The gentle tingling of awareness started first of all with the flickering dappled light dancing across the insides of her eyelids. Orange and yellow and amber and red swirling and melting as a the slow warmth of consciousness seeped into her.

Her chest expanded and she willed it to pull air and life into her lungs. There was something there. Something she had to get to.

Her shoulders shuddered with the effort of dragging herself back from a place she dreaded to return. Then a burning ache to the core of her told her something was wrong.

Opening her mouth she found a crackling, papery dryness where there should have been the moist flesh of her lips, she discovered for the first time the true pain of a raging thirst.

Her thoughts were sluggish, and unable to reach further than the simple task of awakening. Where now were her fingers? Why could she not open her eyes. Her skin itched to move and there was something more.

A shadow crossed the light but her eyes would not open to reveal its maker.

A humming, buzzing noise filled her ears and and she felt her self begin to panic. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. And concentrate. Trying to force connections, if she ignored the buzzing sound could she make her eyelids work?

But the buzzing became louder, and more frantic, no excited and then perhaps familiar.

"The fever is gone, she breathes more easily now"
A woman's voice, a friends voice, a voice to trust.

"Marian. Can you hear me?"
A man's voice, a familiar one but who's?

A trickle of water entered her mouth and she gagged and gasped uncomfortably, but the liquid eased into her and helped the pain of thirst to dull a little.
Tentatively she toyed her tongue around her mouth, pressing it to the palate, forcing herself to swallow more water until she felt able to explore the possibility of speech.

She parted her lips and sensed the closeness as someone, someone fragrant with vanilla and rosewater, the woman most likely then, drew close.

"Guy?"

"Do not be afraid Marian, you are safe now." the woman's voice soothed.

"But Guy?" she gasped as desperately as her ravaged body would allow.

"He will not hurt you again" the man's voice insisted, and she felt a calloused hand press hers comfortingly.

"Is Guy safe?" she demanded. Why would they not understand her?

"Tell me, I must know, is Guy of Gisbourne safe?