The Nightwatchman (English)(From Ashes Vol.2)

Chapter 9 - Forgiven, but not Forgotten

Guy helped Sir Edward to get on the wagon and then he took the reins.
Allan, standing next to the horse, looked at him, a bit anxious.
"Maybe I should come with you."
"It's better you don't." Guy replied, dryly. "The sheriff has granted you a pardon, but you'd better stay away from him if possible. And the same goes for Marian."
The girl had not gone out to see them and Gisborne sighed mentally: she must have been still angry with him because of the bite.
He adjusted his jacket, closing it better at neck: that bruise had already given him enough problems, if Vaisey should see it, he'd immediately know the identity of the Nightwatchman and for Guy it would be the end.
Guy made the wagon move, reluctantly.
He had no desire to travel to Nottingham, but his presence and the one of Sir Edward had been requested for the council of nobles, and they both had to pay taxes for that month.
The bag of coins that he got from Robin Hood seemed to weigh as lead and it hurt his pride, but Guy knew he hadn't much choice for the moment and he was grateful to the outlaw for his help, but above all for having called him friend and brother.
"Sir Guy?" Edward called after a while, distracting him from his thoughts. "May I ask what happened between you and Marian? I feel that in the last few days my daughter was behaving coldly towards you."
Guy glanced at Sir Edward, then back at the road.
"Just a misunderstanding." He said softly.
"And wouldn't be better if you talk with Marian about it?
"I can't."
"Because if you do, you will have to tell her that you're the Nightwatchman?"
Guy winced and turned to look at him.
"What?!"
"Do not deny it, Sir Guy, I have seen you with my own eyes."
"Marian... Does Marian know?"
Sir Edward smiled.
"No, and she doesn't have to find out. If she knew what you do, she'd surely put herself in danger, too. I told her that I had burned her costume, and, when I was able to do it, I protected your secret, but you must be careful. When my daughter wants to find something out, she won't be distracted easily."
Guy nodded.
"Thank you, Sir Edward."
"It isn't the only thing that you are hiding, right? There is more, but this time it isn't even clear to me what it is. I don't ask you to reveal your secret, but I'd just like to know if it's something that could cause suffering to Marian."
"No! Absolutely not!" Guy said immediately. "I wouldn't do anything that could hurt her, I swear. It's something I'm doing for her and that I have to finish before I can ask you for the hand of your daughter."
The old lord looked at Gisborne, intrigued by his words, but he decided to trust him and he didn't ask for anything else.
They rode on in silence, and, after a few minutes, it was Guy to turn to Sir Edward.
"My lord? Can I count on your discretion?" He asked, a bit hesitant.
Edward stared at him for a moment and he nodded.
"Only if you can assure that my silence won't hurt Marian."
Guy took a deep breath.
"I'm rebuilding Knighton Hall." He simply said. "For Marian. Before asking her to marry me I want to give back to her the house that I destroyed."
Sir Edward stared at him, genuinely surprised. He wouldn't have expected that this was Gisborne's secret and he had not imagined that Guy could still feel guilty for what he had done. In his eyes, Guy had remedied to his gesture bequeathing Locksley to him and Marian, he didn't believe that Gisborne could still feel indebted.
"Then the mysterious lands that you have been granted by the sheriff are nothing else but Knighton?"
"Yes, but I don't want Marian to know it until I've finished."
Sir Edward nodded with a smile.
"I will keep your secret, Sir Guy. It will not be too difficult: Marian no longer went to Knighton since the day of the fire. I think she doesn't want to go over there and see the ruins of her childhood home. If you can rebuild Knighton Hall, it will be both a surprise and a joy to her."

Allan spurred his horse to reach Marian and the girl looked at him coldly.
"Shouldn't you be with your master?" The girl asked, coldly.
"Hey, I work for Giz, but I'm not his slave." Allan pointed out, without being discouraged by Marian's tone "Anyway, now he and your father are in Nottingham and that's not the safest place for me, especially in recent times."
"What I meant was that you don't have to follow me."
"You must have an escort, orders of Sir Edward. Why are you mad at me, anyway?"
Marian huffed.
"As if you didn't know."
"If you don't say it clearly, no, I don't know."
The girl glared at him: she was certain that Allan knew very well who had left the bite mark on Guy's neck and she was dying to ask him about it, but she didn't want to show her jealousy and then to discuss certain topics with the former outlaw didn't seem appropriate.
"Forget it, in any case it's none of your business."
"As you wish." Allan said, peaceful.
He could well imagine the thoughts of the girl, and probably he could have found the right words to calm her without revealing the truth, but he decided against it.
If she was so quick to jump to conclusions and to accuse the people unjustly, she deserved to suffer a little of jealousy.
"Giz would do anything for her, and Marian knows it." Allan thought, a bit maliciously. "It will not hurt her to understand that she is not the only woman in the world ..."
"So where are we going?" He asked and Marian glared at him, but eventually she decided to answer.
"To Nottingham."
"But Giz said to stay away from there and your father thinks it's dangerous for us to get near the sheriff."
"I won't go to the castle, I have some errands to run in town."
She avoided saying that the merchants who she had to visit were all in the immediate vicinity of the castle.
Although she was still mad at Guy, she couldn't help but be anxious for him and for her father if she thought about the council of nobles.
She knew that the sheriff would do anything to take revenge on Guy and to put them in trouble and she was afraid that Vaisey could find an excuse to arrest them.
She wanted to be present to the council, but her presence would only offer Vaisey another chance to hit Guy and Sir Edward. Yet she wasn't able to stay in Locksley and wait.
She and Allan would carry out their commissions in Nottingham and at least she would know right away if the council had gone well or not.
Marian sighed. The thought that another woman had been able to make a mark on Guy's neck drove her crazy with rage, but to behave coldly with him when their situation with the sheriff was so dangerous made her to feel bad.
If anything happened to Guy, she would not have been able to endure it and, after all the dangers they had faced in the previous months, it seemed almost a crime to waste those precious days of peace in rancor.
Maybe it was foolish to suffer so much for a reason like that. She didn't have a lot of experience, but she wasn't naive and she knew that sometimes men allowed themselves to have unimportant adventures to vent their needs without compromising the honor of their betrothed before marriage.
She didn't like that idea at all, but it was rather widespread and no one would be amazed because of that.
The fact that Guy could have behaved like most of the other men hurt her, but perhaps she was the one who was deluded.
In moments like that, she felt stronger the absence of a mother who could give her some advice.
She felt confused, angry and sad at the same time.
The only sure thing is that I love him.
Marian put her horse into a trot, a little heartened by that last thought.
She loved Guy despite everything, they got over huge obstacles together and suffered painful wounds. It wouldn't be a detail like that to ruin everything.
She did not know if she could forget her suspicions and certainly she wouldn't give up looking for the culprit who left the bite, but she would try to soften her resentment and to behave normally.
She began turning towards Allan with an apologetic smile and the young man returned it promptly, accepting that offer of peace.
"As we go to Nottingham we could take the opportunity to look for something to give to Djaq and Will as a present."
"Why?" Marian asked, curious.
"A wedding present. They decided to get married."
"Really? I'm happy for them!" She said with a smile, and she was sincere, but inside she couldn't help but wonder why Guy still had not made his proposal.