Marian and Edward walked into the castle, not sure if either of them were too keen on seeing Sir Robert or Juliana.
Edward had a few more run-ins with the crusty lord in the two weeks since he and his daughter had decided to relocate to the castle. Each run-in, more volatile than the last. The most recent had Sir Robert saying unforgivable things about Marian. That Edward would never forgive or forget.
Marian, on the other hand, had actually spent some pleasant time with Juliana up to a point. Her father grew more and more angry, for no reason that she could see, which quickly soured Juliana's mood. To make things worse, Marian had once again argued with her friend about Sir Guy.
She worried that Juliana was becoming enamored with him. That thought did truly frighten Marian who felt no good could come of it.
So, Edward and Marian found themselves standing in the great hall of the castle. The sheriff had decided to hold a party, in celebration for something he had yet to reveal to anyone. Marian had decided it might be a good chance to try to clear the air with Juliana, and to keep an eye on the sheriff and Sir Guy.
"Are you sure you want to be here?" Marian asked her father as they took their seats.
"Yes." he nodded. "I'll not let a quarrel with Robert keep me from seeing friends and having a fun evening out." he looked at his daughter and smiled. "And you?"
"I need to speak to Juliana." she said. "Thank you for worrying though." she added as she tenderly smiled at her father.
"I'm your father, it's my duty." he reminded her.
"I see Juliana." Marian said as she looked around the room.
She smiled as she got to her feet to make her way over to her friend, hoping to patch things up between the two of them. The smile quickly faded when two women moved and Marian saw Sir Guy standing with Juliana. Smiling and laughing.
"Patience." she whispered to herself as she headed over, glowering as Guy bent down a bit to say something in Juliana's ear. "Juliana!" she said as she approached, forcing a smile.
"Marian." Juliana said rather coolly, not in the mood to be lectured again on the evils of spending too much time with Guy.
"I was hoping to have a word with you." Marian said, ignoring Guy's presence altogether. "I need to apologize." she added, hoping to put Juliana more at ease.
"Of course." Juliana said, knowing that the apology wouldn't last long, if the past few weeks was anything to go by. "Will you excuse us, Sir Guy?" she asked.
"Of course." he said as he took the cup she'd been drinking from out her hand.
"Shall we take a bit of a stroll before things get under way?" Marian suggested.
"If you'd like." Juliana said as she linked arms with Marian and wandered off, leaving Guy to watch nervously, for a reason he didn't understand.
"Well?" Juliana asked as they stepped into an empty room.
"I'm sorry that I keep harping on the same thing over and over." Marian began. "It's just that I worry about you, Jules?"
"I appreciate that, truly, I do." Juliana said. "But you keep warning me about the same thing over and over, and there's no reason." she added. "Do you think me some sort of mindless ninny?"
"No, of course not." Marian sighed. "It's just that you're spending so much time with Guy, I'm afraid you're going to fall for him."
Juliana dissolved into a fit of laughter, leaving Marian staring at her in confusion.
"Oh, Marian." she gasped, wiping her eyes. "I find Sir Guy very, very attractive. But come now, fall for him?"
"I don't see why that's such an absurd idea." Marian argued. "You're both living here, you see each other all the time..." her voice trailed off.
"Marian, this is a castle, a very large building, I have my rooms in a completely different wing of the place." she said. "I see him now and again, and that's only for a very short time."
"You two seemed to be rather chummy for only seeing each other once in a while." Marian countered.
"We have become friends of a sort, Marian." Juliana said with a sigh. "Even if I did fancy myself madly in love with him, I don't think he'd care."
"Why?" she asked.
"Why do you think." she replied. "Besides, I think it best if I stay here, it's quite helpful."
"Helpful how?" Marian asked, pretending not to hear Juliana's answer to her previous question. That was something she didn't want to get into all over again.
"Robin." Juliana said. "The sheriff and Sir Guy are both quite keen on finding and punishing him. If I'm here, I can tell you of any plans they may have, and you can alert Robin and his friends."
"That is a good point." Marian agreed uneasily. "You are being careful, though, aren't you?"
"No, I'm making myself as obvious as possible." she answered sounding quite serious. "I'm 'accidentally' walking into rooms when they're having secret meetings, listening at doors..."
"I get the idea." Marian cut her off with a laugh. "Thank you, Jules." she said with a smile. "You've no idea how useful this is."
"I do have some idea." Juliana smiled back. "Trust me, I do."
"I should be getting back." Marian said before hugging Juliana. "Thank you." she whispered before leaving.
Juliana watched Marian go, wishing she didn't have to lie to her, but realizing she had no choice.
"You have quite a talent for lying." Guy's voice said from behind her, causing her to jump in fright.
"Oh, goodness, Guy." she said as she tried to catch her breath. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."
"Sorry." he said, a trace of a smirk just hovering. "So, who are you lying to?"
"What?" Juliana asked. "Oh, that?" she pointed in the direction Marian had just walked off in.
"Yes, that." Guy said, looking none too pleased.
"While Robin is an old friend," she began, hoping not to lose Guy as an advocate. "The downfall of my father is first and foremost on my mind, I assure you."
Guy studied Juliana's face for a moment. No signs of deceit showed, but he was wary as to whether or not to trust her.
"I had to tell her something, Guy." Juliana explained, realizing he wasn't believing her. "I couldn't listen to another lecture as to why I should stay away from you and how you're going to corrupt me. About a hundred times is my limit on that."
"And I have your word that's all it was?" Guy asked as he continued to study her.
"Yes." Juliana said. "I've been working for three years to find a way to punish my father." she added. "Please, you have to continue to help me. This is too important." she grabbed his arm in desperation, trying to convince him.
"So everything you said was a lie?" he asked.
"Yes," she nodded emphatically. "Everything."
"I do hope that what you're saying now is the truth." Guy said as he took Juliana's hand off his arm. "Wouldn't want years of thought and planning to out the window." he added as he continue to hold her hand.
"No, I wouldn't." she mumbled.
"Juliana!" Sir Robert's voice rang out. "Where the devil..." he hobbled up to the pair and glared at Guy. "Kindly take your hand off my girl."
"Sorry, Sir Robert." Guy said as he dropped her hand.
"I think it best if you steer clear of her." Robert added as Guy started to walk off.
"Excuse me?" Guy asked as he turned around.
"Father.." Juliana began.
"Head back to the table, Juliana." Robert ordered in a tone she knew not to argue with. He watced her disappear before turning back to Guy. "How am I to marry her off when most of the men around here think she's practically spoken for by none other than the sheriff's most trusted man?"
"I've never spoken to you or Juliana about marriage." Guy pointed out.
"You don't have to, people see and talk." Robert. "Unless you're about to offer for her, stay away so that I might have the chance to marry her to a man of means." he added as he stomped off.
Guy stared after Sir Robert and felt that, even if she was being at all truthful with Marian, he'd definitely help Juliana with her plan to topple her father. How he loathed the man...