Guy's Unexpected Marriage
Chapter One: "Robin Hood."
A/N: Gisborne Castle is portrayed by Eilean Donan Castle. Google it. It's beautiful. Lady Kate is portrayed by the lovely Eva Green. I'll do my best to describe her but that kind of beauty is beyond words. Guy is of course played by the sexy Richard Armitage. This is a Guy/OC fic so anyone not on board with that needs to back out now. I've had some people complain about putting an OC with regular characters so now I always put a little warning in. This is in no way a Guy/Marian fic. In fact, it's very anti-Marian. She'll be portrayed as bitchy and manipulative because that's kind of the way she is. Don't like it, hit the back button. And flames will be used to roast marshmallows. This takes place in season two at the beginning right when Marian and Guy get chummy again. Also, if you like my writing, check out my book on Amazon Kindle, Plain Jane by Ashleigh Knight. It's about vampires and is very anti-Twilight. Anyway, I hope you guys like this. I've been thinking about it for a while. Oh, and her singing voice is played by Orla Fallon from Celtic Woman. And we're ignoring season three, which I didn't see.
Sir Guy of Gisborne walked down the castle halls, looking for Marian. He wanted to see her. Not about anything in particular. He just wanted to talk. He so enjoyed their verbal sparring. She was so passionate and fiery. He wished she had married him when she had the chance. He still wasn't sure he forgave her for leaving him at the alter. Or punching him. He still had a scar from where the ring had cut him.
He would try the courtyard. Perhaps she was talking with the peasants again.
He walked out into the courtyard just as a carriage was pulling up. Was the sheriff expecting visitors? He hadn't mentioned it.
The driver stepped down and helped two ladies out of the carriage. The first one was fat with a pug face and distasteful features. The second was breathtaking, far lovelier than any woman he'd ever seen. She had long brown hair that fell to her waist and curled at the ends. Her skin was pale and her figure full and curvy in all the right places. She was slender but not thin, tall but not too tall. She wore a dark blue silk dress with trailing sleeves and brown deer skin boots. She wore a fur cloak made of ermine that looked warm and luxurious. She looked up at him with a smile and he saw that her eyes were light green, the color of the sea. Her lips were dark red and full, her smile captivating. She wore a crown, like a queen. She looked like a queen, regal and elegant. She was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen.
He stood there, dumbfounded, unable to move. He had no idea if he should approach. He was never good with ladies. Women, yes; ladies, no. He didn't know how to act around noble women. They required more manners than Guy had ready at his disposal.
The beautiful lady stepped forward and opened her arms in a gesture of welcome.
"You must be Sir Guy," she said, taking his hands, surprising him. "I have heard so much about you. You are exactly as my father described."
"I'm sorry, but do I know your father?" he asked, confused. She didn't look like anyone he knew.
"Yes, you met him when you came to enquire about buying back the Gisborne lands," she said with a friendly smile.
His eyes widened in surprise. She was Sir Thomas of Gisborne's daughter? He remembered the man. He had spoken with him only a few years ago. The man had been kind but ill. He had gently refused to sell back the Gisborne lands but had offered him a place at his dinner table and a room for as long as he wanted it. Guy had refused. It was too painful to be back home when he knew it wasn't his home anymore. Sir Thomas had mentioned his daughter but he had said nothing of her extraordinary beauty. Could this really be that same man's daughter? If so she looked nothing like her father. Sir Thomas was an average looking man, nothing extraordinary about his features.
"Hello," the sheriff said curiously from behind Guy. "Who are you?"
Wonderful, Guy thought. I just needed someone else to humiliate me. I wasn't doing it well enough on my own.
"I am Lady Katherine of Gisborne," she said, releasing Guy's hands and extending one to the sheriff. "I've come to speak with Sir Guy on a matter of important business concerning my father's estate. I was hoping to trespass on your hospitality until the matter was settled. You must be Sheriff Vasey. It is so lovely to meet you."
"I'm afraid that wouldn't be convenient," Vasey said with a forced grin. "We haven't got any clean room at the moment and the servants are very busy being, well, serving."
"We can pay," she said, throwing her arms out.
The driver came forward with a trunk which was obviously heavy. He laid it on the ground at Lady Katherine's feet and opened the lid. She took a sword from the top of the trunk and then a cloth, revealing a mass of gold and silver coins. The sheriff's eyes bugged out and he licked his lips at the sight. Guy eyed it with surprise and envy. His own coffers at home, all he owned in the world, didn't amount to what he saw before him.
"You will have to forgive me, Sir Guy," she said, smiling at him. Her smile took his breath away. "I had intended to give you the chest in its entirety as a gesture of good will but I will have to take some out to pay for my stay here. Also, this is for you."
She held out the sword to him, dropping the cloth at her feet. He took it, deeply confused. It was beautiful. He removed it from its sheath and felt the balance. Perfect, completely without fault. He'd never seen its equal and being a Master At Arms he knew something about swords.
"I don't understand," he said, an expression of confusion on his face. "Why are you giving me these things? Haven't you come to sell me Gisborne?"
"Perhaps it would be better if we could talk somewhere private," she said with a gentle smile. "Shall we go inside?"
Vasey looked up from staring at the trunk and cleared his throat.
"Erm, yes, Gisborne, show her inside," Vasey said, eyeing the trunk out of the corner of his eye. "We don't want our guest waiting outside in the cold. Forgive him, Lady Katherine, he isn't all that bright. I do what I can with him."
