The Distraction XV

[marian]

They had arrived. All action stations. The gang had split up each to play their own part in the rescue. Luke and Djaq and strolled over in the direction of the dungeons looking as convincing as they could, and ever faithful Much standing guard, trying to look as casual as the other guards who seemed to pay him little attention. Good.. she thought Or rather, so far so good.

Marian had stripped off her armour, in a dark corridor as Robin kept watch, what a relief it was to move without the heavieness of the chain mail weighing her down, she ushered Robin along the halls, keeping close to the walls, she couldn't be seen until she was in her chamber.

They climbed the stairs, they wound up and onto another floor, it felt strange not swishing to and frow with a long gown on her, and the climb certainly felt easier without all the material.

They were almost there.

She began to recognise the corridors and rooms more and more, until finally they reached her door. "This is it" she breathed, brandishing her sword, unsure what she would find in the room beyond her, would it be untouched? Empty? "Ready?" She whispered reaching for the latch...

[robin]

Robin much like Marian changed out of uniform as soon as they were out of view of anyone to see. Luckily no guards were patrolling the hallways so thankfully that made them getting to Marian's room a lot safer. Coming up to her room Robin went behind to his back to grab an arrow and notch it to his bow. "Ready?" he simply nodded while looking at the door in front of them.

Lifting his bow to eye level he pulled the arrow back just encase Guy had men stationed in the room they wouldn't get a chance to warn any one else. Robin alone could take a couple men out but he didn't want to endanger Marian. Even though she hated when he would protect her but sometimes he really didn't care. She was most important thing his life and he wasn't going to let her walk in to a room filled with heavily armed soldiers.

[marian]

Marian reached for the latch as Robin raised his bow, she rolled her eyes at what she thought was a slight over reaction, raising an eyebrow at so serious an expression, she pushed the door and took a step forward.

The sight that greeted the couple made Marian freeze in slight disbelief. As the door swung open, Marian caught sight of the curtains, ripped and ragged, hanging just from the tops of the windows, her bedroom furniture, bookcase, endtable, chairs and the shelves had been toppled over, lying scattered and broken on the floor as if they had been picked up and smashed.
Her bed was crumpled, a leg had broken and it stood lopsided in the gloom, bedclothes torn and ripped, pillows stabbed- feather's all around the room- her paintings that were on the walls were slashed and wonky.
She saw her trunk, that looked like it had been thrown into the room, had splintered at its hinges, the lid broken open by it's own weight, spilling the contents over the floor, her dresses, some old jewelary, undergarments and riding clothes, all creased and ripped.

She took a step inside, unable to take it all in, she had to step carefully over afew discarded candles, trying to avoid slipping on the feathers that partially hid them, and over by the toppled bookcase, she saw a pile of what looked like ash.
Making her way over she bent down, it was paper, burnt paper. Her letters. Letters from her Father to her Mother when they were young. Letters of her Mother to Marian when she was a baby, letters of her Father aswel, writing to her to wish her a happy 18th birthday, wishing all his love and hope for a bright future... this all lay in black dust before her, and her breath quickened in anger and dispair, frustration and grief.
Standing up she remembered her engagment ring, turning the bookcase over she rumaged behind the books in which the letters had been hidden, she thought it a safe place, obviously she was wrong. The ring was nowhere to be seen, she rumaged and searched but it was to no avail. The ring was gone.

She ran a shaking hand through her hair "It's gone" she panted breathing fast "Everything... everythings gone, burnt, broken... my dresses, jewelery... everything."
She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She didn't know what she expected. It was not in Guy's nature to let anyone get off that easy.

She could see it now. Guy's rage, his screams of anger- of revenge. His fists pummerling the walls, his face red, his eyes glowing, sweat pouring, cursing her, slaughtering her over and over in his minds eye.
She started to worry a little more about how he would react when he saw her, if he could do this to her chamber, what could he do to her, and Robin for that matter if he got into such a rage again?

