"I am not one to scold, but Elizabeth Burrow, I am in half a mind as to whether I should yell at your or hold you."

Elizabeth had kept her distance, sitting on the hill which overlooked Locksley Church, the host for the wedding of the day. She had sat amongst the long grass, tugging at it occasionally as the sun continued to rise higher into the sky. Carriages had moved down the road, depositing noblemen and women at the venue.

She had been shocked that her Grandmother had seen her on the hill, but Elizabeth wasn't well hidden. She could be seen if people looked, but people seemed too preoccupied with the flowers and gifts which were being handed out.

"How did you notice me?"

"I've been looking for you the entire journey," Bethany complained, daring to sink to sit next to her. "Jonathan is speaking with the Sheriff of York...ghastly fellow...cannot stand him...I managed to escape and tell him I would bring you back."

Elizabeth smiled sadly as Bethany wrapped an arm around her granddaughter's shoulders. She squeezed her shoulder and kissed the top of her head, trying to comfort the solemn looking blonde. Elizabeth remained emotionless, refusing to take her eyes from the church.

"Come on, darling," Bethany said. "I shall call the carriage back around and have it take you back to Huddersfield."

"How would you return home?"

"Jonathan and I are to stay for the night in the Castle along with the other guests. We will arrange transportation for the morning. You have no need to worry about us. It is your mother you should be concerned about."

Elizabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes at hearing about her mother. "I take it she is restless?"

"More than you could comprehend," Bethany scoffed. "You left in the middle of the night to go to a man who does not deserve you, Lizzie. Sir Guy of Gisborne is to marry and there is nothing more to it. I trust you went to see him?"

Nodding, Elizabeth coughed gently and turned her head to look at the woman next to her whom she had grown so close to her.

"I begged him to forgive me," she whispered gently. "I told him that I would do anything...to have him..."

"I know what it is like to be in love, Elizabeth," Bethany spoke clearly and she began to stand up, offering her granddaughter her hand. Elizabeth took it and Bethany stroked her cheek, tucking her hair from her face. "If he will not accept you then he does not deserve you."

Elizabeth could say nothing in response to what she had just heard.

Bethany let out another exasperated sigh. "Come down with me and I shall see to it you are returned home."

Elizabeth shook her head, gently tugging her hand from Bethany's fingers as she looked over the elder woman's shoulder to the church. "I would like to wait until afterwards...until...well..."

"Do not delay the suffering, my dear," Bethany urged her, looking at her with such sorrow that Elizabeth wondered if she pitied her. "It will do you no good to see them leave the church."

"And it will do me no good to be on the open road when they are leaving," Elizabeth responded. "I just need to be certain...that he..."

Bethany could see that there was still an ounce of hope within her granddaughter. There was still a part of her which thought that he might come back for her, which thought he might call of this wedding. She didn't know how vast that part of her was, but it was somewhere inside of her and so long as she held onto it then she would not move.

"You are a spirited girl and shall do as you please," Bethany replied. "Besides, I do not have the strength to drag you down with me."

"Thank you," Elizabeth whispered back.

"You have heard my advice and that is all I can offer you," Bethany sighed, shaking her head back and forth. "I would prefer for you to go and keep yourself safe, but...well..."

"I will be safe enough here," Elizabeth promised her grandmother gently, a small smile on her face as she did so. "Honestly, I am fine."

"And a bad liar," Bethany responded. "Fine...yes...stay here...but...well...just remember that he does not deserve your tears."

Elizabeth sunk back into the grass as Bethany wandered away, holding her skirts up her legs before she returned to Jonathan, rescuing him from the Sheriff of York's conversation.

Sitting on the grass, Elizabeth spent the next hour watching the church with interest. She saw Guy on his black horse, climbing down from the creature and looking around to make sure everything was in order. He didn't glance her way, although she couldn't be shocked. He was dressed in his usual leather outfit, clearly not having made that much more of an effort for his own wedding.

It wasn't until Elizabeth saw Marian enter the church did a tear trickle down her cheek slowly. She could not deny that Marian looked beautiful dressed in white from head to toe, a veil covering her face as her father held her hand tightly. Elizabeth watched her enter the church and from there on the agony truly commenced.

Time passed Elizabeth by slowly and she wondered if it would ever end. She wondered if she would be put out of her misery. She did sincerely doubt it. She watched on, heart in mouth, the image of Gisborne rushing from the church causing her chest to heave.

