Marian hurried to reach Robin, worried.
A page came with a message from her husband, earlier, and Robin asked her to reach him at the stables. She wondered why and if something bad happened to him.
When she arrived, she was surprised to see that Guy was there too.
The knight was sitting on a hay bale and he looked pale and somber. A woman was sitting on another bale, with a young boy near her, while Robin was standing and pacing between them.
"Robin!" Marian called, and she could see relief in both his and Guy's eyes. "What happened? What are you doing here?"
"She's Annie," Robin said "and the boy is Seth."
Marian remembered the gossips of the ladies and understood immediately, but before she could say anything, Guy spoke.
"He's my son."
"You lost the right to call him son when you left him to die in the forest!" Annie yelled and Guy glared at her.
"I already explained what happened, woman! I agreed that he was to be raised at the abbey and I ordered my men to take him there, but my guards ran away with the money and abandoned him."
"You didn't care to rescue him, did you?!"
"Hood already found him, what could I do?" Guy looked at Annie and he blushed a little. "And I admit that at the time I didn't worry too much. He was safe and if Hood could take care for him, it suited me too."
"Monster! You made me believe that you loved me! That you were happy that I gave you a son!"
"I cared for you! But you always knew that we couldn't have a future together. I didn't lie on this."
Annie shook her head with a sigh.
"I know. But yet I hoped..."
"What? To be my mistress forever and give birth to more children that I could not legitimate? If Vaisey knew about him, or if he suspected that you weren't just the adventure of a few nights, you would have been in danger. When Hood sent you both away from Nottingham, I was relieved. Even if I could never know my son."
"I am here, now."
The adults looked at Seth, startled. The boy had been quiet, looking at the father he had always believed dead and listening to the angry words of his mother.
Guy glanced at Annie, then he nodded.
"Yes, you are, and I'm glad I have met you. If your mother will allow it, I would be honored to know you," he said, humbly.
Annie glared at him.
"You don't deserve it."
Robin looked at her.
"But Seth deserves the chance to know his father."
"A murderer of a father..."
Marian was about to intervene, but Robin talked first.
"He changed," he said, and Guy gave him a surprised look "I didn't believe it at first, but he saved my children and he is a good lord for his peasants."
"It is true," Marian said "he won't hurt Seth, I can guarantee that."
"Mother, I know that he did wrong, but I always wondered how my father was, if he was still alive and if I looked like him… Now he's here and he wants to know me too..."
Annie looked at her son and she felt like weeping. She didn't want Guy of Gisborne to be near him, but she knew that Seth deserved to have the chance to meet his father and that he would suffer if she didn't allow him to spend some time with him. She was afraid that he could be hurt or that Gisborne could take Seth away from her. She had trusted him once and he betrayed her trust, now she couldn't allow him to ruin her life again.
Marian understood that Annie was afraid for her child and she couldn't blame her for it, but she looked at Guy and she saw that he was looking at the boy with shame, regret and a longing sadness in his eyes.
"Our kids use to spend some time with Guy every day," she said, even if it wasn't really true, they liked to listen to Gisborne's stories, but it didn't happen on daily bases "Seth could join them, so he could have the chance to be with his father, but he wouldn't be alone with him for now. I think he could have fun playing with our children, even if they are younger than him. Robin or I will be there too. Could you agree to this?"
Annie looked at her for a long while, then she nodded, then she turned to look at Guy.
"I'm doing this for Seth, not for you. Don't hurt him or I'll make you pay for everything."
"I won't. Annie?"
The woman looked at him.
"What?"
"Thank you. And... I'm sorry."
Annie took Seth's hand and she went away without answering. The child turned to look at Guy and he gave him a little smile, then he followed his mother.

Guy covered his face with the mask and he lead his horse between the trees. His day had been full of emotions and he felt tired, but he was determined to find and capture the masked man before he could ruin the reputation of the Nightwatchman.
He also had to help some of the families of the villages of Nottingham who couldn't afford to pay the taxes and who didn't have enough food to survive. He tied his horse to a bush, and he walked towards the first village. He stopped behind a tree at the edge of the forest and he looked at the house of one of the families he had to help, then he tied a little pouch of coins to an arrow and he shot it so it planted itself on the door.
He smiled, satisfied, but a moment later he had to hide behind a tree to avoid an arrow aimed at him. He saw Robin Hood running towards him and he realized that Robin was trying to capture the masked man too, but he had mistaken the Nightwatchman for him.
Guy ran away, hoping that Robin didn't have the time to use his bow, but he could hear him getting nearer. Robin jumped and he grabbed Guy, dragging him to the ground, and Gisborne tried to free himself.
They fought for a while and Robin punched him, splitting his lip. Guy tasted the blood and he reacted with a kick and Robin fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. Gisborne felt a pang of remorse, but he took the chance to run away.
He couldn't reach his horse because Robin was in the way, so he ran through the forest at full speed, trying to be silent and to put as much distance possible between him and Hood.
He felt the blood dripping on his chin from his lip and he knew that he was going to be bruised where Robin had hit him, but he couldn't stop and go back to the castle: he had to find and capture the masked thief. It was his fault if Robin Hood had attacked the Nightwatchman and if he wanted to keep helping the people, he had to capture the mysterious thief.
Guy turned to check if Robin was still following him and he didn't see the rope tied between two trees until he hit it. He was stopped mid run and he barely had the time to realize that it was a trap before a log tied to a rope came down from a nearby tree and hit him on his back.
Gisborne fall, stunned, and he rolled to the ground, half unconscious. A moment later the masked thief was on him and he tied Guy's hands and feet with a rope, immobilizing him.
Guy forced himself to stay awake even if his back was aching and he felt weak and sick. He had tried to capture the masked bandit, but now he was his prisoner and if he couldn't get himself free, he would probably die.
He closed his eyes, pretending to be unconscious, and when the thief came near him to take his mask away, Guy moved suddenly, and threw his tied hands around the thief's neck, trying to choke him. He used his weight to drag the other down with him and they rolled on the ground, fighting.
Guy was tied, but he was stronger and taller than the masked thief and after a while, he succeeded in blocking him under his body.
Gisborne raised his head, ready to use it to hit the other in the face, when he suddenly realized that the body trapped below him was too soft on the chest to be the body of a man.
A woman! The masked thief is a woman!
He froze, shocked, and the thief took the chance to hit him with a knee and to free herself.

When Guy woke up, much later, it was almost dawn and he was alone, still tied and lying on the ground. The thief had run away, but at least he, she, Guy corrected himself, didn't kill him.
He used his tied hands to remove the scarf that covered the lower part of his face and bit into the rope, using his teeth to loosen the knots.
It took him some time, but at last he got free and he rolled on his back with a sigh: he was sore and exhausted and the thief had robbed him of the money he wanted to use to help the poor, but at least he was alive.
He sat up and removed his mask and his cloak, then he hid the Nightwatchman's costume inside a hollow tree and began walking back to the castle. It was going to be a long walk and he would have to find the way to go back to his rooms unnoticed and a good story to explain his wounds, but all he could think in that moment was that the masked thief was a woman.