When Guy rode through the gate of the castle, Marian was in the courtyard, and she ran to him. He had barely the time to dismount before she crashed into him, closing her arms around his back, in a crushing hug.
"Where have you been?! They told me that you weren't in the castle, but nobody knew where you had gone, and the sheriff wasn't there either! I was afraid that he had changed his mind and that he was going to harm you..."
"I'm not going to execute one of the three nobles still alive in the county, Lady Marian," Sir Roland said, stopping his horse near them. "I'd appreciate if you wouldn't squeeze him to death either, I still have some use for him."
The girl stared at the sheriff for a moment, then she let Guy go, blushing.
"Did I hurt you?" She asked, worried, seeing that Guy looked startled because of her sudden embrace. "I'm sorry, I was so scared when I couldn't find you!"
Guy lifted a hand to touch her cheek, and he smiled at her. He hadn't expected her reaction, but he couldn't deny that it pleased him.
She cares for me!
"I am fine. Come, I'll tell you everything." Guy took her hand and was about to lead her away from the courtyard, when he hesitated and looked at the sheriff. "Do you need my presence, my lord?"
Sir Roland waved a hand, dismissing him.
"Go, but be ready for tomorrow."
Marian followed Guy along the corridors of the castle, and up the stairs leading to one of the towers.
"What happens tomorrow?"
Guy didn't answer, but he kept climbing the stairs until they arrived to a door. He opened it, and they found themselves outdoors, at the top of one of the towers. The sky was almost too blue for an autumn day, and Marian went near the parapet to look at the town.
From there, the people looked small, like little ants, hurrying around aimlessly.
"Guy? What happens tomorrow?" She repeated, and Guy sighed, sitting on the ground and leaning his back on the wall of the tower. Marian sat at his side, looking at his face.
He didn't seem to be unwell or wounded, but he was troubled by her question.
"Is it so bad? Did the sheriff order you to do something terrible?"
"Yes and no. He will give our lands back to us: you'll have Knighton, I will have the village that belonged to my father, and Hood will have Locksley back."
Marian was a little disconcerted by his words.
"But these are good news… Unless you wanted Locksley for yourself, but it belongs to Robin, you knew that..."
"That's the point! I don't want it! I don't want to have anything to do with that place and that people ever again, but the sheriff ordered me to manage it for Hood until he's well again! I will have to live there! With Hood!"
Marian looked at him, half worried and half surprised, then she smiled at Guy.
"I was afraid that he could decide to hang you because of what you did for Vaisey, this is a little better than that, don't you think?"
Guy couldn't help grinning.
"If you put it in this light, I can't disagree."
"So tomorrow you'll have to go to Locksley?"
"Yes. The sheriff will tell the people that they will have to obey me. I'll be lucky if they won't decide to finish what they started last time we've been there..."
Marian hugged her knees, her face darkening at that memory.
"You've been a fool. Taking all those blows to protect me… Guy, you should stop doing that..."
"I can't," he said. Because I love you, he added in his mind, but he didn't say it aloud. Instead, he grinned ironically. "I'm a knight, remember? It's my duty to save damsels in distress. I can't help it."
Marian playfully punched his arm.
"Fool. And I'm not a helpless damsel, I'm the Nightwatchman, remember?" She turned her head to look at Guy, suddenly serious. "Guy, can you make a promise to me?"
"I have the impression that a promise to you could be more dangerous than any angry mob," he answered, the corner of his lips still lifted in a grin.
The girl snorted, unsure if she felt angered or amused.
"Don't be silly! I just want you to promise that if we will ever be in danger again, you'll let me help you to defend ourselves instead of just protecting me like a frail little girl."
"If I don't promise, will you punch me?"
"Exactly!"
"I have no choice, then," Guy said, with a laugh in his voice.
He should have been terrified to go back to Locksley, and surely that fear would come back at night, turning his dreams into nightmares, but just being there with the girl made him feel light-hearted, almost happy.
Once my love for her made me feel anxious, afraid of losing her. I wanted her, I needed to feel she was mine and the uncertainty of her love tore my soul to pieces... It's different now. I know that she doesn't love me, but it doesn't matter. What I feel is enough to fill my heart and I will never doubt of it.
He stood up, pulling Marian to her feet, then he knelt in front of her, taking her hands.
"My lady, this knight swears obedience to you."
The girl laughed, then she made him get up, and she hugged him, leaning her head on his chest.
"I'm so glad that you are well, Guy. I've been so worried for you..."
Guy knew that she was talking of the previous days as well, since he had run away from the forest and once again he felt guilty for that.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't in my right mind… I'm not sure if I'll ever be again, actually."
Marian lifted her head to look at him, and she felt the urge to kiss him once again, but she didn't move, scared by that desire, so strong and overwhelming.
She thought that it was wrong, that she shouldn't want to kiss a man whom she didn't love, that she should wait for Robin to be well again. Marian buried her face against Guy's chest again, red with shame. She should be at Robin's side, worry for him as she used to do in the days just after the siege, when she wandered at the edges of the camp, like a ghost. She should cry because Robin wasn't getting better, not smiling because of Guy's words, she should feel lonely and shattered, mourning for a still alive man…
But she couldn't.
When she was with Guy, when she kissed him, she felt alive, she had the impression that there could be hope and she wasn't so frightened anymore. It was a sensation she hadn't felt for a long time, since she was a child and her mother's embrace could wipe away any fear or sadness.
In his arms she felt safe, at home.
"Marian?" Guy called her name, a little worried for her prolonged silence, and she tightened her hold on him, tilting her head a little to search his gaze. His eyes were bluer than the sky, and she had the impression that they could look deep into her soul. She wanted to avert her gaze, suddenly scared to reveal her vulnerability to him, and equally scared to see his own, but she couldn't stop looking at him, spellbound.
I'm like a moth flying into a flame…
Still looking at him, she closed the distance between their lips, losing herself into a kiss, and only then she was finally able to close her eyes.

