Chapter Two
The woman jumped back from the body before her. Looking at the men standing nearby she rushed to her feet.
"Alive!" She cried out in heavily accented English, praising Allah that she knew this important word. She rushed to the closest man and grabbed his arm. "Alive!" She repeated tugging his arm and then pointing at the young woman.
"It is impossible. She is dead, we are to bury her." The man replied shrugging off the clinging hands of the woman. The woman reached out again and clutched his arm trying to pull him towards the young woman's body.
"Alive!" She yelled again, pulling insistently at his arm.
"Just follow the woman; we cannot do any more harm. I don't understand why we have to do this anyway, why did her friends not bury her?" Commented a second man.
"We do this because the king commanded it. Her husband did not wish to witness her being put in the ground." Answered the first man before sighing deeply and allowing himself to be pulled to the shrouded body of the young noblewoman. Her face remained uncovered and the man tried not to look too closely at the face so peaceful in death.
"Alive." The woman said again putting her hand underneath the young woman's nose. When the man did not comment, she pulled his hand and replaced hers with his underneath the woman's nose. "Alive." She insisted eyes not leaving the young woman's face.
The man looked wearily up at his companions and prepared to explain to the woman that the body before her is dead when he felt it, the softest of breaths against his skin.
"Get a physician! She's still alive!" He yelled to his comrades, quickly throwing off the cloth covering the rest of the woman's body. The man furthest from them ran quickly back towards the camp, yelling for help. The man placed one hand over the wound on her stomach, to try to slow the blood.
"She is not alive. The king himself said she died." Said the second man.
"Not to be disrespectful to the king, but I can feel her breath upon my hand." To prove his point he placed his other hand back on her cheek and within moments felt a very light breath across his skin.
"Go back to Acre. Two people who came with the Earl of Huntingdon have remained, fetch them. They'll want to know of this." The first man said to another of the men who helped dig the grave. He nodded and set off quickly for the nearby town.
Within moments the camp's physician arrives, King Richard at his side.
"What is the meaning of this?" Richard demanded. "I asked you to bury this woman; her friends cannot begin to grieve if she is not put to rest."
"Your majesty, forgive me." The first man said coming to his feet and bowing. "We were going to bury her, but the woman from the village came to wrap her and she felt the lady's breath upon her fingers. The young lady is alive your majesty, if only just barely."
Richard nodded his head slowly and turned to look to his physician who is currently tending to the body. The physician met the king's gaze and shook his head.
"The wind your majesty." He simply stated shrugging.
"I tell you it was not the wind!" Shouted the solider.
"Keep her unwrapped until her friends arrive." Richard said staring towards Acre. "Robin mentioned the woman is trained, it will be good to have her opinion as well."
"But your majesty the body, it must be buried." Argued the physician.
"She has already waited long enough to reach eternal peace. A few more moments won't matter much."
The men remained silent as they waited in the dark for the Englishman and Saracen woman who accompanied Robin of Locksley in his journey to the Holy Land.
"What is this?" Came the accented voice of Djaq from out of the darkness. "Why is Marian not buried?" She and Will ran quickly towards the center of the men. Will dropped a quick bow to his king, before turning his eyes on Marian's body.
"Before they were to lay her in the ground, the woman from the village says she felt the lady's breath upon her hand. She told my men, who also say the same thing." King Richard answered.
"It is impossible, her wound, it cannot be true." Djaq said breathlessly looking towards Marian's body, lying so stiffly next to the grave.
"She deserves better then this. She should be put to rest." Will said angrily as he moved to stand beside Marian's body.
The woman from the village tugged and Djaq's arm and began to speak to her quickly. Djaq listened intently, not once interrupting before turning and hurrying to Marian's side. She placed her hand on Marian's cheek, and drew back quickly.
"She is not cold." Djaq commented in a distant voice.
"It was a warm day." Will explained.
"No, her body, it should be cold, but it isn't. Give me your dagger!" Will quickly handed her the dagger and Djaq placed it underneath Marian's nose.
"Impossible." She breathed as she watched a light fog come over the dagger. "Will return Bassam, we need the physician, he will know who is best. She is alive, but only just, if we do not hurry she will be lost forever." Djaq called to Will who nodded once before jumping up.
Djaq took the cloth that was to be Marian's burial shroud and wrapped it tightly around her to help keep her warm.
"Stay with us Marian. He needs you." Djaq whispered, her eyes pointing to the heavens, lips moving in a silent prayer.
