Hey its me again...back as usual updating chapters...ahh to write....its a beautiful thing you know. soooo this was an interesting chap to write...because we get to see a diff side of vasey...though im sure the majority of you do not really care whether the sheriff has five different sides to his personality....but i decided since im making guy a betterish man...the sheriff can have a moment...this chap might not interest you very much but i liked it...oh happy b-day to candyflossgirl...and have a good vacation gizzysgirl love you all
Chapter Fifteen Coming in, Going out
Things were going quite smoothly for Edward and Vasey. Well, as smoothly as things could be while traveling across Northern France in the back of a cart full of food. Neither man spoke to each other very much while they watched the countryside sail by. If the men had been peace lovers, or in the very least, good men, they might have appreciated the scenery as they through thickets of trees and open landscapes.
But the sheriff of Nottingham did not live in the moment.
You could not be one of the most powerful men in England and simply live in the moment. That implied that you went with the flow when people did not listen to you or went against your decisions. Going with the flow implied that you were calm, rational, and thought out problems. But the Sheriff of Nottingham did not go with the flow. The sheriff of Nottingham threw fits if things did not go his way.
He killed, or ordered others to kill, if things did not go his way.
Edward Mann could have lived his life in the moment. He had not been evil as long as Vasey had been. But Edward was too busy planning how to kill Guy for the past couple of years to truly live in the moment and appreciate life. Edward pictured how beautifully the kill would be. As he sat in the cart beside Vasey a smile lit his face and he chuckled.
Yet because neither man lived in the moment and took in his surroundings, they did not realize that the cart they were traveling was coming to a stop. It took Vasey a while until he realized that they were not moving. Then he looked around curiously.
"Why have we stopped?"
Vasey was too lazy to ask the driver what was going on. He sighed.
"Edward?"
But Edward was still in his happy place. He was still thinking of the beautiful agonizing screams that would issue from Guy's mouth. He was still thinking of the beautiful sound of Guy's dead body hitting the ground never to rise again…
Vasey kicked Edward in the leg to remind him where he was.
"Ouch!"
"Sorry, did I hurt you?"
Edward rubbed his leg and then realized what was going on. "Why have we stopped?"
Vasey rolled his eyes and played with his new wig. "Find out!"
Edward groaned as he climbed through the sacks of food to ask the driver what was going on. But as he reached the driver he realized that the man was slumped over on his side. When Edward quickly rolled him on his back the man's eyes were stuck open unblinking.
First Edward shook the man. "Wake up." He whispered this desperately over and over again. "I need to kill someone. Please wake up sir."
But the man with ever open eyes did not respond. Then Edward felt for a pulse.
There was no pulse.
Edward sighed and closed the dead man's eyes. Then he shook his head. "My lord?"
The sheriff looked up from among the sacks of food. "What is it?"
"He is dead," replied Edward.
Vasey looked up at the sky. "Why do these things always happen to me?"
"We need to bury him," said Edward with a sigh.
Vasey shook his head. "Just throw him by the side of the road. We need to keep moving."
But Edward would have none of it. He refused to let an innocent man be left by the side of the road where god knows what could happen to him.
"My lord," said Edward looking directly at the sheriff, "do you know how to drive a cart?"
Vasey shook his head.
"I do," said Edward.
Vasey just gave Edward a blank stare.
"Unless," said Edward wrapping his arms around the dead driver, "unless you thinking walking is faster…grandfather?"
Vasey sighed. "Fine, bury the man."
Edward shook his head as he took the man out of the cart and lowered him gently on the ground. "I do not think you understand the situation. I hold all the cards now so you do what I say. I say you get yourself out of that cart and help me bury this man."
Vasey sighed. "Fine. Fine."
He slowly got out of the cart and stood next to Edward and stared at the dead man. "What now?"
Edward had buried many people before. This was nothing new to him. He had buried his father, and his brothers. Each time he dug a new grave he refused to let himself cry over the dead. And as he looked at the sheriff he knew this time would be no different.
Except this time he had someone with him to bury the dead.
Edward went off without a word to the sheriff leaving the sheriff alone with the dead man.
"Uh," said the sheriff talking to the man. "Hello. I'm Sheriff Vasey and you are dead. Obviously. It was rather inconvenient of you to die on us, now, here, so close to our destination. I'm not really sure why you died, but I hope it was painless and you felt nothing. A clue: no." He sat in a squat beside the dead man and stroked the dead man's hair.
It was blonde. Like his sister's had been…before she died.
He had not cried when he sister died. That would be weak. That would not be what the sheriff of Nottingham would do. The sheriff of Nottingham would get revenge. But Vasey would have cried. Vasey would have liked to weep for his lost sister.
