A Place to Call Home Chapter 11, a robin hood bbc fanfic

Title: A Place to Call Home, Chapter Eleven (12/?)

Rating: PG-13

Characters: Guy/Marian

Summary: "I do not love you," she cried in frustration. "Why do you want me?"

A/N: I've set this story immediately after the events of the first season finale. However, I have included information derived from subsequent episodes, in particular from season three's "Bad Blood" used here for my purposes as source material and plot motives for the characters.

Chapter Eleven

The plan came to her more easily than she would have believed. Stunning in its relative simplicity, she knew one of the most difficult aspects of it would be to convince the others of its merits. More to the point, convincing the various parties to cooperate with one another would require she use every weapon in her arsenal. To that end she enlisted her father's aid, for she knew that neither party would ignore a summons from Edward of Knighton.

On the appointed day, she waited in her girlhood bedchamber and kept vigil at the window. Her patience was rewarded when she caught sight of movement in the distance. Moments later a figure emerged from the tree line moving cautiously, but quickly toward the house. Though hidden beneath a hooded cloak, there was no doubt as to the person's identity, for she knew the graceful and limber stride as well as she knew her own.

Robin had arrived.

Marian took a deep breath and wiped suddenly damp palms on her skirt. She had not seen him since that day in the forest – so many weeks ago – and much had chanced since then. She imagined that she had changed in immeasurable ways. She peered into a small mirror hanging on the wall and wondered if she looked different. Wondered if he – who knew her so well – would take notice.

XXXXX

Robin ducked into the kitchen and shot a grin at the cook whose ruddy face bloomed with a delighted smile at the sight of him.

"Something smells wonderful," he declared as his fingers inched toward a cloth draped plate on the table.

"Tis for later, Master Robin." The cook gave his knuckles a playful rap with a wooden spoon, playing the game as they had since he was a boy sneaking into her kitchen for a treat.

"Will ye be staying for supper?" she asked.

"I… I do not know." He cast a furtive glance over his shoulder toward the doorway and the relative safety of Sherwood and she laid a weathered hand over his.

"There are none here who would let harm come to ye," she said fiercely.

Robin flashed a grateful look and sidled closer. "Is that by any chance… apple cake?" He lowered his voice to a conspirator's whisper.

"Sure and it might be," she replied, her native Ireland thickening her voice. "With raisins."

He heaved an exaggerated sigh of delight. "One of these days I am going to steal you away from here," he vowed as he pressed a smacking kiss to her cheek.

"Go one with you then." A pleased flush stained her cheeks. "His lordship is waiting on you." She laughed and gave him a gentle push out of the kitchen.

Watching him disappear from view, her smile faded. She dusted her hands on her apron and, returning to work, let her thoughts drift back to happier times when he had been a frequent visitor to Knighton. She had oft-thought what a lovely couple he and her young mistress made and had delighted in imagining the beautiful children they would create together. Shaking her head, she gave an onion a violent thwack with the knife in her hand and wondered how things had come to pass that the beautiful Lady Marian had ended up married to the dark and dour Sir Guy instead. Wiping a knuckle under her eye, she blamed the onion for the tears which pooled there and resolutely busied herself in preparing Master Robin's favorite meal.

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As familiar with the layout of Knighton as he was Locksley, Robin made his way to Sir Edward's study. The older man rose to his feet and greeted him with a hearty embrace.

"My boy! It is good to see you."

"My lord." Robin clasped close the man who had become as a father to him. "I debated the wisdom in coming here. More and more riders search the forest every day. I would not wish to bring trouble to your home."

"You are safe here." Edward unconsciously reiterated his cook's words and directed the young man toward a seat.

"Well then," Robin flopped comfortably into a chair. "Why have you summoned me?"

"Marian –"

Robin sat up straight. "What of Marian? Is something wrong?" He bolted to his feet. "If he has hurt her…"

Edward put up a calming hand and began to speak but was interrupted when his daughter appeared.

"I am well, Robin, as you can see." She held her arms out from her sides so that he could see she had come to no harm.

