DI. Samantha Hunter
"Shattered"

Sir Edward of Knighton paced around worriedly on the grass outside his home, it was the first time he'd been out of bed in a few weeks and stretching his legs as well as breathing in fresh air was doing him good however he was swiftly weakening due to the mounting concern and panic he was feeling for his daughter. Marian had promised him that morning that she would be quick; go to the apothecary in Locksley before returning right away, however it was fast becoming nightfall and she still hadn't returned home, when sundown had begun an hour ago he had made the decision to send a message to Guy of Gisborne in Locksley to see whether he'd seen Marian that day or whether she had been caught up in his household. Edward was no fool, he knew how Guy lusted after Marian and this had caused him even more worry and pain, if Guy had acted on his feelings and harmed him virtuous daughter then Edward would surely kill him – Sherriff Vaisey's lieutenant or not, nothing would stop his agonised wrath.

Edward's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of hooves, he kept his head bowed, expecting it to be the messenger when he noted there was most definitely more than one horse approaching him, looking up he saw Guy riding alongside the messenger, a look of horror and panic on his own face which could have mirrored Edward's.

Edward was torn in two in that split second; one half of him rejoiced that Guy, it seemed, hadn't harmed his beloved daughter yet the other half of him recognised the rather troubling thought that Marian could be anywhere, her fate in anyone's possession.

"Edward," Guy greeted as he jumped from his horse and marched towards the concerned elder gentleman. "Your messenger arrived with the devastating news of Marian's disappearance, I am truly sorry. I promise to do all in my power to find her, starting tonight."

"Tonight?" Edward asked, casting a wary eye to the darkening sky. "It is already nightfall, I fear Marian may never be found once the crushing dark settles in."

"Trust me." Guy said, a fierce compassion within his eyes but Edward still nearly scoffed, how could he possibly trust this man? He was often described by the locals as a monster concealed within a human form but Guy didn't seem to notice Edward's apprehension, he'd been making plans, it seemed. "I've already assembled a few groups of guards who are currently waiting by the forest; some will search the various, minor roads which lead here from Locksley whilst I and a couple of guards shall check the Great North Road. Have no fear Edward; I shan't stop looking until I find her."

Guy marched back towards his horse and remounted it without waiting for a reply from the speechless Edward before taking off back in the direction he'd come with such speed that he had disappeared into the dark within seconds.

The messenger shuffled his feet nervously. Edward knew the feeling; Guy of Gisborne always left him feeling anxious too.

John Little, the leader of the outlawed gang, waited whilst one of his more agile men climbed up the thick trunked tree John had chosen with a coil of rope hung on his shoulder, once standing carefully on a branch he wound the rope by his feet and tied it tightly to the branch. Stepping forward, John pulled on the rope and checked it could support his weight before slinging the young Noble woman – who had now been stripped from the little things of value she had (cloak, boots, a dagger concealed as a hairpin and belt) – over his shoulder and walking up the tree, using the rope to drag himself higher.

John heard her softly moan by his ear in her unconsciousness, he felt her warm breath on his neck and felt a surge of guilt, no matter how tough he liked to appear in front of his men he knew this was wrong, even when he had first laid eyes on her he had known it was wrong. Seeing her innocent face had plunged him into the past he had tried to so hard to forget, the past life he'd had before he became a 'dead man'; back when he'd been a happy guard of Malcolm of Locksley, living with his cherished wife Alice, who thought him to be dead now, and watching – as everyone was – the shy yet meaningful frolics between the young master Robin and the even younger Lady Marian, Robin's betrothed; the Sherriff's daughter; and now this woman.

He'd recognised her as soon as he'd seen her and though he believed he saw slight, unsure recognition cross her face it was clouded by her fear when she saw him and rightly so, he guessed, for he had now allowed her to be injured and was going to leave her in a tree to hopefully be found but possibly die. He shuddered at the thought, only a few more paces away from his comrade and thought to himself that maybe he could return in the dead of night and let her go. It would be the humane thing to do after all.

