"Forget it! Don't you dare repeat that insane accusation!"

"You always leave, Marian. When I am trying to talk to you-"

"Not always. Sometimes I get left behind. For five years."

"Marian-"

"I must leave, Marian. I must fight by the King's side. My presence there is needed." she repeated his words from five years ago. "And now, you demand attention, just because you graced us with your presence! Well, you're not entitled to my attention, Robin!"

"Keep your voice down or you'll be bringing Sir Guy to us. It would be unwise to let him see you like this." He pointed at distance between them. "You can always explain the strange attire, but the company you keep is unforgivable. The scandal would ruin your association with Sir Guy. Not to mention what it would do to your pretty neck. Now that I mentioned it, what do you value more, Marian? Your life or your friendship with him?"

Marian punched him in the stomach.

"I deserved that."

"You most certainly did."

"Trust me. I deserve that too."

"Trust is not an option these days."

"Especially regarding me?"

They stared at each other with no words to say, and just then, Gisborne's deep voice from outside melted the ice-wall that separated them.

"Wait here," he commanded his guard. "Lady Marian told me that she had forgotten a hairpin in this room. I should look for it, now that I am here."

"Yes, Sir Guy," the man replied.

Another guard, running in the corridor, stopped Gisborne from entering the chamber. "Sir Guy?" He panted heavily. "Sheriff wants to see you."

"In a minute."

"He says now. Three guards at the east gate. Wounded."

"Hood?" Gisborne bellowed.

"Or the Nightwatchman," the first guard pointed out.

"We cannot lose him, whoever he is. Come." Gisborne said and their footsteps faded to the east side of the castle.

With eyes focused on the door, which wasn't meant to open and reveal their secrets, Robin held his breath. For the first time in their common history, he felt grateful for the Sheriff's interference.

"I tried to get rid of him, pretending that I wanted to look for it, but it was pointless. He wouldn't leave me alone. To be honest I thought he had forgotten by now. I guess I'll have to leave something here, for him to find, should he ever come again." Marian placed a small jeweled bodkin on the table that they were standing close to. Her hair fell loose, and she nervously tucked her locks behind her ears.

"He found a good excuse to come to you. I give him that. Not that he wouldn't visit anyway."

"No!" She cried in despair. "I will not have the same fight again. Not now."

"All I am saying is that it is strange how the shadow you cast has the shape of Gisborne," he said, his vexation getting the best of him. All crimes aside, he could easily kill his rival just for stepping too close to Marian and tainting the air she breathed.

"Robin!" She cried even louder. "Only tonight you've mentioned his name more times than I have in a month. Does he matter so much to you?"

Gisborne was forcing his way in her life. He was the man who had stolen his life. However, at a time like that, talking about Gisborne was as unimportant as Gisborne himself. "Do I matter to you, then?"

She stared at the ground, avoiding giving her answer.

"Marian." Robin could barely keep the calmness in his tone. "Where do we stand?"

She looked at him. Not entirely distant, but not quite there either. "You know the answer," she finally said.

"Different directions?" Robin tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but it remained there. "Same side, different directions, eh?"

"The life you lead is quite different than mine. We must both carry on with our choices. Joining forces may be an exciting event, but it cannot be the rule. Just an exception." It was a well-rehearsed speech that deepened in sorrow as it drew to its end.

"I live for those exceptions. I live for the emergencies, as you had once put it. There is no force strong enough to tear me away the people I care about."

"That will make my life quite hard, you know. Do you really care? Answer with caution."

"Oh, Marian. If nothing else, be sure of that. I do care."

"The money I have stolen, we have to get it to the people."

"Marian-"

"That is what we must care about. At least for now."

Once the last coin had been put to good use, in the hands of the good people of Nottingham, they were safe outside the town's walls.

"Now, you and I will spend the night thinking of a plan to steal the Sheriff's great treasure. Shall we?"

"I believe we must."

In the silent night they were together, making way among the nasty shadows and escaping their treacherous figures. It was like a dream...

TO BE CONTINUED