02

"Alana please, you must make haste!" wailed her distressed cousin. Alana McKenna paused long enough in her pursuit of picking wild berries to cast an exasperated leer at Lynette as her older cousin paced a groove into the ground, her eyes, a cerulean blue, resembling the azure sky, moved warily around the forest engaging them.

"I won't be long now, Nettie, just let me gather a basket full and we'll be on our way. Agatha's husband is still very ill and I must have these berries to finish my elixir."

Lynette heaved a sigh of frustration as she glared at Alana's back as she bent to pluck handfuls of berries from the surrounding thickets. "Alana 'tis rumored that there are Norman soldiers in the area!" she hissed beneath her breath.

"Nettie!"

Lynette snorted impatiently but refrained from saying anything further; knowing full well that once Alana was set on something there was nothing that would deter her from her purpose, especially when it came to tending the ill for she had the ability to heal with her exceptional knowledge of herbs and medicines.

Alana was a patient woman, having learned to master that emotion when dealing with the unwell, but Lynette however was not, especially in such an area rumored to be swarming with the enemy.

There little village was nestled quite comfortably in the midst of a dense wooded region and 'twas said that a colossal army of opposing enemies had battled not far from where they resided and that Norman warriors still roamed the area.

Having personally dealt with the likes of Norman pigs, she was sorely aware of their barbarism and distinguishing nature of cruelty that prompted violence and bloodshed. She had first handedly witnessed such savagery as a child, remembering woefully the massacre left in their aftermath.

'I've gathered enough berries for now." Alana's voice penetrated her thoughts and Lynette quickly dismissed the images that would surely resurface from recognition. She had no desire to think of that day or dwell on the pain kept buried beneath an overwhelming magnitude of hatred.

Cradling her basket of berries, Alana made her way to where their horses grazed beneath a peculiar willowing tree.

"Tis almost dusk." Lynette said with a deal of concern. "There will not be much daylight left to lead us back to the village."

"We'll manage just fine." Alana said reassuringly, sensing her cousin's unease. "I know a surrogate route that we can take that will save us some time."

Lynette mounted her horse; eager to return and Alana followed, taking caution to not overturn her berries that she had worked so diligently to retrieve.

The dirt path they trailed twined the forest, interlacing trees with streams of twilight emitting through the canopy of vegetation. Small woodland creatures scurried at their approach, fleeing to a burrow within the ground or to a suspended branch, well above their reach.

Alana smiled inwardly, delighted in her surroundings as a feeling of contentment came over her. She relished in nature and the sense of liberation. She savored the solitude, the freedom to do as she pleased, collecting herbs, frolicking in the river, all to which she had no one to make demands of her.

She did not waste time thinking on the follies of war, the absurd notion that the land belonged to one man in particular sitting upon a dais. It was absolutely senseless.

The land belonged to no one; as did she.

"Alana!" the warning was issued beneath Lynette's breath as her horse jolted to a stop.

Alana frowned as she glanced at her cousin's frozen expression and followed her eyes to something rather large lying inert along their path.

Straining to see the hindrance that blocked their way, Alana slowly dismounted and set her basket at her feet.

"What are you doing?" Lynette whispered alarmingly.

Alana ignored her cousin as she tentatively started towards the solid shape. As she grew closer, an audible gasp escaped her throat as she realized that the large object was a man.

She paused only a moment before starting forward but a hand on her arm stopped her abruptly. "What do you think you are doing?" Lynette demanding pensively, her azure eyes round with misgiving.

"I have to see."

Lynette sighed heavily and dropped her hand. She followed closely at Alana's back as they inched forward to peer at the man, what she saw made her stiffen instinctively with coldness. "He is a Norman!" she hissed with sudden malice. .

"You cannot know for certain." Alana studied the man's face, gray and colorless beneath a coating of dried blood, his features intangible beneath the disarray among his face. She was unclear as to his origin but he was unmistakably a warrior due to his immense size. She had never seen a man so enormous. Surely it had taken a number of others to bring down such a giant of a man.

His armor had clearly been stripped and taken from his body. He wore naught but under-clothing and by the mass of blood that drenched his apparel, she was unsure as to his injuries.

"Alana, leave him!"

She turned to see Lynette mounted her expression indifferent to the stranger at her feet. "Nettie, help me."

"He is Norman!" she cried, outraged. "How could you even think to aid such a monster?"

"Whether he is Norman or Saxon he is a man nonetheless and needs our help. I cannot simply abide leaving him like this." She replied assertively.

Lynette snorted with distaste. "As I see it, all men are pigs, especially the likes at your feet. I am sorry cousin; I will not assist you in this."

Alana narrowed her eyes as she exhaled sharply through her nose. "Then will you at least go back to the village and bring me something that I could carry him back in?"

Lynette stiffened instantly with disapproval. "I will certainly not leave you here for his army to find you!"

"Then make haste so that I am not here longer than necessary!"

"Alana, you are making a mistake, he will only return your kindness by killing you the moment he is revived."

Alana lifted her chin defiantly. "I will deal with that if it comes, now please, hurry."

Lynette hesitated but the unyielding gleam in her cousin's eyes prompted her decision. "You do not have your bow and arrow; I cannot leave you here defenseless."

Alana had not considered that and her eyes quickly searched the area for something that belonged to the warrior, mayhap a sword or dagger of some sort.

What she discovered made her heart leap within her chest. Lying at the man's side, just at the tips of his fingers, was an ominous dagger, the serrated blade, particularly crafted to inflict fatal wounds, rested at his side.

She felt her stomach churn with nausea as she stared at the ghastly weapon and prayed silently that whoever had delivered the fatal blow would not return to see the purpose done.

"I will be fine." She whispered more so to herself than to Lynette. "Just hurry."

Lynette nodded her face taut with displeasure but she said nothing more as she steered her horse around Alana and started in a canter back towards the village.

Alana watched until her cousin disappeared down the narrowing path, praying that she would return quickly enough to see the three of them safely back to the village.

She realized than just how alone and defenseless she truly was and cast a longing look at the dagger. The thought of touching it made her ill all of a sudden. If it came to it, she would defend the man at all costs but she would not touch it.

She fell to her knees at his side and peered at his massive chest but she could detect no rise and fall that would indicate that he were alive.

She reached out and gingerly pressed her fingers to his throat. Her heart jumped with amazement for as faint as it were, there was a pulse.

"You're alive." She breathed in astonishment.

Without warning, her wrist was suddenly shackled in a menacing iron grip, the unexpectedness of his deftness wrenched a startled gasp from her throat, and her heart leapt tenfold as Lynette's warning fleetingly crossed her mind. She lifted her head from the hand gripping her own and her gaze connected fearfully with a pair of burning, amber eyes.

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