The Good Wife

Authors Note: Okay so this is in my head and I had to write it, I'm not sure if it's a one shot or weather or not I will write more. You guys will have to tell me. So please review.

The Good Wife

Lady Marian Gisborne does not want for anything. In the new England, where nobility no longer buys you power or respect or security she is one of the lucky few. Her husband's friendship with the Sheriff of Nottingham and thus with King John has earned her a life that will never see a wave, nor a disruption, she will live in peace and comfort until she takes her last breath, for that she is grateful.

Her husband is a good man. He treats her well, every night when he returns home he bring with him an expensive gift, sometimes jewellery, sometimes one of the many horses she so adores, and a kiss on the lips. He loves her; that much is painfully obvious, sometimes his intensity scares Marian for she knows she is not just his wife or his lover, she is his obsession.

Marian knows the responsibility of being Guy's wife is great. He is second to the Sheriff, who in turn is second to the King. She is married to one of the most important men in all of England and she knows she must behave as such. Her usual pursuits are abandoned, she no longer uses her body as a physical weapon, she does not practice with a sword or bow and arrow, nor does she use one of her many horses, her many gifts, to gallop wildly through the greenwood. That is the stuff of men. She understands that.

Learning how to cook and embroidery was not an easy task, especially when she had to do it under the nose of her new husband; he thought she knew how to do all of these things. In truth, these were crafts she should have learned as a girl, but she had been a stubborn child, growing up without a mother she had been more inclined to play with the young boys then to sit and learn to sew and her father had allowed it, he could not deny her. She wore her mother's face.

Guy had also been kind in providing for her father, now old in age. He had found a nice home for him to live, a maid to wait upon him and men to protect him from the dangers of the woods.

Yes, Marian had a good home in Locksley, a fine husband who loved her, precious jewels, pretty dresses, and a father who was well cared for, she does not want for anything. She is a good wife.

Marian hears one of her maids approach; she turns from the view of the kitchen window and saw Jane enter holding Marian's most precious gift, her daughter, Lucy. Jane bows to her and greets her formally, as is insisted upon by the Lord of the Manor, before she hands Lucy to her mother's waiting arms. Marian takes her child greedily and dismisses Jane.

She does not thank her.

Marian smiles down on her young daughter who smiles back at her with adoration her blue eyes sparkling. Lucy's birth nearly a year ago seemed to solidify Marian's position of superiority in the new England, an heir to the Gisborne legacy. Guy was ecstatic to learn of Marian's pregnancy and began full preparations for the birth of his son. To say he was disappointed was probably an understatement, he had longed for a son to carry on the Gisborne name instead he got a daughter, but he could not stay too angry she was still a Gisborne and she too wore the face of her mother.

Lucy rests her head against her mother's chest and in doing so gives Marian a sense of peace that only she can provide. People say Lucy wears her mother's face; there has not been even a whisper of her resembling her father since her birth. This is both a shock and a relief to Marian, she sees Lucy's father more then she sees herself. Her traits are obvious, the dark curls, the smooth skin but her father is there too, the angle of her cheeks, the shape of her eyes and that glint that sparkles in them.

In Marian's eyes, Lucy wears her father's face.

Marian watches as the sun sets and knows it is time for her to prepare for dinner and her husbands return home. She sighs as she realizes she has left her preparations too late, again. She calls for Jane and hands Lucy to her with a departing kiss to her head.

Marian makes her way to the kitchen which holds two different cooks and a series of servers. Lady Gisborne has one of the staffs in all of England. Lady Gisborne does not want for anything. She instructs the cooks to prepare her husbands favourite as the servers go about preparing the dining room. Once she is satisfied that everything is in order she retires to her bed chamber to change and dress in an attire she knows her husband will prefer to the green dress she wears now.

He has never liked her in green.

Jane has laid out a dark red low cut dress on her bed. Jane, a loyal servant, knows her husband's tastes well as does his wife. She knows this dress will satisfy him, even encourage him to try and conceive the son he so desperately wants. She sighs as she dresses and fixes her hair in a bun on top of her hair. When she has finishes she comes downstairs where Jane awaits her, she tells her that she has put Lucy to bed. Marian nods and Jane is dismissed.

A nod is the best that Jane can hope for.

A servant pulls out a chair and Marian sits and takes a sip of the wine that another servant, Theresa, has poured. The warm liquid is soothing and she relaxes into the chair as she awaits her husband's return. Time passes and the moon is high in the sky when she hears the sound of hooves on the ground, she straightens her posture in the chair. He didn't like it when she slumped.

Marian waited for her husband to walk through the door but instead she heard a knock. Nodding towards Theresa, she went and answered the door, returning moments later with a folded piece of parchment. Marian doesn't need to read it, she already knows what it says but she does anyway.

"Theresa," she says, "Please inform the cooks that my husband has been kept at the castle and will not be returning tonight. I shall be dining alone."

Theresa nodded and scampered off to the kitchen as Marian gently folded the parchment and placed it on the table. Marian knows the words written in her husbands hand are a falsehood. He is not needed at the castle Marian knows this is an excuse to see his mistress and work out his frustration that he has not conceived a son with his wife despite weeks and weeks of trying. She takes a sip of her wine and her dinner is brought to her, she eats it without the shame of knowing that her husband is betraying her. Marian is a good wife, she will not confront him; she will allow him his affair because she knows she will never have to deal with the public humiliation. His mistress will never carry a child with the Gisborne lineage. She cannot.

Marian finishes her meal and announces her intention to retire for the night. She leaves the servants bowing as she ascends the stairs. She checks on Lucy, who is sleeping soundly, she kisses her forehead and she departs not wanting to wake her precious gift.

