[WATTYS2023 - GERMAN WINNER/Most Engaging World] ** Marian, a thieving nobleman's daughter with too big a heart, meets Robin Hood, a daring thief with a huge ego. Will they be able to overcome pain, longing, and, finally the cruel Sheriff of Notting...
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A loud pounding on the chamber door drove through the heavy curtain of silence and cut it like a sharp blade. Behind the door, the metallic clang of keys was heard first, followed by the click of the lock. Quickly Marian recognized Guy's broad shoulders in the doorway, and it was not only the night that cast shadows on his features.
"Earl De Burgh," he greeted politely, his arm in front of his chest and his upper body indicated in a bow, in the always polite manner of well-bred decorum.
"Sir of Gisborne," her father replied in the same vein, nodding to the young man. There was an unusual distance between them. The tension, which could not be overlooked or denied, immediately made Marian a little more nervous.
"I will check on you again later or tomorrow morning. Have courage, my child." The Earl kissed his daughter's forehead; then the father left the chamber. His conscience was relieved of a few secrets but with a worrying burden in his heart.
The chains rattled as Marian rose and returned to her place by the window. Although the chair's cushion was meant to soften her, she might as well have sat on a pin cushion, so restless was she in Guy's presence. A few seconds of unbearable silence melted away like melting snow, then Guy spoke out what was burning incessantly in his mind:
"What have you done, Marian?"
The maiden turned her eyes to him, and even now, she sat there so erect and full of pride that Guy could only wonder if this was a mask or reality. He had known her too long not to know that Marian often appeared stronger than she actually was.
"I did what was right."
"Right?" Guy strode into the room, which was disproportionately sparsely furnished. His boots left a dull scuff on the bare wood, and the floorboards groaned in several places. The bed was hardly worthy of a lady of her standing. No down filled the pillows, but hard straws poked through the linen. The walls were undecorated, and there was nothing but bare stone. There were no curtains to keep the wind or night chill out of the windows and no fireplace to warm this chamber of repentance.
"You helped outlaw bandits escape, Marian. You held the Sheriff of Nottingham, my father, at gunpoint and betrayed your father and me," Guy could not stop his voice from trembling. He clenched his hands so tightly that his fingers ached as he stopped an arm's length away from her. "And why is that? Because of Hood?" he literally spat out the name. Robin Hood stood for everything he loathed.
An irresponsible good-for-nothing who was always given everything. Who went to war because his father was too strict and duty too burdensome for him. Robin Hood was a traitor and a dishonorable bastard.
"Why Marian?" Guy couldn't help himself and reach for her shoulder. "Have I not given you everything? I never betrayed you, stood by you, and saved you from being married off to some old baron!" incomprehension and pain darkened the blue-grey eyes. "And then you let him drag you into something like this?" Anger, hatred, disappointment, the feeling of betrayal and despair. Everything was so open between them that it made the air heavy. "How could you do this? How could you betray me like this?"
