Robin awoke early the following morning to the sound of a gentle rain beating upon his manor's roof.

His house...his entire village was quiet, everyone having stayed up late celebrating Lady Locksley's birthday. Smiling at the memory, Robin stretched and rolled over to gaze at his beautiful wife sleeping beside him.

Her hair fanned her pillow and one creamy shoulder peeked from her white nightdress. Warmth flooded Robin, and his sigh was pure contentment, tinged with longing.

Whatever sadness had bothered Marian after the archery competition he shouldn't have purposely lost, had quickly left her once they rejoined the festivities. Robin suspected she'd been missing her father. Feast days were always hard, with memories of departed loved ones. But with Ellie in her arms Marian had cheered, and the remaining hours of her birthday were merry.

Robin's longing would have to wait, for Marian needed to sleep and he needed to be off for an early morning Council of Nobles. There was work to do, convincing the new sheriff and the nobles to abolish the rest of Sheriff Vaisey's crippling taxes.

Unable to resist the loveliness of that shoulder gleaming in gentle morning light, Robin pressed his lips against her smooth, silken skin before rising to get dressed.

"Guy."

Robin stiffened and froze.

She was dreaming...of HIM? That monster who had terrorized his good people, who had nearly murdered her? And yet she dreamed of him!

You can't control your dreams, Robin reminded himself, trying to force away his anger. He of all people ought to know that. Yet his jealousy enflamed him.

"Guy."

Robin did not realize his own offhand comment yesterday, "A year ago I was outlawed, and I wouldn't want you anywhere near this room," had planted the seed for Marian's nightmare. No intimate, romantic dream, but one of terror, with Guy returning to Locksley to "punish" both Robin and herself. In her dream, Marian pleaded with the man to put away his sword.

Unjustly angry, Robin rose and began dressing, shoving his arms and legs into his clothes. He wanted to wake her, pull her from her thoughts of the murderer who somehow held some part of her still, or so Robin believed. But he wouldn't. She was tired, she needed to sleep, and there would be time to deal with this later. But all the same, he hated leaving her alone with her thoughts of Gisbourne.

The sound of a horse outside told him that Much had arrived. After buckling on his sword, Robin snatched up his cloak...a new one that was not patched, and dashed down the stairs to meet Much in the rain.

"You ready?" Much asked, amazed. "Unbelievable! I thought I'd have to pull you out of bed!"

"Have you eaten?" Robin asked, ignoring his friend's teasing.

"Of course! But I'll eat again, since you're offering. Rain! I hate rain!"

Robin swung himself onto his saddle, thanking Ian for being the only other person up in Locksley, then tossed Much a roll before biting into one himself.

"I must say," Much declared, his mouth full of bread, "your cook makes the finest bread! You're stormy this morning. I told you not to drink quite so much ale last night! I told you we needed to be up early! But you never listen!"

Robin wasn't listening now. All the way to Nottingham, he could hear Marian's lovely voice in his head murmuring, "Guy."