It was only as she heard the ringing of bells in the distance did she move away, unable to sit and wait for Marian to take away the only man she ever loved.

...

Gisborne ignored the majority of people who wished him well as he stood in the middle of the aisle, waiting for people to stop conversing and simply take their seats.

"Sir Guy of Gisborne, is it?"

Guy almost rolled his eyes before he turned his head to the side, looking at the dainty woman who stood before him. She was about a foot smaller than he was, but she held herself as though she was the Queen of England.

"Yes, and you are?" Gisborne wondered back from her.

"The Lady Bethany of Huddersfield."

Bethany watched as his brows arched and his face scrunched up in some form of confusion over her words.

"Yes," Bethany nodded. "You may have heard of me. I believe you are well acquainted with my granddaughter."

Guy inhaled sharply and turned his head to the side. He closed his eyes for a second and Bethany noted a gulp run through his throat.

"You should do well not to speak of your granddaughter here," Guy whispered harshly. "She is a traitor-"

"-She is a young girl who thought that she was doing the right thing," Bethany dared to interrupt him and Gisborne looked taken back at what he was hearing from the woman. He had only heard one before speak so boldly to him, and she had gone. "She is currently sat on the hill behind this church."

"Why?" Gisborne wondered back.

"Because she is a gluten for her own pain," Bethany shrugged her shoulders. "She turned up to my cottage looking like a drowned rat. She spent more than two weeks suffering from a fever, calling your name and wondering if you tried to find her."

"She betrayed me."

"She still loves you despite everything that you have done," Bethany counteracted. "I have heard about your ways in Locksley. Everyone in Huddersfield knows that Nottingham is rotting with thanks to the new Sheriff."

"You have no right to say-"

"-Oh, I do not doubt that I should hold my tongue," Bethany shook her head. "But I have a grandchild who is suffering out there with thanks to you. Now, Elizabeth may not be perfect, but she risked her life for people."

"How noble," Gisborne drawled.

"Yes, I think so too," Bethany ignored his sarcastic tone. "And if she was half as sensible as Robin Hood then she would never have fallen for a man like you."

Bethany shook her head and brushed past Gisborne. "I think she deserves a lot more, but she thinks different."

She turned her head over her shoulder to make eye contact with the Lord of Locksley, trying to size him up and determine what he was thinking. His dark gaze hid his emotions well.

"Elizabeth would do anything to have you back, even if it meant living in rural Italy," Bethany took a seat as Gisborne followed her and watched her perch on a wooden pew. "Yet you cannot forgive her for saving people like her when she forgives you for killing them without a second thought. I swear I will do everything I can for that girl to forget you. She will return with us and have a family of her own one day...without the memory of you lingering on."

Gisborne bowed his head, doing his best to try and wonder what he should do. His mind was in a whirl before he heard hushes and people slowly sat down. He was expected to stand at the altar and wait for Marian, but there was something stopping him. His eye caught Bethany's stare again and she looked at him with narrowed eyes.

Guy swiftly took off to the back of the church, rushing down the aisle as people watched him make his leave, wondering what was happening. He bumped into his bride to be in the doorway, almost knocking her over and steadying her with his hands on her shoulders. He looked down at her for a moment, his mind playing tricks on him as her brown hair changed to blonde and he imagined her stood there instead.

He didn't want Marian. He hadn't wanted Marian ever since he rescued a serving wench from the attentions of a drunken soldier. It was her he wanted.

"Gisborne," she spoke his name. "Shouldn't you be-"

"-Yes," Gisborne nodded and looked at Marian's father. "I need a moment alone with Marian."

"And-"

"-Just go," Gisborne snarled and he did as he was told, scurrying into the church as Marian leant against the wall, wondering what Gisborne was doing.

Was he calling the wedding off? Was he about to end the engagement and make her the happiest girl in all of Locksley? Possibly. She didn't know, but she hoped it was so.

"We do not want this," Gisborne suddenly drawled. "I know that, and I know...I..."

"What do you suggest we do then?" Marian wondered back, looking to the ground as if it contained the answer to her problems.

Guy felt his fist clench as he thought about his decision. He would have no revenge on Hood this way, but he would have some form of revenge one day.

"I cannot be the one to call this wedding off," Gisborne shook his head. "The Sheriff already suspects me of being in leagues with a traitor. I cannot confirm his beliefs."

