I just couldn't leave Marian like that... Here's the next chapter!
. . . .
Robin watched in astonishment as the three men who had accompanied the Sheriff and Guy tried to flee the scene, not even stopping to fight when John swung a sword in their direction. Something had changed; somehow they had been defeated. Motioning to the others Robin followed and killed them quickly before he began to make his way towards the spot that the king had disappeared.
. . .
"The king!" Marian exclaimed frantically, looking up into Guy's face in horror, "Where's the king?"
"He's alive," Guy reassured her - his sobs subsiding when he was reassured that she was alive - as his hands moved desperately over her shoulders and skirted the edge of the knife; not sure what to do but vaguely glad that he had not taken the time to run the monarch through, "You were right; I couldn't kill him."
A look of triumph flashed through the pain that overwhelmed her features. "I knew it," she gasped, raising a shaking hand to briefly touch his face, "I knew you would do what was right. Gah! Can we get this out of me? It hurts!"
"No," Guy said, grabbing her hands as they moved towards the blade, "Just wait for the Saracen woman. Removing the blade is the wrong thing to do; that's what I would do if I wanted to kill someone."
"Very well," Marian said shakily, "Talk to me."
"What do you want me to say?" looking rather uncertain, Guy gripped her hands tightly.
"Anything!" she pleaded forcefully, "Just say anything!"
"You are going to live!" he told her confidently, tasting the saltiness of tears on his lips, "And we are going to bring the king back to England. Everything is going to be the way you wanted it. We are going to have children and you are going to play with them in the fields at Locksley, and I am going to teach them to swim in the pond."
"I am proud of you," she interrupted, eyes flashing in her white face, "You are a better man that even I thought you could be."
"And we will be together for the rest of our lives," he said quietly, the agitation in his voice subsiding slightly as he spoke the words, "And we are going to love each other forever."
"MARIAN!" Robin's voice screamed out as the outlaws entered the courtyard, "I'm going to kill you, Gisborne!"
"No!" Marian exclaimed with as much force as she could.
"Shh," Guy squeezed her hand again, not even looking up, "Lie still; don't worry about him... or me."
"ROBIN!" Djaq yelled, "Stop! Now!"
It took a moment for her words to seep through the hatred that consumed him as he saw Guy kneeling over Marian's fallen body with his hands next to the knife that was stuck through her, but he slowed to a stop before he reached the couple.
"Djaq," Marian said urgently, "Djaq can fix it."
Djaq ran up and fell to her knees beside the other woman, assessing the situation quickly, "Robin! Find Carter."
"Can we get this out of me?" Marian begged, reaching for the handle of the knife once again.
"No," Djaq exclaimed, "That would cause you to bleed out. Just wait until Robin returns."
"I can't," Marian breathed, "It hurts."
"Isn't there anything you can do for her?" Guy begged, desperate to relieve her pain.
"Yes," Djaq told him quietly, "Do you remember when Carter brought Robin to you, apparently dead, and then Robin walked out alive? Before Carter left I gave him some of the mixture that I used on Robin. If he has it I will give it to Marian and her body will slow until she appears to be dead. Fortunately, it seems that Marian moved just enough for the knife to go above her heart and lungs into her shoulder. If none of the major organs are damaged; this mixture will give me the opportunity to remove the knife and repair her without her feeling it or bleeding out. She has a chance of surviving if I can do it soon."
Marian looked up at Guy, feeling more fear seeping through her than she ever had before. Even when, almost a year ago, she had been stabbed, for a long while she had the utmost confidence that Djaq would repair her. Even when she guessed that she might not survive, she had not been as afraid because there was nothing in her life that she looked forwards to. But to have gone through all of the trauma of the past week and to still die before she was even technically Guy's wife was more disappointing than she would ever have expected.
"Here," Robin arrived back and handed the two tiny, but unbelievably precious, clay bottles to Djaq, "Carter's been hurt - knife wound to the belly - he may not survive."
"I will attend to him as soon as I can," Djaq responded, unscrewing one of the bottles and smelling it to ensure that it was what she wanted, "Marian; we don't have much time. You must swallow this now."
"Kiss me," Marian whispered, looking up at Guy, "Kiss me goodbye, just in case."
Ignoring the looks from the others, Guy leaned over and pressed his lips gently to hers. "Goodbye, Marian," he said softly, "I will be here when you wake up."
"Here," Djaq held the tiny bottle to Marian's lips and raised her head with her other hand, "You have to drink this now; every second counts."
Marian obligingly swallowed the liquid that Djaq dropped into her mouth and then closed her eyes with a sigh. A moment later her breathing slowed to nothing and her lips took on the same white tinge of her face.
"This had better work!" Guy growled, still gripping Marian's hands tightly.