"You know," said Vasey, "your hair reminds me very much of my sister's. Though hers was much prettier and longer than yours. She could walk into a room and everyone would look at her and you'd know she owned the entire room. But uh," Vasey paused, "now she's dead. And there's no use talking about it. Especially not with someone who's dead."
The sheriff stood up now and sniffed.
The sniff caught him by surprise. The sniff meant that he was holding something in. The sniff meant that the sheriff of Nottingham was holding back tears. He shook his head.
"If you see her," said the sheriff somberly, "tell her I said hello."
The dead man, as dead men often do, did not reply to the sheriff's request.
Suddenly Edward returned carrying a big tree branch. He began using the tree branch as a shovel, to shovel away enough dirt so they could give the man a proper burial. Vasey looked on without emotion.
Edward stopped momentarily and wiped the sweat from his brow. He looked up at the sheriff. "If you expect me to be your driver, you are going to have to help me now."
Vasey shrugged. "I could kill you now, be much simpler."
Edward shrugged as well. "Suit yourself, but remember you are a wanted man. Sooner or later people will realize who you are. They will kill you. I'm not trying to pressure you or anything."
Vasey sighed. "Okay I'll help you bury nameless villager."
So Edward used his knee to break the big branch into two and the sheriff and Edward together began to shovel. Their combined effort paid off and shortly they had dug the grave deep enough and wide enough to fit the man.
The two Englishmen climbed out of the hole and together they lifted up the Frenchman and placed him gently in the hole six feet under the earth. Then they piled on clump after clump of dirt to cover the nameless villager.
When they were finished Vasey was about to get into the cart but Edward still remained staring at the grave.
"We can go now," whined the sheriff impatiently.
Edward was silent.
"I'm waiting," the sheriff whined again.
But Edward went by the side of the road and began picking wild flowers. When he picked enough to his liking he put them in a bouquet and placed them beside the man's grave.
He looked silently at the grave for a moment. But then he cleared his throat.
"I didn't know you very well. I didn't know you at all actually. But you were kind to the two English con men forcing you to take us to Agincourt. And you didn't have to be. We don't know how you died or why, just that you did die. And maybe that is enough to honor you. So here lies a nameless Frenchman among a sea of Frenchmen who we shall never meet nor know their names. But you sir, you came into our lives briefly, and tried to make our journey a little more comfortable—"
"Not that comfortable!" Vasey called out angrily from the cart.
"Anyway," said Edward, "I hope you find rest in Heaven."
Then Edward got into the cart and began to drive off with Vasey by his side. They rode in silence for a while until Vasey turned to Edward.
"Ready to kill and torture the unsuspecting?"
Edward, with reins in hand, stared at the road in front of him. He did not blink or flinch from the sheriff's words. He did not think.
"I was born ready my lord."
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"When will this baby be born?" asked Guy.
Marian was slowly walking down the steps to have breakfast with her husband. She held onto her stomach as she moved ever so slowly. She sat down comfortably and still did not answer Guy.
"I do not know, when it's ready to come out I suppose."
Guy strummed his fingers on the table absentmindedly. He had been thinking lately. He had been thinking about the decision he had made a little while ago. Guy was beginning to wonder if it did make a difference. If it did matter that Marian loved Robin. Technically speaking it did not matter any longer. Marian was married to Guy. Marian was about to have Guy's baby. There was nothing Robin could do about that and there was doubt even if Robin was still alive.
I really hope he is dead. Guy thought looking at Marian. I really hope…
Guy started strumming louder and more frequently. Technically it did not make a difference. But Guy knew it made a difference. Guy had loved Marian ever since he became the sheriff's henchman. Last year he had proposed to Marian and she had accepted…only when the king returned to England. And she had only accepted because otherwise she would be found guilty of treason.
But this year…Guy began to recall all of their interactions and meetings.
He thought about his dreadful behavior to her when she first arrived at the castle, and the fact that he burned down her house. And then he thought of that kiss that they shared when she had returned from the convent to see him. And then there had been the day when he rescued her when Robin Hood left her to die in the tree.
If she loved him…how could he have tied her up in a tree and left her to die?
Guy knew he could never do that to Marian. He loved Marian. Leaving Marian in a tree to die would be a farfetched as…stabbing her with a sword. You don't do that to people you love. At least, Guy did not torture the people he loved…person he loved…girl he loved.
"Are you feeling well?" asked Marian who noticed her husband's silence.
Guy stopped strumming and looked at her. She was so beautiful. But Guy could still hear that voice in the back of his mind teasing him. This voice was saying that Marian, though she was beautiful, was not his.
And that she would never truly be his.
Because she loved another.
And that mattered.
Because she loved Robin Hood.
And that mattered a hell of a lot.
