Welcome to Echoes Across Time

[Romana]

Birds chirping in forest glens and suddenly a wind blew out of nowhere. Leaves went scattering and all was deathly quiet. And there laying on the ground of the forest floor was a woman, dressed in white, she wore a strange sash across her chest and a cornet crown on her head. Her blond golden hair lay glisting in the sunshine. She was unconscious and lay in a heap. A scene not quite unlike a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, the strange woman was out of her Time and frankly away from her home. Her true home, was no more. But if it had been there, it would have been 250 Billion miles away from Earth itself. The first to come across her was a knight, who picked up the 'fair maiden' in his arms and made his way to the manor of his Lord. A great lord who owned many serfs and held many knights under him.

-0o0-

The woman woke up suddenly in a bed confused as to where she was and she looked around. She was in a bed and quite confused and addled. She had no clue where she was or for that matter who she was. She gasped suddenly and a young maid in course woolen clothing said, "My Lady, you're awake....I shall tell Lord Arion, that you are up."

The woman frowned, "Where am I?"

"You are at Lord Arion De Leon's Mannor. And you are?"

"I don't know....I....I have no memory."

The maid nodded, "Well everything knows you must be a woman wellbred. It's against the laws for a common woman to wear clothing like yours. So you must belong to some Lord's home. You must hope that you're not from a family that is at odds with Lord Arion, because if you are, he'll no doubt ransom you."

The woman paled, "Ransom me!"

"Aye, you could bring in a fair price. But You'll be treated well. It's not like Lord Arion will allow you to be treated poorly. I mean...." The girl's hands reached towards the cornet that was around the woman's head, "Look at them jewels, I've....I've never seen such stones before....are you a princess? But by your virtue you're not a Moor or an Arabe. Maybe you're from the lands of Avalon. I've heard tales of strange women from that place. Although...my mum says it's all fanciful stuff."

The woman sighed, "I don't know where I am from.....actually."

The maid sighed, "Well maybe you are from Avalon and the fays took your memory."

The woman shook her head, "I highly doubt that. I am sure I come from a place where such superstitons are nothing but that, superstions."

The girl nodded, "Well I best be telling the Lord of the Mannor that you're awake. He'll probably want you to join him for dinner."

The woman nodded and the maid left the woman alone in the bed chamber.

[Romana]

It seemed that she was going to be treated as an honored guest, although for all of Lord Arion's questioning it did nothing but make her head just plain addled. And all she remembered was that her name began with an 'R' Which did not seem to please the Lord of the Manor, who was set about trying to find out who she was. In the end he took to calling her Rosaline, which she did not much care for, seeing as she knew deep down inside her, that that was not her name. But she went with it because she knew she could not be called, R, as that wasn't really a name at all. So she let herself be called Rosaline.

The Manor, being a dank dark castle which had a rather displeasing odor about it. It seemed to her that if people bathed more often, that would take care of that rather unsavory odor. Instead, these people doused themselves in sented oils. But if she mentioned a bath, they shuddered in horror and stated that baths caused sickness and disease. Which she had to admit was rather amusing.

Life had been so very ordinary and boring. as she was basically a captive in this dank and smelly manor. She did her best to wear off the bordum, and then the dreams started, strange dreams, of a world that was burnt orange, and of herself. And of strange creatures in metal armor. Not quite unlike the knights that wore in armor but not quite, they were compleatly encased in metal. And she spent her time reproducing the scenes she dreamed in her head on parchment and weavings. Which puzzled the Lord of the Manor. It told him nothing of her whereabouts. He was beginning to begrudingly admit that perhaps this fair lady was of the fairy kind or perhaps, some strange creature that was from mythic lands. Perhaps she was an Elfen woman. His thoughts were not unfounded. But he began to fall for her and he couldn't help but feel sorry for the young woman who seemed to have no memory at all of her past. And he was beginng to long for her. Much to the displeasure of the knights underneath him. They warned him that courting a woman that could be a fairy or elf, was dangerous. And despite the stories that he had heard in his younger days that warned of such unions, and realtionships. He ignored their warnings. So he slowly started to let go his captivity on her and thus he began to court her. And she was pineing under his treatment and longed for fresh air and so it was agreed they would go ridding out together into the forest together.

-o0o-

The day was plesant and the sun was shineing after days of heavy rain. He smiled at his lady, "So my sweet Rosaline, how fair you today?"

She sighed, "I am fine my lord, but I am slightly tired."

"The dreams?" He asked inquiring as they rode into the woods.

She nodded, "They will not stop. I dream that I am a leader, not quite unlike you, my lord. I have men and women underneth me and they call me Lady President."

Lord Arion frowned,"President, what kind of word is that?"

'Rosaline' frowned, "I do not know, but do not let yourself be troubled by it, they are but dreams. Dreams are nothing. They are nothing but the stuff of fancy."

He smiled and then they paused in their riding and he held her hand, "I have waited so long....I...I wish to have you as my wife, Rosaline."

