Greece
The Year of Our Lord, 1106
Weary, the traveler continued the return from his journey; his memories faded to blurs and lost faces. By the power of God, he was saved, but he stood far from home now without money or friends or a sword. Ten years it had been since he'd left behind his love, and ten years he had wandered and found no salvation.
God had saved him, but why? And what was the meaning of the ungodly powers he'd been left with as a result? He was alive, but what did he live for? The Promised Land was far, far away, turned to dust in the distance, and his cohort was dead, so far as he knew.
He was alone, without anyone but God himself, believing that even his love had forgotten him, because why would she remember? He was no one, merely the second son of a priest who had fallen in love with a nobleman's daughter. He was nothing, and she—she was beautiful. She would have forgotten his proposal, forgotten his love, and moved on to find someone with money and status and power.
He was empty.
He stumbled his way to an inn, his tunic tattered and his chainmail no more than a weight dragging him downwards. He knocked on the door, and it was opened by the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen, in all of his life.
"Water," he gasped, but his eyes and his mind were full up with her face. And water she brought him, a pitcher of cool, clear water from the well behind the building, and she offered him board. He had no money, but she made an exception, because business was slow, and though she wouldn't admit it, she found him as handsome as he found her beautiful.
Over time, they found friendship, and then, they found love. Her name was Maria, and she was everything Joshua had dreamed of. And slowly, he began to forget, until Regina, his bella, was no more than another long-forgotten face in the back of his memory. He was sure she'd forgotten him, too.
It was a clear, spring morning, and they were working in the vineyard. He met her eyes, and he told her his past: how he'd left to save Jerusalem and had fallen afoul of a horde; how he'd died and returned with a prayer to God in the heavens above. How God had answered him. He asked her to marry him. She agreed.
And in July, they were wed in the orchard, under flowering trees and amidst the sweet scent of summer blossoms.
He told his father the news in a letter that found its way to the Church and into the hands of Regina.
She hadn't forgotten him.
Intermission part 2 of 3!