Sincere apologies for the wait. My father has been in the hospital recently (yet again, it is a sport for him) so I have not had the time to continue. Believe me – there is plenty of story left to go.
The dripping. It had to stop. The drip, drip, dripping that pounded from the corner, it shattered eardrums and thieved sanity. That drip left the air feeling cold at the reminder of wetness and rain. The dripping drove April mad.
She tore the green head wrap off of her hair and crawled to the other side of her cell; it took great muscle extension to reach into the eclipsed corner and pad the earth with the cloth. It began to absorb the liquid and finally granted silence. She could sense that she was not alone in the sigh of relief at the stillness, and yet she recognized no reward from her companions. April was aware that humility was key and that she should not expect anything, but it was hard. She was tired; so, so tired in every way. Physically she needed sleep from the emotional trauma of today and mentally she was beyond done with this grimy confinement. April inched her way back into flickering light at the front of the prison chamber and wiped a hand down the iron cage wall. It was real. She truly was imprisoned. Guy, it seemed, clearly was not kidding when he advised her to avoid Vesey at all costs. She allowed her mind to branch off into a wistful dream of Gisborne; after all, what else was there to do but wait? She noticed her fantasies materialize in only minutes.
Scuffs rang from flagstone steps as black boots thundered down into the depths, the slight jangle of metal buckles from clothing present. Guy appeared as tall and regal as ever but with a clear cut determination in his crystal eyes. He performed a sweep across cells until he found the youthful and, in his opinion, innocent girl looking quite abstract among a party of murderers and thieves. He rushed to the grate and fell to his knees. They met at eye level as she was already sitting on the filthy ground, one hand holding the welded bars with sadness. Guy put a bare skinned hand up to hers and stopped only centimeters from her flesh. Could he really touch her? He found himself a victim of sudden onset anxiety by the concept of even hearing her breathe, much less noting the sensation of making contact with her body. He had a hard and thick swallow before gathering the gall to find her sorrow filled eyes. Gisborne felt he was afraid of her and what she would think about Marian. In the flash of an instant he was concerned with losing the tenderness and generosity that is April, tossing away a new toy for the comfort of the old. Oh, what was he saying. Guy was afraid of letting himself feel for the first time since he grew up. His brain became terrified that his heart was now wide awake and no longer interested in sleeping ever again. Or could it be both? He was certain, though, that he was alarmed of the uncertainty.
"Guy, I'm scared." April whispered to her lover across the threshold.
"I know," he replied, stroking the cell with a note of haste, "I know you are. And I am going to get you out now, my dear, I promise." He stood and dashed around the corner, taking what seemed to be an eternity just to retrace his steps; it was as if he had gotten lost in his own dungeon. The orphanage manager glanced back to her scarf and let out a huff. There was no way she would put that back on her head, much less let it touch any other piece of skin. April looked back to see Guy fumbling through a large iron ring that boasted several grand keys, each of them holding a promise to a criminal's freedom, none of them seeming to release her. Finally towards the end of the stack Gisborne latched on to a thick and worn key that inserted perfectly in the lock of her chamber. As he pulled open the gate, he was surprised by the jump April made towards him. She wrapped her arms to encompass his shoulders as she burrowed deeply into the crevice at the base of his neck. Her warm breath and mild shiver kept Guy company as he slowly held her in return; the Sherriff's right hand man closed his eyes and drifted off on a float made from serenity. April pressed her lips to his skin and held them there for a long kiss that teased his heart. Gisborne had open palms rested on her arched lower back as he twitched to release her head and open her up for a kiss that, thankfully for him, she more than gladly reciprocated. Their show of affection was not rushed as they were about a corner that no one else could peek behind. It was a bursting garden of passion and affection that the pair had harvested alone in the bleak and treacherous surroundings of wet and bloody stone.
"Sir Guy, you have truly rescued me." April softly spoke. He set his forehead to hers and grinned with a genuine happiness that would have terrified anyone who recognized him.
"It is you who rescue me." He reassured. A fellow prisoner let loose a string of noxious and crackled coughs that shattered the privacy, giving Gisborne a moment of panic. No, he remembered, no one could have seen him break character. His hide of metal and leather remained intact to everyone except his flower, who he hoped never had to be exposed to his naked brutality and inner torment. This thought was paralyzingly horrific so he decided to evict it. Gisborne took her gentle hand and led her up the steps to a setting sun that sank to a red globe just over one the watchtowers of Nottingham castle. The balmy breeze and smell of oncoming rain excited April, who felt that her past six hours had rather been six sleepless days.
"Will you get in trouble," she realized just before halting in place, "for freeing me?"
"No," Gisborne lied through smiling teeth, "It will all be well." He put a hand to her cheek as he scanned over all the possible repercussions he was going to challenge later in the evening; whatever cause Vesey had for charging April would clearly be debited to Guy, but so would any punishment without bar. His regrets were still blank. He noticed a chirping paranoia burping up inside of his intestines about what this could mean for his career and, frighteningly enough, that it didn't seem to matter. He had in fact done the right thing. And that was what was important to him at this time.
