The inhabitants of Clun were gathered at the center of the village, and they looked at Gisborne and at the guards, worried.
They knew that it was too early for the taxes, but they also knew that they couldn't do anything if the sheriff had decided that it was time to pay: he had power and they didn't. But if they weren't much surprised by the ruthless decisions of the sheriff, they were astonished to see lady Marian at Gisborne's side, a chain linking their wrists.
"Poor woman, she must be his prisoner. I wonder what he's going to do to her," one of the girls of Clun whispered to her neighbor, but the older lady shook her head.
"She doesn't look like a prisoner. Look, she his holding his hand now, and she smiled to him."
"But why are they chained?" A third woman asked, and the first one giggled.
"Maybe Gisborne is the prisoner."
"Shut up, fools!" A elderly lady intervened, her face grim. "You are here gossiping, but we are in danger. Gisborne is the sheriff's man, you know very well that he's dangerous."
The women stopped talking, now afraid.
Gisborne was standing in front of the gathered crowd, his face stern. At his side, Marian was quiet and serious.
"People of Clun! I'm here on behalf of the sheriff and of England itself. The King needs funds for his Holy War, and we are all called to do sacrifices for the Crown. So I'm asking you immediate payment of this month's taxes."
An elderly man made a step forward, trembling.
"But Sir Guy, it's too early. We are not ready."
"You should be. But I'll be generous, I'll give you some time to gather what you need." Guy nodded at the guards, and two of them carried a big hourglass, placing it on the ground. "You have time until midday, When the sand stops, you'll have to pay or suffer the consequences of your non compliance."
Marian gave him a worried glance: now there was no trace of the caring, gentle knight, and Guy looked just like the cruel henchman of the sheriff.
She was afraid that he could really carry on his menaces if he couldn't find another solution.
No, I have to trust him. He is a good man.
The villagers scattered, going back to their homes to frantically look for a way to pay their taxes.
Guy put an arm around Marian's waist, with a possessive, sensual gesture, and he pulled her closer, stooping a little to kiss her neck, hungrily.
Marian winced, aghast.
This was a different kind of kiss, not loving or passionate, but just aggressive and unwelcome. She tried to pull away from him, but Guy didn't let her go.
Around them, the guards sneered and laughed at her reluctance.
"Guy?" She called, uneasy and afraid, as if a harmless puppy had suddenly turned into a ravenous wolf.
Gisborne grinned at the guards.
"I'll be back for noon. Don't disturb us," he said, then he lifted Marian in his arms, and started walking towards the line of trees. The girl tried to get free, but she was still chained to him, and Guy was holding her tight, and she couldn't move.
"Let me go!" She shrieked. "Guy! What are you doing? Let me go!"
The knight didn't listen to her, and he carried her far into the forest before stopping and putting her down. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Marian lifted a hand to punch him.
Guy moved to dodge her blow, but he couldn't avoid it completely: she missed his face, but she hit his shoulder. She tried to hit him again, but this time Guy stopped her hands, grabbing her wrists.
"Wait! Wait! I'm sorry! I have no intentions to hurt you!" He hurried to say. "It was just an act!"
Marian looked at him: now he seemed to be again the same Guy she knew.
"An act?"
"I needed a good excuse to disappear in the forest for a while. If they think…" He hesitated and blushed, averting his eyes from her. "If they think that I'm taking my pleasure with you, they won't dare to follow us and they won't ask where we have been. I'm not doing anything like that, of course!"
Marian looked at him, reassured, but still irked.
"What are they going to think? People will believe that you are a beast!"
"They already do. I'm sorry, I didn't think that I would ruin your reputation, but it was the only idea I had to get away from the village for a while without having to give an explanation to the sheriff. Please, forgive me."
Marian sighed, Guy seemed to be really sorry and she wondered if he had a plan.
"Do you actually have an idea to save the village?" She asked, and Guy nodded.
"I do. But I need your help."
"Explain."
"They don't have money, I'm sure of that, but, if they don't pay, I'll have to burn their houses. I can't show myself pitiful or the sheriff will put you into the dungeons and he will still burn Clun. So, at noon they'll have to pay."
"How? You just said that they can't!"
Guy took a bag he was carrying at his waist, hidden under his cloak, and he gave it to her.
"If they don't have money, the Nightwatchman will give it to them."