Marian silently enters her bed chamber and finds that she is not alone. Jane is there, dressed in Marian's night gown, her long dark curls, so similar to Marian's, flowing down her back, in her hands, she holds a servants dress of a plain green.

Marian smiles.

She rushes to Jane and embraces her. In public all Jane can hope for from the powerful Lady Gisborne is just a nod and cool indifference, in private she can receive anything from her close friend Marian.

Jane helped Marian dress in the plain green and helped her as Marian made her escape down the greenery that has attached itself to the former manor of Locksley now known as Gisborne, though she can't bare to call it that. In the darkness she rushed to the stables where she finds her horse, Vesper, already saddled and waiting to go, bags of food attached to him. She smiled and mentally she thanked Theresa.

Mounting Vesper she sent the horse into a gallop, bursting out of the stables. Any who saw her, in her simple dress would think she a servant sent on a daunting task by the Lord and Lady Gisborne not the lady herself. She drives her trusted horse faster and faster, keeping a trained eye on the moon. He will not be there forever. She gives her horse one more kick and although seemingly impossible Vesper quickens her pace, understanding the importance of her mistresses journey.

Into the dept of Sherwood Forest Marian manoeuvres Vesper around the various traps despite her speed. Mistress and animal have travelled this road many times before. Marian slows her horse as she nears the familiar spot; the water is what she sees first, the moon beams dancing off of the glistening surface. Marian looks around frantically trying to calm her frenzied heartbeat as she checks the position of the moon, which is slowly beginning to disappear behind a mass of dark clouds.

She's late. He's not there. She cannot see him. Had she been wrong about him? Her throat threatens to close and she feels the familiar catch in her chest as a sob begins to emerge but before any tears could fall he appears before her. Like a ghost from the shadows. He smiles at her and she smiles back. Frozen in place as they most once again acknowledge that fact that before the sun rises she will be back on her horse and leaving him.

Robin of Locksley. He was a crusader, the Earl of Huntingdon, Lord of Locksley Manor and the man she was once engaged to marry, but that was before the uprising, before King John stole the throne from Richard the Lionheart and began to choke the country. He is now Robin of Sherwood, Robin of the Hood. An outlaw. A Threat. The greatest hope England has left.

Robin Hood.

Robin was one of the many who fought for Richard, fought and lost, just as her father had. Most who had fought for Richard were hanged immediately, Robin and a few others managed to escape with Richard, get him to safety so one day they could take England back and restore it to its former glory. He had sworn to her he would rescue her father from the gallows but she knew his first priority had to be Richard so she had to save her father and the only way to do that was to give her hand to Guy of Gisborne.

Her father now lives in a hut under house arrest, surrounded by guards who are there not to protect him but to make sure that Robin or the rest of the rebellion do not liberate him.

She slips from her horse, removes her wedding ring and walks towards him; he smiles at her, that mischievous glint, the one he shares with his daughter, dancing in his sparkling blue eyes. He embraces her and she rests her head on his chest and she feels loved and at peace. Only Robin and their daughter can make her feel like this.

She tells him off the food she brought, food he will deliver to the people as she cannot. She would not be granted a reprieve if her kindness was discovered. She is already the daughter of a traitor and holds the love of an outlaw; she must be as cruel as her husband if she is to spare her father and her daughter.

Robin tells her he does not care for the food tonight. He hasn't seen her weeks; Guy has made sure of that. It is a welcome relief to Marian not to have to share her husband's bed. After two years she still shivers and recoils from his touch, but she knows he will return, he wants a son, but she knows that he will never have one.

Lucy may bare the Gisborne name but she is not a Gisborne and neither will any other child Marian bares. Guy of Gisborne cannot have children. They will all be of Robin's blood.

Robin smiles at her, "How is my daughter?"

"Well, she's like you."

Guy never asks of Lucy's wellbeing when she is not around whereas it is something Robin needs to know ever second of every day. He wanted her to run away when she found out she was pregnant, to come to the forest with him but she could not abandoned her father and even though it angered him, Robin understood.

In a world where loyalty no longer means anything, it is something they can not afford to lose.

Robin pulls at the string around her neck and from the corset of her dress comes a leather pouch. His eyes twinkle as he opens it and pulls out her green engagement ring, the one he gave her. He slides it on her finger, it matches her dress.

He has always loved her in green.

Robin kisses her softly, lovingly; it is nothing like how Guy kisses her. Guy's kiss is a mark of ownership, showing that he owns her whereas Robin's reminds her how she holds his heart and how he holds hers.

Their kiss deepens, hands explore each other's bodies as they begin to shed their clothes and the clouds cover the moon, hiding them from sight. Sometimes Marian interprets this as a sign, that God, or the universe or whatever unknown power exists wants them together. As she does.

As they fall to the ground Marian thinks about how she always intended to be true to her vows to Guy. To be a good wife. How hard she tried to resist Robin and her heart and her body's desire for him, but she could not. Everybody has a weakness and he is hers just as she is his.

As their love making comes to an end and she lies in the grass, entangled with her lover, Marian wonders if perhaps Guy will have his son after all and she wonders if Robin will be able to survive another of his children calling Guy of Gisborne father.

Her thoughts end when she feels light feathered kisses on her neck, Robin smiles at her and again they continue, giving themselves to each other in every way they can.

Marian is a good wife. She is obedient. She cares for her husbands needs above her own. She never speaks out of turn or asks for anything. She understands her place and her place is a step behind her husband.

Marian is a good wife.

Robin kisses her as they make love.

Except when she's not.