Prequel to a Wedding [1x12 "Return of the King" continued]

[queenofmay]

It was dark where she was. Dark and warm and sleepy. Marian thought it would be bliss if she could stay there forever.
But someone was calling her name. From far away. Over and over and over. Louder and louder.
And then suddenly her cheek burned, and she mumbled, trying to pull away.
Why did her body feel so heavy, so cold?

Her vision and her mind were blurred because of the wine. She remembered now. They kept giving her wine, to dull the pain.

There it was. Her name again. Closer. A different voice though. Was it Robin? Oh, it was. She loved his voice.

His face was sharpening. His gentle concern and need to rouse her causing her to complain a little only.

"I should go home," she told him, watching him stroke the hair hanging down beside her face. "My father will be worried."

"All in good time."

"I'm a nuisance."

"Yes, you are."

Marian smiled, "You're supposed to say no."

Robin leaned in, tapping her nose lightly, "And you should be at home doing your embroidery."

She smiled even more, only to be distracted by Much's sudden arrival.

"Here is the paste. And the instruments are--uhh-- coming." All bluster and panic. She raised her head, woozier now that she had been, as she watched him. Confused. He was rushing and blustering. Stuttering. He didn't do that except when something was... "And Djaq is coming. And I'm sure, I'm--"

"I'm sure, I'm sure," Marian repeated after him, brows quirking.

"I am sure," Much said, looking even paler.

"I am sure." Marian let her head fall back on the bed, eyes flickering closed (and how she felt the longing not to open then). "He is reassuring. I am sure, I am sure is not."

"I am sure!" He said quickly, rubbing his hands on his pants. "It's just--Djaq is very--uh--"

"Djaq is very what?"

"I'll shut up."

"Good idea," Robin said. Calmly.

Was it too calmly?

"Yeah. I'll go." Much was nodding, and bobbing, and then turned around to leave. Except he didn't. He darted toward her, holding out another wine sack, rambling about needing her to drink it (all of it) now.

Then he was gone, and she was left murmuring his name. He meant well. Much always meant well, even if it didn't always come across that way. Her head turned, wobbly, too look back up at Robin. "What could Djaq have told him?"

He didn't look up at first. And then he did look at her. And then he looked away.

Marian kept her voice free of trembling, "It is not good is it?"

Robin simply stared at her.

She tried to reach out an arm to him. It didn't move right. So she asked, "Tell me? The truth?"

He shook his head, voice lower, not so calm now. "Maybe not so good."

Raising the wine skin he told her to drink. It tasted different this time. There was a lot of wine, but there was something else in it now, too. Djaq returned, and Marian realized she wasn't looking at her anymore. Not in more than glances. Especially when she started.

"I will cut you open. If I can find the damage I will sew you up."

Robin walked away, hand on his hips, and Marian felt her heart race as she leaned up. The word 'damage' echoed in her head. She shouldn't but she couldn't keep herself from doing it. "What are my chances?"

"If I do not do this: none." Djaq was looking at her with those black eyes. So blank and yet there was emotion beneath it. She was sure. "If I do: very little."

Marian laid her head back again, letting out a shuddering breath, that dredged pain with its force. She was trying not to let the panic at the edges of her overwhelm her thoughts. Djaq's voice reached her through that din even when she didn't look back anymore.

"My father treated the wounded in the battlefield. He said never lie to a wounded man."

There were tears in Marian's eyes now and voice was hoarser. "Or was it-- never lie to a dying man?"

"He said that, too." She dashed out without anything further, and Marian's eyes followed her, only to return to where Robin stood, blocking the entrance watching her.

"So," Marian marshaled her self, swallowing. "Never lie to a dying man."

"You are not going to die." He said, not moving. "And I have never lied to you."

"Oh, come on." Marian grit her teeth as she picked herself up to move a foot into the bed. She wanted to see him better if she had to do this. Her body was starting to feel more and more like a lead weight she couldn't move, and the movement sent sharp pains in her abdomen that then shattered outward in all directions. "We have never once spoken the truth to each other."

"Now is not the time to argue."

The note of quiet pleading in his voice was more terrifying than his words.

"Do not tell me when it is the time to argue."

Robin turned away with a laugh, which cause her to smile in confusion. "What?"

"Well, I do not think there can be much wrong you," he parried at her.

Marian frowned slightly, tilting her head into the blankets, her voice not raising to the bait. "I'm serious. We have never once spoken the truth to each other. For instance, I call you a fool when I mean you are a hero. I criticize your actions and then mimic them, myself, as the Nightwatchman. I chastise Robin Hood--"

"Shh." He said. Not erring closer.

"I will not be shushed! These might be my last words." Marian spoke as clearly as she could, trying to keep her voice level.

"No they will not be, they can not be," he said finally. Quieter. He opened his mouth to speak and started pacing, only to stop both, and stare at her. "Because we should be together."

Her head tilted, watching his face. Tears were at the edges of her eyes. Why were they so stubborn? Why did it taking dying for them to say anything real?

"I should never have left you. I should never have gone to war. It was a mistake." He came closer to her finally, leaning down on the bed. "You were right. I wanted glory. But, believe me, the battlefield is the last place you'll find it."

"You would've always regretted it if you hadn't of gone."

"But not as much as I regret going." His face was so close, and yet it was so blurry. It was all amazing and it was unfair. "Not as much as I regret losing you. Marian I should not have gone."

"Robin-" Marian started, her voice cracking.

"I-" he said.

And Djaq walked in behind him. "I love you, you love me. We all love each other. Drink the wine."

More wine was poured down her throat, but then the bag was lost.

Then everything was lost in screaming as the stitches were ripped back out.

Somewhere Marian knew Robin was holding her, but even that didn't stop her being swallowed into the black.