Vengeance is sweet 20
She could see it in his face that Robin was feeling more uncomfortable than ever before in his life, and she knew without a word from him that her suspicion was correct: He had lied to her about Sir Guy's tattoo. "You lied to me, the tattoo… why?" she asked slowly.
"Can't you think of the reason? … I could not stand the thought of you marrying him", Robin said softly in a flat voice.
"It was you who broke off the engagement because you absolutely wanted to follow King Richard to the Holy Land, you were the one who…"
"I have regretted it a thousand times over since then", Robin replied in a heated tone. "I should not have gone, I should have married you. You know my feelings for you."
Marian blinked the tears away that welled up in her eyes. "Even now you cannot say it, Robin, and I don't know any more if I can believe you either. You returned and had nothing better to do than to keep playing the adventurer. Instead of listening to me and father, you had to oppose the Sheriff openly. To act behind the scenes, that is impossible for you, you always have to be the centre of attention… The great Robin Hood, always some quip ready, never shy of an excuse… No, Robin, I don't want to be unfair, you have done many good things, but I don't know how to deal with the situation right now. Father is dead, I am here and I do not belong here… I…"
She broke down, violent sobs shaking her body. Robin caught her. "Marian, please, forgive me…" He took her gently into his arms and she let him hold her for a while but then she pulled herself away from him. "Robin, please leave me alone for a while, I need some time, I just don't know…" Robin got up and left; there was nothing left for him to say now. His companions looked at him, curious, but Robin did not react and sat down by the fire, staring into the flames.
Guy and Hyld left late in the afternoon. Guy was riding next to Hyld in silence; too much had been thrown at them within the past few hours. Shortly after Sir Cedric had left, Sir Alfred had called his daughter to speak with her. Not much of what he had said had found his way to him after she had realised that Guy would take her to Aunt Agnes and that he had promised her father to take her there and leave when he had. She would never see Guy again. Why had he done that? Did she mean so little to him? Had she only imagined that the kiss had meant something to him, too? Tears welled up in her eyes, and she blinked them hastily away; he must not see how he had hurt her.
Guy did not know what to say. When he looked at Hyld, he knew exactly what was going on inside of her; she had not learned to hide her feelings yet. It was probably better for her if he let her believe that the kiss had not meant anything, just a fling for a man who had never wanted for women. But he felt his throat close up when he thought that she was the only person that had seen something good in him in the past years. He would take all of this away; she would remember him as someone who had taken advantage of her inexperience because he had seen that she was in love with him.
In the evening they stopped at a clearing. For the first two days, they could not risk spending the night at a guesthouse. Guy did not want to be recognised despite the fact that he was not wearing his well-known leather garments. Hyld started to get off her horse and Guy extended his hand to her. When she touched him, she flinched, as though electrified. Suddenly he could not bear it anymore. "Hyld, let me explain something…" He saw Hyld open her mouth. "… I would not have given your father my word if I had had the hope…" He did not finish his sentence but the look in his eyes told Hyld everything. There was so much wistfulness that she did not doubt anymore – Guy did love her. Guy sat down and pulled her down next to him on the grass. "Hyld, your father would never have given his permission and had I been in his place, I would not give it either." Hyld sat next to him in silence; she knew he was right. "Please tell me about yourself", she said abruptly. "Only a short time and I will never see you again. I know nothing about you except your name. I don't know where you come from, who your parents are, whether you have any siblings… nothing."
Hyld saw Guy's look turning odd, absent-minded. He blinked and seemed to sort through his thoughts before he spoke but the bitterness in his voice did not go unnoticed. "My parents are both dead, my father died in the Holy Land, my mother and my little sister were murdered by robbers who burned down Gisborne." He did not go on and Hyld peered at him. "You don't want to talk about it." It was partly a statement, partly a question. Guy did not answer immediately but then he cleared his throat. "I have never told anyone about that, but I think with you…" He did not finish the sentence and then continued with a hatred she had never heard in his voice: "It is all Locksley's fault." He saw Hyld's confusion. "Walter of Locksley, the father. He and my father were friends, at least that is what my father thought. I am from around York. My father was Julian Earl of Gisborne, a close friend to King Richard. He lent Walter of Locksley a large amount of money without asking for a certificate of debt. He died in the Holy Land and after that, Locksley had allegedly forgotten all about the money. Mother could not pay any more knights to protect her and one day… I remember it as if it were yesterday and I swore to myself to avenge my family. I was just a varlet back then. I waited for years and entered into the Sheriff's services in order to take revenge on Locksley."
The last words he spoke more to himself than to her, and Hyld could hear the suppressed rage and helplessness in his words. Despite his calm voice this hatred was so palpable… Guy seemed to have kept everything inside him for years. Suddenly Hyld understood so much about him and the way he behaved, but she was also scared. Guy looked into her eyes and guessed what she was thinking. When she remained silent, he burst out: "Do you already regret having wasted your feelings on a man like me?"