Robin released a shaky breath and raked her from head to toe with an assessing glance.

"Then, why…?"

She motioned both men back into their chairs and, spreading her skirts carefully around her, sank gracefully onto a low stool near her father.

"I know you have the Sheriff's pact." She clapped a hand over her mouth. Her plan had been to work her way up to this point carefully, not simply to blurt it out as she had.

"You… you…?" he blustered. "Pact?" he asked in surprise.

"Oh, Robin. Come now. Guy already told me."

"Gisborne told you?" he repeated dumbly, shock registering on his handsome face. He could not fathom why or under what circumstances Gisborne would willingly relay such information to anyone, let alone Marian.

"Yes."

Gathering his wits about him, he gave her a searching look. "I am sure he has not told you the whole of it," he said pityingly.

She pursed her lips and shrugged thoughtfully. "Well… he has told me that it is a pact made and signed by John's supporters to put him on the throne. And that it has gone missing and he suspects that you are in possession of it," she finished matter-of-factly.

Fire flashed in his eyes. "But has he told you –"

"That his signature appears on it as well?" She nodded. "Of course," she said as if there could be no doubt. "That is why I asked my father to invite you here," she told him. "I need your help."

He narrowed his eyes. "My help?"

"Yes." She shot him her most winning smile. "Do you still have possession of it?"

For the first time in his life, Robin hesitated to speak openly with her.

"Why do you ask?" He was unable to mask the suspicion in his voice.

"Oh! For heaven's sake!" Her hands shot up into the air. "Can you not just answer the question?"

"I fear I cannot, Lady Gisborne." The emphasis he placed on her title was evidence of the first fissure in his trust of her and she closed her eyes as the pain of it lanced through her.

Turning, she looked toward the man seated beside her. "Father?"

Edward laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and rose to his feet. "I will give the two of you some time alone." He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and graced Robin with a fond smile before quitting the room.

Marian returned her attention to the man she had known since childhood.

"Robin, I will not insult your intelligence by pretending that I do not ask in part because I wish to save my husband."

He winced as she openly laid claim to Gisborne.

"I am afraid I will never understand, Marian. How can you defend him? After all he has done… all the crimes he has committed? How can you wish to save him?"

"I…" She groped for the words to make him understand though she was not sure that she could make sense of it even to herself. How did one find the words to explain a feeling? How to explain her instinct that Guy was worth saving?

"You love him." Robin's voice was flat.

She drew in a shuddering breath. "I… It is complicated."

"He is not a good man, Marian." Robin's expressive features were filled with concern for her.

"There is good in him," she countered. "You know this. You more than anyone – for you knew him before…" She raised her hands helplessly. "You knew him before everything changed."

Robin flushed and looked away.

"I do not say this to shame you into helping him," she said gently. "He has made his own choices and rarely did he make the right one. But Robin, I have come to realize that you and I are the lucky ones."

"In what way?"

"Despite the losses we have suffered, we have always been surrounded by love, supported by love, guided with love. I look at Guy and I cannot help but wonder – what direction would our lives have taken if we had lost everything and everyone as brutally as he? Who would we be if everyone who had guided our choices was suddenly stripped away?"

Robin watched her carefully but made no reply.

"Guy looks at me and I see that he wants more. He wants to be a man I can be proud to call husband. But he is lost." Her slim shoulders rose and fell on a long sigh. "He believes that I am his salvation. I did not understand that before but perhaps I am.

She smiled and though tears brightened her eyes, they did not fall.

"You see Robin, you love me. But he needs me."

Her eyes pleaded with him to understand. For that, in a nutshell, was the answer. Guy's need of her was a powerful thing. It filled her. Drew her toward him. Gave her a purpose and kindled in her feelings unlike anything she had ever known before. Feelings which confused her. Compelled her. Consumed her.

Throat tight with emotion, Robin swallowed hard and looked away as he drew the tattered remnants of pride and control about him. Time spun out with an aching slowness as bittersweet images of their lives together played in their memories until at last Robin shook himself back to the present.