"Elizabeth?" Marian checked with him. "She's back?"

"Last night," Guy shook his head. "She would be the only reason for me to call this wedding off and if the Sheriff knew I had done it then he would...well..."

"Make your life a living hell," Marian nodded.

She knew of how Guy had received punishment for having Elizabeth give away his and the Sheriff's secrets. She knew that he had almost lost the Sheriff's favour and had done murderous things to gain it again. It had been true. Elizabeth had made him a better man, but when she had gone he had changed.

He had done the Sheriff's bidding with ease to keep his power.

"Elizabeth," Gisborne whispered her name, looking out the door and wondering if she was still there. "She...I hate what she has done to me, but I have hurt her too...first with Seth...her father...We are both fools but I want her back..."

"And how will you get her back?" Marian dared to ask him. "She cannot return to Locksley. If the Sheriff was to see her then he would have her killed."

"I do not know what I intend to do," Gisborne responded quickly. "But I need you to call this wedding off, Marian. Both of us...it make sense to do this."

"And will the Sheriff have me punished?" Marian wondered and Guy shook his head at her.

"He does not suspect you of loving an outlaw like he does me-"

"-I do not-"

"-You do not need to speak your lies to me," Gisborne shook his head. "He knows that you have been against this marriage since the beginning, but he does not think you have an ulterior motive. He does not care if you break your word...but my word...it means something to him. He's been questioning me at every possible stage."

"And you are certain this will work?" Marian checked with him.

"As certain as I can be," Guy nodded at her and turned on his heel, walking back down the aisle as he waited to be brutally jilted.

...

It was normally brides which ran back down the aisle, but it was both the bride and the groom in this wedding. Guy allowed Marian to rush off first before he made his exit, pretending to go after her but having ulterior motives. He looked up to the hill, doing his best to spot Elizabeth on the grass but failing miserably.

"Ah, Gisborne, sorry I am so late."

Guy looked up to see the sight of the Sheriff approaching. It was enough to make his blood run cold at the simple sight of him.

"My Lord," Gisborne replied as the Sheriff climbed down from his horse.

Marian was nowhere to be seen and so Guy assumed she had made her escape before the Sheriff had rolled up.

"I see your bride was just running away. I take it she called the wedding off?"

"Yes," Gisborne agreed numbly. "She said that she could not marry me."

"And that maid of yours didn't interrupt the wedding and steal your heart back, did she?" the Sheriff said, but there was a knowing look behind his gleeful face. It was a look which was worrying Gisborne as he rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, wondering if he should be prepared for something.

Did he know that he had spoken with her last night?

"No, of course not," the Sheriff laughed gleefully. "I encountered her on the way down here, hence why I was late. She was dressed in fine clothes. Has she been whoring, Gisborne?"

"No," Gisborne shook his head. "Where is she now?"

"Is this sympathy, Gisborne?" the Sheriff wondered, checking his leather gloves as Guy felt his blood run cold. "She kept on yelling how she was the heir to Huddersfield. I think the mad house would have been more appropriate if I didn't want to hang her for her crimes. She's one of Hood's girls now. We can't have her unpunished."

"She is who she says she is," Gisborne called out to the Sheriff. "Her grandparents...I have spoken with them..."

"And have they been harbouring her?" the Sheriff wondered and shook his head. "Never mind, it is her I want dead, not them. Anyway, you seem more concerned over her than the failed marriage I have just witnessed."

Gisborne said nothing in response, his mind already trying to find out how he could save Elizabeth from the dungeon and then the gallows.

"This marriage never concerned me, but I was not the one to run from it," Gisborne replied. "I would go and see Elizabeth now."

"And why is that?" the Sheriff looked at him with wonder.

A sinister smile spread over Gisborne's face. "I wish to punish her for her actions, my Lord. She is the one who betrayed me, after all."

The Sheriff seemed appeased as Gisborne took hold of a horse and climbed onto it, the smile disappearing from his face as he did so.

"As you wish, Gisborne," the Sheriff nodded in agreement. "Now, where are all of the congregation? I am still holding this feast...it can be one to celebrate a hanging tomorrow instead of your wedding. Much more enjoyable."

Gisborne allowed his horse to trot down the road, his face full of determination as he thought about Elizabeth locked up in a cell alone. She may have betrayed him, but he had no intention of seeing her swing.

...

A/N: Gisborne finally realised! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope to update soon again! Please do review!