After tucking the shirt into her trousers she put on her muffin top cap with a black feather and tucked her hair as best she could into it. She stepped out on to the balcony and looked down to find a window ledge with the shutters flung wide open. She grabbed an elegant dagger that had been another gift from her mate and tucked it into her rabbit skin boots, then grabbed the thick golden thread cord that tied together the curtains by the balcony doors and carefully scaled down to the window below. She almost felt ridiculous for going to such measures just to go for a walk among the hills while someone was out to kill her but in the clothes she wore she felt that from a distance no one would recognize her.

She made it through the window without running into a soul and dashed through the castle, carefully avoiding any of the servants who she knew had strict orders to keep her in her room. Once outside she quickly made her way to the hills behind the castle that were covered in a small section of forest. The trees provided a thick canopy overhead and light drifted through the spaces in the leaves and branches. As she went along a feeling of dread built up in her chest and she mental smacked herself.

"You should have stayed in your room," she whispered to herself. "How stupid to go out against his orders, just stupid." But the other side of her mind wrestled those thoughts, "Then again I want to show him I can manage myself." What she didn't want to realize was that she more of wanted to prove to herself that she could take careful of herself."

She found a nice little spot in and laid down on her back to enjoy the peacefulness of untainted land. It was moments such as this that she was glad modern technology would never exist in this place. Not unless The Kurgan showed her how to go to the other times of the Highlander Universe. For almost an hour she enjoyed the freedom of the her escape and simply admired the surrounding forest and small stream nearby. Almost at the same time she decided to go back so no one would notice her absence she encountered her first brush with danger in her new world.

"Hello boy," a voice said.

She bolted upright and glared at the man across the clearing from her. He was the same height as MacLeod and seemed to come from the same land. He wore a plaid over his broad shoulders but no kilt, instead wearing brown trousers, worn boots, a white shirt similar to her own, his long brown hair was tied back and by his side was a broad sword with a deep blue stone, like the dirk had, in the hilt. A bow with arrows were slung across his back. He looked like a man off the cover of a romance novel that Arielle had read in her past life but was actually far from a romantic figure to her.

She glared at him, "Who are you? What are you doing on Kurgan land?"

He chuckled, "I go by the name of Ian Derbith boy. I'm here to see a woman," he said. "Would you know where I can find one? A woman with long gold hair who lives with The Kurgan."

She held her dagger firmly, "Turn the fuck around before I fetch my master. He'd be more than happy to take your head."

"You speak strangely," he said tilting his head to the side. "No matter. A dead servant will send a clear message yet again." He drew his sword and began closing the distance between them.

Just as he was upon her she jumped to the side, avoiding his sword. He looked at her and his eye twitched with a hint of annoyance. He lunged at her and she jumped back quickly. He growled in irritation.

"Are you going o use that dagger of yours or just point it at me?" He asked angrily.

At his words she accessed the situation quickly and then threw her dagger at his body, she had no experience in sword play and was relieved, as well as surprised, when her dagger dug into his thigh. He yelled in pain and dropped his sword. He clutched the hilt of the blade and slowly pulled it out. With his blood dripping from the tip he glared at Arielle and then threw the weapon down and lunged at her, wanting to fight like a man with his bare hands.

"Damn you!" He shouted when he tackled her and sat on her waist.

She punched him and he punched her back. She grunted and then raked her nails down the side of his face, drawing even more blood. The man shouted in rage, his pride wounded by the fact that a mere boy could throw a knife and catch him. He punched her again and grabbed her shirt. The ties came loose and he felt as well as noticed her cleavage. She gasped when he raised another fist in the air but then stopped.

His eyes widened at his discovery. "You're The Kurgan's woman?" He asked and then smiled. "Ah ha! I knew you would try to get away from his grasp sooner or later."

"I didn't run away from him, he locked me up because of you and I refused to be kept as a prisoner in my own home!" She shouted at him before spitting in his face.

He closed his eyes, wiped away the spit, and then looked at her with deadly seriousness and punched her again. She yelped and her head rolled to the side. She felt blood in her mouth and gathered it with more saliva, she spit that in his face too. The blood landed in his eyes and stung as it blinded him, he let go of her shirt and she used that moment to scramble away from him and ran to her dagger. She picked it up and ran back to the man in less time that it took for him to get the blood out of his eyes and stabbed him in the shoulder. She didn't have the heart or mind to kill him.

He screamed and twisted around as she yanked the blade out. When he faced her she thrust her weapon out blindly and managed to cut him along his cheek to his ear. With the distraction of his inuries she made a dash back to the castle. Just before she left him behind she passed by a thick oak tree and put a hand out to grab it as she jumped over an upraised root. There was a twang behind her and then a thud in the tree next to her. She looked over at her hand and saw an arrow protruding from between her fingers. Her eyes grew big and she glanced back at Derbith just in time to see him scowl angrily at her and then notch another arrow.

She narrowly dodged the missile as it flew through the forest and struck another tree that she passed by. Behind her, Derbith, with his pride stinging bitterly, watched her go. He grunted as he pressed a cloth to his sliced cheek and then turned and picked up his sword from where he dropped it. He now had a score to settle with this woman and was more determined than before to get her back to the people who had hired him. He sheathed his weapon, strung his bow back across his back and disappeared in the trees.