[robin]

When the door was finally opened Robin slowly lowered his bow. The room smelled like something had been burned. From the looks of the room something had. Shifting his eyes to Marian he watched her rush over to a bookcase and started shuffling through her now broken, burnt things. "It's gone" sighing he took a couple steps towards her before pulling her in to a hug which he assumed she needed. "It does not matter Marian" he said rubbing her back in circles to calm her down. Looking down he smiled "We do not need a ring to show how much we love one each other".

Giving the top of her head a tiny kiss he pulled out of the hug slowly "We must go". Reaching down he took a hold of her hand and gave it a tiny squeeze before taking his bow in his hand and walking towards the door of the guest room. Peeking his head out he looked left and right just to make sure no guards were patrolling. Thankfully there wasn't but all of a sudden Robin caught ear of boots beating against stone flooring.

Coming their way...

[marian]

Marian was grateful for her lovers hug. She never needed one as much. It doesn't matter? It mattered to her. That beautiful ring, she could guess who had it and she made a silent promise to get it back.

As Robin grabbed her hand led her towards the door, she took one last look back at her old room that seemed completely unrecognisable. She squeezed his hand glad he hadn't asked what it was that had been burnt. She didn't think she could tell him without wanting to punch something, either that or cry. She had to focus on the plan, save Will, while she was distracting Gisborne, she thought she would have to do some serious self control not to attack the man.

But as they stepped out into the hallway, their footsteps were greeted by someone elses, Marian recognised that sound. And it wasn't long until she recognised the man striding up the corridor either.
Grabbing Robins hand she yanked him back into her old room, they didn't have time to close the door fully, but took to hiding against the wall it stood in, the nearest place they could think of the would conceal them, Robin had his back to the wall and Marian pressed against him trying to stay as invisible as possible.

[gissy]

Guy stalked along the dark, stone corridors towards Marian's room. He’d almost not gone there, considering checking on the prisoner instead, but some unknown urge compelled him to leave the outlaw to whatever fate the prison had in store and return to the scene of his crime. He hadn't been back there since the day he'd pulled it all apart.

He'd wanted to hurt her, he'd wanted to plunge his sword right into her heart when he'd found out about- about-

He stopped, as if suddenly exhausted, then lashed out at the wall, yelling as she smacked his fist against unyielding stone. Urgh, why did he let the little whore get under his skin like this? She'd betrayed him. And he still hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it. So when he'd arrived back at the castle the first thing he'd done was to rip her to pieces in the only way he could.

And those letters. As soon as he found them he knew what they were, how much the meant. He'd laughed as he burnt them, revelling in the pure destructive power of fire, just as he had done the day he torched Knighton Hall. He'd dreamed on one day building a home with Marian, now all he wanted to do was see her burn.

Unclenching his fist slightly, he was made aware of a small, golden object clutched there, as it had been since he'd found it in her room. Marian's engagement ring. It was pressed deep into the leather of his glove from where he'd punched the wall, and he could feel the skin beneath had split, but what was pain to him? That tiny circle of metal was a constant reminder of how she'd cut out his heart and served it up to Hood on a platter. Nothing hurt more than that.

Guy took a deep breath and curled his fingers round the ring again, resolved. He would burn her, every last inch of her, and sear her from his mind forever. Setting off again, he pressed on towards the room he had set out for, with every intent of setting its entire contents aflame. The he heard the voices. Only a snatch, but they were there. Some one was in her room.

Drawing his sword, he advanced slowly. His blood was boiling. Who had dared enter her room? That room was hers, and hers alone. The door was pushed almost shut, but he could see a tiny sliver of the room from where he stood, knees supple, really to spring. Nothing seemed different from the absolute chaos he'd left it in, but who could tell with chaos? Suddenly, with a yell, he kicked the door inwards, taking the element of surprise, but nothing could have prepared him for the sight that met his eyes.