Guy decided that he wanted to her this from her. He wanted a true confession from her lips to his ears. And he knew it would cause him nothing but pain. He knew it would cause Marian and the child inside her nothing but pain. But Guy was holding in this feeling of disgust for too long. He was holding in anger for too long. He was holding in fear for too long.
And Guy was ready to let it out.
"Marian?" asked Guy innocently preparing for the kill to come.
"Yes?" she asked.
"What do you think happened to Nottingham?" he asked her simply.
Her stomach twisted a bit. "I do not know."
Guy pull back some of the hair in his face. "Guess."
"I…hope that Nottingham is still standing. Why? Don't you?"
Ah, turning the tables on me…nice try Marian.
Guy shrugged. "Of course I do. But I am sure that the shire has been burnt to the ground."
"Why?" asked Marian trying to remain calm.
She had no idea why he wanted to talk about this now…here. It had been nearly nine months since they left Nottingham. Neither one had ever spoken about what they left behind. Neither one had discussed the what ifs, or what could have beens. And now he wanted to talk about this? Why?
"Well," said Guy, "because, lets face it Marian, Robin Hood is no friend of the sheriff. He probably found him and left him for dead."
He looked at her closely hoping for a reaction. Any sort of reaction to his accusation of her supposed lover.
"Hood cares about Nottingham more than he hates the sheriff." Marian answered smartly.
And she even called him Hood too.
"How do you really know that though?" Guy asked. "I mean, he's an outlaw. He's lived for two years in the forest, stealing from innocent nobles."
"He hasn't killed anyone," said Marian.
Guy shook his head. "I have seen him kill many people, while he was here in England."
Marian's mouth hung open. "What?"
Guy was speaking the truth. Last year Guy and the sheriff almost infiltrated Hood's camp which was located in a cave. But while they were nearing the entrance of the cave Robin had leapt out and began shooting arrow after arrow at the guards trying to kill them all.
Marian was not aware that this had ever happened. She was too busy being dead and trying to fight a poison that had infiltrated her system. Robin had never told her that while she had been dead he had started madly killing guard after guard.
This comment threw Marian off her guard. "Robin wouldn't do that."
Guy smiled evilly though the smile concealed a bitter pain in his heart. "How do you know?"
"Because I…I" and Marian stopped herself.
Guy stood up and leaned over her angrily. "Because you what?"
But Marian would not be talked to that way…pregnancy or no…husband or no. She crossed her arms and glared at her husband.
"Because I have seen you kill so many men Guy, that there are not many men left in England for Robin to get his hands on. You are the most bloody murderous man I have ever laid eyes on!"
Now it was Guy's turn to step back a bit. "You are bluffing," he said hiding his worry, "you have never seen me kill. You should be more careful where you get your information from."
Marian shook her head. "I have seen it with my own two eyes. You killed Joe. You stabbed him with your sword again and again and again."
Last year Joe, fed up with the sheriff's rule, had tried multiple times to shoot the sheriff. At last when he thought he shot the sheriff he had, in fact, shot the deputy. The sheriff's look alike. And Marian had been there at the scene of the crime standing next to Robin. Because she was the night watchman.
Guy shook his head. "You were not there. You saw nothing."
But Guy was beginning to sweat a bit. How could she possibly have known that? She was not there surely. She couldn't have been there.
"And you," said Marian quite crossly, "have stabbed the night watchman."
Guy bent down towards Marian's face. He was close enough to touch her face. He was close enough to kiss her cheek. He was close enough to breathe in her sweet scent.
"You know nothing," he said simply.
And then Marian did something that Guy would never forget. She began to lift up her dress.
Guy backed away.
Does she want to have sex now? Now?
She lifted up her dress all the way to her large belly where a scar loomed ominously and seemed to stare viciously at Guy.
Then Marian let her dress fall down by her side and pull up the sleeve of her left arm to show to Guy a scar that he had also given the night watchman.
"Marian?" Guy asked nervously.
"Guy," said Marian, "I am the night watchman. I was. You stabbed me in the belly and tried to kill me. Too bad for you I'm still alive."
Marian's revelation to Guy, that she was the night watchman, might seem, to an outsider, rather stupid. She knew that if she did this Guy would probably never forgive her and probably hate her. As the night watchman she had battled him many times and wounded his body and his pride. But at least she had distracted him from asking more about Robin.
Guy's reaction was at first one of horror. It was not at all as Marian expected. When she showed him the scar on her belly and on her arm he was shocked.
How could I have injured her so viciously? My Marian? I am a monster.
The morning after they had first had sex Guy had sworn to himself he would never hurt her again. But he had hurt her. He had hurt her without knowing it. And he had stabbed the woman he loved in the stomach.