"Perhaps we should return to the matter at hand," he suggested gruffly.

Marian nodded and drew in a deep breath. "Now you understand that I have personal reasons for asking about the pact. But I hope you know me well enough to know that I would never do anything that would jeopardize the king's – or England's – welfare."

He studied her face and saw only the clear, guileless honesty he had always known of her.

"I know," he said at last. "I do trust you, Marian."

"Good." Her posture and features softened with the relief of it. "Because I have an idea of how we can use the pact to rid the shire of Vaisey…" She clasped her arms around her legs and graced him with a conspiratorial grin. "But I will need your help."

Intrigued, he shook off melancholy and leaned toward her. "Tell me more."

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As days had passed without recovering the pact, the Sheriff had grown increasingly unstable. Oft the only person permitted in his presence, Guy bore the brunt of his rages and in the last few days, he had resorted to plying the Sheriff with copious amounts of wine until the man fell into a drunken stupor.

Exhausted, he summoned two servants to carry the unconscious man to his bed and wondered if he would dare hasten the process in the future by adding a sleeping draught to the wine. He hesitated to do so, lest he misjudge the dosage and kill the man instead. Though he would consider himself well rid of the Sheriff, he knew that doing so would mean the decimation of Nottingham and the outlying villages at John's hands and even he had not lost so much of his humanity as to not give a damn about that.

Freed for at least a short while, Guy dug the missive he had received from Sir Edward from his tunic and called for his horse. As he made his way from the castle grounds, he wondered what his wife's father could possible want of him.

Dismounting upon his arrival at Knighton, he was admitted to the house by a timid maid.

"My Lord Edward awaits you," she squeaked. Too young to mask her fear of him, she cringed at the mere sound of his voice inquiring after the master of the house. Not wishing to send her into a frightened swoon, he held his tongue as she led him through the manor. Pointing toward a door at the end of a hall, she darted quickly toward the relative safety of the kitchen.

Laughter emanated from the room the maid had indicated and his spirits lightened at the sound of Marian's voice. He had not known she would be here but was glad of it and hastened forward, coming to an abrupt halt as he reached the doorway.

His astonished gaze took in the trio seated around the hearth and the first emotion to assail him was a terrible, jealous rage as his wife's tinkling laughter blended seamlessly with Hood's hearty guffaw in a painful assault on his ears.

His hand closed instinctively around the pommel of the sword strapped to his waist but the anger quickly faded to resignation. He checked his movement and laid a hand on the doorjamb to support suddenly weak limbs.

For the pretty tableau laid out before him brought home the truth of what might have been if not for his interference. Hood lounged in his chair, one leg tossed carelessly over its arm, as comfortable here as he might have been in his own home. Marian sat at her father's feet, fingers pressed over her mouth to stifle a giggle as Hood regaled father and daughter with a story. The firelight gilded them gold, but the warmth of the room owed itself more to the open fondness between its occupants than it did the blaze in the hearth.

Merriment shone in Edward's eyes as he slapped a hand on his knee. "Oh my boy," he chuckled. "How I have missed this." He cast an indulgent look toward the two young people. "It is like old times."

And Guy was made painfully aware of what he, in his selfishness, had stolen from Marian. For, though they had grown increasingly more comfortable with one another, he understood now that she had left this easy laughter behind and guilt swamped him with the realization that it was in these two men with whom her joy and happiest memories reposed.

He took a step backward, eager to leave but his boot scraped on the wooden floor, giving him away. All three heads turned toward him, but it was Marian who held his gaze.

Mistaking the twisted look on his face for anger, she leapt to her feet.

"Guy!"

"I beg your pardon," he said stiffly. "It was not my intention to interrupt. Your father…" His voice trailed off lamely as his hand tightened around the wooden jamb of the door.

"I know." Pleased to see him, she smiled and moved toward him. "Will you not join us?" She caught his free hand in hers and gave it a little tug.

He gave a terse shake of his head. "No. I do not think –"

"Gentlemen." She turned toward the other two occupants of the room. "If you will excuse us but one minute."

