Chapter Four

Sorry in advance. You will know what for when you're done reading this.

"Once she mended the broken rib of a baby goose. She nourished it back to health when anyone else would have just put it out of its misery. She fattened it for weeks and afterwards gave it to a peasant family." Guy shook his head in fond reminiscence. "She was… different."

"She sounds remarkable," Marian smiled. "I would have liked to know her."

Hearing Marian's voice brought Guy back to the present. He'd almost forgotten that she was there. He looked up and realized that it had gone dark. How long had he been talking?

"It's late."

"Yes," Marian nodded but made no move to leave. Her eyes travelled to the few strawberries left strewn around the table. When had they eaten all the others? She hadn't noticed and neither, it seemed, had Guy.

"Huh," he frowned, having followed her gaze. "It looks like there won't be any strawberries left to give to the poor. We even breached the fence."

"Yes," Marian agreed and looked into his eyes, "I believe we did, a little."

She wasn't talking about fruit, Guy understood.

Should he perhaps use this gentle moment to tell her about the Sheriff's plans? Guy dismissed the thought immediately. He would not ruin this tender night by upsetting her unnecessarily. There was still time, the Sheriff had given him a week. And he had hope, now more than ever, that if things progressed in this manner over the next few days, maybe Marian wouldn't be as adverse to the idea of marrying him as she'd been before. Maybe…

A sharp knock on the door disturbed Guy's thoughts and he saw Marian nearly jump in her chair.

"Hey, Giz. I was…" Without waiting for an answer Allan A' Dale had entered but he came to a quick halt when he noticed the two figures in the almost dark room. "Oh… Marian. You're still here."

Guy swiftly stood up. "What do you want?"

Allan's gaze left Marian at the table to come to rest on Guy and he shrugged. "I was just wondering if you still wanted to go back to Locksley. You said this morning…"

"Can't you see that it's almost night?" Angry at the disturbance Guy tried to shove him back to the door. "We'll be staying here."

"Alright," Allan shrugged again and then quickly sidestepped Guy. He came over to the table where Marian was still sitting. Snatching a strawberry from the table he popped it into his mouth and gave her a cheeky grin. "Looks like he did like 'em, huh?"

"Yes," Marian smiled back. Then she stood up and straightened the folds of her dress. "It's late. I should go." She came over to where Guy stood by the door. He could feel his spirits fall. He didn't want her to go, but he knew of course that she must. He resigned.

"I will escort you to your chambers."

"No need," she placed a hand onto his forearm. "I know my way around the castle."

A barely suppressed snort came from Allan and Guy threw him a sharp glare. Then his eyes settled on Marian's face. "The hallways are dark."

"Especially in the dark," Marian reminded him.

Oh, right. Guy had almost forgotten that she'd been the Nightwatchman. She'd probably roamed the castle on more nights than he dared to think of. The thought clouded his face.

"Still," he growled low in his throat. "It won't do for a Lady to be seen alone, in the hallways, at night. I will escort you."

"And you think it's better for her reputation as a Lady to be seen coming out of your quarters, with you, at night?" Allan threw in around a mouthful of strawberries. "Not being funny but… that's not what I would be thinking."

Allan was right, obviously, Guy hated to admit. He shouldn't have let Marian stay this long. But then, she shouldn't have come to visit his chambers in the first place! What had she been thinking? Did she care nothing for her reputation? He could feel anger built up inside.

"I will not be detected. I know how to avoid the guards," Marian tried to defend herself.

"I'm sure you do!" Guy fired back. "Deception comes naturally to you after all!"

Marian stared at him, upset beyond measure. Why was he suddenly so angry and… so Guy? She snatched her hand away and turned to open the door.

"Goodnight, Sir Guy!" she snapped and quickly dashed out into the dark hallway.

Guy stared after her until she'd rounded the corner. Then he smashed the door shut and let his body slump against it. His head made a dull sound on the wood. Guy closed his eyes, frustrated.

"What was that for, Giz?"

Guy's eyes snapped open and he glared at Allan. The former outlaw had taken a seat at the table and, feet propped up carelessly on the tabletop, was happily munching strawberries. Guy strode over and roughly pulled him to his feet.

"Get up! Get out!" He manhandled Allan towards the door but the smaller man still managed to snatch the last strawberry from the table. Guy ripped it out of his hand. "That's mine!"

He gave Allan a shove that almost had him stumble to the floor. But Allan caught himself and held up his hands in a pacifying gesture.

"Alright, mate. Calm down, will you?"

Guy took a deep breath and turned towards the window. He heard Allan open the door and threw over his shoulder: "Make sure Lady Marian gets safely to her chambers."

"You know she's probably already there."

"Just do it!" Guy threw back.

