It was getting dark, and still Marian had not returned. The sheriff's men had returned, Robin and his men not among them. For that Juliana was thankful, but she still had no idea where Marian was. The men who had returned had gone directly to the sheriff's study and Guy quickly shut the door behind them, and gave Juliana a warning look she knew enough to pay attention to.
Growing worried and impatient, she decided to go look for her missing friend. She went to her room and changed into some sturdy boots she always wore when riding and grabbed a woolen cloak from the wardrobe and headed to the stables.
"Where do you think you're going?" Kit asked as he walked into the stall where she was readying a horse.
"Marian went out a while ago, and she has yet to return." she said as she walked the horse to an old tree trunk she used to mount her horse.
"So you're just riding out when its nearly dark to find her?" Kit asked.
"Obviously." she replied. "Kit, she should have been back a while ago, and the sheriff's men are here, yet..."
"What do they have to do with anything?" Kit asked.
"She went to warn someone about the sheriff's men." she told him.
"Robin Hood." Kit sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "She ran off to warn him, she's not yet returned, and now you're going off to find her, in the dark, by yourself."
"That's it exactly." Juliana nodded as she grasped her reins and made a move to leave.
"Wait a minute." Kit said, stopping the horse. "I'll saddle a horse and ride out with you. Wouldn't do for a young lady to be out on her own."
It seemed like an eternity to Juliana before Kit finally had a horse ready to go. She fought the urge to just leave without him, knowing the argument that would come about then.
"Do you have any clue where this Robin makes his camp?" Kit asked as they rode along in the forest, birds and various bugs being the only noise other than their horse's hooves.
"I have a general idea." she said as she stopped her horse and slid down from the saddle. She let out a low whistle that she'd heard Marian use a time or two and waited.
"I don't like this." Kit grumbled as he looked around nervously. "It's risky enough what we're doing, especially with that little snake knowing..."
"Shhh." Juliana hissed, holding up her hand as she strained her ears as the crunching of leaves could be heard.
"What?" Kit whispered.
"I thought I heard someone." she said, "Or something."
"Oh, reassuring." he sneered. "Someone or something. Know how to make a bloke feel safe."
"Will?" Juliana whispered when she saw a tall, lean figure in the trees.
"What are you doing out here?" Will asked as he pushed past some branches and stopped, staring at Kit.
"Ignore him." she said. "He's my brother." she added. "Where's Marian? Is everyone alright?"
"Come on." Will said, waving them both to follow.
"I'll tie the horses, Julie, you go check on Marian." Kit said, taking her reins from her and leading her horse off the trail.
"What happened?" Juliana asked. "She went out hours ago to warn you all..."
"About the ambush." Will finished her sentence. "It got ugly, very ugly." he said as he continued to push his way through some bush and led them to their camp.
"Marian!" Juliana cried when she saw her friend laying on a pile of blankets, her head and shoulder covered in ragged bandages. "Oh God, what happened?"
"It happened so fast." Robin murmured as he sat next to Marian, holding her hand. "I picked the wrong signal. What was she doing out here?" he asked, looking up at Juliana, fear and rage both showing clearly on his features.
"I had heard the sheriff and Sir Guy discussing an ambush they had planned." Juliana answered, tears forming as she spoke. "I told Marian, hoping we could reach you before..."
"She came out here by herself." Robin said. "What 'we' are you talking about?"
"I offered to come with her." she said as she knelt by her friend. "She told me to stay..."
"And you just let her go off on her own even though you knew that the sheriff and Gisborne had something planned." he said, accusations clear in his voice.
"I didn't know anything such as this were going to happen." she argued. "I thought she had plenty of time to reach you all..."
"You thought wrong." he said.
"Robin." John said, half in consolation and half in warning. Placing a large hand on the younger man's shoulder, he looked down and shook his head.
"We could have taken care of this." Robin said, shaking John's hand off. "Marian should not have been there!"
"Arguing and blaming someone won't do any good." Djaq said as she came over with some water, getting ready to change Marian's bandage on her shoulder. "Marian needs all the help she can get. I don't have enough, or good enough, supplies here."
"My brother is with me." Juliana said, tears freely flowing, guilt eating away at her. "We can get her back to the castle."
"And explain this how?" Robin asked, moving a bit so Djaq could do her work. "An ambush went wrong, I'm not in the sheriff's cells, and Marian has more than likely been noticed missing. How will you explain her showing up, injured?"
"Where was she when you saw her?" Julian asked, wiping her face with the back of her hand. "Did you see her before or after?"
"She was riding with the guards." Much put in, handing Juliana a bit of cloth to wipe her eyes with.
"She was injured and they left her?" Juliana asked in shock. "How could they..."
"Never mind that!" Robin said. "How will you explain it?" he demanded.
"Robin." John said again in a stearn tone.
"I will say that she was riding, met up with the guards while out, and was caught in the middle." she shrugged.
"And when the guards say otherwise?" Robin asked, arms crossed over his chest.
"That is exactly what they saw." Juliana snapped. "For all they know, that is what happened."
"Robin, we need to get her more help." Djaq said, wiping her hands. "Her shoulder needs to be tended to somewhere cleaner than here, and her head wound..."
"The sheriff will know." Robin said. "She should not have been out here." he repeated.
"But she was." Juliana snapped. "No matter how many times you say it, she was. Now she needs help. I will get her back to the castle and I will make sure she is well looked after."
"Why did you let her leave?" he asked.
"You know Marian, she will not listen to anyone if she does not feel like it." Juliana said. "She would not listen to me while she thought you in danger, you know her, Robin."
"What's happened?" Kit asked as he came to join the group. Robin offered an explanation and Kit nodded in understanding. "Rahimah can do wonders, and I'm sure the sheriff has a physician or two he can call upon."
"Rahimah?" Robin asked.
"My wife." Kit said. "I'll go bring down my horse." he added, looking down at Marian. "He's larger, he'll be able to carry both our weights easily enough."
"Rahimah is very good." Julian assured the group. "And she won't let anyone know how she came to have these injuries." she turned to Djaq. "Give us a day or two, if you haven't heard anything by then, come to the castle, and ask to speak to Theodore, he'll bring you to Marian."
"Is she ready?" Kit asked as he led his horse to the camp. "We need to get back before it becomes too dark."
"Just a moment." Robin said as he turned and moved to Marian's side. He whispered something in her ear, held her hand and kissed her before turning back to the group. "Be quick about it."
"We will." Kit nodded. "If you'd hand her up to me." he said to John as he mounted his horse and waited to receive the injured woman. "We will make sure she's well looked after."
"In the future, Juliana, do not let her go after us." Robin said, holding the reins of her horse as she settled into her saddle. "We can look after ourselves."
"I promise." Juliana said with a weak smile, fighting back even more tears.
As she rode behind Kit and Marian, she couldn't help but hate herself. She'd let her friend go out on her own. She knew that it was dangerous, but she'd let her go anyway. This was her fault, she and Robin were of one mind on that matter. It was her fault and she hated herself for it.