She led her husband into the hallway.

Robin made no attempt to hide his study of the couple. He watched with a sinking heart as Marian stepped confidently forward, rising on her toes to get closer to her husband. Though he could not hear their low-voiced conversation, the language of their bodies spoke loudly. Gisborne's head was bent attentively close to his wife's. Her murmured tones seemed earnest, but the absent manner in which she toyed with the ties of his shirt and slipped her fingers between the laces to touch the warm skin beneath was the natural and unaffected caress of a lover well known. He watched Gisborne's rigid posture relax degree by degree under the spell of his wife's soft words and touch, and the ease of affection shared by the couple was painful to witness.

At last, Marian lowered her heels back to the floor and made as if to step away but found that she was held captive by a lock of hair twined around Gisborne's finger. He released the curl and both men watched it spring back into place with a bounce. Robin saw the other man stroke a finger over the curve of her jaw and he swallowed back the nausea which rose to his throat at the intimacy implied by the suggestive smile which came over her face. He quickly affected a bored look as she drew her husband into the room.

Edward, who had been aware of all that had transpired, stood. "Welcome, Sir Guy." He offered his daughter's husband a polite and careful smile. "Please, join us."

Awkwardness descended on the room again as it became evident there was no place for Guy to sit.

"My apologies," Edward spoke quickly and reached for a bell on the table at his side. "I will ring for another chair."

"Do not bother, my lord." Guy folded his arms over his chest, the leather of his coat creaking with his movement. "I am comfortable enough." Leaning against a wall he adopted his usual menacing posture. Marian shot him a pointed look and though he made an effort to relax, he was incapable of fully subduing the glower inspired by Hood's presence.

Suppressing an exasperated sigh, she again sat near her father. "Father and I asked you both here because I wished to discuss with you a plan I have in mind."

"A plan," Guy asked suspiciously.

"A quite good one," Robin interjected and graced her with an approving smile. That it also served to irritate the other man was simply a bonus.

"You have already discussed this plan with him?" Guy's voice was rife with accusation, inspiring a full out grin from Robin.

Marian slashed a quelling finger toward Robin and turned her attention to Guy.

"Will you not listen to what I have to say?" she asked.

Guy subsided and sullenly gestured for her to continue.

"In order for my plan to work, I had to make sure that you were correct in your judgment that Robin was in possession of the pact –"

"The pact!" Guy shoved himself away from the wall. "Did I not tell you to stay out of it? To stay away from Hood?" He scraped his hands through his hair. "I told you it was too dangerous. Are you trying to bring the Sheriff's wrath upon you? If he were to find out –"

"If it is your wish to keep it a secret, my lord, I would ask that you please lower your voice." Marian resisted the urge to leap to her feet and shout back at her husband. "As for Vaisey… no one is safe from him. Not me. Not even you. You have told me yourself that he has completely loss any control of his senses!"

"Marian…"

"No." She rose and went to his side. "We cannot keep going like this," she told him. Ignoring the others, she caught his hand in hers. "The pact is our best leverage against him. If we do not find a way to stop him now, we will never do so."

"Marian, it is suicide…"

"We are all dying under his hand, Guy." She gave him a level look. "You, as much as any of us. Do you not wish to find a way to end it? Will you not at least listen to what I have to say?" she asked again.

Her husband subsided and leaned back against the wall. The arms he crossed over his chest now seemed more a defense than aggression and his face was taut with worry.

"I will listen."

Marian folded her hands before her and closing her eyes, blew out a long, slow breath. Opening her eyes, she shrugged her shoulders and gave him a tiny smile.

"It is simple really. Robin is in possession of the pact."

She leveled a warning look at her husband when he stirred restlessly.

"Even more importantly, no one outside this room and Robin's gang knows for sure that he has it."

Guy shot a look toward the younger man. "You have not yet gotten word to the king?" he asked doubtfully.

Robin's jaw tightened. "No. Your men have been watching us too closely and frankly I was unsure who to trust with so vital a piece of evidence. I could not risk having it fall into the wrong hands."

