Hi, so here is another chapter, I apologise for the lateness of this chapter and I hope you all enjoy it. Between work and the heat it has been difficult to write but I have done by best and therefore I hope you enjoy this one. There are three more chapters left until the end of this story and then after a short break i will start the sequel.

This is very much a female centred chapter but don't worry the guys will be making an appearance in the next one.

Disclaimer-Nothing here is mine.

Please Read and Review.

And as always TRIGGER WARNINGS for this story especially concerning Erin's character.

Faith Based Initiative

Chapter 19-Inner Beauty

Marian comes up with a plan. Marian meets a woman in the woods and Djaq wonders if the impossible could indeed become the possible.

Marian had been walking slowly. God she hated this. She hated feeling like this. So useless. She had never been a woman who had been a fan of sitting still with a needle and to find that this was all that she was good at for the time being. Her father was dead. Her house, her name and her reputation was destroyed and she knew that whatever Robin had said she had played some part of it.

The awful crux of the matter was that she was not entirely sure marriage to Guy would have been a terrible thing. Was it love? No. But she was practical. In that moment when she had been faced with Robin standing in her parlour and the mask of the Nightwatchman burning in the fireplace behind her she had been surprisingly practical.

Despite it all she had known the luxury of her position. She had never wanted for anything and though she knew Robin understood why she had made the decisions she had made she had found that she had wanted things as well.

She had wanted the nice house and the luxury of a few servants. She had wanted to look nice and sleep in a nice bed and be with a man she loved and be surrounded by their children. She had thought that night as she had flickered still between life and death, that she could do that with Guy. Could she love him as deeply and as truly as she had loved Robin? No. But she could get part of the happy ending she so desperately wanted. Guy had genuinely loved her and if she'd been able to weaken the Sherriff's influence on him then perhaps he could become a man she could at the very least respect.

Now…now she had nothing. The dreams and the wants and the desires had turned to ash much like her fath—

But she pulled herself back from that thought. It would not be a good or practical thing to start sobbing in the middle of the forest.

There was the sound of footsteps and she cursed wondering if whomever it was on horseback was coming but she was sure that neither Guy or the Sherriff were the type to go on foot when there was a horse readily available. Thinking that it would be prudent to not be in the way when whoever it was, was coming down the path (considering she was supposed to be dead and all that) she ducked behind a tree. Something touched her shoulder and Marian whirled around her ribs screaming in protest to do who knew what because she could not defend herself…only to see Djaq standing there.

"I thought that you were still in the camp" she hissed.

"I thought you were supposed to be in bed" Djaq hissed back. Marian opened her mouth and then shut it again because…well…she was right.

"I went to see what was left of my house" she said tightly and then when Djaq got a look on her face that resembled something that could have been sympathy…which Marian did not under any circumstances want to see she ploughed onwards with the conversation.

"And then I heard footsteps so I came and hid in the bush…and yes I do indeed know how it sounds. Any word on Erin?"

"Nothing. They've been in town for ages."

Marian sighed feeling her head throb. "I feel useless" she confessed to the other woman. "I feel just…so utterly useless. That was why I became the Nightwatchman, I was surrounded by all this poverty and cruelty, disease, famine, death, taxes, war, social stigma. I've seen woman and men stagger together to forge through a winter and I've seen girls thrown out of villages for getting pregnant and I've seen good people lose children or get thrown on the streets because they couldn't pay their taxes and that was why I went to war against poverty. I was sick of being told by men…and it is always men…even by my own father that I was to sit down and shut up and to let the men handle it. And now it's exactly the same. Being confined into a box because a man has made it so…"

Djaq very carefully said nothing to that. In actual fact she knew that there was nothing really to say to that. Marian was going to be Marian regardless of weather or not she was placated. And she could understand the desire to be more than what history or society or standards would let you be. This was not a world where female empowerment was encouraged after all.

Maybe someday…

"I have the formation of a plan" Marian said finally still peering through a bush to see if there was someone coming down the road. "Only there is no chance in hell Robin will let me do it without a fight"

"And two of your ribs were nearly crushed" Djaq said dryly.

