The whinnying of the pair of horses reflected the chirping of Guy's soul as he and April wound back down the pounded dirt path to Kirkslee's Orphanage. The aching grin across his beard had not vanished since the moment he touched his lips to hers and he still wore it now as he helped her from the mere, laughing at her adorable giggles. The pleasure did not dwindle as the evening crept across Nottingham's sky. As purple layered itself into the clouds children painted hasty reliefs and portraits of their friends with dyes and finger paints that they had made earlier that week with April. Gisborne, surprisingly even to himself, enjoyed seeing the kids having their fun. Normally he couldn't stand the squealing and high strung energy fueled acrobatics, but everything in the world seemed to fit perfectly together. Darkness, though, had to find its way over and thieve away the day. April purposefully tugged open the front door with crippling reluctance as Guy had to say his goodbyes. He slipped on his worn leather gloves and took her slim and fragile hand, leading her out to the front lawn and shutting the door with his free arm. The privacy excited him as he recognized that he could have those lips again.
"You have given me the most fantastic afternoon, Guy." April giddily thanked him.
"You have given me the most fantastic dreams." He answered with a sugar tone as he held her hips. The orphanage keeper laid her hands upon his shoulders and donated a gentle kiss to him before nuzzling into his neck for a moment of paradise.
"I cannot wait until I see you again." She told him with wide eyes of precious jewels; he was a prisoner of how she made his entire body feel. The electricity that trickled through his nerves fizzed with excitement, the blood danced, and the brain fell blank. He pilfered away a few more kisses before taking his stallion back to his home for the evening. All was truly well, he thought, in the land of Nottinghamshire.
Marian, though, was not nearly so pleased with the day. She had her passionate fling in the woods with Robin Hood, as was planned, but from there it all toppled south.
"Goodbye, my love!" Marian heard Robin call after her as she filtered out from the cover of the shrubbery in the forest. With a flirty glance back, she rode her crisp white horse out to the dusty trail back towards the ever looming stone fortress in Nottingham where, inevitably, she would spend the next several hours. The Lady Knighton was fortunate to have avoided the dungeons after her increasing count of run ins with Gisborne during rather compromising times. If not for her slight elevation to a sniff of nobility, it would have been all over. She had taken note that Guy was pulling away from her lately; at least that's how it physically felt. He no longer invited her to dinners or shopping dates, nor did he give her slips through the cracks due to his personal desires. Their relationship had become as flat as the cold pressed metal of a broadsword. Marian was able to brush this out of her mind until this evening.
Orange peeked and bled between leaves on the horizon as Marian took her road over a small lull in the terrain. She could distinctly hear the trickling of the stream nearby and could not help herself; after all, Gisborne was out for the day and therefore her leash was loosened. The mere was led over lush vegetation to the gentle slope that rolled off into chilling waters. Small bubbles were birthed along the stream that Marian followed along the bank, not paying a great amount of mind to how far along the river she had gotten. Once her daydream dissolved, Marian Knighton realized she was approaching the rear of Kirkslee's Abbey. On the other side of the chapel children were giggling and playing and no doubt taking part in plenty of adventure games. As a maternal woman she peeked around to see what the commotion was for exactly. There were a quartet of guards the other day, she recalled, that had mentioned a new orphanage starting up in the area; maybe, with luck, she could get them on the roster for team Hood.
Hooves scuffled to the corner of the holy building as hazel eyes snuck around. As a light breeze brushed across the canvas of the country Marian had to wipe away some curls to be sure she had seen what she thought was there. And it was true. There stood a rather large shack adorned in religious crosses with trellises of vegetables and pots of flowers abound, not to mention the handful of kids running about at all stages of life. Further down the flagstone path stood Sir Guy of Gisborne in his tallest stance gripping his breath, but surprisingly he also held something else. A brunette. She was rather slim with a carved chin line and rich chestnut hair that stretched down her back, no doubt beautiful, but no doubt inappropriate for Gisborne. At least this is what she immediately deemed. As the Sherriff's associate connected lips with her Marian felt the muscles at the hinge of her jaw solidify. A heat was injected intravenously and stabbed at each capillary with ferocity, not allowing her to look away. She felt her eyebrows stiffen and sink down in disapproval. Her issues, though, were far more than physical.
A wad fastened itself to her lungs and hung tight while she tried to remember the process of breathing. Marian could not believe Gisborne's audacity; he might as well paint the castle with messages slandering her and degrading her every move. Marian felt stupid. Had she been fooled into thinking that Guy was ever interested in her? Surely it was real. He tried to marry her! And yet here he stood interlocked with a younger and thinner girl, grinning a stupid grin with a dumb melody in his step. She thought of every time he had confessed some sort of affection to her in a cluster of memories linking together with zero coherence. Marian's mind had cancelled out her romantic meeting with Robin and never even mentioned his name as she sat traumatized. It was as if he, and his love, didn't exist. Here was only Guy, Marian, and the girl who had taken her attention. It took the total amount of her stubbornness to keep the horse from charging over and confronting Gisborne; prison was not something she wanted to look forward to in her evening.
Marian snapped the reigns as Guy went to his own horse and mounted with poise. Lady Knighton stormed in her mind and manner on the road to the castle to dwell on her newfound heartache.