Guy turned away from Hood dismissively and returned his attention to his wife.

"Go on."

"You help get the pact out of the shire where it will be safe from the Sheriff and then we go to Vaisey and use it as leverage to force him out of office."

"And exactly how do you plan to do that?"

"By telling him that we will not hesitate to present it to Richard if he does not agree to our terms."

"And pray, what are those terms?" Guy asked tersely.

"That he quit Nottingham for good and gives up his plans to install John on the throne."

"And you really believe that Vaisey will just agree to go along with this?" His voice rose incredulously.

Robin bristled and swung his foot down to the floor.

"I told you he would not listen," he said scathingly. "I do not know why we have even brought him into this conversation," he cried. "What has he done to earn our trust? What makes you think he will not turn on us? He is a coward!"

Guy stiffened. "Unlike you who cowers in the forest hiding behind the very peasants you purport to protect?"

Robin snarled and rose slowly to his feet, fists clenched at his sides. "This from a man who proudly struts about in his role as Vaisey's enforcer with no regard for the people abused and murdered along the way."

Guy took a menacing step away from the wall and Marian leaped forward. Arms outstretched, she moved between the two men. The air was thick with the long-standing animosity between them and she hoped to regain control of the situation before it erupted into violence and destroyed any hope she had for ending the Sheriff's reign of terror over the people of Nottingham.

"Hold!" Edward's unexpected roar shocked the other occupants of the room into silence. "Now." The older man modulated his voice. "We will have a reasonable discussion." His tone rang with paternal authority and brooked no opposition causing the other men to respond with mumbled apologies and guilty expressions.

"Robin, please take your seat."

Robin dropped back into his chair and Marian could not help but wonder if his slouched position was a sheepish response to her father's admonition or if he was being deliberately insolent in the face of the rigid pose Guy had again adopted from his place near the wall.

"Marian trusts Sir Guy," Edward told Robin. "And I think that you and I are both aware that he would do nothing which would endanger her," he said pointedly. Unable to dispute Edward's claim, but equally unable to forget the suffering Gisborne had inflicted on the people of the shire, Robin gave an ill-tempered shrug in response.

"Sir Guy." Edward turned his attention to his daughter's husband. "I appreciate your concern on my daughter's behalf," he said. "But as anyone who knows her well is aware, she is obstinate and will do as she pleases." Guy muttered something about obedient women which drew a frown from his wife and a genuine laugh from Robin.

"He will need more than luck to achieve that goal, eh Edward?" he asked with the confident ease of one who was regarded as family.

Guy bristled at the intimacy implied by Hood's familiarity, but held his tongue. Edward silenced Robin with a look and turned his attention back to his son-in-law.

"Assuming Marian's role in this plan can be kept from the Sheriff, do you have any other objections?"

"Father –"

"It is my hope that the participation of all involved can be kept confidential, Marian. Our safety hinges on it."

"Someone will have to approach Vaisey with our terms," Robin pointed out reasonably.

Guy cupped an elbow in one hand and rubbed the other hand over his jaw. The scraping sound of his palm over his bristled cheek seemed overly loud in the silence which followed Hood's dour prediction.

"It will not work," Guy asserted at last.

"Why not?" Marian asked from her perch near her father's chair. "If we can guarantee that the pact will not fall back into Vaisey's hand and wield it over him as a dangling sword…"

"On another man, perhaps it would be an effective weapon. But not against the Sheriff." He barreled on before the others could voice any dissent. "The strength of your plan lies in the ability to use the threat of turning the missing pact over to the king as intimidation to force Vaisey to go along with your demands."

"Exactly," she agreed.

"For all his faults, Vaisey is not a coward. He will not concede to the threat. He will not give in to it. And the fact that he has lost his grip on his sanity means he will be all the more vicious in his efforts to cling to his power. He will use his position and the forces which support him to compel the return of the pact – or die trying."

"I would welcome that last part." Hood's teeth flashed in a predatory smile.