[robin]

Robin had caught a glimpse of leather before being pulled back in to the room by Marian. The sudden shove to the inner wall almost knocked the wind out of him but luckily it had not. Feeling Marian pressed up against him he couldn't help but let a tiny smirk form on lips because of it. But the smirk was taken off the second the door was kicked open by what Robin could tell a very unpleased Guy. But what Robin failed to relies that Guy could clearly see Marian but not himself.

Looking through the crack of the door Robin noticed that Guy had a shock look on his face. Robin didn't know how Guy was gonna react so all he could really do was stand back and watch was going to happen between Marian and Guy. Though if situation turned dangerous for Marian it only take him a couple seconds to come out from hiding and do something that he had been wanting to do to Guy since he had come back from the Holy Land.

[marian]

Marian gave Robin a look, one of those "Let me deal with this" looks. She took a deep breath and stepped out from where she had been hiding.
She stared at the figure before her, she wasn't scared, she was angry, and she knew it must have shown on her face but did she care? Of course she didn't, she wasnt going to let any kind of fear show, not that she really felt any at the moment anyway.

By the look on his face she couldn't guess what was coming next, she hadn't really thought of his reaction to seeing her in these new clothes, but that didn't matter, what mattered was keeping him busy while Will was saved. So, she grasped the hilt of her sword, ready to pull it out if need be and said in a clear voice, acknowledging him "Guy."

[gissy]

Guy stood in the doorway as if paralysed. It was Marian, standing there, plain as day. He felt like the life had been knocked out of him, his anger stalled in his chest, frozen by shock. Had she come back to be with him? To renew that promise of marriage? His Marian, back in his arms.

No, no she wasn’t his, was she. She was Hood’s. Hood’s Marian. He clenched his fist tighter around the ring in his hand, pressing it tighter into the painful wound he hand already inflicted there. She seemed so strange, so different. She was in breaches and had a sword at her side, and looked every inch the outlaw whore she was. But there was that same soft brown hair he had wanted to reach out and touch so many times, and that sweet face, so innocent and trusting. How he longed to see it smile again, just for him.

But he wouldn’t let her see that. Never again would he expose his soul, allow her to feed his heart to Hood. “Marian” He replied, his voice deadpan “What’re you doing here?” He stayed his hand, for the moment, though more from shock than a desire to keep her safe. He would let her know how much pain she had caused him, then pay her back in kind.

[marian]

He looked no different. Perhaps his eyes were a touch darker, his face a bit more severe, but he still looked the same, leather clad and menacing, how could she ever have trusted him? She could tell he was in shock at seeing her, and she wanted to prolong this shock for aslong as possible, aslong as that sword stayed in his belt, she would be ok.

"I came for my things. But I see you took pay to that." She tried to keep her voice low, confident, he knew she was confident and she wanted to show this off even more, show him what she was really like, she wasn't Lady Marian anymore, she was the Nightwatchman, fighter, defender. She was soon to be Marian of Locksley, and she had to show him she was no longer his possesion.

"Where's my ring , Guy?" she asked narrowing her eyes.

[gissy]

Guy's lip curled in disgust as he heard Marian‘s pathetic little speech. Such arrogance. She sounded like the women from the brothel he frequented. It made him feel sick to think of her as anything like them. And how dare she speak to him like that! It was as if she considered herself to be equal to him. Her! A woman, not to mention an outlaw, and god knows what else. And a traitor. He may have betrayed the king, but oh, how she'd betrayed him. The stabbing pain in the palm of his left hand reminded him of that.

"These things were never yours, Marian, or had you forgotten that I was the one who provided this room for you." He spat. Even after all the pain she'd caused hum, he couldn’t prevent the jealously slipping into his voice like poison, ripping at the uncaring façade he had been building up. It was as if her mere presence was tearing the very fibre of his being, still trying to change him into something he wasn't. How could she still be so affecting, after what she'd done to him?