Marian considered that for a second. To her credit Djaq supposed, this was progress.

There was a shuddering noise as someone came up behind them off the road and they whirled around to see Erin.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Marian said shaking her head. Erin staggered a little wincing and Djaq pulled her up the mound of earth so that she was standing there next to them hiding behind the bushes looking down on the road that connected the forest to the town and to civilisation.

"Did you see anyone on the road?" Djaq asked turning her head and ignoring Marian's question. There was something she thought peering through slightly squinted eyes about Erin that was…off…Something had happened.

"No. There seems to be some commotion though. I heard snatches of conversation a man called Gisbourne was to be called up"

"Brilliant" Marian muttered. "Just all we need. Guy, Robin and Will face to face after the week we've had"

She shot Erin another look and then she realised it.

"You've changed your dress."

Erin looked at them both and then ducked her head to the ground. Her whole body seemed to tremble even her golden curls which now that Marian was looking at them seemed to be a bit more messy than usual. Her hands were clasped behind her back and she had the whole personality of a woman that was going to the gallows and knew that she deserved it.

"What happened?"

"I found him" Erin said finally looking up her big blue eyes filled with some kind of emotion that made them overbright.

"The man with the one eye" she said finally.

It was like the air had been sucked out of their very surroundings. Marian found that her throat was opening and closing compulsively and that her hands were clenched into her trousers. She did not dare look at Djaq but she knew what she was feeling. It would be a mirror reflection of what was on her face she was sure.

"What happened?" she asked her tone coloured with urgency. Djaq made a sudden movement as if to touch Erin but Erin made an abortive movement backwards and Marian felt her heart heave a little again. All of the progress that Erin had been making, all of the little things she had gained back since she had escaped had gone.

"I was in the village, he grabbed a girl and I knew…oh I knew…so I followed and when he was done…when he killed her…I snuck behind him and I killed him. I did not even realise I had a knife and then when I did…" she gave a small little shrug and Marian found that she had to look away for a moment to get herself some composure.

"He's dead?" Djaq asked. "You're sure Erin I mean…you did check?"

"I stabbed him seven times Djaq, I'm pretty sure" Erin said a hint of dryness in her tone that made Marian bizarrely want to laugh.

And why should she not? This bastard, this bastard of a man was the reason she had no home, no father and no sense of purpose. This man had taken her dignity and her skills and her parent from her all because he saw a woman, a week woman and he wanted to keep her there beneath his boot. And that was just her. He had seen to it that Djaq had suffered humiliation and as for Erin well…the degradation that she had been going through was too much to even put into words.

And now he was dead, struck down by the woman he had long ago given up on and had thrown about like a little piece of meat. This woman who had been half shadow and half flesh when Marian had met her had taken the ultimate revenge on her rapist and the only thing in this long and utterly golden moment that Marian could think of was that she was honestly disappointed she had not been there to see it.

"Good" she said suddenly and a tad more savagely than she had intended to. "Good for you. One less person for Robin to get his hands on."

"Doesn't it…I mean if I kill him doesn't it mean I will go to hell for murder?"

Oh fuck. Marian couldn't be doing with religion on top of everything else she had to deal with. Especially because she was sure her answer was not going to be exactly…biblical.

"We all must face God's judgement at the end" Djaq said carefully as if she was thinking hard about her answer. "And I must face Allah's. But both your God and Allah are infinitely merciful and know what is in our hearts. I do not doubt that you will have been forgiven for saving more girls from such a fate."

There was a pause as they all considered that and then Marian decided to steer the topic away from questions that they did not know the answers to.

"So he's dead. How do you feel?"

Djaq rolled her eyes but Erin looked at Marian with her wide blue eyes and Marian knew she was going to give an honest answer.

"Free"

"How did you get a new dress?" Djaq asked.

"I…I think I fainted. When I woke up I was in a house and someone…a woman…had changed me. She gave me some tea and then when I was strong enough to stand she let me go. It wasn't hard to find the main road but I don't think I'll find her again. She…she said as much"

Djaq moved a little bit closer her eyes closed in concentration and then without warning she sniffed Erin's hair.

