Chapter four: Cry
"You mangy mongrel!" Meg shrieked as she chased the scrawny, muddy dog from Guy's house, her skirts high above her ankles. She'd taken no more than ten steps before stepping on a sharp stone. She let out a howl and paused to grab onto her heel. She lost her balance and fell on her behind onto the grass.
The sound of deep, rich laughter caused her to look up. It wasn't a surprise to her to find Sir Guy approaching on his big black horse. He was an intimidating man. He was over 6ft. she was certain of that. His dark clothes and smoldering looks made him appear more intimidating. She didn't trust him. True, he'd promised not to touch her and so far, he'd held to that promise. Still, it was that look in his eyes that unnerved her most and his actions.
He was actually being nice to her and that put her on edge. Chris had been nice to her, before taking her virtue and satisfying his lust on her body. Sir Guy was different. He was stronger and more menacing than Chris was. He could have hurt her or even killed her a few days ago in his rage, but something stopped him from doing that. Did he plan to catch her off guard before surrendering to his obviously, so base, needs?
Guy hopped off his horse and looked down her. Her stomach fluttered and she demanded. "What are you staring at?"
"You."
She rolled her eyes and stood up. "I've no idea why."
"It's rather early for you to be getting put up with your lord and master." He reminded her, causing her to stiffen. "What have you been doing?"
"I'd just finished scrubbing the floors and someone left the back door open and we had an unwanted visitor. What are you doing here Sir?" she questioned. "The sun has not yet set."
"I'm aware." He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a bundle. "I promised the lady Marian I'd deliver this to you."
Meg bobbed her head as she took the soft package, another dress presumably. "How very generous of her. But honestly, her dresses are much too fancy for scrubbing floors in."
Guy nodded as he adjusted his horse's reins in his hands before remounting. Then, he held his hand down her. "Climb up." she shifted away from him and looked up at him. He exhaled. "I won't hurt you, come on."
She didn't want to do it, but she had no choice. She hesitantly placed her hand in his before admitting. "I've never ridden a horse before."
"Then it's a good thing all you need to do is hold on." that said, he carefully pulled her up in front of him. She smoothed her skirts down around her legs as Guy tucked her package back into his saddlebag. "Now," he explained. "I'm going to place e hand on your waist, so you won't fall off." She nodded as he did as he said. She still jumped at his touch. "We won't be gone long."
"Where," she rasped out. "Are we going?"
"Not far." He clicked his horse into a trot and she grabbed a hold of the saddle firmly as the horse trotted. With each step, the horse's gait caused his body to jostle against hers. The sensation was unnerving and caused her stomach to tightly knot with each touch. The ride to her seemed to take forever and she couldn't wait to be off his horse. However, when Guy left the path and entered the woods, she grew nervous, because now they were going to be out alone in the middle of nowhere. "Stop thinking that way."
Meg tensed. "Like what?"
"I can sense those thoughts running through those crazy locks of yours." She spun around and glowered at him, he seemed slightly amused. "I told you, nothing will happen without your permission."
"Why is my hair crazy?" she demanded, causing him to laugh. "I fail to see what's so funny!"
"I just told you, that you were safe and you heard was crazy hair. That is so typical. And yes, your hair is crazy." She let out an indignant sound. "I've yet to see it tamed into anything passable to show you're a lady."
"Well, your horse is partially to blame for it being a mess."
"And the dog you were chasing down the street." Guy said with a chuckle as he pulled the horse to a stop and dismounted. He placed his hands on her waist, causing her to jump slightly as he carefully pulled her down. Once her feet touched the ground, she backed away from him a few steps. Guy shook his head as he reached for his horse's reins and began walking alongside the stream. "Come on then."
Meg paused for a moment but decided to do as he asked. After walking for a few minutes in silence, Meg couldn't stand it anymore. "What are we doing here?"
"We're walking." He stated as if it was no big deal.
"I can see that. Why are we?"
"Can you give me a reason why we shouldn't?" he shot back at her without even looking back at her.
Her mouth dropped open slightly. "Well, I'm your slave and you're my master."
"Considering that I allow you to get away with so many liberties," he said dryly. "it seems highly unlikely that we could be considered master and slave."
Meg thought back on it. True, she did work, but she was fed regularly, clothed like a lady and she and Guy did have a rather interesting relationship. After all, she shouted back at him and he hollered at her, but outside of that one incident, he hadn't raised a hand to her. No, they weren't like the average slave and master at all.
"You're right." Meg exhaled deeply.
"So, can you come up with another objection?" Guy surprised her; why was he pressing this topic?
Meg bit her lip and sighed. "No, I cannot."
"Am I bothering you?" again, he asked without looking at her.
"For heaven's sake!" she snapped. "Why are you doing this? You're not even acknowledging me like I'm a real person!"
"And you're also walking five to six steps behind me." he pointed out to her as heat crawled up into her face. "I cannot go and walk peering over my shoulder the entire time."
"I'm sorry." Meg mumbled.
"What?" he questioned, though she was certain he heard her.
"I'm sorry!" she repeated. "Now, may I go home?"
Guy paused and turned towards her. "Why would you wish to go home? I thought you hated it there."
The blood drained from her face as she realized her mistake. She shifted and looked around the woods uncomfortably. "I meant to say back."
"No, you didn't." Guy stated as he walked towards her, his horse trailing behind him on a loose rein. "Were you referring to my estates as your home now?"
"They're not your estates." She muttered.
"We'll discuss that topic in a moment." he said as he stopped in front of her. "Answer my question."
"Why?"
"Because," he said without even blinking. "you better plan on spending the whole night out here alone with unless you answer the question."
