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"And I mean now," Guy instructed to his worker with no room for lenience, "It must be started before the next sunrise."
"Yes, Sir." The captain gave a curt nod and roughly scurried to carry out the orders, metallic clanking chiming through the corridor as he sped off in armor. Gisborne could not help but grin at what he had done. He made a morally good and selfless choice; just wait until April heard. Then he would be golden.
"Ah, Guy, lovely to see you. I hope everything is well…" Marian hinted at the exiting guard with her eyes before returning them to a lock on Gisborne's. She had appeared from seemingly nowhere; she could materialize as vapor in the air if she had the desire, he was sure of it.
"It's fine," Gisborne answered while lowering his head. He stared up at her from beneath commanding eyebrows and released an air of vanity and authority that no one was terribly unfamiliar with in his presence, "There is nothing here that involves you." A double meaning tinted the words and, with any luck, she would catch that he was in fact referring to himself. Marian glanced off the phrase.
"Well, I just didn't know if it was security, something I could help with. You said something in Nettelstone, or…?"
"You are eavesdropping on my orders, then?"
"No, no. Not on purpose. I just came up to see you and overheard a thing or two, that's all." A simple smile stuck onto her alabaster face and irritated Guy; was she returning to her usual shenanigans? Maybe that was why she was feigning obsession with him of late. Leather creaked before he managed to blink and solidify his face into a stone threat.
"You know much better than to pry into official business of the castle; I don't want to have to punish you again for stepping out of line." His words tasted of the blossoming avoidance he had for her. Marian briefly flipped through records of nights in prison and house arrest that had all fallen from Guy. They were in love now, though, so he wouldn't dare. Her smile did not vanish. She stretched out and put a palm to his elbow before leaning her body into his and forming a warm embrace that he refused. Guy took a minute step back as her chest met his own, muscles repulsed from her like matching magnets, mind weighed heavy with guilt. Gisborne could not help but recall the moment he saw April witnessing his indulgence of a former passion. But, as he straightened his spine, he reassured himself that the process of redemption had already begun turning. As Guy wormed his way out and coolly departed Marian was left in a state of unrefined confusion. The raw lack of comprehension led her to thoughtfully chew a lip and huff; why had he been acting so weird in the past couple of days?
After making sure that his little affair was over it should have all settled. She had certainly put out a message, in fact, Marian had marked her territory in the dominating way of the animal kingdom. There was no way Guy's mind could be tempted by the orphanage or any of its workers, and yet Lady Knighton couldn't bury her hunch for all the money in the Sherriff's vault. Marian calmed her nerves by recalling just two nights ago when he had come to her chambers broken and needing her comfort. No one else could help, she told herself, Gisborne wanted her. He had kissed her with vigor and intensity. They had spent the shelter of night together as a pair who wanted nothing more than wine and company. They were a couple. Marian puckered her lips with the vow that she would not lose this perpetual affection; it had no prerequisites nor did it demand much sacrifice and, once she had surrendered to it, it lent the most assuring blanket of safety to her that she had known since her father ruled the county. She used every fiber of power she could find to push the concept of April from her brain through the ear canal and out onto the floor where she could trot off and allow it to die. Marian of Knighton clung to her delusion as Gisborne powered ahead with only his true lover living in the realm of his imagination.