A World That Will Not Turn to Ash (English)(From Ashes Vol.1)

Chapter 30 - Here Comes the Bride

Guy finished saddling the horse and he carefully checked that each belt was secure. He wouldn't leave room for the slightest mistake: the mission they would face in a few hours was too important to afford any error.
He took a deep breath to try to calm down. If he wanted to save Marian, he had to remain calm, but it wasn't easy not to think about all the things that could go wrong.
Gisborne had felt so upset and anxious only in two other occasions: in the Holy Land when Vaisey had ordered him to kill the king and the day of his marriage to Marian.
The fact that in both cases things went disastrously certainly didn't help to calm him.
He left food and water for the horse and he went back to reach the others. Robin was summing up the plan for the umpteenth time.
"So, is that clear? We will wait for Marian to come into the church, then Gisborne will attract people's attention and he will lure Barret out of the building. Meanwhile we will enter the church and we will block the door behind him. Tuck will convince the pastor to continue the ceremony, while you will aim with your bows at any guards or anyone who wants to oppose. As soon as the marriage is concluded, we will take Marian and flee. She and I will take the road to Portsmouth, and from there we will embark to reach King Richard in the Holy Land."
Robin glanced at Guy, fearing that he had changed his mind about who should be the one to marry Marian, but the black knight didn't object.
"Someone should make sure that Sir Edward manages to reach Kirklees Abbey." Guy said instead. "He told me he had friends who can help him escape, but it is essential that he reaches a safe haven."
"I'll do it." Tuck said. "After all that's where I was headed from the beginning."
Robin nodded.
"Allan, you'll stay out instead, with Gisborne."
"I do not need help, Hood, nor to be controlled. I said I'll take care of Barret and I won't pull back. I shall do my job, no matter what." Guy said, annoyed, and Robin shook his head.
"I know you will, but we must take into account any unexpected trouble. To keep busy Barret long enough is essential. I saw him in action with the peasants of Clun and I know how dangerous and brutal he can be, if you'll be in two to keep him at bay, I'll feel more comfortable. And anyway, if I wanted to control you, I wouldn't choose Allan to do it."
Guy looked at him doubtfully, then he nodded and Robin turned back to the others. "Now go, try to mingle with the peasants without being noticed, we have to be close to the church when Marian comes."
The outlaws obeyed and they withdrew from the camp one at a time. Guy returned to the horse to complete the final preparations. He hung a second sword to his saddle and he took out every unnecessary weight from the saddle bags, leaving only the weapons that could be useful to him: some daggers and a quiver of arrows. He made sure that the saracen bow was at hand and then stroked the horse's nose with a sigh: he was ready, now he just had to wait for the right time to act.
"Gisborne."
Guy turned. Robin had joined him, staring at him with a serious expression.
"What is it, Hood?"
"You mustn't fight with Barret, remember. You just have to lure him out of the church and to keep him busy long enough. Don't try to be a hero."
"Why, do you want to have the exclusive?"
"I mean it, Gisborne."
"Didn't you see what he did? He must pay for how he treated her."
"If you kill him, you will become an outlaw. The sheriff's guards would hunt you everywhere."
"So? The sheriff wants me dead anyway, what would change? At least I won't have to expect a stab in the back. Anyway, I don't think that being an outlaw ever limited you."
"Gisborne..." Robin began in a tone of warning and Guy stared at him, daring him with his eyes.
"I will kill Roger of Barrett, and you won't stop me."
Robin approached Guy and, with a sudden movement, he tried to punch him, but the other ducked.
The two men began to fight and they rolled on the ground, trying to outdo each other. Robin managed to grab Guy by his shoulders and pushed him, causing him to slam the back on the ground with enough force to leave him breathless for a moment. Robin took advantage of the moment of weakness of his opponent to immobilize him.
"Now you see what I mean? Who says that it won't be Barret the one who kills you? Think, Gisborne: you are hurt, you can't beat him." Robin said, panting because of the fight and Guy surrendered. He stopped struggling and he lay still, his blue eyes clouded by tears of frustration.
Robin released him and gave him a hand to help him up, not expecting Gisborne to really take it, but he did, accepting his help.
"I know." Guy said with a sigh, without looking at him. "But Barret has hurt Marian and I can't stand it."
"And that's why you want to hurt her, too?"
Gisborne raised his head sharply to look at him.
"What do you mean? I not would never hurt her!" He shouted, then he blushed and looked away, remembering the times when he had already hurt her, even if unintentionally.
Robin put a hand on his shoulder and Guy flinched at the contact.
"Your death would make her suffer. I hate to admit it, but I've already seen her cry for you. And if you should be killed because of her, Marian would never forgive herself."
Guy looked at him for a moment, in disbelief at hearing those words and even more surprised to hear them coming from the mouth of Robin Hood, then he hung his head and he accepted defeat.
"All right. Today I won't fight with him." he promised. "But one day Roger of Barrett will pay for what he did."
Robin nodded.
"Tell me and that day I will come to help you out." He said with ferocity. "But now we have to go, we can't make the bride to wait for us."
Guy mounted his horse and he looked at him.
"Do you know, Hood? Maybe it wouldn't have been that bad..." He said, with a sad smile, then he spurred his horse and walked away through the trees.

