I love how you are non-apologetic in writing out Robin and crew.

"Dead," he said flatly. "They were all dead when I found you." In truth, he had not bothered to check, but they had looked dead enough, and in any case they couldn't be any deader by now.

How lovely! Although Guy spared a thought for Allan after the fact, that was nice.

"I should kill you." Her whisper was harsh and vicious in the night. "You helped kill the King. Because of you, my friends are dead." Her voice shook. "My love is dead. England is dead. Give me one reason why I should not do this."

Guy swallowed hard. "Then do it. End it now," he said hoarsely. He felt the sting of the blade and wondered if she really would – and if he wanted her to. Her hand trembled, and the sharp edge of the metal scraped his skin, making him flinch.

"I cannot," she said brokenly.

Nicely evokes canon Robin here. I had to ask myself why would Marian not do it, but then Guy pulls the old reverse psychology trick that works every time.

I'm really enjoying the horror of Guy having gotten the girl only to find she is little more than an unhappy shade, all because of what he did. I hope Guy enjoys his angst as much as I do. Probably not.

At that moment, so dark was the night of his soul that dying together seemed an almost desirable consummation: to hold her in his arms as death closed upon them, to let their blood mingle, to see her face as his vision dimmed, to share their last breath. She would be with Hood in the next world; but in this one, her final moments would be all his.

Sooooo beautiful, tragic. He is still being possessive and jealous, but knows now that he will lose her to Hood when she dies. This reminds me of the song “Meet Me on the Equinox” by Death Cab for Cutie. I know it is forever linked to the Twilight series soundtrack, but I managed to hear it before I knew that, and have always thought it fitting for Marian.

He looked up at her, incredulous. "Is that what this is to be? You married me to make me pay for my crimes?"

Marian: “No, but that's a brilliant idea!”

Then she said, "Take me to bed."

He stared at her, his heart pumping so wildly that a small pain jabbed at his chest with every beat. "You want – "

"Take me to bed, Guy."

I love the image of Guy being flabbergasted by this. I like how the love scene keeps to the theme of Guy trying to do right by Marian, basically letting her dictate whether things will happen or not.

Oh, how Vaisey would have laughed at him if he could actually see him now. Really, Gisborne, what's the point of having power if you don't know how to enjoy it?

Even dead, Vaisey wins. :-)

"I know that you will use it to support things that could make my life very difficult," he said. "And possibly quite short."

She jerked her head slightly, as if to say no; but her eyes were fearless. "And yet – you choose this."

"I choose you." He drew her close, gathering her into his arms, and shut his eyes at the unbearable sweetness of holding her.

Oh this is so fucking sweet! Like the nicest thing he could ever do! Oh Guy, you are such a moron, but at least you know now how much trouble she's going to get you into.

"Why you were not there to meet him. I told him you weren't well. He said he had looked forward to meeting you. He gave me this look – " Guy tries for a way to describe it, then gives up and gives a frustrated headshake. "Perhaps it was nothing. He likes to unsettle people."

Knowing John it's probably just an “I want to sleep with your hot wife, so where's she at?” look.

"My advantage," he repeats slowly. "You mean, you could help negotiate a surrender – arrange a deal so that your friends would leave me my life. And nothing else." Bitterness simmers in his voice, and the warmth of her hand on his brow does not soothe it away entirely.

This feels so much like they are playing a game of chess together, one that Guy is afraid both to win or to lose.

"I could give it up," she says in a small voice.

A little reverse psychology on her part now.

Whew! You had me going thinking that Marian was going to be an emotional wreck at the end, since the beginning made it seem that way (as I'm sure you intended). Glad that was not the case. It is believable that Marian never discarded her principles, even when joining with Guy, although I tend to think she would have ditched Guy and taken up her nightwatchman role again upon returning to England (since she had nothing left to lose). And while I could see Guy giving up his life for her (because he is awfully careless with it), I'm not sure I can see him putting so much of his power in her hands. But maybe after such emotional turmoil it would shake them both out of their default mindset.

