Guy And Marian Retold

Confrontations and Re-creations

It had been a few weeks since the incident with the armor, and Guy had finally gotten over his embarrassment at his reaction to his near-drowning. The Sheriff insisted in continuing to use the armor, however, and Guy was in charge of training the guards. He was up and out of the house early every morning, waking me long enough to make love and then leaving me to sleep a few more hours.

One night I asked him where the training was taking place, and discovered it was near the clearing we had gone to not long after we were wed. My mind was full of that afternoon, how we had been so comfortable with each other, and my cheeks grew warm as I remembered how I had acted. I decided to surprise him the next day and bring him lunch.

The next morning was spent preparing for the surprise, but mostly remembering what else we had done and anticipating repeating those actions. I finally set out on my horse, feeling the warmth of the sun on me and raising my face to it, smiling. I didn't get far into the forest, of course, before Robin stepped out in front of me from behind a tree.

Sighing, I stopped Lady and greeted him warily, noticing the serious expression on his face. He bowed with a flourish and straightened up, one of his grim smiles taking the place of his seriousness from a moment before. He inquired where I was headed, and I told him. He nodded once, and then took a deep breath.

"Marian, I know you're mad at me for not telling you about my history with Guy..." he trailed off, as if waiting for me to deny it, but I just sat there, waiting for him to continue. He must have talked to my father. I was interested to hear what excuse he came up with. After a minute, he reluctantly did so. "Can we talk about it? Can you get off the horse and sit with me for a little bit?" I wanted to get to Guy, but I nodded curtly and dismounted.

We found a fallen log and sat in the dappled sunlight, him carefully keeping his distance. He reached as if to take my hand, but then thought better of it and moved his hand back to his leg. I was glad he did, because I would have pulled my hand away. Yes, I was thankful that he had helped save Guy's life, but it didn't change what he had done to try to hold on to me. He took another deep breath and met my eyes, his earnest.

"Marian, I know there is no excuse for my keeping that information from you. I should have told you. But I honestly thought it was best that you didn't know." Here I cut him off, my anger finally urging me to speak

"That was my decision to make, Robin. Not yours, or my father's. All I see from your decision is the selfish desire to keep me from seeing how you really were. Believe me, I see it now." He flinched as if I had hit him.

"That's not fair, Marian! Everything I have done, I have done with you in mind." I shook my head, and now he did grab my hand. I pulled it away and stood up.

"Robin, I look up to you for all you do for the poor, those who cannot do for themselves. But you are also selfish, and I don't know if I can get over that. Not yet, anyway. I don't know if, had I married you instead of Guy, I would have been happy. I loved you, but I don't think it would have been enough, in the end." He looked down, and then back up at me, his expression regretful.

"So the very thing I tried to keep from happening has happened," he said softly, and I nodded.

"It happened before I knew the history. It happened despite the information I didn't have. It happened because of who you and Guy are at your cores." This time I took his hand. It was warm in mine, but he let it lay there limply. He had made the final concession, given me up for good, in that moment.

Neither of us seemed to have much else to say, so I got back on Lady and we parted ways. My excitement, which had dampened during my talk with Robin, ramped back up and I urged her on, cutting off the path and through a few more small clearings. We exited into a large meadow, in which I saw forty or so guards skirmishing with the new armor on. I scanned the crowd, and my heart sped up when I saw him striding through the melee in his black leather.