She looked firmly at him and said softly and sadly, "No....I know nothing of my past. For all you know I may already have a husband, family, children. We are not destined.....it can not be Arion. Although you may desire it, it can not be."

[Val]

Once again, her master brought her out to flaunt his finest pleasure slave in front of his guests. At least this time she was allowed to wear a skimpy dancer's outfit. On more than a few occasions she would be sent out naked to endure their drooling over her charms which only seemed to make things more tense in the room since he would not allow them to touch her. If he didn't like the guest he would occasionally touch her himself in front of his guests to further irritate them. While she no longer minded being touched, she did mind being displayed in such an lewd fashion.

Unfortunately, her master's attention to her also made the other slave girls quite jealous of her since they tended to be neglected and mistreated more often as a symptom of his treatment of her.

Today, that jealousy would cost Val. As she took a tray of soft foods to his guests, one of the other girls who was assigned to dance cleverly hooked her foot under her, sending her head-long into the visitors. The foods covered them and her master arose in rage.

He grabbed her forcefully by her arm and flung her into a wall. The impact knocked the breath out of her. The room spun from the painful impact of her head against the stone wall. She looked up as the doubled imaged of her master holding his whip above her. She felt the whip strike across her flesh. A wave of intense pain shot through her. The only thought not forced out of her mind by the pain was the overwhelming need to be away from him and this horrid place.

Suddenly, vapors enshrouded the area she occupied the next thing she knew she was in the woodlands, naked and alone. A wave of dizziness rushed over her and she fell back looking at the trees and vapors spinning around her until it passed. She sat up and looked around. She had no idea where she was but it was better than that warlord's fortress. She rose to her feet and set about exploring the area. With some luck she might find out were she was and also find somewhere she could find something to wear. The back of her head still pained her, she stumbled between a couple of trees as her vision blurred and extreme dizziness set in.

She fell to the ground, her world spinning around her. Her mind could just make out the blurry shape of a horse's lags in front of her.

[Romana]

Sound reverberated in the woods and before Arion could express his dipleasure at his lady love, rejecting his offer. The horses bolted, well Rosaline's did. The horse was startled by the strange figure that appeared out of nowhere and it went off at full gallop, taking the woman with her down the forest path. Arion looked down at the naked girl, expressing his displeasure and disgust at her in frowning looks, he road off after his love, but the young mare that he gave his lady was swift and his own horse did not seem as swift as the mare.

The horse was spooked and Rosaline was a bit unnerved. She pulled on the reins of her horse trying to get it to slow down but the horse refused to slow. The horse suddenly let a shrill scream as the horse ended up breaking it's leg as it took a tumble down a hill, it threw Rosaline down the hill into a gully. Rosaline screamed as well and fell unconscious as she ended up hitting the ground.

Arion trembled as he managed to reach his love in the gully below. He check to see if her bones were broken. Everything seemed sound. What would a healer do? He was not sure. He picked up Rosaline in his arms and he looked at the mare with the broken leg. He sighed and took out a long bow and put an arrow to it's shaft and fired the arrow into the heart of the mare, disgusted thatit would harm his love. He began his ride back to the manor....

[Val]

In her dazed state, Val crawled over to the base of a tree to lay down. The concussion she had sustained from her master's abuse took its toll on her, forcing her into unconsciousness within minutes.

In her dreams she saw the vortex that she had just traveled through. A trio of voices called out to her through it "Find us young one and find the place you belong to. The place you were born to be."

[Romana]

"Find us young one and find the place you belong to. The place you were born to be."

Rosaline gasped suddenly awake, the voice firmly in her mind. Arion gasped to see her awake, "You're alive....but stay calm, my love....we are almost home."

Rosaline shook her head, "The woman....bring her...."

Arion frowned, "What! That naked wench, that demon child. She's the fault of your accident. You're not well, you hit your head. You should be dead, I think."

Rosaline snorted, "But I am not....now the woman. I desire her and you will bring her."

Arion shook his head, not use to Rosaline ordering him around. "Sweet angel, you're not thinking straight. Now hush....."

Rosaline said firmly, "You will bring her or I will kill myself."

Arion shivered, such a cold hard malice threat and he grimaced as he approached the woman and he took off his cloak and drapped it around the woman. He put her next to Rosaline, "Why do you want such a wretched creature?"

Rosaline sighed, "I can not explain....but at the moment she will be my maid servant." Rosaline felt her head spin, dizzly and she suddenly passed out as well.

[Val]

The darkness ebbed at the oncoming waves of pain on the back of her head. With a groan, she opened her eyes. Expecting to see the trees and sky above her, she was surprised to find out that she was indoors, laying in a bed. She propped herself up to get a better look at her new environment. Unfortunately her throbbing head increased with her angle. Nevertheless she persevered through the pain. By the looks of the wood paneling accents over the finely wrought stonework it was a lord's manor.

Looking back down at herself she realized that she was wearing a chemise. "Apparently whoever retrieved me didn't appreciate my natural beauty." Val commented to herself, finding amusement at the concept.