"She has a better chance with this than anything else," Djaq informed him curtly before turning to Robin, "Where is Carter? we will do the same thing to him."
"What about Marian?" Guy demanded, looking up and meeting Djaq's eyes for the first time.
The raw fear that poured out of his face made Djaq hurry to reassure him, "We must wait for a little longer. I cannot operate here; I must have clean instruments and the right ones. Now we have time to take her and the others to Bassam's house where I have a real chance to make them well."
. . .
When they finally reached Bassam's house with Marian, Carter, and the king in tow, Djaq quickly set up a room with three cots and proceeded to treat them. The king first, then Carter - to Guy's great displeasure, but Djaq informed him that Carter had a much less chance of survival than Marian and therefore must be treated first - and then it was Marian's turn.
"Much; go dip these in boiling water and bring them back as quickly as you can," Djaq ordered, thrusting the bloodied knives, needles, and other things into his hands, "Robin; give Carter the opposite mixture. He must wake so that his body can begin healing. Then you will all have to leave."
"Why?" Guy asked, feeling the old glowering look coming over his face.
"Because if Marian survives she will want her dignity and privacy intact," Djaq answered, raising an eyebrow, "And that will not happen if all of you men are in the room."
"Then send Carter and Richard out too!"
"They are sick!" the woman exclaimed, clearly frustrated with him, "If you care so much, you can go try to find a different place for Marian with enough light and space for me to see and work. I don't have time."
"We can at least hang a sheet," Robin offered quietly, "I know where they are kept."
"Very well," Djaq nodded, "But do it quickly; when Much returns, I begin."
"I am staying," Guy informed her, "I am her husband, and I told her that I would be here when she woke up."
"And I will call you before I wake her up," Djaq said, "But you cannot stay; I must have quiet and no interference. Her life depends upon me being able to concentrate. This is not an easy thing to do."
"I give you my word," Guy looked up at her from where he knelt next to Marian with an unusually humble, pleading look on his face, "I will not speak or interfere. But please; let me stay."
Djaq hesitated and glanced over at Robin who was tying the sheet across the room. "Very well," she agreed quietly, making up her mind, "But if I tell you to leave at any time, you must do it and do it quickly and quietly."
"I will."
"Here are the instruments," Much rushed in with a clean cloth wrapped around the instruments in his hands, "And more thread."
"Good," Djaq nodded before motioning to the group, "Now, I need one person to stay on the other side of the curtain and watch the king and Carter. Call me if anything at all changes. The rest of you; out you go."
"I'll do it." Will and Robin spoke simultaneously.
"Will, go ahead," she handed him a flask of water for the two wounded men, "Robin, you are too distracted. Go wait in the hall. This should not take long."
. . .
Guy hated the way he involuntarily winced as Djaq withdrew the knife from Marian's body, the dark maroon hole glaringly dark against her white skin. Setting his jaw he obligingly handed her the instruments she asked for, applied pressure where she asked, and later held the edges of the wound together while she sewed.
"There," Djaq drew her sleeve across her forehead and drew in a deep breath, "Would you like to give her the antidote? If she wakes up, we will have succeeded."
"You do it," Guy shook his head, "I don't know how much to give her."
"Very well," she poured the liquid between Marian's unresponsive lips, "I will wait to call in the others until we know if it worked."
. . .
Marian groaned softly as her returning consciousness drew her attention to the burning pain below her left shoulder. She blinked and Guy's face came into focus above her.
"Marian?" Djaq's voice asked, "How do you feel? Can you speak?"
"Yes," Marian blinked again and smiled slightly at Guy's worried look, "My shoulder hurts, but I feel fine."
"Lay still," the other woman ordered, getting to her feet, "I'm going to go wash my hands. When I come back I'm going to bring the others with me."
"You're alright?" Guy asked tenderly, cradling her face in his hands.
"I'm quite well," she told him, "I assume that Djaq's work on me was a success?"
"You're awake," he answered, smiling, "That says something."
"And you're here, just as you promised."
"I would never leave you in trouble," he stroked her hair gently, "Later I'm going to have some questions about how you showed up in Acre, but they'll wait until you're stronger."
Djaq's returning footsteps were heard outside the door, and Guy drew a sheet up to Marian's neck - careful to avoid the repaired wound as he did so - before the others entered.
"Marian!" Much burst into the room, "You're alive!"
"Don't excite her," Djaq admonished as the others filed in, "She needs at least three days of quite rest. After that you can tell her how glad you are. Will? How are the king and Carter?"
"Just fine," Will poked his head around the sheet, "Glad you're alright, Marian. Well done, my love."
"Thank you." Djaq's face took on a cute smile as she looked at him before turning around, "Well, now you have seen her, let her rest. Out!"
. . . .
Horray! Marian LIVES! :-D