Erin jerked back and nearly lost her balance on her bad knee. Marian grabbed her before they all went tumbling out of their hiding places, grabbed Djaq by the sleeve and then forced all three of them so that there were sitting on the ground and completely hidden from view.

"What the hell Djaq?"

"You smell of something that I've smelt before. Eucalyptus and mint and sandalwood…there is no house in Nottingham that would have access to all of this. Those smells…they are from my land. The Holy Lands"

"Makes sense" Erin said after a pause. "She did sound a bit like you"

"What did she look like?"

"Not sure she kept her hood up and her face mask on. Besides the incense she had in that house was strong and…she was wearing red. All red. And she had dark hair that was loose. And she was not working alone she had someone, a stable boy, a stable hand maybe. Someone who picked me up and carried me out of that barn."

Djaq stared at her for a long time and Marian found that despite it all she was watching her friend. Djaq was staring at Erin with a hunger in her eyes, a desperate hope that was so raw and so painful that Marian found she had to look away. She was not sure that she could stare at Djaq when that kind of an expression was etched on her face.

"Did she say anything?"

"Only that she thought the English were mad, bad and dangerous"

"Nothing that's new then" Marian muttered. She looked at Djaq and was about to ask just what was going on when the sound of bridles. There was a jangling of horses.

Immediately the three of them stopped talking and peered through the bushes. Marian knew that she had been right, that there had been someone coming to pay their respects and that the week they had lived through unafraid to the world was coming to the end.

"Who is that?" Erin asked seeing the man and his full entourage of soldiers come down the road that led from Marian's house into the forest and down the main path were the road separated and the trees became thicker and wilder.

"Guy of Gisbourne" Djaq said when it was clear that Marian was not going to.

Erin turned to look at the two women but neither of them it was clear intended to elaborate.

"He saw me" Marian muttered. "I'm sure of it. If he carries on looking around he's going to stumble on something he shouldn't do"

"Or someone" Erin muttered seeing where her thoughts were heading. "You said Robin doesn't like him"

Marian nodded. There was no time to get into the complicated rivalry that existed between Robin and Guy especially not when the latter was so close to discovering them. And the idea of Robin…or any of the Outlaws coming face to face with Guy right now was…well…she was not sure if there was a word to describe how catastrophic that was going to be.

She looked at Djaq but Djaq was staring into space.

Marian frowned but turned her attention to the men that were on the path below where they were hiding. Such was her attention to the scene unfolding in front of her that she failed to notice what was going on behind her.

Djaq knew she should have been paying attention but to be honest she wasn't.

Her mind was on what Erin had described and the more she thought about it the more she couldn't help herself.

Erin had described a woman in red with long dark hair and an accent that had sounded like hers. She had described smells and sights that were uniquely connected to Djaq's homeland. She was sure that there was something here but she was equally sure that she was not going to find that woman at the house Erin described.

But…she too had seen a woman dressed in red. She too had seen a woman with dark hair speak with an accent that was unique to hers. She had thought she was hallucinating her dead sister as she came to call Djaq to the afterlife but now Erin was telling that she too had seen a woman who had looked like that.

But Gisela was dead. Her sister was dead somewhere in the ruins of Acre and Djaq had never…she had never seen a body, she had never found a witness that had seen what had happened. And…and such things were possible were they not? It was a war, things happened, people came back did they not?

Was her sister still alive? Had the woman in red been her or just someone else who had sounded like her when her head had been split in two and her mind had been playing tricks on her?

Was her sister still alive?

Was this fortune's wheel as her mother had once called it?

Could it be? Could such a thing be?

Next Chapter-The Outlaws make their way back into the forest, Allan and Robin have a kind of almost talk about feelings as Allan comes to a realisation and a confrontation is unavoidable as Guy of Gisbourne enters this story for the first time.

And there you are, I hope you enjoyed and i will do my best to give you the next chapter soon rather than later.