Okay kiddos, we are gonna play a game! Somewhere in this chapter is a quote and extra credit goes to whoever can pick it out and tell me what it is from!

Once Guy approached Nettlestone moisture had crept into the ground for slumber in the night as darkness forced its own welcome. He paid little mind to the tickling draft that wandered through the area, nor did he notice the faint jingle of his uniform's buckles whining at each bump in the stallion's path. Every ounce of him was thinking about slender April and her kind smile, rosy round cheeks, and soft touch that could assuage any and all pains, superficial and scarred, internal and worn. He was scared she would hate him. After all, this was the only thing his tormented heart recognized.

Each time Nottingham did something Marian detested, it was Guy's fault. He hurt her. He did something dastardly in spite of her well known tastes when, in actuality, he tended to be nothing more than a messenger or cog in the machine of the castle. Was this simply Marian's temperament looking for a fight to pick at, or was this how women genuinely saw the world? Would April blame him for his boss' ridiculous concept? A swirling nausea washed up the idea of yes.

Gisborne was so caught up in paranoia that his haste did not allow much time to properly tie off his horse before skipping up to the orphanage; luckily, though, the horse knew much better than to break off and run wild. Perhaps it was his connection to his master, or perhaps it was his fear for the reprimanding, either way he stayed perfectly still and awaiting the next time he was needed. Guy progressed up the small hill and landed at the doorway as it swung open. April giggled through pouty pink lips and spread her arms for a hug.

"I saw you coming up the way, I wasn't expecting company!" she smiled as he wrapped his arms around the smallest taper of her waist. He held his wrist behind her and let out a heavy breath hoping to release some weight, but it did not help.

"April… my beautiful April," he place his hand beneath her chin and weakly beamed at her round and innocent eyes, "it is not good news that brings me here." She stroked through his raven hair rested it behind his ear without losing any warmth on her face. Although she reflected his somberness her light quality did not wither; although she had a newfound reservation for him her kiss held no hesitation. People may say what they like about Gisborne, she thought, but April's Guy was a different man than the one who resided in Nottingham. She wrapped herself at night with the comfort that he was that man for only her in their own little terrarium, their private corner of the world. Regardless of slander his arms were just right. April held his hand tight and brought her beau to the outlining fence of the property with a soothing view of shaded trees that appeared stenciled along the setting sun just past the wood.

"What could possibly go so wrong for such a wonderful man?" she shone at Guy, reclining her back on the post and catching his contagious and unsettling state of mind.

"I don't know how to tell you." He admitted with a minor wince. Gisborne leaned his elbows on the fence and dared not wander his eyes to the hopeful girl; he could not bear the exact moment her heart would break. Crickets began to butt in with their own tune in the dusking evening.

"You're leaving."

"Where would I go?"

"Away from me?"

"Never," Guy immediately responded as a breath of shock tickled his system. He locked his blue eyes to her green ones for an instant, persuading her not to be silly, and again drifted away, "But perhaps we should leave. Together." April was intrigued by not only this offer but the fact that it seemed utterly hollow.

"Guy, what is troubling you?"

"The orphanage… may not be the best place for you anymore. It is changing, and with it we should change. Make our own life."

"What?"

"Why can't we just leave everything –"

"Why can't you answer me?" April began getting a bit hot with impatience; Gisborne shut his eyes and gave in to the fact that he could not run from this. He could not hide the fate of these children from her, nor could he alter it.

"The Sherriff has decided to find new troops for his campaigns and he is going to start pulling from…" Guy motioned towards the homestead and mistakenly let his gaze fall upon her; the emotions seemed all over the board from disbelief into a dabbling of helplessness and regretful acceptance.

"From here? I don't… what? No, Guy. These are kids."

"Child soldiers, no guardian to worry about, no family to take them from. There's easily enough for a squad in there."

"Guy, they are children! None of them know how to fight, anyways!"

"They wouldn't be used as killers." He gave out matter of factly without noticing the sting to his words. This barren truth was rather inappropriate and gut wrenching, an idea that hit him in the ensuing silence. He heard the bubbling up of tears and hated himself for not handling the situation better.

"You are taking them out just to die!" April yelled at him with much more agony than spite.

"April, I have done nothing and I can do… nothing. This doesn't involve me. There may be a way to protect them as property of the church -"

"It's a state funded orphanage, Guy, you own them. You own their lives and apparently you own their coffins as well."

"Please do not blame me." He bargained soulfully before resting a hand on her shoulder. To his amazement she did not shove him away, nor did she verbally separate them. Instead April tumbled onto his chest and cried rather dry tears; she was still not in a place to absorb this information yet. She was overwhelmed and erratically breathing into Guy as he hugged her close. Minutes without oxygen sucked up Kirkslee's Abbey and refused to return the element, leaving them both stranded whilst inside dozens of youths had no idea their fate was sealed up in the hands of a stranger.

"You know, I had somebody come today to adopt one of our boys. Farmer. He called me a whore, said no one could love a person like you, and that if I could then I must not be wholly human myself," April blurted out with airy innocence as Gisborne's fingers tightened on her dress, "He told me stories of things that have happened to people around here… and I told him that his Guy and mine are different men of the same body. That no man is on the battlefield as he is at home and with that attitude I did not want him raising my child. You are the same man, but I can see that you are not. You carry the burdens of your other self, though, I know it."

"Yes." He muttered with a mild relief that somebody could see inside of his flesh and pull out these ideas that he struggled to form even within his own mind; April really did understand.

"And now these kids are expected to live with that, to carry their own crosses as well as the warrior's… It will destroy them." She predicted with the unspoken, and unlikely, assumption they would survive.

"Soldiers are everywhere, any man can do it." Guy assured her blindly.

"Do you sleep at night, Guy?" she inquired, "Do you feel satisfied with yourself as you sit down to take supper? Can you look in the mirror and forget guilt? Do you ever get used to it? The killing?"

"Faster than you can imagine." Gisborne unveiled and, with that, she fell quiet with the night.