Sir Guy of Gisborne

He had come upon her on his way to check again that the preparations for transporting the taxes were all in order. The news that she had decided to stay in the castle, while her father was away, was a ray of sunshine that brightened what would have otherwise been turning into a trying day. Especially with the Sheriff planning his festival of pain.

The extent of the Sheriff's preparations and the scale of his planned tortures were beginning to sit uneasily with him, though he supposed that it had been his own fault for prompting the Sheriff's idea. Guy had only imagined a handful of the more stubborn prisoners being involved and that the public humiliation might help to loosen their tongues. Still, it did stop the Sheriff from interfering with his plan for the taxes too much.

And then there was Marian. Her fluster amused him, though for a moment he wondered at her distraction - it was not like Marian to lose track of things. And it was not like Marian to smile at him like that. Was she....flirting with him?


He was probably imagining that. Maybe.


He would arrange for her portmanteau to be brought to her room and then maybe he could see if she really had been flirting with him.

~*~

The walk to Marian's rooms had given Guy time to think, even with the oaf of a guard in tow, lugging her things. Her presence in the castle would give them an opportunity to learn about each other. Yes, if the moment felt right he would explain this to her. They were to be married after all, weren't they?

~*~

She was busy when he found her, and seemed distracted thereafter. He would try. It couldn't hurt to try.

"Marian, I.. for some time now."

She interrupted.

"Hear me out. Please."

What could she find so amusing?

"Is there something the matter?"

Apart, perhaps from being the most frustrating woman in his universe.

"Since we came to our understanding, you have been constantly in my thoughts. Without you, I no longer feel...quite whole."

Now that he had found the courage to confess to her, he would not be put off by Marian's tiredness. It was frustrating enough to be near her and not be able to speak and more so to find the words and not be given the chance to.

"Don't send me away." That came out...rather weaker than he had hoped for. He took Marian's hand and lead her to stand closer to him. Actions spoke louder than words, surely?

"We should be spending more time together. So that we can understand each other better. I want to know you."

Her refusal, her apologies, brought to mind another kind of knowing that he had not considered.

"Marian." Guy snaked his arm around her waist and drew her closer still. Closer to hear his whisper. Close enough to almost kiss. "Be with me."

How easy it was for her to push him away! He had tried and failed to win her understanding and his only prize now was disappointment.

"Perhaps you will at least think over what I have said."

He should not have tried.

~*~

Guy's mind was on other things when the Sheriff told him what he wanted for the festivities. He barely remembered who the woman was, that came pleading to them, only for the Sheriff to make his own example of her and send her to the dungeon.

At least the Sheriff was having a good day.

~*~

That the tax money was loaded in the wagon, only gave him the satisfaction of a job well done. The gates being closed and locked behind him, however, aroused suspicion.

The bags full of grain and not coins? Cold fury at Hood's trickery.

That it took so long to get back into the castle? More anger.

That the courtyard was so empty? More suspicion.

The empty hall? A twinge of dread.

The somewhat familiar moans from under the sheet in one end of the room? Some measure of strange relief.

The Sheriff was furious, but at least alive.