Marian tried to look out of the wagon, but the vehicle in which she was traveling was completely closed and she could barely see shards of the landscape through a crack in the wood.
That distressing trip reminded her the nightmare she had a few nights before, the coach who dragged her to a church decked out in mourning.
It wasn't so different from the reality, Marian thought with a pang: the wagon was carrying her to a church and the marriage with Roger of Barrett wasn't very different from a funeral, her funeral.
She searched once again for a way to escape from the car, even if it meant having to throw herself in the dust of the road and being crushed by the hooves of the horses, but her hands were chained and the door was locked from the outside of the vehicle.
Marian closed her eyes. She was weak from fasting and the jolts of the wagon made her feel sick, but she didn't want this trip to end, she didn't want to be forced to marry that demon.

Allan looked at the cloud of dust in the distance, moving along the road that led to Locksley and he thought that it must be raised from the wagon that was carrying Marian. It was far and there was still time, but Allan was beginning to worry.
Finally he heard the hooves of a horse approaching and Gisborne joined him.
The black knight tied his horse next to Allan's one, in the trees, and he went near him to get a better view on the road.
Allan smiled.
"It took you time, Giz. I began to think that you had changed your mind."
"Why would I?"
"You're only helping your rival to marry the woman you love, why should you have?"
"I'm avoiding that the woman I love and who I will never have, has to fall into the hands of a monster, Allan. This is what I'm doing."
The young man looked at him, sympathetically.
"Are you ready?"
Guy took off his gray cloak he had used to conceal his identity and he tossed it to Allan.
"Not really, but it doesn't matter."
Allan took the cloak and he put it in the saddle bag of his horse, then he looked at Gisborne.
"The black knight who's back from the dead..." He said in an amused tone. "You will scare them all."
Guy grinned.
"That is the idea."
"What will you do next?" Allan asked, turning serious. "When it's all over?"
Guy reflected for a while. He couldn't imagine his future once Marian had become the wife of Robin Hood, but he knew he had to make a decision quickly. Certainly he couldn't think of staying in Nottingham once they found out he was still alive.
"I will escort them to Portsmouth, we must be sure that they are able to embark without problems. Then I don't know, I suppose I could get on a ship too, to start a new life elsewhere."
"A boat to where? Where will you go?"
"Not in France and not even in the Holy Land. I imagine any other place will be fine."
"Some time ago, I heard from some pilgrims that in Rome the food is good and the wine is good too. How about it, Giz, shall we go and find out if it's true?
Guy looked at him, surprised.
"Shall we go? You want to come along?"
Allan shrugged.
"Why not?"
Gisborne stared at him for a moment in disbelief, then he smiled.
"Yeah, why not?"