He reached the top and passed her to his outlawed follower before hoisting himself up to the same branch but staying closer to the trunk than his light friend in case the branch was too weak for his weight and snapped.

The forest seemed to go deathly still as the outlaws heard approaching hooves, riding fast down the Great North Road, one of the outlaws on look out whistled and the gang on the ground scattered amongst the bushes apart from one man. John looked down at his most loyal follower and the closest thing he had to a friend; Roy stood rooted to the ground staring up at his leader with worried eyes.

"Go!" John hissed down at him.

"Bu' –"

"Just go!" John repeated. "We'll be fine."

Roy ran away from the clearing and ducked between the trees and the two outlaws in the large tree dragged the rope up and out of sight. Seconds later a man on horseback thundered past, looking like he had a mission to fulfil, he was gone quickly and John turned to his companion.

"Messenger," the younger man grunted and they both cast a weary glance at the slumbering woman between them before moving faster. They used the other end of the rope they had to tie her wrists together tightly, the young outlaw pulled out of his pocket a long, dirty rag which he stuffed in her mouth and tied securely around the back of her head. He gave John a shrug. "Just in case she wakes up and starts screaming before we're outta here."

John gave a non-committable grunt before they carefully lowered her down so she was dangling a few feet below the branch, once finished John gave a weary glance from his perch to where the ground was far below, he was far less agile than his companion yet there was no other way down than to climb. Thinking they could stick around and think up a plan they began discussing quietly how to get down when a party of many soldiers on horseback thundered along the dusty road, following the loathed Guy of Gisborne who had outlawed nearly every one of John's men, including John himself, and finally the messenger from earlier followed, lagging behind a little as they rode back the way the fairly tired messenger had come.

The entourage left as soon as it had came and it convinced John that climbing really was the only way down. And if, as John expected, the party of soldiers had anything to do with the Noble woman they had abducted; they would have to leave the scene swiftly before they returned baying for blood. Following his company, they carefully shimmied their way down the tree and landed safely on the forest ground before melting back into the trees without so much as a trace that they were there at all apart from the unconscious woman whose John's concerned gaze didn't leave.

When Marian finally awoke it was to the taste of stale sweat, mud and blood and the feeling of dizzying vertigo, regaining her senses Marian attempted to spit the grimy piece of material out of her mouth but to no avail so, biting back bile she gave up and began to concentrate on her surroundings. It was with relief that she realised she was completely alone, the outlaws, it seemed, were long gone however her relief was short lived when she also realised, even amongst the darkness, that she appeared to be many feet in the air, daggling from a branch by her wrists in a pitch black forest.

As a child, Sherwood Forest had been her haven from embroidery and other fruitless activities within the household; out here she'd had exciting adventures with Robin and his loyal manservant, Much. But here, now, the once exciting forest seemed like a terrifying adversary, attempting and succeeding in scaring her with every little noise; the snap of a twig, the creak of a branch, the whistle of the wind, the hooves of a horse.

... The hooves of a horse?

Even in her current state there was no mistaking the noise of an animal she loved so much. A horse was very slowly approaching the place she was at, trotting slowly as though being led by a person on foot. Feeling a small amount of hope build inside of her, Marian began to listen intently for any new sound of the approaching horse and its possessor.

Marian strained her eyes through the darkness and saw a small sphere of orange light, glowing in the darkness far below as two other balls of flame followed the first. Three people were slowly making their way down the Great North Road, whether friend of foe Marian didn't know – nor care. Either way she supposed she would be let down from this tree, whether to be rescued or robbed and if the latter then she could defend herself.

It was at that point that she remembered she didn't have her dagger anymore after she had stabbed it through the hands of one of the fiendish outlaws who must have taken it with them to sell on as they had her belt, the hair pin which had kept the top half of her hair out of her face, her cloak and boots. Acknowledging her lack of clothing she suddenly realised how cold she was, her hands and arms were numb, the blood drained from them after being above her head for so long, her feet were sensitively cold from being exposed to the summer night's chill. Feeling her jaw quake and her spine shiver she thought back to the moment at hand; so she didn't have a dagger? It didn't matter really, if needs be she could fight using just her hands.

