Pulling her bed covers more tightly around her, Marian snuggled deeper into her bed, trying to get warm.
"Oh, Robin," she sighed. "You must be miserable tonight, in the forest."
"It's alright," his wonderful voice assured her, from the depths of her memory. "You take my cloak, Marian. You're shivering."
Marian lay on her back, staring with unblinking eyes at her ceiling, remembering that New Year's Eve night years ago, when she'd been so foolishly in love, she'd snuck from her room in her night-clothes, just to be with Robin when the church bells tolled midnight, signalling the start of a new year.
"It's beautiful," she'd breathed, finding the starlit, snow-covered world a magical place, in his company.
"Yes, you are," he'd agreed, in his own curious blending of teasing and romance.
His roan colored stallion snorted a thick cloud, and Marian could see her own breath, and Robin's, on the cold winter air. But she didn't feel cold, not with the warmth of his body before her on his horse, and his cloak on her back. Mostly, though, the warmth in her heart made her forget the chill of the night.
Reining his horse on a hilltop outside Nottingham, he leaped from the saddle, then lifted her to the ground, holding her in his arms until she reminded him she wanted to look out over the town, even though the sight was nothing compared to gazing deeply into his incredible blue eyes.
"Will your cloak cover us both?" she'd asked. "Your lips are turning blue!"
"Warm them for me?" he asked, leaning down to steal a kiss.
He was irresistible, and Marian poured out her heart as they kissed, not stopping even when the church bells began pealing midnight. Their kiss lasted on and on, all the way through the twelfth toll of the bells, and beyond, barely even hearing what they'd come to witness. But it didn't matter. It was wonderful.
"Happy New Year, Marian," Robin had said, smiling down at her with an adoring look.
"You'd better take me home," she realized, hating the thought of her father's alarm, should he awaken and learn she had snuck out.
And now, of course, she was still sneaking out at night, hiding her deeds as the Nightwatchman as much as she could, to spare her father worry.
"I miss you," Marian whispered now, hating the feel of tears welling up in her eyes. "Robin, how I miss you!"
...
"Gisbourne! If it isn't your leper friend! Come to plead the case of the poor, hmm, Missy?"
Marian kept her composure, ignoring Sheriff Vaisey's taunts the following day, when she appeared in Nottingham, wanting to question Guy about Lambert's progress to help the miners.
Guy really was a handsome man, she reminded herself, even if his heart was crusted over in blackness, and he sorely lacked Robin's charm and humor and good nature. He would never gain those endearing qualities, but he could change, to become kind and loving, generous to the poor and gentle to all. He was already brave, wasn't he? And he feared and worshipped God, as he should. Didn't he? Marian wondered, trying once again to put a brave face on her impending nuptials.
"Please don't let me disturb you," she apologized, perking up her ears to listen for any schemes the sheriff might pass along to Guy. "I only wanted to see Guy, as soon as you're finished discussing business matters."
"Finished!" Vaisey announced, bitterly. "Or, that is, nearly so. Tell me, Gisbourne, hmm, how is Operation Robbing Hood progressing? Peasants ready to turn him in for the reward money yet?"
"No, my lord," Gisbourne growled. "Despite all our efforts to discredit him, they still insist on worshipping the loser."
"It's because he gives them things," Vaisey announced. "Money that ought to be in my coffers! Has he stolen from you yet, Missy, hmm? Or from your father?""
"He has," Marian admitted, feeling butterflies in her stomach as she remembered Robin's lips on her hand, and his sparking touch as he slid Gisbourne's ring off her finger.
Vaisey's eyes bored into her face, seeking the truth. He mustn't suspect, she told herself, wondering at the same time what exactly she was trying so desperately to hide.
Not my feelings, she lied to herself. Just my assistance. That's all.
But Guy was talking, explaining something to the sheriff, and she needed to calm her racing thoughts and listen.
"With respect, my lord sheriff," Guy was saying, "I have been busy with another, more important matter, than Operation Robbing Hood."
"More important?" Vaisey screamed. "What's so important, Gisbourne, hmm, that it dwarfs MY devious plan? Will it capture Robin Hood? Will it deliver his pretty little face, on his pretty little body, into my hands? Will it, Gisbourne? Hmm?"
"It will achieve all our aims, my lord," Gisbourne explained, causing Marian to visibly stiffen.
Vaisey stopped ranting, and stood staring up at Gisbourne, his eyes threatening to pop from their sockets. "You had better not be lying, Gisbourne," he warned. "Though I don't believe you, distracted as you've been lately, since you announced your betrothal. See me in my private chambers, in ten minutes! I might have a reward for you, if your news pleases me! I might even let you touch my prized bird!"
So saying, he strode past his guards, ordering, "Out of my way, you blithering oafs!" exiting the Great Hall as fast as his short legs would carry him.
Once he had gone, Marian turned to a blanch faced Gisbourne, not suspecting the reason he looked so pale.
"May I ask you a question?" she began abruptly, knowing they hadn't much time.
"Of course," Gisbourne answered.
The question that came out of her mouth surprised her just as much as it did Gisbourne, for it had nothing to do with the mine, nor Gisbourne's statement to the sheriff concerning achieving "all their aims."
"Why didn't you go to war?" she suddenly asked.
"What are you asking, Marian?" Guy wanted to know.
"I mean," she continued, looking him straight in the eye, "why aren't you a Crusader? You're a knight. You're young. The king needed every man available, to help him reclaim Jerusalem."
Guy narrowed his eyes as he studied her. "You're not questioning my courage, are you, Marian?" he asked, his voice low and steely as his sword.
"Of course not!"
"What, then? My loyalty, to the king?"
That was it, of course, she realized. Guy wouldn't have wanted to fight for King Richard, when he favored Prince John. Still, she wondered how he couldn't have been swept up in "Crusader Fever," that caused every brave young Englishman long to "take the cross" and fight for the Lionheart. If she'd been a man, she'd have dropped everything and gone to war.
The thought made her shut her eyes, as realization hit her. Was she admitting now, that Robin had been right to leave her, and seek Glory on distant battlefields? No! Of course not! Yet, even while denying it, she recognized she looked down upon Gisbourne, for not fighting for the king.
"How is Lambert's research faring?" she asked, swiftly changing the subject.
"That is what I'm planning to discuss with the sheriff," Guy answered her. "Lambert has discovered the formula for Greek Fire."
"Guy, that's wonderful!" Marian cried, truly delighted. "Think how it will help the miners!"
The joy in her eyes made Gisbourne forget about the ordeal he was about to face. With any luck, his news would please the sheriff enough to make him not punish him in his rear end, which is what Gisbourne feared was about to transpire upstairs.
"Lambert's ready to make a demonstration," Guy told her. Wanting to restate his claim on her, he moved closer, tracing the exposed skin on her shoulder with one hot finger. "I thought I told you green doesn't suit you," he reminded her, his voice heavy with desire. "I was wrong. You look...perfect."
Marian couldn't stop herself from stepping away. "Thank you, Guy," she said, her voice sounding small in her ears. "About the demonstration. I hope I'm invited?"
Gisbourne answered by flashing one of his extremely rare smiles her direction. It made her shudder.