When Marian's lips touched his, Guy thought he was dead, or that he was in a dream. Maybe he was still unconscious and that was just a trick of his mind.
The other alternative, that it was the reality, seemed impossible. It meant that Marian had just confessed to have feelings for him, how could it be true?
Yet the girl's body was soft and warm against his, so concrete and real that it couldn't be an illusion.
After all, he didn't care, that moment existed for him and that was the only important thing.
He hugged her, almost desperately, and he returned Marian's kiss with all the love he felt for her.
When the kiss ended, the world continued to exist and Guy looked incredulously at Marian.
The girl was still hugging him and she had put her face on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
Could it be true? Marian had left Robin Hood at the altar for him?
"Oh, Gisborne, if you could see how stupid your face looks right now!" The sheriff's voice broke the silence of the chapel and Guy turned to him, irritated.
For a moment he had completely forgotten his presence and the precarious situation they were in, but the sheriff's comment had made him come back suddenly to reality.
Vaisey raised his hands in a mock apology.
"But I didn't want to interrupt you, go ahead. I'm trapped here with nothing to do, I might as well enjoy the show. Go ahead, please. Only, try to make things a bit more interesting, you are disgustingly mawkish."
"Am I really trying to save your life?" Gisborne commented, exasperated. "On one thing you are right, I must be stupid."
"Oh, Gizzy, how susceptible you are!" Vaisey commented. "Come on, Marian, give him another kiss so he will stop complaining and maybe he will decide to actually do something to take me away from this situation. I wouldn't say that placing a couple of benches in front of the door and then wasting time in smooching could be defined "trying to save my life"..."
The girl ignored the words of the sheriff, giving him a cold stare, then she looked up to meet the eyes of Guy.
The frown of the black knight stretched into a smile in meeting her eyes and Marian found herself responding to that smile while her heart began to beat faster.
A loud knock at the door startled all three of them, then the voice of Roger of Barrett rang, disturbing, on the other side of the wooden door.
"Gotcha."
Allan teased with the sword one of the soldiers to make him enter into the cell along with the other two who had been unarmed and wounded by Robin and Little John, then he closed the door and hung the keys to his belt.
"They'd deserve to die." He said, looking at them with disgust and Robin nodded.
"Most likely they will be executed, but it's not for us to decide. They surrendered and they will testify against Barret, if necessary. Now come on, we have to find the sheriff."
"I hope that Giz is still in one piece..." Allan said, to himself, then he glanced apologetically to Robin. "Hey, I know that probably you don't agree now, but Guy is a better person than it seems. You saw what he did to save me, didn't you?"
"We have no time for small talk, Allan." Robin said, irritated. He could not blame Gisborne if Marian had preferred him, but he certainly didn't want to hear Allan talking of the black knight.
Allan looked at him, worried.
"What I meant..." He paused for a moment, hesitating, then he looked at Robin. "Don't hurt him, okay? I guess you must hate him now, but Giz has not behaved improperly towards you. He was ready to give her up just to save her, he would have done it, really. He risked his life to allow you to marry her, even though losing her would break his heart, I saw it with my own eyes. It's not his fault, don't kill him for what happened."
Robin grabbed Allan by his shoulders and shook him.
"Stop!" He shouted and the other looked at him, puzzled.
"Stop what?"
"To think I'm a murderer thirsty for Gisborne's blood! I have no intention of killing him, but I'm tired of being accused of it. Now come on, or Barret might kill him while we talk."
Marian glanced anxiously at Guy and she startled hearing another violent blow against the door.
Gisborne stepped in front of her, protective.
"I won't let him to get close to you." He whispered, trying to sound reassuring and Marian took his hand and held it tightly in hers.
"Guy, don't let him take me. Kill me before he gets me." The girl begged and Gisborne looked at her, shocked by her words.
"Don't even joke about it! I'd rather die than hurt you."
"Falling into the hands of Barret alive would be much worse than death. Promise me, Guy: if there is no way to escape, you will take my life."
"In that case, we will die together."
"Stop with these tragic speeches, you blithering oafs!" The sheriff intervened, extending an arm to hit Gisborne on a shoulder. "Instead of staying there to babble about how you prefer to die, think about finding a way to save me!"
Guy looked at him and, while despising the selfishness of Vaisey's words, he was forced to admit that the sheriff had a point.
Barret soon would be able to break down the door and in that case they would all die. Guy knew he was not in the best condition to fight: the wounds ached and he felt weak from the loss of blood.
Roger of Barrett wasn't alone, Gisborne could hear the voices of at least five or six other men behind the door.
Even if Guy hadn't been wounded, their opponents would still have the numerical advantage and they would be able to overcome them easily.
They had to find a way to escape from the chapel before the door gave way, or they would have no hopes.
Guy approached one of the windows and hit it with his sword, smashing it.
"Do you have the slightest idea of how much it will cost me to repair it?!" The sheriff complained and Guy looked at him.
"Is it worth more than your life?"
"Aren't you thinking to escape from there, you piece of idiot? Don't you know how high we are?"
Gisborne went to the window and leaned a little to see better.
"I know very well, but I was not planning to go down. Look."
Marian and the Sheriff came to him and saw that he was pointing at another window not far away.
"Maybe I can reach it by passing on that ledge." Guy pointed a stone ledge that decorated the wall of the castle. "In this way I could attack Barret from behind and lure him away from here."
Marian turned pale on seeing the distance that separated them from the ground.
"But it's so high! If you were to fall you wouldn't have the slightest hope to survive!"
"When that door breaks we still won't have the slightest hope."
She hugged him tightly to whisper in his ear without being heard by the sheriff.
"Let me go. You know that I am agile, as the Nightwatchman I often had to flee on the roofs..."
Guy pretended to kiss her on the cheek to stifle a laugh.
"What's so funny?" Marian whispered.
"If we survive ask Allan to tell you the latest deed of the Nightwatchman."
"What?"
Guy took her in his arms and touched her lips with a kiss, then he took off his leather coat, dropped it to the ground and climbed on the windowsill before Marian could stop him.
"Guy!"
"I will not fall, I promise. In one way or another I will come back to you."