And then she asked after it, the vile bit of corrosive gold that wore away at his flesh. Did her audacity really go so far? He felt like shouting at her, yelling, telling her what she did to him, making her see, but he knew it would serve only to make the fifthly whore laugh at him. He would not give her the satisfaction of it. He intended to hurt her.

"I do not know what you mean," He said indifferently "I know of no ring." He hoped the loss of the ring would bring her as much sorrow as its existence did him.

[marian]

"These things were mine!" She spat back, "You did not write me those letters, or buy me those books- they were mine before I came here. Before I was inprisoned here.
You act as if I stayed here by choice..... but then did I have a choice anyway? Where would I have gone after you burned down my home...?" She bore her eyes into his as she spoke that last sentence, her anger bubbling as she took afew steps forward.

"I do not know what you mean...I know of no ring."
She could tell he was lying, she shot a quick glance to where Robin was hiding but she could only make out his outline, she looked to the floor, trying to make her loss of eye contact with Gisborne due to fact she was griefed by the missing ring or perhaps as if she was curbing her anger.

She turned and walked over to the window, trying to lure Gisborne to follow, to get away from the door so Robin could get out into the corridor instead, if Guy were to turn he would see him in a second.
She crossed her arms, and sighed.
"All this could have been avoided" She muttered barely audible, and then let out a harsh laugh "I cannot believe I actually believed you would do the right thing!" She looked up at him, refering to her offer of him killing the Sherrif in the Holy Land those weeks ago and gave a cruel smile, "You were right, Guy, I was a fool."

[gissy]

Guy sneered as Marian retorted and looked away from her, feigning apathy. So he could still exact something from her. It gave him such twisted glee to see her pretty face so contorted in anger. Maybe she was beginning to feel as he had felt. She deserved to. As she stepped towards him, he turned back to look at her, her voice compelling him in spite of himself.

"Letters, books," He replied, his voice bordering on vehement though noncommittal had been his aim "I was unaware outlaws cared for such trivialities." He advanced on her as he continued, like a hunter stalking a dear "And would your friends in the convent not have you?" He snarled "No, I forgot, they only take women of chastity." He hoped that stung her to hear it as much as it had him saying it.

And then she laughed at him. "You were right, Guy, I was a fool," He tensed, his had moving automatically to his sword. This women had had a laugh at his expense too many times, and he would let it go on no longer "That was an observation I could have made for myself." He said, before rounding on her "You stabbed me in the back, Marian, now allow me to return the favour" and he fully intended to.

[robin]

Once Marian had the leather glad noble distracted Robin slowly started to creep out of his hiding place. But stopped mid-way due to hearing Marian and Guy's conversation turn to the worse. Turning around he watched as Guy went for sword. The target? Marian. Acting quickly he pulled out his own sword and advanced forward catching Guy's sword underneath his.

"That's no way to treat a woman Gisborne" he said with a tiny smirk before lifting his sword up to break the contact with Gisborne. The outlaw leader moved so he now stood in front of Marian. If Guy wanted to cause any harm to her he would have to go through him first. Keeping a strong grip on his sword he kept it pointed at Guy.

[marian]

Guys words were cruel and they had stung her, she was a bit taken aback by them but tried as hard as she could to hide the emotion, she gave a cold laugh, one empty of joy but filled with venom, "You honestly think that your words mean anything to me anymore, Guy?" she made afew steps forward, she could feel her cheeks reddening as she cleched her fists "You're nothing but a stain in my memory, and once the king is home it will be as if you never existed." Her last few words were lowered to a whisper.
There.
She knew that would hurt, and she wanted it to, she felt so betrayed by him, so humiliated that she ever tried to defend him, and she hoped her words would stay with him for the rest of his life.

She was angry, but so was he, and it wasn't until she had turned her back to him in frustration that heard the last comments and then a clink of metal on metal.