Guy lunge at Robin again. Robin ducked and fell onto the sand, and she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She said words of thanks to the Lord as she watched Robin quickly grab his scimitar and momentarily jump to his feet. Robin saved himself! He will not die! Marian was still sick with fear for her beloved, but hope surged through her veins.
"Dreams, Gisborne. Dreams of a madman," Robin answered, grinning daringly.
A maniacal snarl came from Guy, and he rushed at Robin with a terrible impetuosity. A savage sound cut through the air as Robin stabbed forward at the man who had caused him and Marian so much pain, his scimitar flying in a wide arc and slicing Guy's sword arm off. Guy howled with pain, his eyes taking in what remained from his arms and the blood dripping to the sand at his feet.
Marian stared at the defeated and crippled Guy with wide eyes full of horror. She had never seen such carnage before, but she also felt a dizzying feeling of relief wash over her like waves of brackish water that was suddenly turning dazzling white, like in a fairy-tale. Likewise, her world was turning whitish in happiness as the realization was dawning on her that it was Robin's victory.
For a moment, there was a silence in the courtyard. Even King Richard did not moan in pain.
"I hate you, Hood," Guy hissed, his face contorted in inhuman hatred. "I hate you more than ever!" Then he fell to the ground, clutching the wound that was gushing dark red blood.
A shaken Robin smiled sadly, but it was not a smile Marian was accustomed to seeing on his face. It was a pained smile that did not reach his eyes and was so full of regret and pain that the sight of it on her beloved's face tore Marian's heart apart. "I do pity you, Gisborne," she heard Robin say.
Much appeared in the square and stopped in his tracks, staring at a moaning Guy sprawled on the sand and a motionless Robin who was looking at his defeated enemy sorrowfully. Richard's new moan stirred him from the slumber, and he dashed to the king.
Then Allan, Little John, Djaq and Will came running to the courtyard and found to their surprise that the battle was over. Will and Djaq raced across the square to the king while Allan and John stalked to where Guy had fallen.
Marian scrambled to her feet from the sand and flung herself headlong into Robin's arms with an exclamation of pained excitement. In his embrace, molded against his body, she felt like she belonged there, like she was made for him alone. She was a woman in love with this man who had saved her life today. With Robin, Marian was home, a sensation she never wanted to give up.
After pulling back finally and placing a few soft kisses on her temples and forehead, Robin looked into her eyes and gave her a loving smile. "It is over, Marian. He will not hurt you anymore."
As her mind and her emotions spun in turmoil, Marian nodded, and tears flowed out of her eyes. "I feared he would kill you," she gasped. "I feared you would die and leave me!"
Robin pulled her into a warm embrace once more and held her tight there until she settled. In their embrace, he fantasized her heard their hearts dancing in matching wild rhythms. He rubbed her back in the light, smoothing motions, while his other hand was stroking her hair. It occurred to him that, despite the drama of the day, he had never felt as peaceful and hopeful as he was feeling now.
Robin pressed a soft kiss to her temple. "All will be fine, my love. You have a whole life ahead to scold me for being childish and annoying, to chasten me for my follies," he whispered into her ear.
Marian looked into his face, and her own tearful face lit up with a smile. "One day you will pay, Robin of Locksley," she said with feigned seriousness. "But you have to marry me at first."
"That may be arranged," he responded, grinning.
King Richard's wound was not serious, and he soon was on his feet again as a powerful, strong man. Vaisey had escaped while Guy and Robin had been battling in the courtyard. The king's soldiers arrived in Imuiz in an hour, and, by that time, the outlaws had already buried Carter who had been discovered dead in one of the alleys, stabbed in the gut. Djaq was tending to Gisborne's wound, trying to stop the bleeding, and the king declared that Guy would stand a trial upon his recovery.
Marian and Robin were married the next morning in the king's camp, with all the king's men from the private guard and the outlaws in attendance. Feeling that he owed Marian and Robin his life, King Richard administrated the wedding ceremony himself, followed by a joyous day that began with a wonderful celebration in the Crusaders' camp and ended with Marian and Robin's wedding night in Bassam's house. The outlaws won the battle in Acre, and they deserved their break from battles.
Life was testing Marian and Robin, toughening them a bit, and compelling them to draw on more of their inner strength. But luck and love were faith and salvation for the two Legends.