Vasey grinned at her and she forced a smile at the creature.
"I'm sure that Sir Guy is a very intelligent man," she said, meeting Guy's eyes with a knowing smile. It was almost as if she could imagine what he had to put up with every day from the sheriff.
He smirked but tried to hide it by biting his bottom lip. She saw it though and smiled in amusement, mirth dancing in her green eyes.
"If you will, Lady Katherine…" he said, holding out his arm for her to take.
She placed her hand gently on his arm and he led her inside.
"Do call me Lady Kate, Sir Guy," she said. "I do so prefer it."
"Very well, Lady Kate," he said as he led her into the dining hall. The sheriff had not followed. "We can talk in here."
She let go of his arm and stepped further into the room. The windows were open and though it was a cold day, there was a fire and plenty of warmth to be had.
"What a refreshing room," she said lightly, taking a deep breath.
"You did not come to talk about the room," he said.
"No," she said, turning around to face him. "I did not. I have come here to make you an offer, Sir Guy, but before I do I must ask you a question. Are you engaged to Lady Marian Fitzwalter?"
Guy's eyes narrowed in confusion.
"I do not see-" he began.
"You will in a moment, Sir Guy, I promise you," she said. "Please answer my question."
"No," he said gruffly. He did not like this line of questioning.
"Good," she said with a smile. "That will make things much simpler. I have come a long way, Sir Guy, and not without some doubts. I have heard many things about you, not all of them pleasant. But that is not the point. The point is I have come to make you a very lucrative offer, one that could set you up for life."
"I'm listening," he said, genuinely curious.
"I have come to offer you my hand in marriage," she said.
"What?" he said with wide eyes.
"My father is dying and without him it will be impossible to run the Gisborne estate by myself. There are men who want to take the Gisborne lands for their own and would not be above forcing me to marry them in order to do so," she said, pacing nervously. "These men are ruthless and would treat my people very badly if they were to get their hands on my father's lands and money. If we were married though, you could protect me and my people from them. My father's title, a dukedom, will go to a cousin of mine who is now but eight years old, but the money and lands will be my dowry. All of it is yours if you wish."
"I do not understand," he said. "Why are you asking me? Surely there is someone else you can marry, some neighbor or knight. Why me?"
"You have a prior claim on the Gisborne estate. I know you used to live there and a few years ago wished to purchase the lands from my father and he refused. Now is your chance to get your home back," she said, stopping in front of him. "And truthfully, there is no one else, at least no one that I would wish to marry. I need someone bendable, someone willing to take advice, someone who will take their cues from me and treat my people with respect and dignity. I need you, Sir Guy. You can help me."
"You think I'm bendable?" he said with a frown.
"I think you have ambition and would promise to listen to me if it would get you what you wanted," she said. "I know that the sheriff must use you terribly, and I have heard how Lady Marian has infamously treated you. You can rise above them all, above all of Nottingham. You can be a man of stature and wealth, someone respected and well-loved by his people. You can have Gisborne and me, and climb to heights you've never imagined. I can help you. I can teach you every in and out of nobility, everything you didn't get a chance to learn before you were forced out of your home. I can make you into anything you want. Marry me. Together we'll take the world by storm."
Guy ran a hand through his hair, hardly understanding what was happening to him. Marry her? A complete stranger? What about Marian? What about the sheriff? Surely he wouldn't let guy go with all he knew about the Black Knights. Would he?
"This is complicated," Guy said. "There are variables. The sheriff for instance."
"I'll take care of the sheriff," she said with a smile.
"What about Marian?" he said.
"What about her?" Lady Kate said irritably. "She's treated you infamously. She has no claim on you. Marry me."
"The circumstances of her treatment are complicated," he said, looking away. It was too humiliating to go into. But he would still defend her. "Marian is complicated."
"I will make you a deal," Lady Kate said, folding her hands. "Ask Lady Marian to marry you and if she says yes, I will go away and you can keep the trunk full of gold and live happily ever after."
"And if she says no?" he asked.
"Then you will marry me and we'll live happily ever after," she said.
"What about love? Does that matter at all to you?" he said.
"Love is a luxury I can't afford," she said, wringing her hands and pacing some more. "I've been faced with decisions that no woman ought to have to make. I'm doing what's right for my people. They're all that matters. Noblesse oblige. The obligation of nobility. I owe it to my people as their lady to conduct myself nobly. That means making sacrifices. I'm willing to do that. I have to be. For their sakes."
"And what of your own happiness?" he asked. "Do you care nothing for yourself?"
She laughed bitterly.
"I care far too much for myself," she said. "I am selfish and often immature. But I'm making up for that now. I will marry you if you will have me. Do we have a deal?"
He thought about it long and hard for a moment. Could he really marry her if Marian said no? He looked at her pale skin, her soft brown hair shining in the light from the window, her pale green eyes, the softness of her lips, her utter beauty. Yes, he could marry her. He might even love her one day. It was possible. Besides, he wasn't fool enough to turn down such a generous offer if Marian refused him, a thought he could barely stand. He cared for Marian. He knew she cared for him too. Surely she would say yes.
"Yes," he said. "We have a deal."
She smiled up at him in relief.
"Good," she said. "Now, perhaps you can show me to my room. I am tired and in need of rest."
"Yes, my lady," he said with a bow, extending his arm to her.
He had a great deal to think about.