Day One

I have been thrown from my horse. My leg has been broken so badly that even when set in a splint, I cannot walk without support. My horse is gone. Survival seems unlikely. I do not know how long I will remain here, immobile, awaiting death in it's most common animal form. The Brown Recluse spider. Aptly named. The future holds many unknowns as I sit here.

Day 25

They must think I'm dead by now. I feel it. I am now able to walk, with no heavy support. I have been hunting, though not catching much. I have been keeping hydrated from a stream where I have set up camp near. My horse in still nowhere near, though I have hopes it will return. The leg should be good enough to traverse long on in a few more days.

After 30 days completely alone in the woods of Southern Pemberton, Adrian got out. He didn't know how. He didn't know why. He thanked God and prayed profusely. His leg wasn't completely healed and he was malnourished. He was also suffering the after affects of dementia. He was finally out. He was finally close to seeing those he loved and respected once more. It felt good.

It was a sense of euphoria. That was, until, he blacked out. He didn't know what had happened when he came to. He was on the ground and his leg hurt. Badly. So, with much pain on his face, he contiued down the desolate country road, not expecting to see much in the term of people. He continued, seeing nothing. He followed the signs. Eventually he go to one that gave him hope. It read: Sutton, 1/2 days travel by horse, East. Adrian continued down the road, limping. He continued, seeing abandoned houses rotting on the side of the road. Eventually he came to one that seemed quite nice and laid down on the straw cot in the middle of the house for some time before falling asleep. He dreamed of his wife. Caring, sweet Serenity. The love of his life. The source of his life. His friend, Edmund. His people. His land. He wanted to reclaim it all and take back his place among Adesian nobles. He wanted to whole nation to know that he would not go quietly into the night. He was too strong to die. He had the will to live in a situation like that, unlike most. After a few hours of bad sleep, Adrian got up and continued down the road, where he finally sat down and rested. The malnutrition was affecting him badly. So he sat and stopped, wondering if anyone would stop to help him...

The past few months had been hard on Victoria. Even just after the death of three people she cared about, her home village needed her. She had just been at the Carstairs manor for the past 2 weeks solving villagers' problems. She wanted to be grieving for those lost, instead she had been stuck in that room, the head of the table, listening to argument after argument. It had been driving her insane. Usually her village was the place she went to get away from stress, but now she was fleeing back to the Court life to get away.

Now, Victoria and Maria, her maid, traveled this road often. They knew there was some danger in traveling alone, but they knew the road well enough that they felt some what safe. They both sat high upon horses that had belonged to Lord Carstairs when he had been alive. Both had daggers tucked into their skirts, should the need arise that they needed to defend themselves. Both horses were nudged faster as Victoria grew more anxious to get back, as she saw the sign that told her they were only half a day away.

After a ways, she felt the horse start to grow slower, as he grew tired, Victoria slowed the pace more. Maria followed that lead, and both women dismounted, walking along side their horses. Victoria shaded her hand over her eyes, looking down the road a distance. She frowned as she thought she saw a person sitting on the side of the road. That was not something she normally saw on this part of the road. There was no horse, no one else around. Surely this person was in trouble, but would they be in more danger if they offered help? Surely Victoria could not let the person stay there if they were hurt, or lost.

"Lady Victoria, do you think it wise to ask a stranger to join us?" Maria asked nervously, slowly following after Victoria who was headed straight for the person that was coming more into view.

"Have a heart Maria. This person could be hurt, lost, and lonely. I will not let that stay that way. I am going to help this person, if I can." Her voice was scolding, as well as determined. She felt compelled to help, knowing that if the position were flip, she would want help too.

As she came closer the man, she could make out he was a man now, looked familiar. Victoria stopped in her tracks. "It can't be..." She voiced her thought out loud, she wanted to run and meet the person she thought it was, though if she was wrong it would be an awkward moment. She kept her walking pace, until she was only a few feet from him. She was even more sure it was him now, even if he looked in a bit of malnutrition, injured, and very tired. She prayed she was right, and that her friend was not really dead. "Adrian?"

Adrian was half on the verge of blacking out again. He barely noted the fact that there were people on horses approaching. That fact barely got to his mind. It barealy even made him become fully awake. However, he did not get up, it felt like someone had poured tar onto his leg and set it alight. He waited for the riders to approach. Ones voice sounded somewhat familiar, but he was concussed from the fall he took after first emerging from the forest, so he could not exactly remember who it was.