A flutter of wings startled them, and Guy shivered seeing the falcon that had just perched on the parapet of the tower.
"What's up?" Marian asked, seeing that Guy had paled.
"It looks like the sheriff's falcon. For a moment I thought that he was here too..."
"He's dead. He can't hurt us anymore." Marian said, resolute.
The bird flew away, and Guy let Marian go to reach the parapet and look down.
"Once he killed a man, a scribe, pushing him down from here. I was right there, watching, and I did nothing."
Marian looked down too and she shuddered.
"He is dead." She repeated. "We are free from his cruelty now."
Guy nodded, trying to keep calm.
"Marian? Will you come to Locksley with me tomorrow?" He asked, with a pleading look. "I'm afraid."
She gave him a surprised glance.
"I'm sure that the sheriff will take the guards with him, you won't be in danger, I'm sure."
"No, I'm not afraid that they could hurt me, I'm afraid of myself. When I think of those people, I feel a deep rage, I crave for revenge and I'm scared to go back to my old self, to the Guy of Gisborne who has been trained by the sheriff to have no mercy… But when I am with you, I'm a better man, I find easier to do the right thing."
Marian didn't say that she too felt a strong contempt for the people of Locksley, and she just nodded.
"I will come."

Guy turned in his bed, hitting the pillow with his hand, as if he was punching an enemy, then he rolled on his back and he opened his eyes with a muffled cry, his hands tightened on the blanket and his heart beating too fast.
"A dream..." He whispered, "Just a nightmare..."
He sat up in the bed, taking deep breaths to calm down, and he just stood still for a while, listening to the silence of the night. His room was dark, only lit by the moonlight entering from the open window. The air was cool, almost cold, but Guy's nightshirt was damp with sweat, so he took it off and he got up to walk to the basin and wash up.
The water was cold too, but he didn't care, he just wanted to wash away the nightmare that had woken him up.
In that dream, he was in the castle, and the people of Locksley were gathered in the courtyard, with their hands tied and trembling with fear. Some of them were crying, all of them were terrified. Then Guy walked out of the castle doors, and he sat on the throne of the sheriff, looking at all those white faces. He had already seen them, their features twisted in a mad rage and ready to throw stones at Marian and him, just like they were now twisted in terror.
He was the strong one now, the one who could decide on life and death.
He chose death.
"Hang them," he said, "hang them all."
And the executioner obeyed, hanging them, one by one, and then piling their bodies in a corner of the courtyard.
Guy watched, regretting his orders after the first death, but it was too late to stop the hangman, now, or he would have to take the next place on the gallows.
It's justice, they deserve it. I hate them, I don't care…
At last there was nobody left alive and the people of Locksley, men, women and children, lay dead, filling the courtyard with their bodies, already beginning to decay.
Guy couldn't stand the sight or the stench, and he ran back to his lodgings, but when he entered his rooms he saw his own reflection in a mirror: he had Vaisey's face.
He had awoken horrified, feeling queasy and guilty, and it took a while to realize that he hadn't killed those people, that he hadn't become like Vaisey yet.
He lit a candle, holding it near the mirror to look at his reflection: he still had a light bruise on his forehead where a stone had hit him, but he didn't care, he was just glad to see his face, even so pale and upset, and not the face of a ruthless murderer.
Gisborne felt tired and weak, and he knew that he should go back to sleep because he would have to look strong the next day, when they would go to Locksley, but he was too afraid to face his dreams again, so he began getting dressed.

Guy was on the top of the tower again, thinking of Marian's warmth, of the sweetness of her kisses.
He looked at the horizon, at the sky that was becoming pink because of the first light of dawn. The sky was still clear, with no trace of clouds, and Guy hoped that the rising sun would wipe away all his fears.
Or at least a part of them, he thought, more realistically.
The cool breeze made him shiver, but he didn't dislike it, it made him feel cleaner, blowing away the last remnants of his horrible nightmare.
He was alone on the tower, the castle still sleeping, except for the guards who were on the battlements, keeping watch and protecting the castle and its inhabitants. Guy was afraid to think of the day that was awaiting him, afraid to imagine what could happen at Locksley, but for now he enjoyed that little moment of peace.
A flutter of wings made him turn his head, and he saw the falcon again: the bird had perched on the parapet, not too far from Guy, and it was looking at him. Gisborne noticed that the falcon had a string of leather tied to its leg, a piece of broken jesses and that it didn't look to be afraid of him.
"So you're actually the sheriff's falcon..." He said in a low tone, lifting a hand in front of the bird, as he had seen Vaisey doing countless times.
The falcon jumped on his wrist, his talons closing on the leather of Guy's glove and its wings fluttered a couple of times before staying still.
Guy thought that the bird looked almost glad of having been caught, and he felt some pity for it, despite it being Vaisey's favourite.
"Poor thing, you were lost too..." He said, then he carefully walked back inside the castle to entrust the bird to the care of the castle's falconers.