1 | master of arms [gisborne]

Forty-four part two

"I'm not going in there. It's a leper's house," Robin said disgusted, stopping at the alleyway that connected their homes together.

"Shut your mouth," Guy demanded, spinning around.

"Why? It's true. Your fathers a leper!"

"Shut up!" Guy yelled, and charged at Robin.

"Guy! No!" Before a brawl could break out, Linda pulled Guy away and pushed him near the wall to their home. "It's a good thing your father isn't here to see this. He'd kill you because of your behavior."

"Oh, so you're taking his side now?"

"I'm taking my own side, which is the reasonable side."

Guy growled and pushed her and Robin out of the way, storming away.

"Hey!" Robin yelled.

"Robin, no more," demanded Malcolm.

"But he just—!"

"Imagine you had lost what he has lost!" Malcolm snapped, pointing a reprimanding finger at his son. "Go and find him. Make your apologies. Go!"

Robin groaned and ran off. Linda sighed. "I'll go with him, my lord, make sure Guy doesn't rip him in half."

*****

Robin chuckled. "It was a good thing she came, or else you would've torn me limb from limb."

"And you would've deserved it," Guy practically growled.

"But as soon as you and your friend left, Robin, your father and Ghislaine had a visitor," said the man.

"Longthron." Guy clenched his fists and stood, pacing back and forth.

He nodded. "Yes. That night when Ghislaine met with Malcolm in the forest, he was watching them. He knew about the baby. He threatened that if he didn't get the land he deserved, her secret would be spread to the public. Your father agreed, Robin, and Longthron was pleased. But what he didn't know was that Ghislaine and Malcolm were to be married two days after Sir Roger was declared a leper."

"They never married," Robin pointed out.

"No. They only ever planned to." The man looked at Guy, he of which had finally gotten done pacing and had his arms crossed. "Didn't they, Guy?"

Robin craned his neck toward Guy. He looked to the floor.

"You knew?"

Guy swallowed and made eye contact with the outlaw, voice low and steady. "I found out." He sighed. "I saw my mother making her way into the forest. And so I followed. She still loved him. I was so angry. She told me that I had to forget him, pretend that he didn't exist. Yet here she was, denying me my father."

He took a breath. "So I met her in the forest, scaring her half to death. I demanded why she was doing exactly what she told me not to do, and she told me that she could not leave him. I brought up Malcolm, told her I knew the way he looked at her. She told me he was a good man, and that they were to be married on Saturday. Of course, I was shocked, but she made me tell no one, especially you, Hood. That's when she felt pain, and she collapsed to her knees. She made me run for help." He let out a few breaths, his voice quiet. "I never ran so fast. I thought that—"

"She was in labor," the man said.

Guy turned his head slowly to Robin, then to the man. "I see that now."

Robin put on a thinking face. "What happened to the baby?"

"Your father had the baby was to be taken to a safe place until the parents could marry and reclaim him," the man explained, pausing for a few moments. "But that was the last he or Ghislaine ever saw of their son."