Chapter 31

I stared stupidly at Sabine, shock filling my entire body, heart pounding. Her face was a Japanese mask of rage, her mouth open and spewing epithets at me, her screams of fury filling the room. As I watched, she dropped the keys, turned to the nearest wardrobe and began hurling any object she could find in my direction. Terrified, I ducked and whirled in the bed, trying to avoid the smattering of dishes, knickknacks and crockery being thrown at me. A teacup whizzed by my head, smashing into the bedframe behind me. I ducked luckily, but the saucer completed the teacup's mission. Stars exploded into my vision for a moment, and I heard Sabine's squeal of glee. She was a terrible aim, but that missile had found its mark. Blood trickled down the side of my face and ran into my eyes, stinging them. Dizzily I looked up, trying to keep my focus on her, and to my horror, saw that she had taken up the smaller candelabra and was heading towards me on the bed. She wielded it like a weapon and it took me less than two seconds to realize she intended to bash my brains in with it.

Adrenaline shot through my body and I rolled up off the bed, seeing my sword lying there as I did so. I hurriedly grabbed it just in time, as Sabine came towards me with the candelabra crashing down at my head. I blocked her blow and pushed back against the wrought iron, shoving her backwards. Sabine's eyes widened when she saw the sword, but she soon recovered herself, and jockeyed around to my left side, catching my shoulder with a blow of the metal. I cried out in pain and then turned, throwing my full weight behind the sword blow as I screamed,

"Drop it, you harridan!"

My sword connected with the candelabra and knocked it roughly out of her hands, slicing a red line into her wrist. I felt an insane amount of glee as I saw her jaw drop. This shock gave me a moment's advantage, and I rammed my full weight into her, using the hilt of the sword to jab her stomach. All of the wind came out of Sabine and she coughed, spluttering as I continued shoving her across the room. With a final push, I slammed her up against the wall, my sword leveled at her aristocratic throat, and glared at her.

"Don't. Bloody. Move," I growled, my eyes flinty. Hers were wild with anger and fright, and at this proximity I was flooded with her overly lush lavender perfume. I felt a bit mad as she struggled, trying to push back against me. After all that she had done, all of the pain I had suffered because of her, I finally had the upper hand. Most of the fight had gone out of her the moment I had put my sword to her throat, but part of me couldn't help myself. I leaned in a bit more and nicked her with it. She yelped, now looking truly terrified.

"You wretched bitch," I snarled at her. "Everything that you have is still not good enough!"

I am sure she would have spat back an answer if she had any breath left. As I continued glaring at her I heard Guy's panther-like footsteps invade the doorway at breakneck speed, and he appeared, his sword raised. Thornton was close behind, uncomfortably holding a kitchen stool over his head. Both of them stopped upon seeing my sword at Sabine's throat, and looked comically annoyed at their missed timing. Guy's arrival, however, was not lost on Sabine. Regaining a bit of her voice, she squeaked out,

"Guy! She attacked me when you left…save me from this madwoman!"

"Shut up!" I snapped, pushing her further into the wall. "We both know bloody well who attacked who!"

Guy slowly lowered his sword, regarding me with interest. "Nyssa, what—"

"She stole the keys and tried to smash in my head," I said, never taking my eyes from Sabine. "And now that Guy is here, perhaps you'd like to tell him why you were really in his rooms today!"

The anger in Sabine's eyes was replaced with absolute terror. Her face went from white to a near gray color. She shook her head slightly, begging me with her eyes.

"Tell him, damn you!" I said, "or I will gut you like a fish! Tell him about Will and the fact that you're fucking him! Tell him about working for Hood!"

At these words, something in Guy snapped. He pulled me away abruptly, sword and all, into a crumpled heap on the floor. As I looked up, he grabbed Sabine by the throat, his black-gloved hands beginning to tighten. "Hood? You are working for Hood?!" he practically screamed at her. "Tell me everything, you wretch!"

"It was for my family only, Guy," Sabine choked out, her words weak. "My father and Hood have been corresponding, and…I needed someone to love me..." Her next words were cut off by Guy's fingers bearing down on her windpipe. Alarmed, I saw that her face had become quite pink, and she was gasping for air as Guy began to squeeze. His face was demonic, vengeful, and I knew soon that he would choke her to death if I did nothing. Desperate, I turned to Thornton. "Water!" I shouted. He paused, looking confused, then ran as I hissed the word at him again. I stood up and dragged myself over to Guy's arm. "Guy, stop!" I said. "Stop this! You'll kill her!"

