Night was teasing the castle of Nottingham with an agonizingly slow descent, its purple fingers crawling along the stone walls while the sun desperately clung to the sky. Lucy could not help but watch out the window for the moon, because once it arrived so would her husband and, in turn, her argument. She was clumsily preparing thin armor against his frustrations and usual shots. Surely he would stock the habitual arrows of insults against her; she was a woman and couldn't understand politics or real class struggles, she was naïve and believed in a magical God that would make it all right anyways, or his favorite where she was too young to understand the world or anything in it. Lucy did sense a tinge of regret in her stomach. It was not in any light appropriate to disregard her husband and run her mouth off, much less to scoff at the ruling of her King. But that was not her beloved on that horse today; that was a monster.

"I wanna see window." Libby awkwardly pointed her tiny arm. With a strange hustle the one and a half year old led her mother by the hand to the end of the hall with an ache to watch the sunset; her steps were wide and swayed around as her chubby legs worked hard to find a straight line. Lucy agreed and then held her daughter up to the pane of thin glass to observe the wonder of nature unfold before them. Orange resonated like spilled paint across England's blowing grass.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah!"

"Just like you, cutie." She planted a kiss on the excited child and turned to set her down. A claw grabbed her heart with iciness when out of the corner of her eye she realized Gisborne was towering steps behind them, arms folded, stare unchanging. Lucy sucked in some oxygen as the surprise escaped her and the nerves became convinced it was not a ghost or a horror. "You gave me a fright, Guy, I didn't realize you were there."

"Libby, go play in your room."

"Surely we can talk after supper, I was going to –"

"Lucy, do not test me." His crystal eyes did not blink. She smiled with an effort to please and waddled little Elizabeth a few doors down to her playroom, drawing deep and nervous breaths before shutting the girl into her nursery littered with poppets and carved wooden horses. Once she clicked shut the door Guy's gloved hand snaked to the back of her neck casually. His grip was loose and unthreatening, but the position immediately set him in power. She did not say a word as he gently led her to the end of the aisle and into the privacy of Lucy's chambers. The falling sun glowed through her plum shaded curtains and blushed the room. Gisborne shut the door and leaned back against it, no words or motions, before Lucy gently sat on the window seat. Silence pressed like stones on her chest.

"I cannot stop thinking about what you said to me today."

"It was inappropriate," her eyes tumbled to her fidgeting fingers, "I'm very sorry. I should know better."

"You said I order you around like a soldier."

"I'm sorry. It was a wild situation, I got carried away and –"

"You disrespected me, Lucy, in front of the damn King of England. You ignored my command to stay put, and worst of all you went to aid friends of Robin Hood."

"That was not my intention, I just didn't see why people had to get hurt." Emotion crept in to drag away her words, so Lucy clenched shut her jaw.

"You know what the worst thing about it all is?"

"What?" She refused to watch as he moved slowly towards her and leaned in against the window, his breath on her forehead, arms pressed up on the wall. Fluttering hit her heart in anticipation of a barking.

"You were right."

"Huh?"

"I was more worried about my job than the people I'm in office to tax. Hell, I was more worried about my job than my wife, and I shamed you in front of everybody. That was not right."

"I should not have defied my Lord Sherriff and husband, it won't happen –"

"Dammit, Lucy, I am apologizing to you," he quipped with a sharpness in his tone, "For forty years I have had to be correct; there has never been another choice. My opinion is right. My ideas are right. My values are right, for me, but my life isn't just about me anymore. I forget that a lot…"

"Would you have done it; burnt the church?"

"No, it's expensive to build another one." He screwed up his blue eyes as she sourly blinked.

"Do you agree that John should have hurt all of those people?"

"I don't know… probably not."

"You wouldn't have invented that insane punishment, not for people that probably didn't do anything wrong."

"Everybody has done something they deserve to be punished for." Gisborne bit before sitting next to her.

"What have I done to deserve punishment like that, hm?"

"You fell in love with a stupid bastard," He eventually replied, giving her a giggle, "But I can't… how do I do this, Lucy? How do I make anything besides this job more important than myself? I have killed for this title and I would die for it, too."

"Would you die for your sons?"

"Sure."

"And what about me? What if I was in that burning church – would you have run in to save me?"

"Of course."

"There you are, then," she shrugged and put his hands onto her lap, "You love more than just some silly throne. Don't overthink it, Guy, it will come to you. In time the title of Sherriff will fit you comfortably, but it's a big responsibility that you will need to figure out."

"I ought to be able to do it now." He felt the discomfort of arrogant frustration tighten on his skin like a shrunken sweater; he was so perfect, how could he not be a master at this job within a month?

"I believe in you, never think any differently."

"I cannot have you doubt me in public –"

"I made a fool of myself and you today in Locksley and I am truly sorry, my love."

"I cannot have to babysit you or censor your words," he stated very seriously, vaguely recalling Marian's ridiculous habits of running her mouth with some opinion or another, "You are a Sherriff's wife and you must act like it."

"I will, I promise. I understand if there are repercussions for my actions." Lucy looked out the window with a heaviness as he examined her words and insinuations. Her blonde hair absorbed the striking color of the sunset outdoors, the shimmer of the losing sun dancing on her emerald eyes.

"You learned your lesson earlier, didn't you?" He referred to the violent hit across her face on the cloudy dirt road, she remembered, and Lucy nodded.

"Can you forgive me for being such a silly girl?"

"Going to have to, we're stuck together, aren't we?"

"I guess we are." She smiled when he stroked his fingers through her hair; Lucy leaned into her husband's shoulder and fizzed as he held her close. Neither word nor image could describe just how much she adored and loved this man, regardless of his ego and flaws. Surely he deserved a better wife, but she was trying so hard to be it. She was convinced he knew.

"If you really want forgiveness, you're going to owe me something." Guy teased as he gravitated his lips towards hers, the smell of her perfume mingling on his mind.

"Oh really?" She bit her lip before accepting his kiss with tenderness. Lucy was always so youthful and excited when their lips met, even after years of crafting a relationship, and Gisborne could not believe just how much positivity he could put into a person. It was the most amazing feeling the world. She carefully ran a finger along his stubble before gently tugging away.

"Is the King going to be angry at me?" She whispered with a sprinkling of fear.

"Don't worry about it," Guy pressed their lips together again, "I will always take care of you. Besides, I'm afraid he quite fancies you."

"Ew." Lucy blurted out before crushing her mouth shut. Gisborne laughed and pulled her hips to sit right against his on the bench.

"My thoughts exactly."