"And will you welcome it still when Prince John's army descends on the shire to destroy Nottingham and its people?" Guy countered in a gravel-voiced reminder of that which had kept Vaisey safe to date.

Silent dejection settled over the room.

"The plan is not wholly without merit," Guy commented eventually.

"Do tell," Hood drawled.

Ignoring the other man's sarcasm, Guy began to think aloud. "Vaisey may not be coward enough to submit to the threat, but there may be a way around him."

"What are you thinking?" Marian asked.

"I am thinking that there is one person in this entire state of affairs who truly is a coward," he mused, causing the others to perk up and lean forward.

"John," Hood breathed. His eyes locked on Guy's as comprehension dawned and his lips tipped upward in a cunning smile. "Yes, of course."

"You suggest we use the pact as leverage against the prince instead of Vaisey?" Marian confirmed.

"It makes perfect sense," Robin murmured. "John lusts for the throne and would do anything to ascend to it, but only so long as others will take all of the risks for him."

A flush of excitement stained Marian's cheeks. "And since the pact is written proof of his plans to displace the king –"

"To murder the king," Robin corrected with a sharp look towards his long-time nemesis.

"Will the threat of the pact being turned over to Richard or his supporters be enough to coerce John to give up his schemes?" Marian wondered.

"John craves power," Guy said slowly. "But he also craves the wealth and luxuries afforded him as Richard's heir. If Richard were to find out about his brother's plots against him, he may well decide to disinherit John and remove him from court and a seat of power."

"So, we need to convince John that it is in his best interests to abandon his attempts to gain the throne through his murderous schemes rather than risk being disinherited entirely," Marian finished.

"But will he agree to remove Vaisey from his position here and appoint a new Sheriff?" Edward wondered as he brought the conversation around to the topic which directly impacted their lives and all who lived under Vaisey's thumb.

"Even if he did agree to remove Vaisey from his position, what is to stop him from appointing someone cut from the same cloth?" Robin asked with a veiled look at Gisborne. "Or worse?"

"I have no craving for the power – or the responsibility – that comes with such an office," Guy responded to Hood's less than subtle barb. "But it is not enough to simply remove Vaisey from office." Guy pushed away from the wall and began to pace the small confines of the room. "As long as he lives, he is a threat. Pushed from power, he will stop at nothing to punish those who crossed him. We will never be safe."

"I agree," Hood chimed in and the surprise of that easy agreement registered on the faces of both men.

"You mean to murder him?" Marian bit her lip.

"Surely you do not pity him, Marian," Robin asked.

"No." She sucked in a breath. "No. He has courted his own fate and the world will be a better place without him. But we cannot do so without bringing destruction upon Nottingham." She reminded them of their earlier conversation.

"Can we not wrangle assurance of the safety of the people of the shire from John as well?" Edward suggested.

"John will not sign Vaisey's death warrant," Guy mused slowly. "He will not put his name to anything, but we might convince him to lift his protection and look the other way."

Silence fell over the room. Edward summoned a servant who brought wine and for a few moments the four sipped from their cups in quiet contemplation of the enormity of what they had proposed.

Marian stared into the blood red depths of her cup before finally venturing to give voice to the as-yet unasked question. "But how… That is who…" Her words trailed off as she looked to the others.

"I will do it." Guy cleared his throat and took a deep swallow from his cup.

"Pardon me," Robin interrupted. "You have been his right-hand for so long. How do we know that you will be able to go through with it?"

A troubled frown marred Marian's brow. "Guy. It is…" Concern was evident in her voice. "For good or for bad, he has been the central figure in your life for many years."

"No one else can get close to him and I have reasons of my own for wanting to see Vaisey dead," he murmured as memories of years of mental and physical torture played in his mind's eye. "If sparing Nottingham from the insanity of his rule also means my own freedom from his control…" He paused. "I will not fail," he vowed.

Once again the room was plunged into an ominous silence as the enormity of what its occupants had planned sank in. Long moments passed without a word between them as each was lost in thought. At last Edward stirred.

