I absolutely adore this. I just have no words. I love it. Such gorgeous, wonderful writing. It gave me so many feelings.

This was gorgeous.

It's great. Thank you

My goodness, that was absolutely beautiful! So painfully beautiful.

I think you captured the essence of Guy's pained soul so beautifully and fully that it is almost like a mirror into his thoughts. I always thought BBC made a huge mistake in not keeping Guy and marian together, but like you said, one must face reality, and although your last paragraph was mind-wrenching...that is what made it enjoyable!

Beutiful.

You have an beautiful writting style . Truly you have opened Guy's soul and allowed the reader to see inside. The ending was almost to hard to bear. Thank you :)

The imagery at the end was wonderful. "a fortress made of sand, and the waves had washed it away."

I've already reviewed this on LiveJournal, but I must say it again - this is just lovely. The way you capture Guy's emotions (and, indirectly, Marian's), the beauty and lyricism of the language ... amazing, just amazing. I am completely in awe of your writing.

I especially love how the vignettes segue from the early courtship to Marian's stay at the castle to ... Dead Marian. And the waking up ... gah.

This is such an amazing passage:

"Her skirts were sometimes red, and when they twisted and danced around her ankles, he was ensnared, tangled in their folds. He had buried a hand once in one of her dresses, to imagine that it was buried in the silk of her hair. The pain of want had almost undone him.

Without realizing it, he'd started to build a life around her. He'd started to construct a castle, the sole purpose of which was to guard her at its center, to hold her forever in security and stand as eternal witness to the enduring power of a woman when loved by a man.

Stone upon stone, he built."

And this:

"He felt something loosen inside, and he was ashamed and thrilled to realize he hadn't been breathing after all. He exhaled. She met his eyes. Twin heavens, winter oceans, and he gazed into them, lifted and lost.

Sometimes he looked at the stars and wondered what heaven was like. He didn't think he would ever get to find out – his crimes were too many, his repentance too hesitant. But it wasn't all despair. He didn't need heaven, not when he had her hand in his, not when he had her smile, her faith, her goodness. She didn't bestow any of it willingly, but sometimes, only sometimes, he caught himself doing a selfless thing, and she would, every once in a while, look upon him as if he was someone she'd never met. Sometimes she would look at him as if he was a man she was proud to know."

Better stop here or I will end up quoting all of it!

Okay, my heart is totally ripped out now!

Beautiful story! Nothing quite like Guy angst, and when it's this well-written...*sigh*