Her face couldn't get any whiter than it was, but she was certain it was. Guy knew exactly what her heart and head feared the most. She was silent for a moment before deciding that the truth couldn't be anything worse than being stuck out here with him.
She bit her lip and nodded. "I guess I did."
A gloved finger under her chin caused her to inwardly twitch, but she didn't jerk away from him. "And yes, we're standing on the Gisbourne lands." Meg frowned; the topic change was so abrupt and so sudden that her mind was reeling. Guy, sensing her confusion, explained. "You said I didn't have any lands."
"And, so you don't. I've never known any of this area to belong to Gisbourne."
Guy guided her by her elbow towards his gigantic horse. "My father fought in the holy war. The king awarded him lands which were awarded to me."
"Why are you telling me this?" she asked as he set her on the horse, forcing her to clutch onto the saddle.
Guy ignored her as he led his horse through the foliage. "Due to circumstances, mainly because my father was a leper, he was declared dead and the lands went to Robin of Lockleys's father."
Meg frowned. "That doesn't make any sense." He paused and looked up at her in curiosity. "Well, it doesn't. The king himself awarded those lands to the house of Gisbourne. They should have gone to the next Gisbourne heir."
"I was too young to inherit."
"That's stupid." She huffed. "Well, you can claim the lands now that you're of age."
"I lost all right to ownership when I departed the lands after my mother died."
Meg paused. "Why did you leave?" he answered her in only silence. "Come on," she coaxed gently. "I told you of my mother's passing."
"That doesn't mean," he said as he turned to mount up behind her. "that I desire to share all of my life's history with you."
"Well," Meg inhaled sharply as she felt his hand on her waist again. "you must want to share it with somebody; otherwise, you wouldn't have said anything to me."
"Did you have a nickname as a child?" He questioned. "And if you did, was it perchance, magpie?"
Meg shifted her shoulders. "Maybe." Guy chuckled, his deep voice causing her whole body to shudder. "That is none of your concern. What was your nickname?"
"What makes you think," Guy questioned. "anyone would dare to give me a nickname without asking for a thorough thrashing?"
Meg shrugged. "I see what you mean. As I said earlier…you don't fight fair."
"Well, life isn't fair, so why should one fight fair?"
"For the very reason you named. Life isn't fair, so we should fight fair."
"We could discuss this topic in circles and still not come to an agreement."
"Why do you discuss such things with me?" Meg questioned. "You really shouldn't. I'm certain that there are dozens of ladies who would gladly be able to discuss such topics with you. I'm certain that I'm not the best one to discuss such things with."
"Because I chose to." Meg's blood froze at his admission. "That makes it requirement enough."
Guy exhaled as he came slowly up the stairs. The sheriff had required Guy's services again and it was late this evening. The conversation with Meg had prayed on his mind on his silent ride back. He didn't know why he felt like he could talk with her, but for some reason, he could. It had been a long, long time since he was able to converse with anyone the way she did with him. She spoke freely, without reservation and it was refreshing to him. Most people would speak civilly to him, even the ladies of the court. Meg, being a peasant girl, knew of his reputation and had undoubtedly experienced it herself; yet she still spoke to him the way she did.
Guy had asked Thornton to give her the guest chambers, directly opposite his. He'd done that to assure her that as long as she was near him, she had nothing to fear. However, this plan only seemed to confirm to her addled mind that he wanted her in his bed and true, he had. But her sharing that painful story of her past had caused his heart to soften towards her. She knew pain as he'd known it.
The sound of a feminine scream, Meg's, caused his footsteps to quicken towards the door. As he laid his hand on the door, he paused, because she hadn't screamed again. Instead, what he heard instead was loud gasps and then she began crying. Guy determined that she must have been dreaming of the night of her assault. He hadn't been here most nights, so he made certain to ask Thornton in the morning if her screams occurred nightly or was this the first time she'd been frightened?
Meg's sobs were heartbreaking. For some reason, each sob disturbed him, prompting him to knock on the door. "Go…away…Thornton." She choked out. "Just…a dream."
"Meg?" her sobs stopped instantly, causing her to choke back the tears. He carefully cracked the door open and peered in to find her sitting up in the bed, arms wrapped tightly around her chest. "Are you alright? Do you need anything?"
Meg nodded her head before wailing loudly. "I'm…fine!"
He exhaled. "Oh, Meg."
"Don't come near me!" she bawled loudly. "Just leave me!"
"Not till you've calmed down." He wanted to go to her, but knew that would only upset her further. When she struggled to calm down, he decided to go her. He didn't sit on the bed; he instead went to the nightstand and poured her a mug of water. "Here." Meg took it with shaking hands, spilling the water over the covers. He took her hand gently, however gentle his touch was, she still wrenched away from him. He waited a moment before patiently guiding her hand to her mouth. After a few sips, he took the water from her. "I gave you my word, that you'd be safe here," she looked up at him, her eyes looked so vulnerable. At that moment, all sensations of lust deserted him and the desire to protect him, filled him instead. "and I meant it. Nobody will ever harm you again as long as I'm here. If they do, they'll wish they hadn't."
Meg offered no words. She just curled up into a ball and turned on her side, so her back was facing him. Guy exhaled and moved towards the door and closed it carefully. The moment he closed it, Meg began crying again. He exhaled deeply. He wanted to help her. For the first time in a long time, he wanted to help someone. He wanted to help her. However, he seemed to inwardly sense that if he did, things would change between them again and he wasn't certain that he'd want their relationship to go in that direction.
Guest: Thank you very much! I'm glad to know that you feel I treat my characters fairly, I try my best. I hope you're enjoying this fic.
