.

Allan briefly knocked at the door of Gisborne's bedchamber, before opening it and entering the room. The Black Knight was sleeping on his side while Marian was curled up next to him and she was holding Gisborne's hand tight in

Allan grinned,

"Good morning to you both." He said, and Guy opened his eyes with a start. He relaxed in recognizing Allan, then he realized that Marian was next to him, holding on to his hand and that she was still asleep.
Gently he pulled his fingers from the girl's ones and he got out of bed, waving Allan to follow him out of the room.
"Take that grin off your face." He told Allan, menacingly. "Nothing of what you think happened."
"Hey, I don't think anything, Giz. And in any case it's none of my business."
"Exactly. And if I hear any gossip..."
"I wouldn't do anything to damage Marian!" Allan interrupted him, offended. "While you were gone I did everything I could to protect and help her!"
Gisborne looked at him for a moment, surprised at being contradicted by Allan, then smiled.
"I know and I appreciate it."
Allan looked at him, pretending to be shocked.
"Guy of Gisborne who thanks me? Have you been hit on your head?"
"Stop it. What did you want?"
"There, now I recognize you." Allan said, amused, then he handed to Gisborne an earthenware container closed with a lid and wrapped in a piece of canvas. "The friar left this for you, for your back. He left early this morning because he wanted to talk to the priest of the church of Locksley. He said he will stay there for a few days before resuming his journey."
Guy nodded.
"I'm going to talk to him before he leaves."
"Hey. Need some help with that?" Allan asked, pointing at the ointment.
Gisborne was about to refuse, but then he forced himself to nod, putting aside his pride.
He hated the idea of being touched by someone else, but he could not treat his wounds without help and at least he knew he could trust Allan.
He turned from him and took off his shirt in silence.
Allan let out an expletive and Guy stiffened.
"I don't want to talk about it, Allan." He said abruptly.
The other said nothing and simply spread the medicine on the wounds without wasting time and trying to be as gentle as possible. Gisborne stood still the whole time, but Allan could feel his tension and wondered if he was hurting him.
He was about to ask Guy, when a cry of horror coming from the door startled them.
Marian stared wide-eyed at Guy's back and Gisborne quickly put the shirt on.
"It looks worse than it really is." He said casually, but she shook her head.
"Do not lie to me, Guy." Marian stared at him, furious. "But when we find those bandits, I'll make them pay for all this!"
"No!" Guy and Allan shouted simultaneously.
"Marian, you mustn't have anything to do with those people, promise me, please." Gisborne pleaded "If you should get hurt, I couldn't stand it."
"They almost killed you! And they are terrorizing Nottingham!"
"We will find them and they will have what they deserve." Allan intervened. "But you must stay safe."
She gave them a look of defiance, but she gave up protesting, seeing that both were of the same opinion.
She sighed, irritated.
"May I ride up to Locksley? The child of one of the peasants is sick and they can't afford to call a doctor. I will take nutritious food to them, at least."
"Make sure that two servants accompany you." Allan said.
"Go at the church and talk to Tuck." Guy suggested. "He's not a doctor, but he is probably able to help that child."
Marian nodded and she went back to her room to get dressed.
Guy watched her go, then turned to Allan.
"I would like to accompany her personally, but I'm afraid I still am not able to protect her and for the moment it's better not to make people know I'm alive."
"Our men are trustworthy, but I can go with her if you want."
"I have another task for you, Allan." Gisborne gave him the bloodstained dagger with which he had been wounded. "You must find out who it belonged to. It is the only track that we have to find these killers. But be careful, if they came to know that you've got it, you'd be in danger."
"I know who could help me."
"Hood and his friends, I suppose."
"They no longer trust me since I betrayed them, but they also want to stop the killers. If it's possible to trace the owner of the dagger, they will find him."
Gisborne gave a curt nod.
"I don't care who you are going to ask. What will you say if they ask you where you got it?"
"Oh, no problem. I will say I've found your body. They will believe it, they already know that I've been looking it for days. And in the end it wouldn't even be a lie, in fact your body is here, I will only be omitting the small detail that it still breathes."
"An insignificant detail, right?"
"Absolutely." Allan grinned, putting the dagger away.