It was nice to imagine them as Lord and Lady of Nottingham, if only for a little while (before the castle is put under siege, and they have to deal with being on opposite sides of the walls, ugh!)

¡OMG!

I started to watch 'Robin Hood' a few days ago... and I'm in love with the story, but above all with Guy and Marian, I don't know, but they... they likes me a lot, ok, I'm a dreamer... Your history really likes me!

Wonderful story, congrats on that. I would love to read more and see how it develops.

May I say that your style is superior to that of most of the other "fanfictionists". (Not to mention that here I can trust to read a story without loads of typos or simply wrong spellings, grammatical errors ... those are really annoying and irritating.) Apart from good style it is a pleasure to read stories written by someone who has evidently some background knowledge and also some experience of life.

Hope you will soon write more Guy fics!

I am speechless! What a beautiful story.

You are a very gifted writer and I will be working my way through you other stories.

Just revisiting. Still like this take on the Guy-Marian relationship very much.

Aside of the story itself I like especially your writing style.

I found this story through Caty and I'm so glad I did! The journey you have the characters take is convincing and absolutely gripping, I love it! I especially liked the method of taking the narrative full circle, starting and ending with John's suspicions.

This is the second time I've read your story, and I loved it more this time than the first!

Lovely, true to character, and passionate without being grossly graphic. I love your work. Please, please write more. This was stunning.

I am amazed.

I could actually *see* everything happening as I read every action and every word. (Except for the semi-explicit parts, which I skipped over. I die for my 'ship :P)

But wow. This could have totally replaced Season 3 and I'd have accepted it happily.

You, my dear LadyKate, are inspirational.

Wow. This was an amazing take on the story. I loved it. It was so well written. You definitely changed the dynamic between Guy and Marian and yet you kept them so in-character. You should be very proud of this creation. Is there a sequel? I'd like to see how they navigate the murky waters between King John and Arthur's rebellion. That would be a chancey endeavor. Perhaps Guy will get tired of trying to keep the fickle John happy and decide to lead the rebellion? I had this dream one time where he was with the barrons at Runnymeade when they forced John to sign the Magna Carta in 1216. He'd be getting older then, probably pushing 60, but I can't imagine Guy not being formidable, even at that age!

Guh. iiigiuhkjj. I'm speechless. xyvwdlj!

This was made of awesome. Can Guy/Marian be any more perfect? You just KNOW he would be this selfless if he had the hope of her love. Argh. So beautiful.

Great job! There was a great progression of plot, and both of them were perfectly in character. Normally, I absolutely despise Marian, but you managed to make me feel sorry for her! XD

And, of course, the Guy angst and Vaisey nightmares were spot on _

~Katelyn

This is fabulous!

I've read a lot of what you wrote for Xena, and all of a sudden I pop in to do a reread and you have Robin Hood BBC too? XD

This is really a beautiful., much more organic progression to Guy's storyline, and the Guy/Marian angle is amazingly done. It's the first story that really deals with the ramifications of the lies in their relationship and guys particular psyche with his change and Marian's past with the outlaws.

And I do adore how you brought in Vasey's creepiness in Guy's dreams and such. All your character voices are just spot-on.

Finally found myself some reading time, and what a wonderful read it was too. One word - perfect. Jadey x

Very nicely written! I have to admit, a part of me hates this story because Allan is...unavailable as a character...but it was very well written. As for angst-Good God! That was angst to the Nth power. I actually pitied Marian a bit, which I normally don't, finding her behavior with Guy reprehensible. And poor Guy! I've never wanted to comfort him more! The whole time I was reading this, I was thinking, "You know, Guy, no one would be suspicious if she wound up at the bottom of Locksley Pond...I'm just sayin'."

That was beautiful. It's one of the best Guy/Marian stories I've ever read. You've stayed true to the characters and I love how you get to the heart of the matter with Guy.

It was very touching, very moving. I feel terrible for not reading your work sooner; it's lovely.

I have only one suggestion: this should probably be rated M, not T. It gets a little descriptive in areas.

Beautiful, Lady Kate.