March 25, 1152, Poitou, France

Phineas Bogg landed on a beautiful green pasture and found he again looked over his shoulder. He laughed to himself. He was pretty sure he had remembered more quickly this time that Jeff was not with him, even if that realization was just as surprising.

This was a lovely place, filled with the earliest greens of spring, and smelling of a recent, nurturing rainfall and the scents of nearby farms. Phineas almost dreaded to look at the omni. This was a verdant, almost decadent land, and he wanted to just enjoy it. There were woods to his right, fields to his left, and all were just starting to bud and grow. It brought him momentarily back to his youth, when the growth of the land was his entire existence. A sense of nostalgia gripped him, but he imagined there was a red light here, as well. Nothing had been so troublesome on the last mission that he expected the omni would land him in a green zone. He took in several breaths of the spring air before opening the omni and hearing the predictable noise and seeing the red light. He sighed: France 1152, vernal and intoxicating but nonetheless a job site for a Voyager.

He began to walk, watching and listening for any clue of what could be wrong. He heard horses, galloping hard and fast and headed for them. Too late, though to immediately stop the problem. He watched, feeling helpless as a group of riders reached the entourage of the beautiful blonde in front of him.

"Lord Theobold," said the blonde, clearly in charge of the group, said. "I do not believe you were invited to join our party."

The man smirked. "Oh, but years ago, my queen – or just my lady now, I hear – I had a promise of these lands. I think I should claim them. And if I get you in the bargain, all the better."

The blonde spit in the man's face. "I have my own plans as well as my own lands in light of my recent agreement with Louis," she said. "You have no claim to either."

"I do if I can claim them," he answered laughing heartily and whistling. The whistle drew a large force into the retinue of the woman Bogg watched in fascination.

"Lord Theobold, I would act with caution were I you. I think you may not know who you are dealing with."

"I know, Duchess Eleanor that I deal with the lovely heiress of the beautiful region of Aquitaine," he said with a laugh and stroked her cheek in a manner intimate and simultaneously insulting. "I have my thoughts for how to use both. It is hard to determine which will be the more pleasurable of the agendas. Perhaps we can discuss that over dinner this evening. You will, of course, join me at my manor, as my much honored guest."

"Of course," the woman said with a sneer. "I cannot imagine you could give a more convincing invitation than you have."

"I thought not," Theobold answered. "I assure you, however, that you will have your needs met in my abode, even if not as you have become accustomed to in a palace."

"My need, Lord Theobold, is freedom," she responded.

"You shall have that, within the limits a woman in need of protection might expect," Theobold responded.

"I see, then I am to depend on your protection?" she asked.

"But, of course. I was amazed to hear that a lady such as yourself was traveling the roads alone," he said. "Unsafe, any unsavory might attack."

Eleanor of Aquitaine glanced back at her retinue. "Not alone, but I see it has turned out the same," she said.

"It has turned out that you have opportunity," Theobold responded, again stroking her cheek. "It is merely a matter of whether you are inclined to take it. I will take mine."

"Theobold," thought Bogg, thinking he needed directions and a horse. He had found his red light, and she was certainly quite something. He wondered if he'd survive her. A cursory glance through the guidebook indicated it was a wonder anyone had.