Sir Edward dismissed the servant who had set the table and he tried to eat something. He was still unwell and at his age he was struggling to recover, but he tried to get better for love of Marian.
He looked up from his plate, realizing he wasn't alone anymore and nodded his invitation to Gisborne, who hesitated at the door.
"Sir Guy." He greeted him cautiously, and finally the other decided to come in and sit at the table in front of him.
Gisborne looked at him.
"Last night we hadn't a chance to talk much..." Guy began, almost timidly, and Marian's father was surprised to see that the black knight seemed to be uncomfortable. In the past, Sir Guy had always been too self-confident, often overbearing and arrogant.
"I guess that's understandable. We were all surprised by your return."
"Me too, I admit. I didn't know how I would be greeted."
"Perhaps in the past there were differences between us, but now we are in debt with you."
Guy stared at him, surprised.
"Differences? I burned Knighton Hall, it seems a bit reductive as a definition."
Sir Edward smiled.
"If you had not thought to leave Locksley to us, by now I probably would have died in the dungeons of the castle and who knows what would have happened to Marian."
"Once I was dead, I wouldn't have had anything to lose by blackmailing the sheriff to ensure your safety, it wasn't a great gesture."
"What will you do now?"
"The sheriff won't dare to kill me, or the document that accuses him of betrayal will be delivered to the king, but when he finds out I'm alive he will do anything to make me pay for it. I'll probably have to go away and start over elsewhere, but first there are some issues that I need to fix."
"For me this is your home. Whatever you decide to do, remember that you will always be welcome here."
"Really? Would you think the same even if I were forced to go back to work for the sheriff?"
"Sir Guy, when I have agreed to give you the hand of my daughter, you already were at his command, I think."
"You wouldn't have done it if you hadn't been forced."
"I wouldn't have done it if I had not seen the good in you. And know that you still have my consent in this regard."
Guy gave him a sad smile.
"Marian is like you, Sir Edward. She, too, sees the good where there is none. And as to my marriage proposal, I decided to withdraw it. I thought Marian would learn to reciprocate what I feel for her, but I don't want her to accept for pity or because she feels obligated to me. Anyway, now I have nothing to offer her anymore."
"If I can give you some advice, Sir Guy, let her decide about it."

Marian urged her horse into a trot, outpacing the servants that were escorting her. The two men respected her desire to be alone with her thoughts, but they didn't lose sight of her, ready to intervene in case of problems.
The girl went to the church of Locksley to search for friar Tuck, but before entering she stopped to look at the small building.
Some time before, less than a year now that she thought well about it, the church was festively decorated with the colors of Gisborne and all the people of Locksley had been ready to celebrate the marriage of their lord.
Marian had felt trapped, forced to marry a man she didn't love and to turn her back to Robin. Eventually she ran away in the middle of the ceremony after punching Guy in front of everyone present.
If she thought of the painful scene she still felt a mixture of anger and shame for what had happened, but now she remembered something that happened a few minutes before that unfortunate ceremony.
She had dropped out of the carriage and Guy had come to meet her, excited and uncertain about what to do. She asked angrily if he had never attended a wedding and Guy had replied candidly he didn't.
Exasperated, Marian had abruptly ordered him to wait in the church, but now that she had learned to know better Gisborne, remembering her harsh words made her feel sorry for him.
She dismounted and went into the church in silence.
She walked up to the altar and looked at the place where Guy had waited that time, certain that she would have said yes.
"What would I answer now?" She wondered, unable to find an answer.
She felt confused, divided in half between mixed feelings.
To think that Guy had been killed had devastated her and it had made her understand how much she cared for him, but she also missed Robin, she missed that first love that was born in the innocence of their youth.
And what she felt for Guy was more than just affection or her feeling for him depended only from the sorrow of having believed him dead?
Marian couldn't understand it.
Two women walked by to put flowers on the altar and they threw her a disgusted look.
"Gisborne's whore..." One of the two whispered to the other, loudly enough to be heard from her, and they both came out of the church, indignant.
Marian was looking at them as they went away, thinking that she should feel humiliated by their contempt, but in reality she was only furious for their malignancy.
"Lady Marian."
She spun around and found herself in front of the friar who saved Guy.
"Father. I haven't had the opportunity to express my gratitude for what you did..."
"Tuck, child, simply Tuck." Said the monk with a smile. "And it's better not to talk about certain things."
Marian nodded that she understood.
"A person we both know told me that you might know an effective remedy to cure one of the village children. He's been having a fever for days and the mother is afraid he isn't going to heal.
Tuck looked at the girl, studying her expression, then nodded. He made her wait in the church for a few minutes and he returned with a lumpy leather bag that smelled of herbs.
Marian showed him the road and the friar followed her along the path through the fields.
"It is generous of you to help the needy people of Locksley. Not many would be willing to do so after hearing some insults."
Marian blushed.
"They are just lies. And if people prefer to believe the gossip, I won't change my behavior because of this. My conscience is clear, I haven't done anything wrong."
Tuck smiled to himself. He had heard her name on Guy's lips while the knight was delirious with fever and pain and now the monk began to understand what had prompted him to cling to life so obstinately.