But then…his thoughts took a different turn. Different once more from what Marian had anticipated. He began to piece together the information in his brain. He remembered how gallantly Robin had stepped in to save the night watchman from danger that night so long ago. He remembered how, when he had asked Robin if Robin knew the night watchman, Robin had told him….
"I don't know Gisborne, but I'll kiss him for standing up to you and your lot."
Robin did know exactly who the night watchman was. Robin had known all along. Things were starting to make sense now. And Guy was not happy.
"She was right," said Guy with exasperation, "you do love him. You love Robin Hood. All this time I thought, stupidly, that you loved me. Or you were beginning to fall in love with me. Why did I not see it?"
Marian tried again to be cool about this. "Guy, what are you talking about?"
Guy walked back even further from her. He was breathing heavily. "Gabriella. Don't play dumb Marian I heard you two talking."
Marian stood up. "You were spying on me?"
"That is not the point! The point it you do not love me. Your husband, your lord and master! You do not love me. I am such a fool. TWICE!"
And Guy began to get very angry. Guy began to turn his fingers, which had worked so diligently in the field making things grow, into fists. And slowly he began to approach her. With every step he took he had another revelation.
"Now I know that when you left the castle after your father died, you went to him!"
STEP!
"And, when I thought you were in danger in the tree, you were merely letting him get away!"
STEP!
"Now I know that on our wedding day your heart truly did belong to another!"
STEP!
On this step he was right beside her. She was looking up at him with fear and anger.
He took her hands abruptly and squeezed them so she cried out. "You never loved me."
"Stop!" She screamed. He let her go.
"Get out of this house," he said angrily. "You are no wife. You should go back and be his whore."
There were tears in her eyes. "You don't mean that!"
"Get out!" he screamed.
Yet he did not touch her. He had sworn that he would not harm her and he kept that promise. He did not lay a finger on her. Guy turned his back to her because he did not want her to see the tears that were beginning to drip from his sorrowful eyes.
Marian tried to approach him and put her hand on his shoulder. But he shuttered and shook his head. "Put your hand on his shoulder. I just hope that he will still have you. Pregnant and all."
Marian shook her head and began walking out the door. Then she stopped and looked back at the figure standing away from her.
"If you must know," said Marian fighting back tears. "I did not love you when you asked me to marry you…either of the times. I did not love you when I married you. And I did not love you when you brought me to another country and officially made me your wife. All those times I did not love you."
Guy did not respond.
"But the next morning when you cooked me breakfast, and each morning after, even this morning, I have begun to see a different side of you. And yes! I loved Robin. And cooking me eggs is not going to change my love for him. But he is dead probably. And I am married. And I am pregnant. And I am happy with you. I am beginning to love you…does that not satisfy you?"
Guy did not respond.
Marian sighed and let the door slam behind her as she walked outside. But she did not get very far. Suddenly a great pain ceased her and she collapsed on the ground. She felt wet trickling down onto her skirt.
My water broke.
She wished Robin was here. He would know what to do. He would hold her in his arms and she would be alright. Djaq would help deliver the baby. But she was alone. She was all alone. And she did not like it at all. So Marian let out a scream for help. It ripped through her soul. And she screamed for the only person in the world who would help her.
"GUY!"
Her scream was well heard inside the house and Guy lifted an eyebrow. He judged it as nothing…until he heard a second scream.
"GUY! HELP! THE BABY…OH…OW!"
And suddenly Guy, ignoring past angers, jumped from his seat and thrust open the door. He found Marian on the floor holding herself in a little ball. She was crying and mumbling. "It hurts. It hurts."
Guy forgot his hatred and loathing. He forgot about past loves and loves not meant to be. Instead he wrapped his arms around his wife and held her tightly. Then he suddenly felt the wet ground under her dress. He looked at her with confusion.
"Guy," Marian gasped, "the baby…the baby is coming!"
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The gang set off from Burgundy onwards to Agincourt. One of the monks had heard of an aged Guy of Gisborne who had once lived with his wife in Agincourt. Though Robin winced a little when the monk mentioned the word, "wife," he tried to shake it off the best he could.
So the gang with Eve in the lead, as she knew where Agincourt was, led the gang and Stephan onwards to Guy and Marian. Though they knew their journey would be rough and treacherous they were each eager to get to their destination.
Robin rode in between Eve and Stephan silently. He was still thinking about Marian…with Guy. He could not shake the image from his mind, no matter how long he thought about how much she loved him.
I am coming my love, I am coming.
MARIAN'S having the baby!!!!! ROBIN IS COMING! THE SHERIFF IS COMING!!!! whats going to happen?? boy or girl? living or dead? whose getting there first??? ARGH!!
love you all as usual read review and enjoy