Marian stared at him, dumbfounded, then she opened the bag and she found a hooded cloak, a mask and men's clothes similar to the Nightwatchman's costume.
"Really?"
Guy grinned, pleased to see her surprise.
"I took these clothes with me before leaving the castle because I thought that I could order Allan to wear these and show up, so we'd have to chase him instead of collecting the taxes, but it was too dangerous, and then it wouldn't solve the problem. When you told me that we could find a solution, I had a better idea. The people of Clun need money, right? I know where to find what we need."
"Where?"
"I know where Robin Hood hid some of the gold he stole from the sheriff. We'll go and take it, and the Nightwatchman will deliver it to the inhabitants of the village. You can reach the houses without being seen from the guards, can't you?"
"Yes… of course I can… But Guy… You can't rob Robin! And how do you know where he hid his gold?"
"I found out," Guy said without saying that he had seen it in the outlaw's memories, "and I won't be robbing him, let's say that I'll help him to redistribute that gold. Isn't that what he always does? Robbing the rich to give to the poor? Well the people of Clun are poor."
"We could ask him."
"Look, there is no time. We have to go and take the gold, then you will take it to Clun and you'll have to reach me in the forest and we'll have to get chained together again and go back to the village. And we have to do this before the time is over."
Guy took an hairpin, and he gave one to Marian, and they both opened their manacles.
The girl glanced at Guy.
"Do you trust me to do this?"
"It will be dangerous, I know. But I know that you can do it." Guy smiled at her. "I could never catch the Nightwatchman, I expect that my guards can't do better than me. I told Allan to distract their attention, but you'll have to be very careful. If they discover you, I'll come to defend you, but if we are caught, we'll all be hanged as traitors."
Marian stared at him, in disbelief.
"Guy, this plan is as crazy as Robin's ones!"
Gisborne sighed.
"You think it will fail..."
The girl took his hands, smiling.
"No, I think it can work! It will work! You found a way to save Clun! Let's do it!"
Marian ran behind a bush to change her clothes, then she came back and took Guy's hand.
"Show me where is the gold," she said, and Guy smiled at her, glancing at their joined hands as they ran deeper in the forest.
"Look, I finally caught the Nightwatchman," he said, happily, and she laughed, giving a friendly squeeze to his fingers.
"Actually, I caught you."
"Oh, yes. And I've no intention of running away. Not even if you punch me again."
"You deserved it. You scared me."
"Sorry. You have a powerful punch, by the way: my shoulder hurts, and I still have the scar of the first one you gave me."
"I am not going to apologize for that."
Guy nodded, ashamed. He had burned her house to the ground as a revenge, of course she didn't have to apologize!
They reached Robin's hiding place, and Guy looked around, afraid that the outlaw could stop them, but Robin didn't show up, and he and Marian hurried to fill a bag with gold coins.

Up, hidden in the branches of a tree, Robin Hood looked at Guy and Marian, wondering what they were going to do. Once, he would have intervened, stopping Gisborne, maybe even hitting him with an arrow, but after the incredible experience they had shared, he just couldn't.
He was still confused, but now he knew that Gisborne was not as evil as he had always thought, and that he really wanted the best for Marian.
Robin had no idea of what they were going to do with his gold, but he didn't move, choosing to wait and see if he could really trust Gisborne.
Marian and Guy closed the bag, hid again the entrance of the cache, and they ran away in the direction of Clun.
Robin waited for a moment, then he silently followed them.

Marian crept behind a stable, reaching the back of one of the huts. Inside, she could hear the villagers rummaging between their things, hoping to find at least a few coins to give to Gisborne.
She made sure that there were no guards around, and she knocked at the door: when one of the men went out to see who it was, he found a few coins on the threshold, enough to pay the taxes and buy food for the whole family.
The girl smiled, as she moved towards the next house. Every once in a while, she glanced at the guards, to be sure that they couldn't see her, but Allan was busy giving orders to them on behalf of Guy, and the men had their attention on him. She distributed more coins, growing prouder and happier at each house she visited.
She was taking a big risk, but she was doing something to help people, just like Robin. She knew that Guy was watching her from the undergrowth, ready to help her in case of trouble, but he didn't try to stop her, or to put her aside. On the contrary, it had been his idea, and he trusted her for that mission, sure that she could do it.