The three orange orbs drew closer and she began to moan, it was muffled due to the rag and the material made her want to retch, pushing against it with her tongue and ignoring the acidic burn on the moist muscle she began screaming in desperation.

It worked.

Someone's voice; a male, familiar voice filled with concern and distress called out to her. "Marian?"

She began screaming again, pushing hard against the rag with her tongue until it finally fell out of her mouth, she breathed in deeply, sweet, fresh oxygen hit her nose, tongue, throat all at once and she didn't think she'd ever appreciated breathing as much as she did at that moment in time.

"Marian?" The familiar voice called again, her father perhaps? "Marian!?"

But this time it seemed to be fading, growing distant as the fog closed in around her again. "No," she cried hoarsely as tears slipped from her eyes, burning her icy cheeks. "Here! I'm here! Oh please come!"

"Marian!?" The voice called again, desperation lacing with the concern and although the darkness was circling around her as a beast waiting to pounce on its prey she knew the owner of the voice could hear her. The orange orbs flickered and beckoned to her through the darkness with long, curling fingers.

"Help me! They've left me up here to die!"

There were footsteps; loud, clunking footsteps on the forest floor followed by the unmistakable sound of an arrow cutting through the air, whistling as it shot through the wind and finally embedding itself into the same branch she was dangling from.

"I'm coming Marian!" The voice called, much closer than before and she knew it wasn't her father at once, how foolish she'd been to think him strong enough to come looking for her in the freezing cold woods at night, no, she was glad he had not come.

The groans which escaped Gisborne's lips as he heaved himself up the tree in the same fashion John had done, not that either of them knew that, kept Marian conscious as she listened to his heavy panting. Each groan reminded her to thank him for finding and saving her, her passed her and eventually made it to the branch she was dangling from before using all his strength to raise her up towards him. It was painful to her body but she was too glad to care, in the end she was sat on the branch before him and when he wrapped his arm around her she began sobbing. Unable to control her emotions as relief, fear, happiness, concern, tiredness and pain all crashed down upon her.

"Shh," Guy soothed gently "It's all going to be fine, you're safe now Marian."

He stroked her hair as her sobbing ceased before the fog and darkness consumed her once more and she fell unconscious, the stress of the day taking its incredible toll on her. He lifted her and swung her around so she was pressed against his back and, ignoring the thoughts of her pressed against him in other situations which made him feel tight and clammy, he wrapped her small arms around his neck and whilst one hand gripped her arms around his neck to secure her as best he could, the other hand held the rope with the arrow through it and he let them half slide, half climb down to the ground.

He was slightly amazed although mostly glad that the rope his guard had conveniently been in possession of held both of their weights. Once on the ground he kept her on his back and, with the help of his guards, heaved himself one-handed on to his horse before switching Marian's position so she was straddling his horse in front of him, one of his arms on either side, steadying her as they rode.

"Where to Sir Guy?" One of his two guards asked. "Back to Knighton?"

"No," Guy answered immediately. "You ride to Knighton and tell Sir Edward his daughter is safe although weak and that I am taking her to Nottingham Castle where she can stay and receive the best physicians for her every need. Then tell him to pack and prepare his carriage so he may also stay at the Castle where he can watch over his daughter as well as receive medical treatment for his virus."

"Yes, Sir Guy," the guard replied before riding on towards Knighton whilst Guy and his one remaining guard carried on at a slower pace towards Nottingham town with Guy every so often casting a glance down at the woman between his arms, a soft smile gracing his usually thinly lined lips.

So, I was planning on updating weekly, but seeing as I've left school now and a week feels like a month I was wondering what you guys thought would be an appropriate time to update. That way I can keep you engaged and I'll be writing ahead so I can stick to deadlines. :) If you just tell me in your reviews or something then I'll take the majority.

Also, I was thinking of raising the rating in later chapters and including some smut but was wondering whether people would enjoy that or not? I appreciate that everyone has different tastes for things, some people like smut whilst others hate it so what would you like? A passing reference or a slightly more detailed account. Again, you can give feedback in a review and I'll go with the majority :)