"I think it time we table this topic for the night." He stood and stretched. "I wish to sit near the fire for a short time and rest these old bones."

Pushing away from the spot where he had stood as if a sentinel, Guy took the few steps needed to reach his wife's side.

"I am for home," he told her and held out his hand. "Are you ready?"

She laid her hand in his and allowed him to draw her to her feet. "Will you not stay for supper?" she asked softly. "The cook has prepared quite a feast," she told him. "Roasted pork with a white leek sauce and a spinach tart," she said enticingly.

"And apple-raisin cake for dessert," Robin chimed in. "Darling woman," he sighed cheekily. "She remembered all of my favorites."

Marian's hand tightened around Guy's as she silently encouraged him to ignore the younger man's needling. "Stay," she whispered. "Sup with us."

Guy jerked his chin in acknowledgment and Marian smiled brightly in response. "I shall check on supper," she said. Tucking her hand into the crook of her father's arm, she led him from the room. Stopping in the doorway, she turned to face Robin and Guy.

"Tis been a long afternoon filled with harsh words and dark topics. I believe we would all benefit from a more pleasant hour at table." Though her smile was winsome, a warning tone sounded in her words.

An awkward silence fell between the two men as father and daughter left the room. Both eager to quit the other's company, neither man wanted to be the first to move towards retreat. They eyed one another balefully. Though still sprawled indolently in his chair, Robin watched Guy with an expression of utter mistrust. For his part, Guy had drawn himself upright in some vague attempt at using his superior height to intimidate the other man.

They shifted uncomfortably, both gazing with growing frequency toward the doorway, looking beyond it toward a potential path of escape or hoping for Marian's return to ease the growing strain.

At last, Guy could stand it no longer. "I do not understand." He broke the crushing silence between them. "Why have you agreed to this? You have only to hand the pact over to Richard and you would gain everything you want. The king would be safe. John would be neutralized and Vaisey and I would be tried and put to a traitor's death. There would be no need for any of this subterfuge."

Robin expelled a long and weary sigh. "I have been asking myself that very question all day," he admitted. "The simple answer is that Marian asked it of me."

"What of her? If I was dead then you… then things might return to the way they once were between you," Guy pointed out hoarsely.

Robin looked away. He knew that no matter what happened in the future, things could never be as they once were. Marian was lost to him and the best he could hope for would be to maintain their friendship.

"She believes there is something worth redeeming in you, Gisborne. This is your chance. Do not prove her wrong."

Guy's rigid posture broke. Shoulders slumping, his head fell forward and he closed his eyes. A wave of relief crested over him as understanding dawned that with her plan, Marian had chosen him and their marriage as her priority and he trembled under the weight of that realization. Hope washed over him and with it he felt renewed.

Robin looked away for a moment, uncomfortable to witness such emotion from the other man. When Guy at last straightened, it was as if he had shed a decade's worth of strain and in his features Robin saw an echo of the boy he had once known and a glimpse of all that might have been had fate not intervened.

Strength of purpose shone in Guy's eyes and rang in his voice.

"I will never again disappoint her."

Robin rose from his chair and moved toward the other man. Though they would never be friends, the pair clasped hands out of a mutual love for Marian, memories of a shared past and a commitment to seeing the job done.

TBC

A/N: TBC… I keep saying that, don't I? In my head it seems a simple enough thing to wind this story up. I think to myself: this happens, then that and then voila! We reach the end. But translating those thoughts… well, let's say the shorthand in my brain requires more words to make sense of it on "paper". Still, we are closing in on the end of things here. In my outline I have only a few remaining scenes. In the meantime, I would like to thank everyone who has commented on or reviewed this story. Though I have not responded, it is not out of a lack of appreciation, but rather an effort to focus on the story. I fear I could easily lose myself in a back and forth with readers and have procrastinated quite enough all on my own. I am grateful to everyone who has taken time out of their day and busy schedules to read my scribbles, whether you've commented or not, and to those of you who have let me know what you think so far, my additional thanks.