[Romana]

Another maid entered in similar garb, "You're awake. Make yourself useful, or Lord Arion, no matter how hard his lady begged for you to be taken up, will put you out into the wastes where you were found. The lady Rosaline needs tending to, plus the the Lord blames you for his lady's injury this morning. So you better move swiftly. It was the lady's idea not his and she is not concious to plead in your behalf." The maid laid out a basen of water, some ontiments and smelling salts. "Take this and bath the lady's forehead....she fell off her horse, has quite a bump on her head."

[Val]

Val wasn't at all happy with the woman's words, not only by they're assumption that she worked for anyone but also for the pain it caused her in her head. "I'm sure this lady-that-you-speak-of's bump is no worse than mine." She grasped her head and grimaced in pain as her head rebelled against her. "I did not ask to be taken from the forest and i couldn't care less about this lord of your's. Of course I'm going to have a hard time leaving until this ruddy pain stops. I can't concentrate!"

[Romana]

The maid sighed, "Then make an effort. The lord's temperment has changed of late. If he loses the lady, then there is a lot to fear. He is very smitten with her, and we fear what will happen if she dies. Before she passed out, she demanded that you be brought here and that you be her maid servant, much to the protests of Lord Arion. But he loves her, and so he let you be brought here. I know you are tired, and have a bump on your head...I have been treating you, for her sake. Now come on, I'll help you."

[Val]

Despite the pounding in her head, the lady's words made sense. "I will need your help to see this woman. I don't like what I've heard so far but I need time to heal so I might as well bide my time ant see what your lady wants. If i don't like it I will leave." she stated in no uncertain terms. She draped her legs off the end and tried to sit up, groaning some more as the back of her head protested the action. "I'm still dizzy. I need help."

[Romana]

The maid rushed up against her, "I'll support your frame. But you must take the basen of water and the wash cloth. So that the Lord will be sure that you are doing what the Lady ask of you to do. You must not show too much pain, dizziness or weakness of any sort. The lord of the manor has called for priests, but they refuse to come. They say the lady is one of the fae, which of course to the priests means she is a creature of the evil one. So they will not come. But it does not help that she is most.....unnatural. But I will tell you more later about her. She is very kind, she does not strike or cause pain to the servants, like most nobles do. I wish all were like her."

[Val]

She listened to the woman as best she could as they moved along to the lady's quarters. "She sounds like a nice enough person. I will take care of her enough to talk to her and find out why she had me brought here. Beyond that I will make no promises."

[Romana]

The maid helped Val through the chamber to one of the master chambers, inside of it was quiet. The lord of the manor gave Val an angry glance, but said nothing. It was clear he held anger towards Val, for the accident that had harmed his love.

He didn't care if Val was sick or in pain, frankly she deserved it, because she was responsible for the condition that Rosaline was in.

She lay there, as if she was dead, no one was willing to treat the woman, for fear that she was some Fairy woman. So it was left to superstious servants who knew some old pesaent healing treatments. The Lord of the manor was close to tears and at this point of time one of the Lord's knights brought in by point of sword, a monk. The Lord growled at him, "Heal the woman or give her her last rights, if you can not. But if you refuse, my faithful knight will run you through with his blade."

The monk paled, "I shall try, Lord Arion, but this woman is unnatural. You know it as well as I do. The woman is most undoubtly a Fae, they are evil beings, you know how hard the bretheren have preached against these things."

Arion glared at him, "She is not a Fairy woman. If she was such a creature, she would have cursed me or put some spell on me."

The monk snorted, "You are already in her power, your own knights say it. But since you won't suffer any harm to her and threaten me by your own knights...."

The monk sighed, "I have little choice but to help her....."

He went over to her and put a hand on her wrist and frowned, "Pluse is extremly erratic." He moved over to her and put a hand on her forehead, "Skin is extremly clammy. It's not very warm, but I suppose that is to be expected out of a creature like her."

He examaned the bump on her head, "She's hit her head pretty hard, I don't expect her to survive the night and even if I had someone slice into that bump to relieve the bad humour that she's recieved. Well....it's not likely to work. Such proceedures are dangerous. But, since she is a fae....it is hard to say what will happen to her. She may very well evaporate into the mists themselves."

The Lord snapped, "Don't you think I know that.....treat her, do something. Stop flapping your mouth about something. If you can not treat her, I will take my men and burn your monistery."

[Val]

Val didn't like the way either man was acting around her. She may not have a scholar's learning but she knew what codswallop sounded like. Not able to take any more of it, not only for the lady's sake but for her pounding head's, she decided to speak up. "With both of you acting like children, she probably wouldn't want to wake up. Leave me alone with her. I'll tend to her despite the fact I'm hardly in any better condition." With the maid's assistance she moved to the edge of the bed and wiped down her lady's brow. Looking to the maid she commanded her to "Bring me all the ginger you have. I need to stir it into the water to bring down her swelling." She didn't have much herbal knowledge but she knew it helped reduce swelling after a girl was beaten. She had it applied to her a few times; however, it seemed to work best when taken orally in large quantities. For now it would have to work through the skin and by dripping it into her mouth.