A Flower for Guy #Wattys2021

Chapter I

"Guy!" she shouted.

Gisborne didn't understand how she could be there; he had left her shackled in the sheriff's rented house in Acre; how had she escaped? Anyway, he was there to fulfil a mission, which would give him everything he wanted for so long: wealth and power beyond belief. He couldn't waste time in cogitations. He would think about it later.

He unsheathed his broadsword, staring grimly at Marian; she ran down the stairs and rushed to place herself between him and the wounded king.

"Stop" she yelled again, halting and lifting her arms, not in a surrendering gesture, but in one of command, "'Tis over, Guy."

He ignored her and stepped forward.

"Get out of the way."

"All this time I was fighting for England", Marian said proudly, "You think I'm letting you kill England?"

"Marian... get out of the way!" Guy shouted, wielding his broadsword. She was startled, but didn't move.

"You have to kill me first", she declared through clenched teeth, all of her Nightwatchman temperament coming to the fore after months of forced inactivity.

"No", Guy snarled, "We can go out of this. I'm going to do this thing, and then I'll have power beyond measure, and we will be together."

Marian laughed in his face.

"I would rather die, than be with you, Guy of Gisborne", she declared straightforward, almost cruelly. Guy froze, distraught and incredulous.

"No..."

"I'm going to marry Robin Hood", Marian went on, smiling cockily again; Guy stared at her without understanding, unable to grasp the meaning of the words she was throwing at him, "I love Robin Hood", the young woman went on, in her voice a hint of disbelief, "I love Robin Hood", she repeated, now firmly, in a final tone.

The last sentence finally penetrated into the fog that had wrapped around Guy's mind. With a shout full of anger and pain, he threw himself against her, lifting his broadsword, determined to punish her for her insolence. He had to knock her out, kill the king and then drag her away with him to England, where he would force her to marry him.

Marian transformed instantly into the Nightwatchman and reacted forcefully, lifting her arms and blocking Guy's hand wielding the broadsword. Surprised by her unexpected resistance, Guy was slow in counteracting and he almost lost his grip on the hilt. They struggled furiously, moving around in the open space and kicking up a lot of dust. Marian was trying to disarm him and at the same time to shove him as far as she could from the collapsed and unconscious shape of the king. On his side, Guy was trying to break free so he could knock her out and kill the sovereign, without hurting her. Using his superior strength, he lowered his sword between them intent on freeing the wrist Marian was grabbing with both her hands; a jerky movement from her part, maybe in an attempt to push Guy backwards, made her instead fall against him. Her eyes dilated suddenly while a gasp escaped her; she staggered backward and Guy, terrified, saw a scarlet stain spreading on the front of her white kaftan. He took involuntarily a step forward, holding out his hand as if he wanted to help her; lowering his eyes, he saw the point of his sword stained with blood. He froze and, with a dismayed gasp, he dropped the weapon to the ground.

Marian pressed her hands against her belly, where she had been stabbed; she gazed at Guy, who had raised his eyes to her with an expression of complete horror. Her beautiful face showed pain, disbelief and fright in equal parts.

"No", Guy whispered, in despair. Without a sound, Marian collapsed on the sand; Guy moved to run and kneel beside her, but at that moment, Robin's anguished yell echoed:

"Marian!"

Guy saw him running closer and backed hastily. Robin dropped to his knee next to the injured woman, while the square resounded with other appalled shouts, those of Robin's companions. Guy backed further; Much and Little John ran to Marian, while Djaq went to the king, Will Scarlett at her tail. Behind him, Guy heard Vaisey roaring:

"Gisborne!"

He turned and saw him rushing to his horse.

"'Tis not over, Hood!" the sheriff barked, boastful as usual, while grasping the destrier's bridles, "I will have England!"

He made an imperious gesture to which Gisborne, used to years of obedience, responded running to him. Vaisey hauled up into the saddle and Guy mounted behind him, dazed, his mind empty of any thought, his heart in pieces. The sheriff spurred furiously the horse, which started at a gallop, taking away the two men from the deserted village, while even Allan A Dale was arriving, staring at them leaving, unable to stop them.

Bouncing hard on the back of the galloping destrier, Guy clang to the sheriff in order not to fall. In his mind was playing on loop the scene of Marian staggering backwards, blood staining the whiteness of her long tunic spurting from the wound to her belly. He was unable to recall if it had been he thrusting forward the point of his sword to hit her, or if it had been her who, colliding with him in the frenzy of the fight, had stabbed herself on it. For sure, he never meant to injure her. He wanted only knock her out, so he could finish the job, and then he would drag her away from there, alive even if maybe not unhurt. He wanted to marry her, damn, not kill her! Instead, she was now lying in the sand, a wound to her belly of which he didn't know the seriousness. He had seen many injuries to the belly and knew that, unless it wasn't a rather superficial cut, the chances of her surviving weren't large. Of course, she could count on Djaq's treatments – the Saracen girl was a very good physician – but she wasn't capable of working miracles.

He had killed the woman he loved.

He had killed the woman he loved.

He would never forgive himself for this. Ever. Because this had made him a monster with no chances for redemption.

In the darkness of pain and remorse that was clouding his brain, a question came insistently to the fore, a question he had already asked himself: how could Marian be there in the first place? How had she managed to free herself from the chains she had been shackled in the basement of the house the sheriff had rented? How had she met in the desert with Hood and King Richard? Hood must have found her, unlikely as it was, and therefore it must have been he who had set her free. And consequently, it was Hood's fault if Marian had been in that deserted village and had stepped in to defend Richard.

Guy's mind, looking desperately for release from the excruciating pain and the terrible torment distressing him, found a lifeline in anger.

It was all Robin Hood's fault.