Guy walked the halls of the Editor's manor, his mind racing. He had seen Alan's final moments, and he knew the Editor had done it to him. In fact, the Editor had attempted to trap Guy in Cinderella's Story as well, but he had managed to escape at the last moment.

He was pleased that Rachel had escaped, of course, but he knew the death of Alan would devastate her, and, to be honest, he was greatly upset by the death of the bard. They may have been enemies at some point, but that time was long past. Guy felt especially bad because he should have been able to save him.

"Sir Guy." He turned around and faced Queen Mal. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her, a disinterested expression. She smirked at him. "The Editor wishes to see you, Sir Guy."

"How nice for the Editor. Considering that she just tried to kill me, it might be in my best interest to wait before going to see her," Guy retorted.

Mal mirrored Guy's disinterested expression teasingly. "You have a handsome face, Sir Guy," she commented. "I'd hate to see it get written out."

"That is not my concern," Guy replied.

Mal rolled her eyes dramatically. "Oh, so noble," she said. "One could almost forget...that you are a villain."

Guy withheld a retort. He recalled with gut-wrenching clarity Alan's death, and how he had done nothing to stop it. Mal was right; he was a villain. And most likely, since Guy had stood by and done nothing to prevent Alan's dying, Rachel had probably cemented that in her mind. He was a villain now, and it seemed like nothing he could do would ever change that. That hurt him, but he couldn't undo what he had done, and he had to believe in his heart that what he was doing was the right thing to protect Rachel. "Fine," he said, putting as much reluctance in his voice as possible. "I'll go and see the Editor."

Mal winked. "Best of luck," she said, actually sounding sincere. She had this strange fascination with Guy, perhaps wondering why a villain would want to marry a Guardian. Guy tended to shrug off her weird obsession with him.

Guy chose to simply sigh and walked down the hall to the Editor's study. He considered going in without knocking but decided against it. He was walking a thin line already as it was; he didn't need an angry Editor to make it even worse. He knocked. "Enter." The Editor's voice was calm. That was good, Guy thought. If she was angry, that would probably not have been so good.

Guy entered the posh study, decorated from floor to ceiling with bookshelves along the walls. The Editor sat at the desk, her back to Guy, her red hair flowing down the back of the black leather chair. He had never seen her face; she never turned around. "Guy of Gisborne," she said. "I'm impressed. I thought you would have been trapped in that Story had you not found the door I secreted away."

"You were testing me."

"So I was," the Editor agreed. "And you passed excellently, I might add."

Guy held his hands behind his back to hide the fact that they were clenched in fists of rage. "Alan didn't."

"That bard?" the Editor said casually. "He was expendable. If he couldn't escape from Cinderella's Story without help...well, he simply wasn't worth Rachel Andric's time. That girl, however, is a worthy foe indeed. Which is what will make it an even sweeter victory when I destroy her with the person closest to her heart." Guy's blood froze at the Editor's tone of voice.

"You promised me—" Guy stammered.

"I promised you I wouldn't force you to kill her," the Editor interrupted. "As entertaining as that might be...the die have been cast. Everything is becoming clear to her; all the pieces are in place. And you, my poor, lovesick villain, were simply a pawn who has outlived his usefulness."

"Go ahead, then," Guy spat, furious. "Write me out! Make me undergo Final Death. What difference does it make to me? If you're going to kill Rachel, it isn't worth living the life you want me to anymore."

"Patience, my puppet," the Editor said smoothly, undeterred by the fury in Guy's voice. "I have no need to kill you. I simply don't need you in my way anymore. At every turn you somehow managed to break my control in some small, inconvenient way that is most annoying. I really don't know why I've kept you around for so long. Perhaps I have a soft spot for hopeless causes. Nonetheless, you have helped Will Scarlet escape and have attempted to divulge information about me to my enemies. I simply can't have you in my way anymore. You'll wait out the rest of this war in a prison cell."

"No I won't!" Guy exclaimed, drawing his sword and lunging at the Editor. She spun the chair around and stood, her pen pointed at him. He froze, unable to move.

"Hm," she said. Her face was unconcerned, her dark eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I was expecting a little more of a fight, Guy. You disappoint me. It seems I gave you too much credit."

Guy barely heard her words. He was staring at her face, unable to tear his eyes away. She looked extremely familiar. Red hair, dark eyes, that young face... "Will," he gasped, the word tearing at his throat as he forced it out of unmoving lips. The Editor cocked her head, regarding him with the slight interest that a hunter examined its prey with.

"So," she said, "you recognized it. Yes, Will is related to me; in fact, he is my son. Andric!"

The call took Guy by surprise. She released him, and he toppled to the floor, the sword falling from his grasp. He reached for it, but a heavy boot came down on the blade and crushed Guy's fingers. He grunted in pain.

"Pick up the sword," the Editor ordered. She was not speaking to Guy.

The owner of the boots leaned down and picked up the sword, relieving the pressure on Guy's broken fingers. Guy crawled to his knees, clutching the broken fingers in his other hand. It was only then that he looked up at the man who had so kindly snapped the bones in his three fingers.

"It...can't be," Guy said, inhaling sharply as he met the cold blue eyes of his attacker.

Ewan Andric leveled the sword at Guy's neck. "Stand and walk. You are going to the prison," he ordered.