A/N The dress from that infamous episode always intrigued me, as something that lavish and extravagant certainly couldn't have been discarded despite the original wedding being cancelled. It serves as a personified reminder of who Marian was six years ago when she was intended to marry Robin, and how monstrously things have changed. Please review; otherwise I just feel as if I'm writing into a void. Seriously though, I welcome positive and negative feedback. Just reassure me that there is actually someone who takes the time to read my writing, and I'll be forever indebted. To Marian and Robin, two starcrossed lovers with a tale that will live forever.
The dress slid as smooth as water between her fingers. Embroidered flowers covered silk as bright as lime. It was more beautiful than she had ever imagined. As a child, she had dreamt of what her wedding would be like. She envisioned her father's proud gaze, and her mother's tearful smile. The guests would all stand as she entered the church, whispering how beautiful she was. She would walk the long, straight path towards a man standing beside the priest, a man who stood waiting for her to smile. How often had she dreamt of this man?
She thought she knew him, once. He had wheat brown hair, and the face of her childhood playmate. His bright blue eyes would laugh at her silently as she reached the altar, matching an enormous smile on his face. Marian shook her head, letting the dress drop between her fingers to the wooden floor. The last time she held this wedding dress she was to marry Robin Locksley.
How long ago that had been. The memory felt like a far off dream. They had been just children then. She was just a girl in a woman's body, her head filled with stupid fantasies as she played dress up in a wedding gown. And Robin! He had dashed off to play war, leaving her an ashamed, unwanted old maid.
She was a woman now, a true one. The world had long ago lost its golden glow. Her mother would never live to see her only daughter married; her father would live to see her married to a brute. Never would she ever dream that the man waiting for her at the end of the aisle would be Guy of Gisbourne. But I am a woman, she reminded herself, and this is a woman's only card to play. He was not horrible, she thought, and he does . . . What word was she going to use? Love? Not quite. Adore? Maybe. He is fond of me. And he is young, and not hard to look upon. He will take care of me, and my father. He will take care of us.
She picked up the dress from the floor. The silk was so slippery and cool, touching it made her feel clean. Remember this, she thought, when he is touching you. The thought sent shivers down her back. She closed her eyes, and slipped out of her worn day dress. Her skin was soft. Her long, dark hair tickled the bare skin of her back. Robin had loved her hair. Once, when they were children, she had stolen scissors from the castle kitchens and run off into the forest with him. She demanded he cut it short as his own, so that she would look like a boy. He didn't want to, but she was the sheriff's daughter, and told him so. She could still remember his hands at the nape of her neck, as locks fell to the ground beside her. When he thought she wasn't looking, Robin slipped one into his pocket. She never told him that she knew.
Marian stepped into her wedding dress. She would need one of her maids to lace up the back, but she looked into the mirror anyways. She was beautiful. Her skin shone luminescent against the green silk, and her hair wisped elegantly around her face. She would have to cover it, after today. All married women bound their hair. Robin would never see it again.
Something inside her broke, and a realization dawned upon her. She would never marry Robin. She was no fool; she had known long ago that it wouldn't happen. But after all this time, there was a part of her that believed the stars would align, miracles would happen, and the two of them would be together. But after today, she would be the wife of Guy of Gisbourne. They would be standing in front of God today, and swear oaths that could never be unsaid. The two of them would become one flesh, and share a bond that could never be broken. Even in the afterlife, she would belong to Gisbourne.
"Marian? Are you ready?" Her father called up the stairs.
Her father, she was doing this for him. Today she did what all women do. She would marry a man she did not love, and she would save her family. She would let him lie with her, and she would bear his children. She would grow old in his household, safe and protected by his estate. And when the time came, she would bury her father on his lands. For saving England and English people, this was the cross she had to bear.
She took a deep breath. "Yes father, I'm coming."