Silently, she moved to the next house.

Guy was watching her, tense and worried, but he didn't move from his hiding place.
Robin looked at the far figure of the Nightwatchman, horrified.
"Are you insane, Gisborne?!" He blurted, reaching the knight and startling him.
"Hood! For how long have you been watching me?"
"For enough time to say that you are a fool and a coward! You sent her to risk her life!"
Guy shook his head.
"We are trying to save your precious villagers. Isn't this what you want?"
"Not risking her life!"
"She can do it! She's the Nightwatchman, she's perfectly able to fool my guards!"
Robin shook his head.
"She should be safe at the castle. You promised to keep her safe!"
"That's what I'm doing. If we didn't collect the tax from Clun, the sheriff would throw her in a cell. Now we are making it possible to get the money of the taxes, as the sheriff wants, without damaging anyone."
Robin lifted his eyebrows.
"With my money."
"That's the sheriff's money. You robbed him to give it to the poor, we are giving it to the poor, so where's the problem?"
"The problem is that Marian is risking her life."
Guy smirked.
"What's the alternative? Her joining your gang? How that is a safer choice?"
Sir Edward's ghost appeared between them, and Robin made a step back, not yet used to see him.
"I'm afraid that Sir Guy is right, Robin. We all know that Marian would be safer in a room at the castle, embroidering, or hidden in your camp, with nothing to do other than cooking and mending the clothes of the outlaws, but that wouldn't be what she wants. My daughter can be stubborn, willful, even reckless, but I learned, I had to learn, that you can't close her in a cage, not even a golden one. She would wither, she couldn't be happy with the life of a common girl. Look, she's coming back!" The ghost smiled, looking at the girl with love. "Her eyes are filled with joy," he whispered, then he disappeared.
Robin looked at Marian, coming back with a lively spring in her steps, and at Guy, waiting for her, proud and trusting. He suddenly felt sad, knowing that in Gisborne's place he'd have stopped her, going to help the people in her place. She would have been safer, he realized, but the light in her eyes would have been lost, faded.
Silently, he stepped back in the bushes, before Marian could see him.
The girl arrived running and laughing at the same time, excited and out of breath. She ran to Guy and she threw her arms around his neck.
"We did it! We really did it! I gave the money to everyone and nobody knew that I was there!"
Guy hugged her, pulling her close, and Marian rested her head on his chest. He brushed her hair with a light kiss, smiling.
"Yes, you did it. I was sure you would. Now hurry, change your clothes, the time is almost over."
Marian lifted her head to give him a kiss on his cheek, then she grabbed her dress and rushed behind a bush to get changed. She came back a moment later, and she gave the Nightwatchman costume to Guy. The knight hid it under a bush, glancing to the undergrowth behind him, in Robin's direction.
The outlaw didn't move, but he understood that Gisborne wanted him to take care of the costume and make it disappear.
Before taking the chain, Guy stopped to look at Marian: she had dressed in a hurry, and she was still trying to fix her dress, tucking and straightening it. He stopped her, then he untied some of the laces of the dress, and he ruffled her hair with a hand.
"What are you doing?"
Guy blushed.
"They must think that I… Well, it wouldn't be believable if you weren't a little disheveled. And me too." He added, loosening the laces of his shirt, and pulling a part of it out of his breeches.
"Oh. Right..." Marian said, blushing as well.
"Come on, hit me," Guy said, after a moment.
"What? Why should I?"
"For believability. People wouldn't believe that you surrendered to me without putting up a fight. Scratch me, give me some bruises, or I'll have to do it myself."
Marian hesitated.
"I don't want to hurt you, Guy."
"It's needed, and I'm afraid that I'll deserve it, later. I'll have to be rude, to say things that you won't like. To ruin your reputation… Go on, don't be afraid, hit me."
Marian sighed.
"My reputation is already ruined, after the sheriff made us sleep chained together in the same room, but I see what you mean," she said, and she slapped him, scratching him with her nails.
"Ow!" Guy touched his cheek, and looked at the blood on his fingers, smirking. "Remember me to never make you angry for real."
Marian gave him a little kiss, near the scratches.
"Sorry."
Guy smiled, closing the manacles around their wrists again.
"Come on, let's go and collect those taxes."