"Forgive me if I seem ungrateful, but I really must return to see what has happened with the children…"
"Of course." He blinked repeatedly as she kissed his cheek goodbye in a parting of the ways. After a flirty wave his obsession had flown off back into town to find her crew that had been left at the shops. Guy released a breath and tried to recreate the taste of her lips in his mind, giving the distraction Marian needed to slip up behind the tall man of black.
"Guy?" Lady Knighton prodded to his shock, turning the man on his heel to face the short brunette.
"Marian…" he eventually got out of his chest.
"I am hoping this evening finds you well."
"Um," he stuttered and averted his eyes from her own, "it is, yes. I don't really have time –"
"Have you thought about what I said?" she interrogated with a honey voice. Gisborne's mouth fell slightly apart as she whisked away a lock of hair and chuckled. Marian's eyelashes fluttered with further detail, "Last night? Have you thought about it?"
Thought about it? He sacrificed sleep with a dull and bloody knife over it; if only she knew the ruckus it was causing in his brain. Gisborne cleared his throat and let oxygen relax his muscles as he regained a stance.
"I do not have time for games."
"I don't want to play games –"
"Marian…"
" - I want to tell you that I love you." She blurted out. The woman stroked the back of his naked hand to hold it but he pulled away, squeezing the bridge of his nose and heavily shaking no.
"Do not do this to me. Please do not, I am begging you." He stared up into her gaze with a raw plead that she had never seen before; this gave her satisfaction. No man would be this effectible if he did not contain feelings for her, just as she had known all along. Guy was full of it when he told her scorchingly that he no longer cared for her.
"Guy…" Marian caressed his jawline and smirked at the feel of his stubble on her fingertips. An infant sized shiver chimed down his spine; this was a part of so many of his dreams in the past. Gisborne found himself high on the tingling throughout his body.
"Marian…"
"You were right; perhaps… perhaps I do need to learn to hold my tongue. And I should think things through before I make the hasty choice to deny you." She inched closer and brushed her nose to his lips, which evacuated all blood from his legs and left the iron man weak at the knees, sensing he was momentarily on the verge of toppling over. She smelled of lilacs. Gisborne could not believe the extent to which that floral scent turned him on.
"Why now, sweetheart?" his mouth let out before his brain caught on to the pet name; there were so many times he had wanted to give this little dove a sugary title. He felt her slender fingers run like silk through his wavy hair, tugging at his ability to contain himself.
"I cannot torment myself anymore by staying away, Guy. I need you." She pressed as he closed his eyes for a moment. As his blue gaze opened back up he felt so good it was borderline nauseating. A washing rain poured over him at her touch; it was as titillating as he had always pictured. Marian, too, experienced an electricity inside of herself. She hardly played with boundaries out of her Night Watchman disguise, which had always saddened her a bit. But now she was truly breaking rules and for no one but herself. Yes, she had Robin of Locksley who loved her, but he wasn't passionate. He didn't fight for her and tear himself to shreds over her like Gisborne did. She wondered who would be a better kisser…
Motion behind Guy's left shoulder caught her and she saw something that stopped her heart – April. The younger and slimmer girl was retracing back to Guy to say or do whatever she did and Marian did not like it one bit. She found herself incredibly territorial and maddened by the fact that she had seen April and her new beau locking lips at Kirkslee's Abbey, so she responded in the fashion of nature. Lady Knighton made sure to lock eyes with April one second before she cupped her hands over Gisborne's beard and locked her lips to his. He shrunk back for a moment in surprise but quickly parted his mouth to let her in, pushing back into her and giving back force. Unlike any smooch with April, this one was animalistic and hungry. It was resolving a starvation and thirst that had abandoned Guy in a desert of hopelessness and craving. It tasted so wonderful. His hands found her back and held her in close to his own body with no desire to ever release her. A carnal passion overwhelmed the pair but Gisborne was easily snapped out of it when he opened his eyes to see Marian watching behind him. His romantic smile to her became deceased as soon as he glanced back to find his other girl.
"April…" he shouted with a whirlwind of emotions. He was angry at what she had witnessed, upset that he had created that infidel situation, and scared that he would be abandoned for another time in his life.
The orphanage worker had not flinched but eventually blinked, not noticing the smugness splattered across Marian's face. She puckered her lips a bit and stared down at the dirty breezeway floor just shy of Gisborne's toes.
"I don't know what to say." Guy told her with a hushed lump obstructing his adam's apple.
"I know what I was going to say," she looked up and met his eyes with remorse but no fury, "I was going to say that I….. now I just want to say that I am disappointed."
"I didn't mean for this to –"
"And I didn't mean to trust you as much as I did. I'm not angry, Guy, I'm just… let down. Saddened. But I wish you luck with her." She nodded briefly to Marian before abruptly leaving with a low hung head. As she maneuvered through a mass of guards marching in formation Gisborne glanced back to Marian, who shrugged and put on a sultry smile. He sneered with disgust and pushed past her to go wallow in his chambers.