"Really, Guy, it is very sweet of you, but I simply don't have the time right now." Marian plastered on a meek smile. In a period of dejection Gisborne dropped his eyes to the lower corners of the room; the burning sting of salted wounds pierced his gut as his pride was clawed apart yet again. He tucked his arms across his stomach even tighter. His throat clenched as they both noticed Marian trying not to watch him.
"Marian, if you had ever tried to make the time -"
"Guy, I have several letters to write for my father…" she momentarily glanced at the door and immediately regretted it, knowing that it would come across as throwing the man in black from the room. He noticed. With a gulp and lick of the sore Guy slowly left her chambers and headed down the corridor alone. Why, he pounded in his own head, was she so stupid? Everything he did with selflessness or sugar was shrugged away; everything he did with blood stains and guilt was shoved under a heated spotlight. Years of his life and nights of his sanity had been devoted to her. Perhaps the better word was wasted. Gisborne was beginning to feel physically ill from the frustration of it all. Maybe he should just give up… what a shame that isn't in his nature. Meanwhile Marian let out a sigh and tapped the feather pen to the desk a few times before continuing her writings, letting a pang of guilt absorb her. She was not particularly thrilled about always harming Guy's nerves, but she could think of no other way to get him off her back. It had been a few years that he had been courting her and she could not find any more polite ways to decline. Like a child, he had to be fronted with sternness to know she was serious. Marian tucked away a curl and forced the thoughts away from herself as she kept to her letters.
On the ground floor of the castle, Vesey was outdoing himself when it came to villainy. He rapped his pudgy fingers on the wooden table in the entry hall and waved aside an armor clad guard whose muscle stood in the way.
"Well, my dear, if you just give me the 400 crowns you can be on your way." He did not break eye contact with the slender brunette visitor on the other side of the tabletop. Her wide green eyes puffed up with surprise as her rose lips fell a bit apart; he loved this moment with each person he saw.
"My Lord, we had agreed on 250…" her voice fell as her humility overcame the moment.
"What can I say; taxes went up as of yesterday." A ruby shone from his foul grin, giving an assertion of wealth alongside the flash on unbarred cruelty. The crimson on his hands was clear in that smile.
"I do not want to overstep my line, Sire, but I cannot afford 400 crowns. The children will not have food for the next month."
"That is not my problem." Vesey's eyes trailed to the side door where Sir Guy of Gisborne had worked his way in. The Sherriff's associate had not expected company, and he caught his breath at the surprise.
"Sire, this rent is for Kirkslee's orphanage; I cannot run an orphanage where I cannot feed the children." Her slim waist shrunk as oxygen fell out in hopelessness.
"Kirkslee's Abbey has an orphanage?" Guy inquired thoughtfully as her tall frame spun to see him. The girl, who seemed all of nineteen or twenty, glanced to the Sherriff to see if she may answer. With his silence she continued.
"Yes sir. Well, it shall. I have come from Derbyshire to start one up, but the dues have changed and now…" She fidgeted her fingers on the grungy fabric of her simple dress. Guy watched the motion and looked over to his boss, who was slurping up the moment of her failure. Here he found his dooming trap. Gisborne unknowingly craved a compensation for his disaster with Marian. His long time crush had yet again coldly disallowed his naked heart , and yet here stood another brunette beauty, but this one desperately needed his help. Subconsciously he wanted to make Marian happy and so foolishly acted. He reached back to the rear of his belt and extracted a small leather pouch, pouring out 400 crowns of the contents. He looked into the young girl's large eyes and pressed the coins down before his boss, paying her debt. The joy fell from Vesey's face and melted to the floorboards.
"Oh, sir, there is no need –"
"Gisborne!" Vesey spat through his teeth. The leather clad man gave the Sherriff a stone stare before turning to the girl.
"Your orphanage is open." He gave her a small nod. His superior stormed off with the cash as she bowed her head down to Gisborne, washed away in modesty.
"Sir I… I have no idea how I could ever repay you." She looked into his strong face as a small smile cracked across.
"That's not necessary." He donated a minute shake of his head while inscribing a mental image of the newcomer. She was tall and very thin with a well carved face, milky skin, and prominent emerald eyes.
"April, sir. My name is April, and you are more than welcome to come to the orphanage for anything, food, shelter, I will see to it – "
"Again, Lady April, there is no need." Guy's smile fell a bit flat at the sense of the compassionate move he had just made for a stranger. How ridiculous he was being for nothing more than a pretty girl. If it wasn't for that auburn hair that had been pinned into curls like Marian's…. Gisborne sensed a stirring that informed him that he didn't care at all about some orphanage on the fringe of town. April tucked away a curl and placed a slender hand on his bicep, shaking him loose from his train of thought. Their eyes interlocked and he experienced something new from a woman – genuineness.
"I am in your debt." She lifted her palm and briefly brought it up to hover above his cheek, her flesh just registering his stubble. April recognized the inappropriateness of her motion and quickly tucked away her hands with a smile.
"I am glad to do it." Guy heard himself blurt out. Wait, what? He looked inside to determine why he had lied, and it would stick to him all day like fly paper that he had told her the truth.