A Battle of Wills - Chapter 5
At the first peal of thunder, Marian awoke. As large as the wooden vessel had at first appeared, the way it was being buffeted by the winds made her feel like all of its planks would snap in two at any moment. If only there was a window in the cabin, then perhaps she would not have felt so trapped. The way the King’s ship pitched and tossed in the stormy sea made her feel ill. She leant across to light a candle and swallow down some mulled wine.
Marian then turned over and watched Guy’s chest rise and fall. Seeking comfort, she reached out and wrapped her arms around him. Hoping that the steady rhythm would lull her back to sleep, she tentatively placed her cheek against his heart.
Drowsily Guy shifted in his sleep and stroked her back through the thin nightdress. Marian felt thrilled - believing that he had forgiven her. But Guy suddenly sat up, mumbled a barely coherent apology for waking her and then turned over onto his other side.
Marian sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees. She gazed at his back and sighed. She had not been able to scale this wall for more than a week. He was attentive and kind, but also distant and difficult to please.
One minute he was making her a concoction with lemons and ginger to ease her seasickness. The next he was growling at her about overhearing her asking about Robin’s safety on the other vessel. One minute he was stroking her hair back from her sweaty face while she vomited. The next he was slamming the door in her face and spending hours moodily pacing the decks.
Guy was a walking jumble of contradictions and she realised that it was partly because her heart was in pieces. Marian tugged one of the blankets loose and draped it around her shoulders. She thought about Robin’s anger over King Richard ‘banishing’ him to the second vessel. Marian had been humiliated when Robin had insisted that she prove that she had not been injured by Guy.
Once she had haltingly loosened two buttons on her blouse, however, the King had put a stop to it. Richard’s decision to trust Guy’s account had almost led to a duel between them.
Now, whenever she thought of seeing Robin, she thought of the mistrust and jealousy marring his face as he left with Much and the others. Even her farewell to Djaq and Will had been hurried and dissatisfying.
“Let go of her!” Guy suddenly shouted and slammed his fist into the wooden panels with such force that Marian almost fell from the narrow berth as she tried to restrain him. “No! Isabella!” he screamed. “I’m sorry! Isabella! Forgive me!”
“Guy!” Marian exclaimed, wondering who on earth he was screaming about and surprised at how envious it made her to think of him dreaming of another.
“Isabella!”
“Guy! Wake up!” Marian struggled with him as he thrashed about, “You’re going to break your hand! Wake up, Guy!”
Guy twisted around and shoved his back against the rough wall. He glared at her angrily until realisation dawned on his face. Marian reached for a handkerchief and tied it around the knuckles of his right hand. She passed him a goblet of mulled wine. He downed it in two gulps and then handed it to her. She placed it on the small shelf beside the narrow berth and then took the risk of trying to touch him. Guy caught her hand and brought it up to his lips.
He brushed a kiss across her soft skin, “You looked ever so frightened just now, Marian. You looked like you were truly worried about me.”
“I..was... I care about you, Guy...You...you were having a nightmare,” Marian whispered. It was more of a question than a statement. “Who...Who is Isabella?”
Guy dropped her hand and turned over to face the wall. “I would have your love, not your charity. I want passion, not pity.”
“I... How can we come to an understanding if you lock your pain away and never speak of it? Won’t the wounds just fester and kill off the love that sought to heal them?”
Guy glanced back at her, “You would seek to heal me with your love?”
“Yes,” Marian whispered, realising the truth of it as the word escaped her lips.
She waited for him to take her. Surely this was what he wanted - for her to admit that she truly wanted to make love to him. Instead he sat up and merely locked eyes with her.
“I shall tell you about my worst nightmare,” Guy murmured, “if you tell me about yours.”
“I... I...It is painful to speak of it,” Marian replied.
“How can we come to an understanding if you lock your pain away and never speak of it?” he echoed her earlier question.
“I... When I was fifteen, Robin left for the Crusades. It was well known that we were sweethearts. I... Sometime later... I... At one point... When it was believed that Robin was dead... a nobleman from Barnsdale, who thought I was a ‘pretty slip of a thing’ approached my father...”
“Why have I never heard of this?” Guy asked aloud.
“Do you doubt my sincerity?” Marian snapped, “This is difficult for me to talk about and when I have finished, you will see why it is not common knowledge.”
“Forgive me,” Guy murmured, squeezing her hand.
“Well... the nobleman was angry when my father said that he had no wish to form an alliance by uniting me with him... I found the nobleman to be detestable... He was always trying to take liberties, believing that if he compromised my virtue, ‘good old Sir Edward’ would have to consent...”
Guy waited patiently for her to continue. And it was his concerned blue gaze that helped her to continue.
