Saving Abigail

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Saving Abigail (closed)

Closed for SeaUrchin_STG_M

Abigail MacDonald stifled a yawn and she rode next to Christopher Campbell on her father's five thousand acre estate. Christopher was nice, gentlemanly, and not unpleasing to look at. He was also a lord. But he was boring as the day was long.

Christopher was one of three suitors her father had narrowed a long list down to. He had given Abigail a month to chose from the three. Abigail supposed she should be grateful for that much. Alexander MacDonald had raised and married five strapping sons, but his youngest and only daughter was the apple of his eye. Not only had he waited as long as possible to marry her off, he also was giving her a say in the matter. He wouldn't want his only daughter to be unhappy.

Unfortunately, she was.

All three of her suitors were fine men. Her father had chosen well. Any one of them would treat her well enough and she would have a good station for the rest of her life. She would also be lacking passion, adventure, and fire. None of the men even sparked a kindle for her. She was utterly bored to tears by all of them. With two weeks left, she had no idea how she would choose. She found herself attempting to list the pros and cons of each man, with the cons list growing far longer.

"My lady? Miss Abigail?"

She was stirred from her thoughts, "I'm sorry, my lord. The heat must have momentarily addled me." She flashed Christopher her best smile. "Not at all. Perhaps we should return to the house? The day is becoming quite warm," he said turning his horse toward the house without even waiting for her answer. Abigail grumbled under her breath as she turned her horse, Gideon, yet he refused to turn.

"Come on, big boy. Let's go," she prodded gently with her foot. She could feel Gideon prance slightly. She leaned down and patted him on the neck, "Let's not be a stubborn mule today, please." Suddenly Gideon reared. Abigail, who had been on a horse since she was two years old, managed to stay on. She found herself hanging onto Gideon's neck as he took off at a mad pace toward the woods.

"Abigail! I'll go for help!" she heard Christopher cry. Help, she scoffed mentally. A real man would do it himself. I can handle this. She felt her hat fly off and her thick auburn hair came loose blocking her view. She felt slightly panicked at the blindness and her stays grew tight. She groped for the reins, "Gideon! Easy boy! Whoa!" She tried to calm him as he careened through the trees. A limb slapped her face and she immediately tasted blood. At that point all she could do was tighten her legs around the pommel of her sidesaddle and hunch low over Gideon's neck. She was truly terrified.

The sound of hooves thundered behind her...

 

[Ldy_Sea]

Sir Sáile was tired. Not sleepy, Tired. the kind of tired only one who had lived more years than God himself would understand. He was as always in his armour ready to do battle with the forces of darkness that had plagued his life these past 8 years. "Almost home," he said to himself unbelivingly. His horse if one could call it a horse, was a bit of a luxury, but it was not his vanity that allowed him to ride. It was pure luck. His traveling companion Sir Liam the Lively had been killed when a group of bandits attacked while he slept. Sir Sáile who had been washing himself by a river got to the scene of battle just in time to see the bandits running off woth the horse the two knight sshared as was the way of their order.

Sir Sáile Began the journey home on foot, and arrived too late to save the family from the dame bandits who stole his horse. However for reasons known only to those meirleach they left behind a four legged beast with a saddle. Sir Sáile had ridden for days without food or companions. After the years of cnstant coompanionship of soliders and knights in the Holyland it felt strange to be alone.

Sir Sáile was bebating stopping fr the night and trying to either hunt some game or try to catch some fish for dinner. As he began to look fr a defensible position to make a camp, he heard a large beast crashing through the forest. He quickly drew his sword and said a quick prayer for courage and strength. He saw a lass on a donkey galloping as if teh demons 0f hell were in pursuit of her. Sir Sáile waited to see what was persuing the lass and when no persuer appeared he kicked his horse and began to chase after her.

The horse though untrained gave it his all and they were quickly catching up to the mule and it's rider. As they got closer Sir Sáile could see the Mule had been spooked, and the rider was terrified. He started to steer teh horse with his knees and teh horse obeyed his commands. As they got closer to the mule it seemed to try to run faster but it was already fairly winded and the longer legs of teh knights steed and his riding ability were no match for a scared tired mule. Sir Sáile leaned over and easilly grabbed the girl from the mule and threw her across his saddle. Once he knew the girl was safe he grabbed the reins of the mule and brought his horse to a stop. The mule was too tired to go on so it stopped and began to graze on the grass. The horse thought that looked like a good idea and started to eat as well.

Sir Sáile dismounted the horse and helped the pulled the damsel off the horse setting her down on her feet. MiLady he said and bowed regally to her. I am Sir Sáile Knight Templar just returned from teh crusades. Might I have the pleasure of your name?

 

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Abigail wasn't quite sure what happened. She felt strong arms around her and the press of metal against her, then movement stopped and her feet were on the ground. Her long hair was still a mess around her face blocking her view.

"MiLady. I am Sir Sáile Knight Templar just returned from teh crusades. Might I have the pleasure of your name?" she heard. She looked about wildly while trying to pull the hair from her face so she could see. "Abigail... Abigail MacDonald." She finally saw her horse, Gideon, with a strange horse quietly munching on grass. She turned looking for the voice.

She saw Sir Sáile before her, in his armor, looking quite concerned. She looked up at him with her emerald green eyes. "Thank you," she whispered, her hands pulling at the sides of her dress. I can't breathe, she thought. She was suddenly hit with the taste of iron in her mouth. Her hand flew to her face and she felt the warm stickiness of blood where the tree branch had cut her cheek just under her eye to the corner of her mouth.

She pulled her hand away from her face and saw the blood. That was the final straw to send her into a full panic. Her breathing grew fast, the tops of her breasts heaving with each breath. She began clawing a her dress. "I can't... can't... breathe," she cried.

 

[Ldy_Sea]

Sir Sáile familiar witht he reaction of people unaccoustmed to violence seeing themselves wounded knew how to handle the hysterical woman. He stepped forward and gave her on sharp slap across her face. Not hard but firm enought to get her back under control. As his hand struck the soft supple cheek of this buxom woman her dress floated to the ground. Sir Sáile stood there in shock, never having seen the naked female form before except in artworks. He had been a squire for, then initiated as a knight into the Templars. Unlike some of his fellow Knights Sir Sáile had not violated his vow of chastity even with the barbarian woman the crusaders captured. He did not believe that since they were not Christian, it was not a violation of his vow.

Sir Sáile stood frozen in shock and awe realizing that this woman before hiim was beautiful, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Unsure of wha to do, he removed his surcoat and stood still looking at the naked woman before him.

 

[lexieredefined]

Abigail stood frozen as the air of the day suddenly caressed her skin, her face stinging from the slap. A fresh gush of blood into her mouth brought her out of her daze. Realizing that she was standing in nothing more than her stockings, she sank to the ground hastily trying to cover herself with her dress. Her smooth, creamy arms and shoulders were still bare as she held her dress to her.

Bringing a piece of her skirt up to her bleeding cheek, "Are you going to stand there staring at me all day or are you going to turn around so I can make myself presentable again? You act as though you've never seen a naked woman before."

 

[Ldy_Sea]

Sir Sáile spunarund throwinghis surcoat to the unclothed female, and said "Forsooth Milady I havenae seen the female form unclothed except inpaintings," as he felt his face turn as red as the Cross n his shield.

He stood there silently anxiously shifting his weight from foot to foot not knowing what to do.