"She deserves to die," Guy snarled, still looking at nothing but Sabine. "Pretending to love me, and then lying with Hood's men!"

"Guy, stop!" I shouted at him, quite panicked. Sabine now had gone white and light was dying from her eyes. I dragged Guy's face to away from hers to mine and slapped him lightly. "If you kill her it's war for certain with France. Philip will make any excuse, and you handing it to him! Is it really worth one strumpet for a whole country? Think, Guy! Remember Marian!"

It was as if I had buried my sword into his heart all the way to its hilt. Guy released Sabine, who fell to the floor, choking and gasping. Thornton skeetered into the room with a pan of water, which he abruptly and ill-timedly threw into Guy's face. Confused at first, Guy breathed in heavily, once, twice, water dripping from his hair. His face stricken, he tried to speak and failed. As I looked up at him, I realized his eyes were brimming with tears, which made my own a bit wet. I nodded softly as I looked at him as if to say You made the right choice this time when he fell into my arms, sobbing like a small boy. I held him, soothing back his hair of this giant man while Thornton stared on and Sabine slowly struggled to her side, trying to breathe again properly.

The four of us remained in those positions for a few minutes before Sabine was able to clumsily struggle to her feet. "This is not over, slut," she coughed at me, her face icy.

"Oh yes it is," Guy said, standing and turning to her. His great height dwarfed her small peevish presence, making her seem like an insect in comparison. "It is completely over. The contract is broken, you spying bitch. Get out of my house before I drag you out by your hair." His tone was dangerous. He put a hand to his sword and twitched towards her and Sabine flew to the door, hurriedly wrenching it open and pelting down the hallway towards whatever fate awaited her.

Still shaken, Guy turned to me. "So she was the French spy I'd heard of. Here, right in front of my nose. How long have you known, Nyssa?"

I sighed. "Since you came to see me at my house, the night I nearly died. I saw them…together and heard him asking her to retrieve letters for him afterwards. I was in such shock…you know that Will and I were close. That was what made me so ill, and I've been trying to recover enough to tell you for the past three days, until we had an argument about your marriage." My eyes met his in a clear, blue gaze, and Guy finally loosened his grip on his own sword.

"Thornton, leave," he said in a commanding tone. "Now."

My stomach felt icy as Guy continued staring at me. He stood for a few moments, simply staring at me as the door closed and Thornton's footsteps began to recede. His gaze never faltering, Guy roughly began unbuttoning his doublet. My heart beat in a quickening rhythm. He pulled it off, revealing a loose fitting shirt under it.

"Do you still love Will?" he asked brusquely, glaring at me.

"Guy, don't," I said to him. His face was thunderous, and he began advancing on me.

"Do you still love him, Nyssa?" he said. He wrenched the collar of his shirt open, tearing it down the front and shrugged out of it, still moving towards me. Now nervous, I raised my sword. "Stop this," I said trying to sound calm.

Guy responded by raising his own sword. "I charge you to tell me before God if you still love him!"

I moved first, striking against his blade. "You have no right to ask me that!"

"Yes, I do!" Guy roared, parrying back. I moved away, realizing he was backing me into a corner as he always did. As I remembered, I feinted left, and Guy moved to block me, but then I rolled right. Swearing, he turned, and our blades clashed together in a ringing of steel.

"No, you bloody idiot!" I shouted, my face ablaze with anger. "I love you and I have always loved you! I never stopped loving you! I will love you until the day I die, whether it's today or in thirty years!"

His face lost its fury, but not its passion. He stepped towards me, his sword still raised. "Then by God, Nyssa, there is nothing more to come between us. You are my love, my passion and my undying desire. Before sundown tomorrow, you will be my wife."

Trembling, we stared at each other. Seconds went by, our swords still raised, passions still high. Then simultaneously, we dropped them and Guy swept me into his arms, carrying me towards the bed. In a rugged voice he whispered,

"Now let me finally perform a husband's duties to his wife, as they are long overdue."