“One night he came to the stables... I had fallen in love with horses... You can always escape much more easily on four legs than two... He told me that there was a powerful man called Vasey who would soon displace my father as Sheriff of Nottingham... It was up to the regent to make such decisions and Vasey was Prince John’s old friend... He said that he had heard of the ‘old sheriffs’ loyal to Richard being poisoned and stabbed in the back... up and down the country.”
“He promised to protect your father, if you married him?” Guy asked, remembering with shame how he had tried to manipulate Marian in the same way.
“Yes and I... I pleaded with him to help me... He took that as me surrendering to him... I screamed and tried to strike him... My mother came running from the house...she died when...”
“He killed your mother!” Guy was aghast.
“No, no,” Marian said, “I... She panicked... she tripped and hit her head... and... Well, it took longer than that for her to die... She lingered for a week...”
“What of this ‘noble man’?” Guy asked angrily, “What did Sir Edward do to him to avenge his wife’s death?”
“Nothing,” Marian said, barely holding back the tears welling in her eyes. “I...was so angry... I trained with some of the older guards who were loyal to my father. He wanted me to be able to protect myself.”
“You became the nightwatchman.” Guy murmured, finally understanding how it all fit together.
“Yes,” Marian whispered, “after Vasey did indeed come, usurp my father’s place and began his reign of tyranny.”
“So, what happened to this nobleman from Barnsdale?” Guy asked, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. “When we return to England, I shall...”
“You shall never even meet him,” Marian murmured. “He is dead... I... cut through the straps on his saddle, just enough so that...”
“He would strike his head on the ground?” Guy asked quietly.
“Yes,” Marian admitted, guiltily bowing her head. “I... I have never told anyone the full story before... Thank you for listening to me...”
Guy leant forward and brushed gentle kisses across her salty cheeks. After a minute he pulled back and Marian wondered if he was going to erect the silent barrier between them once more. Had even the mere mention of Robin’s name angered him?
“I... When Vasey said ‘I should have killed her when I had the chance’ he was not... as you might have assumed after hearing Raello and I discuss it... He was not talking about you.”
“Isabella?” Marian mumbled. “I... If you were in love with another and were separated from her, then... I don’t understand...”
“Isabella is my sister,” Guy said hoarsely. “After my mother’s untimely death, she was forced to marry Sir Henry of Atherton and... he is a very cruel man... He is one of Prince John’s most formidable allies... More than once, Vasey threatened to kill Isabella to force my hand...”
“He made you loyal to him by threatening someone you loved?” Marian asked, squeezing his hand.
“Well, I was my own worst enemy, Marian... I wanted money, position, power, status... I was used to cruelty... I was used to striking others down before I could be struck down... I have committed many atrocities...”
“And now you worry that because... for me... you killed Vasey... that Prince John will kill your sister?”
“Yes,” Guy whispered, “or perhaps Raello was right. Perhaps they will keep her alive and threaten to kill her in front of me... if I do not betray King Richard once more.”
“Oh, Guy,” Marian began to sob.
He pulled her onto his lap and she wrapped her arms and knees around him.
“You...you had to choose between keeping your sister safe... and me, someone who mocked your love... Oh, Guy, I don’t deserve you...”
“And I don’t deserve someone so pure saying that she wishes to heal my pain with her love,” Guy replied, his breath warm against her neck.
Their lips crashed together just as a bolt of lightning struck the ship. The crashes, the cracking of wood and the rush of sudden cold air startled them both. Water began to pour into cabin.
Guy dragged her to her feet and tugged on her arm. “We need to run!”
They scrambled out onto the deck and heard the cacophony of shouts and commands from the small, foreign crew. The men had no idea that it was the King of England on their vessel. The travellers had taken great care to conceal their jewellery and to never use titles.
“Richard, Carter,” Guy shouted and then saw them at the far end of the vessel, looking out to sea.
“Guy, Marian... you’re unhurt?” Richard asked, rubbing his injured side and looking about desperately for one of the other vessels.
A lantern crashed to the deck from the rigging, causing it to catch on fire.
“Marian! No!” Guy yelled as she rushed forward to try to help the men put it out.
“There!” the King pointed, at last seeing another vessel on the moonlit horizon. “If she does sink, we’ll hop on board the next ship.”
As the vessel slowly approached, however, Guy doubted that they were about to be rescued from the tempest. It was clearly not one of the fleet of Mediterranean ships that King Richard had purchased. It was a much smaller vessel and all of its deckhands were heavily armed.
“Oy!” a large man called from its deck. “Need help?”
Guy pulled Marian behind him.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered in his ear, looking over Guy’s shoulder.
“They’re pirates,” he grunted.