That was until she approached. Adrian could not mistake that woman for anyone else he knew. Lady Victoria Carstairs. Someone he considered to be an extremely good friend, and at times, a confidant. He smiled slightly and tried to speak, but nothing came out. He tried again after she said his name.

"Vi..."

His voice sounded beastial, rough. After trying to speak he went into a heavy bout of coughing. He needed water. But he would try to speak once more.

"Victoria..."

He reached his hand up to her. He needed help. If she hadn't have come by, he would have been dead by nightfall. That was a prospect he didn't like. Seeing his friend gave him a newfound hope. Something like the feeling he got when he left the forest. Then, one man popped into his head. Potentially his greatest friend on this continent, aside from his wife. Who he hoped he still had.

"How....is....Edmund?"

He barely managed to say that, it required all the breath in his body just to say. It hurt his ears to hear himself as he was, he sounded like a frail old man, not someone under 30. He sighed and tried to prop himself up on the banks of the road. He waited for her to offer to take him to Sutton.

His smile, however slight, made Victoria's heart lift with joy. It was him! This was the first good thing to happen to her all summer! Her own smile was bright, though her eyes still held worry. "Oh, Adrian!" She finished the last few steps to him, and gave him a hard hug. She had missed him so much. She then realized he was rather weak at the moment, and she could be hurting him more. She released him, and stepped back. She had so many questions, but they would wait. She had to help him. He did not look like he would last much longer, she was glad she had found him before some wild animal.

Her smile faded when he went into a coughing fit. "Maria, the water, hurry." The maid ran back to the horse bags and got the water faster than it had taken Victoria to tell her to. Victoria took it, and fell to her knees next to her friend. "Come, drink this." She lifted the pouch to his lips, but would let him take it on his own if he had the strength. She could tell that he needed more than a drink, but at the moment she only had a loaf of bread, which she was not sure he could take with that obviously dry throat.

"You do not know how happy I am to see you right now. "Her green eyes were looking him over, worried he might be hurt worse than she thought. There has been so much that has happened... Uncle Edmund was very healthy the last time I saw him, though I am not sure how well he is taking..." She stopped there, not sure he was strong enough to handle all the news, or what he had heard already. Did he know about Esabell? Edmund's marriage to Madeline? She would have to tell him, eventually, but not right this second.

"Come, let me take you to Sutton. I am sure that Edmund will have every one in Roseworth Manor at your aid, until you are back to your healthy self again." She would not take no for an answer, even though she knew he would not object to help right now. She had to get him fed, medical help, and a good sleep, before she would bother him too much about where he has been. She smiled warmly to him, offering him her arm to help him up. "You will ride my horse, we do not have too much further to go."

"Erghh..."

A hug was something that he needed right now, for sure. Not as hard as Victoria had hugged him. It hurt, actually. He drank deeply from the water skin. It felt good, the cool, pure water running down his throat. He hadn't drunken anything in three days. He smiled, a little better than before.

"Thank you."

He sounded better, but his voice wasn't asprojected as it used to be. Well, he thought, a few barrels of meade and a cow haunch should fix that. He smiled at the thought of real food. Real company. He smiled to hear the Edmund was alive. Two good things.

"Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you and your water."

He was managing to speak much better now that his throat was hydrated. The dust of travel was washed out and he felt better all together, but he was still injured, and it took all his strength to cover the pain. He decided not to pursue her to finish her sentence, he didn't want alot of news. He just wanted to make sure Edmund was alive. Adrian would ask him how Serenity was doing, when they met again.

"I'm sure he would."

He laughed slightly and started to cough. He noted not to do that until he was better. Much better. He accepted her arm, careful not to walk on his left leg. He half hobbled over to the horse. He dragged himself up, his right leg was well enough to slip over the side, but his left leg hung stiff in the stirrup. He was glad to have people to talk to again. 30 days in the wilderness, alone with yourself, save for the beasts. It could drive a man mad. Adrian had almost gone mad while he was there. However, being a man a strong stature, he did not succumb.