"Alright, alright," Allan grumbled and finally left him alone with his thoughts.

Marian quietly found her way through the castle halls without being detected (like she knew she could), and slipped into her chambers. A fire had been lit and, after the darkness outside, the soft glow distracted her momentarily. That's why she didn't immediately see the lone figure sitting on her bed.

"And where have you been at this hour, I wonder?"

Marian whirled around in shock. "Robin!"

"Hello Marian," the outlaw stood up from the bed and slowly made his way to where she stood rooted to the spot.

"What are you doing here?"

"Visiting my betrothed." He placed a hand onto her waist and with the other put a loose strand of hair behind her ear, lightly grazing her cheek with his knuckles in doing so.

Marian could feel herself lean into the touch and she didn't pull away when Robin bent his head to kiss her.

"What's that?" Robin licked his lips a moment later. "Strawberries?"

The sight was nothing but innocent but Marian was instantly reminded of Guy doing the same earlier tonight and she realized that her reaction had been quite different then. She averted her eyes and took a step away from Robin.

"You shouldn't be here, Robin. You take too great risks…"

"Where did you get strawberries?" Robin didn't seem to be listening to her, too occupied with the sweet taste from her lips. "Were you forced to endure one of the Sheriff's feasts? Well, at least you got something good out of it."

"There was no feast," Marian replied without thought.

"So where were you then?"

Marian had no wish to upset Robin by telling him she'd been with Guy. So instead she voiced a question that had been weighing on her mind ever since she'd listened to Guy talk about his past.

"Why did you never tell me that you and Guy knew each other as boys?"

"What?" Robin was taken aback by the sudden change of conversation.

"You grew up together."

"We didn't! His family lived on Locksley lands for a few years, that's all!"

Marian knew that there was far more to it than that but she let it go for now. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Robin crossed his arms over his chest. "I didn't think it important. What difference does it make? We were never what you'd call friends, and he's our enemy now."

Marian wasn't sure what bothered her more; the fact that Robin hadn't told her or that to him it didn't seem to make a difference. Surely their shared childhood had to have an impact on how both men saw each other nowadays?

Although Guy had merely brushed by the fact that he'd lived here, on lands that his father had gained for services to the king and that later had gone back to the Lord of Locksley, and he'd barely mentioned Robin at all, Marian believed that not all recollections of them as boys could be bad. Surely there had to be some… well, if not fond memories then at least impartial ones. Something to build on, to work with…

But, Marian thought, even if… Robin was right, wasn't he? 'He's our enemy now.' That was the truth as Robin saw it. Only, Marian realized with a start, she didn't want it to be the truth.

She wanted, and her knees almost buckled at the sudden revelation, she wanted for both men to be on the same side. She wanted peace between them. But that would never happen, would it?

"Why are we talking about Gisborne?" Robin suddenly broke through Marian's thoughts. "Did he tell you this? Why?"

"He mostly talked about his mother," Marian shook her head to clear her thoughts. She took a few steps and sat on the edge of her bed. Suddenly she felt very tired. Nevertheless she looked at Robin again. "You must have known her."

"His mother? Yes." Robin sat down next to her. "What did Gisborne say about her? Did he tell you…?"

"What?"

Robin looked down to his knees. "That… never mind."

"Robin!" Marian nudged his shoulder. Robin looked up and met her eyes. He seemed to wrestle with whether or not to go on. Marian gave him another shove.

"You are very much like her. Did he say that?"

"What? No. I am?" Marian was astonished. She'd never have thought.

"She was kind, but also very headstrong at times," Robin said with a smile. "She stood up to Bailiff Longthorne more than once. She even went so far as to declare herself Lady of the Manor when everyone thought Sir Roger had died in the Holy Land. The Bailiff would not stand for it but… but my father backed her up on the matter. He… he seemed to hold her in great esteem." Almost to himself Robin added: "And then Sir Roger came back a leper and everything went wrong. So very wrong."

Marian let out a small gasp. She hadn't known about Sir Roger. Of course Guy had not told her that. She could not blame him.

Marian sought Robin's gaze but found him lost in his own thoughts, eyes downcast. She laid her hand upon his and gave it a comforting squeeze. Robin turned and met her eyes.

Then he leaned in and softly kissed her until all thoughts of the past had vanished from both their minds.

Just a very short chapter to tie you over. Sorry for the Marian/Robin bit but, what can I say? They are still betrothed and in love. And I don't want to bash Robin, I like him. I just like Guy more.

Perhaps this would have worked just as well as part of chapter three but… well, I didn't think of it until now. And the ending here felt like a good point to finish a chapter. The next ones will be longer, I promise. And we'll get on with the Sheriff's plot.