A great thank you to xxCee-Gisborne-Cullenxx for reading through my chapter. Since my first language is not English, I was happy that she offered to correct my - hopefully not too many - mistakes.

Illusions 22

The King had spared Guy's life, but Marian had never known, if he lived after all. The soldiers would throw him out of the cart somewhere at the Welsh border – if they even bothered. Marian looked out of the window and watched the cart disappear. Guy's last glance had been so full of hatred and she had not had the opportunity to talk to him for a last time; probably, he would not have been willing to see her anyway. In the courtyard she saw Osgood of Gringstow staring after the cart and then returning to the palace, his footsteps tired.

The Gringstows….Though sad, Marian smiled. Robin had been so sure that they had come to see Guy hang; he wouldn't have thought it possible that anybody loved that man. Anne and Osgood had told her about Guy's time with them and Marian had been stunned. The man she had known to be of a sullen nature, had been completely different with his aunt and uncle. Anne had told her how withdrawn he had been at first and how she had liked to see him laugh.

Had she been so wrong about him? She had been attracted to him, but had been disgusted by herself for having feelings for such a cruel man. Time and time again she thought of his words There is another side to me you do not know. She was still standing at the window when she heard a knock at the door.

A servant bowed. "My lady, Sir Osgood and Lady Anne would like to talk to you." Marian nodded and the servant bowed again and then left the room. Only a short while later Anne and Osgood arrived. Osgood's face showed the lines all of his years; he was shattered by everything he had seen, and his wife Anne was pale and exhausted, her face tear-stained. "We wanted to wish you well, since we are leaving today." She smiled wistfully and Marian knew what she was thinking. With Guy gone, their home was an empty building now. "Osgood managed to give a letter to Guy without the guards noticing and Guy learned about your role in his release," Anne continued.

"My Lady," Osgood added. "Is there anything you need; may we do you a service? We heard… rumours among the servants about your engagement to Robin of Locksley and about a gift from the King…Your plea for Guy's life has obviously annoyed many people and certainly rendered you a disservice.

Marian gazed at the two people who were merely strangers but who offered her help. "I'm so grateful and … you are right – there is no use to sugar-coat this – but I don't want to burden you. I have to deal with this myself."

Osgood nodded; he saw her determination and had expected as much. "If you should need my help, please notify me. We wish you well, my lady." Some hours later Osgood and Anne left the Castle and returned to Brycgstow.

The next three days passed without Marian seeing Robin again. Did he intend to punish her because she had pleaded for Guy's life or was there something significant – as there always was? She had lost all illusions that she had ever had about playing an important part in Robin's life. Probably he had never been as interested in her as in his adventures and fights. If she was honest to herself….she would be relieved if he broke the engagement… And suddenly she knew that she could not marry Robin, even if this meant that the life she had always dreamt of would fall to pieces. But then she froze: The King had not shied away from showing her in a blunt manner that he desired her, although she was his friend's fiancée, the moment she broke the engagement, she was fair game.

She was not so naïve to think that her plea for Guy's freedom would remain a secret. She had not friends at the court and only her affiance with Robin had protected her from open hostility and contempt.

She didn't stand a chance, however, against the King, but she'd rather work as a servant again than to get involved with him. Guy's comparison of her to the whores in the tavern preyed on her mind. She knew Guy was different than how she had always thought, but he had also been wrong about her. She wouldn't be able, though, to show him.

Marian shuddered when she thought of the man who was king of England. He was a good looking man with a charisma not many people failed to notice and he knew it. It was not that she was not grateful. He had offered her a reward, that much was true, but it was much later that she had realised what she had asked for. She had begged for the life of the man who had tried to murder him. Even if she knew that the King had ulterior motives for granting her wish, she was grateful. Without King Richard's expectation she would become his lover, Guy would have been executed.

But she would never show the kind of gratitude the King expected….What would happen when the King realised that she didn't have the intention to share his bed?

And another thing had occurred to her: She was in danger to lose herself. What had become of the woman she had once been?

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