The water had the effect that Victoria had hoped it would have on Adrian. His voice seemed to be returning to what she had known it to be like. His returning smile sent her mind back to the night they had met. The stars, his smile, and the inspiring conversation that had happened between the two of them had brought them close as friends. They had shared a dance then, thinking they might not see each other again, but instead they had seen each other several times since. Even then she would not have thought she would be saving him like this. How life changed always surprised her.

"No need to thank me. You would do the same were the positions reversed." She smiled at him, knowing it was true. Victoria looked up to Adrian. He was a great friend, and a great ally to have. When she thought he was taken from her and Edmund, she had thought that the world would surely come undone. Now that he was back, the world slowly seemed to be righting itself again. She might actually look forward to the future. Today, God had blessed them all.

Victoria, after making sure Adrian was safely in the saddle, and Maria quickly mounted the second horse, that was a bit bigger, and could support the two of them well enough. "Let's go; homeward bound." She took up the reigns, nudging her horse into a easy pace, knowing that if he could handle more, Adrian would sure let her know to pick up speed. He surely wanted to get back as much, or more, than she did.

"Adrian, there will be a few changes to things, upon arriving home. Just so you know." She warned him, referring to a couple different things. Mostly it was about Esabell and Madeline. It had not been an easy change for her, but she was not sure how he would take it. Not wanting to worry him at the moment, she forced a slight smile, though she was unable to hide the pain in her eyes. "I suppose there is another time to talk about it, though. Right now, we need to get home."

"I would, but I want to thank you anyways, I would have died had it not been for you."

He smiled at her. She was someone to be trusted and respected. If he hadn't have married Serenity, she would have been an excellent wife and equal. However, judging by her voice, something was not right in Sutton. He was just happy to be alive. He took the cross that he always had on him and held to to his lips.

"Home. That is a prospect I do not mind."

He smiled as he used his right leg to nudge the horse foward. Slowly at first, then picking up speed. It felt good to be on a horse again. He sat up straight. He was a master horseman. A broken leg can't prevent him from riding. He smiled into the wind.

"Indeed. It isn't a time to think about what I will be learning when we arrive. I just want to arrive. Can you keep up?"

He was urging the horse on, now at a fast walk. He wouldn't go into a gallop, it would be hard on his leg and bring more pain than it was worth. He looked at her and smiled before he pulled ahead. Getting to Sutton was the only thing he wanted. He was gone from civilization for too long.

"God has blessed us both this day." She smiled at him fondly. Their first conversation had been about blessings, she mused to herself. It was only fitting that she mentioned them now. Today was even more a blessing than the stars. She would not mind all the stars burning out, if it meant the other things in her life that God has taken away would come back to her. Right now, she was glad that that price was not what was paid to get her friend back.

"Me, not keep up? Man, you know me not." She replied to him playfully. She nudged her horse faster. She kept pace with him, easily, before pulling some ahead, though not far and fast enough for him to hurt himself. She could tell that his leg was bothering him. But the way he still held himself upright, and tall, was something to be admired. Being considered dead for 30 days would not have been worn so well on her, she knew. He was strong in many ways, and she was glad for it.

"Victoria, please, this is not the best position for us to be racing in." Maria's words in her ear got her to slow back to the pace that Adrian was at, knowing her maid had trouble with the double in the saddle thing. She knew that they would get to Sutton in plenty of time. It was not that far away. The busy town would be a welcoming sight to them both, she knew. She refrained from nudging the horse on, anxiously.

Adrian smiled at her remark about them being blessed. Indeed, they were. He was still alive, thanks to her and the will of God. For Adrian, God always seemed to have an unusual sense of humor. His greatest practial joke was leaving him alive for 30 days to rethink his life.

"Ha! Woman, I know you better than you think!"

Adrian urged the horse faster, going at a slow gallop. He kept pace with Victoria until she slowed down, at which point he drew back and kept the pace with her. HE glanced over and smiled. He was free once again.

" 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.' Pslams, 23:4. I kept repeating that prayer to myself as I sat there thinking about the future ahead of me. Life or Death."

He sighed and looked down the road. Slowly he saw Sutton loom in the distance, the castle that housed the nobles the grandest of all. He looked at Victoria and nodded towards the city. He knew he was almost home. He would get the care he needed. He leaned his head on the horses neck and breathed a silent prayer of thanks to God. and Victoria.