Chapter 1: The Man in The Forest

Sitting on a wood damaged porch swing, in a poor village, sat a young woman. The young woman aged 20 had dark brown hair and jade green eyes. She wore a dusty rose, floor length, dress with a square neckline, and beige shawl. In her frail hands, she held an embroidery loop that had a white piece of fabric on it. She smiled as she embroidered a rose onto the fabric, thinking, 'God, set me in the place I need to be to do Your Will.' 

She heard a woman say, "Still working on the same piece I see." She slowly looked up, seeing an older woman in her late 50s. The older woman had her long gray hair up in a messy bun and wore a green and beige floor-length peasant style dress. She smiled at the older woman, holding her embodiment up, saying, "It's almost done. What do you think?" The older woman sighed, saying, "It's beautiful, but honestly, Rosalie, you'll never find a husband with your nose constantly in your embroidery loop." Rosalie chuckled, saying, "Who says I'm looking for a husband, Miss Verna?" Miss Verna said, "A woman as pretty as yourself  should be looking for a husband. You are 20 years old now and I'm sure you have a lot of suitors asking for your hand in marriage." Rosalie smiled softly, continuing to sew into her embroidery, saying, "One day, when the time is right, I'll get married, and when I do… He'll be the sweetest, kindest, most loving man that God has ever made." Miss Verna rolled her eyes, saying, "If you keep waiting, you'll end up as an old maid and have no children. A woman as pretty as yourself can marry someone of high class, someone who can give you a good life and take you out of this village. Don't you want that, Rosalie?" Rosalie looked at Miss Verna, smiling, saying, "Whoever I marry, whoever has my heart, I will be in love with. It won't matter if he has everything or nothing at all. I will love him and he will love me." Miss Verna said, "Says every poor woman who's never had anything. Honestly, Rosalie, I promised your mother before she died that I would look out for you and help you find a suitor. It's high time that you start making yourself available. Just look at my daughter Abigail. She's the same age as you and already has 5 suitors asking for her hand, and they're all Noblemen. That could be you if you made yourself available and got your nose out of an embroidery hoop." Rosalie looked up at the sky, seeing the gray clouds, looked back at Miss Verna, and said, "One day, I'll get married but not on my own timing. Now I do believe that it is about to rain." Miss Verna sighed and said, "I noticed, I'm going to be headed home, and you should head inside so that you don't catch cold, but please Rosalie think about what I said. You need to find a suitor and get out of this place." Rosalie slightly nodded, saying, "Goodbye, Miss Verna." Miss Verna said, "Goodbye, Rosalie," and left, leaving Rosalie sitting on her porch swing.

Rosalie hummed as she continued to sew into her embroidery. She thought, 'Whatever Your plan, whenever Your timing, I will listen, I will follow.'  

She heard the sounds of thunder and rain begin to fall, looked up, seeing the rain bouncing off the ground, and heard the rain beat on her roof. She slowly stood up, thinking, 'I should get inside,' and began going inside, taking the embroidery hoop with her. 

She put her hand on the door, hearing a whispering voice in her ear say, "Then go." She quickly turned around, seeing nothing but the rain bouncing off the ground, starting to pick up. She stared at the rain, thinking, "I thought I heard something, but no one's there. I must be hearing things." 

She looked down, feeling a strong tug on her heart that jolted her forward. She quickly looked up, placing her hand on her heart, balling her hand up into a fist. She stared out into the rain, thinking, 'What was that,' and felt tug on her heart once more, hearing the same whispering voice in her ear say, "Go." 

She looked at the rain bouncing faster and faster against the ground, thinking, 'In the middle of a storm,' and the whispering voice said, "In the storm I will be your Peace, go." 

She felt another strong tug on her heart that jolted her forward once more, making her drop her embroidery hoop. She took a deep breath, thinking, 'I have to go out there.' 

She slowly walked off of her porch into the freezing rain, feeling the rain start to soak into her clothing and begin wetting her hair. She looked straight ahead of her, looking at the darkness ahead, and felt another tug on her heart, hearing the whispering voice say, "Run." 

She took a deep breath and began running straight, seeing her freezing breath blow past her as she ran. She continued running, feeling a continuous tug on her heart. As she ran, she saw flashes of light from lightning in the sky and heard the roaring thunder as darkness consumed everything else around her, making it hard to see. 

She continued running, feeling her clothes begin to get heavy from the rain, and the joints in her hands began to stiffen from the cold. 

After a few minutes of running, she began slowing down. Feeling heaviness in her heart. She looked around her, seeing nothing but trees and wet dirt. She thought,'It feels like there are weights on my heart.' She continued looking around her, barely being able to see as the rain started to fog her vision. She felt the cold winds blow against her wet skin, causing her to shiver and thought, 'Why am I out here? Maybe I'm just imagining things… I should go home.' She looked down hearing the same voice say, "Look." 

She looked up as lightning flashed in the sky, lighting up the forest around her, revealing a man that was 5'10, wearing a black cape, black gloves, black pants, black shirt, and black boots standing over another man who was laying on the ground and was dressed in a peasant style cloth tan shirt and blue peasant style pants. 

She saw the man who was dressed in all black holding up a sword, getting ready to strike the man on the ground, and felt heaviness in her heart. She heard the same voice whisper in her ear, 'Save him,' and began running over to the men.

She ran, seeing the man in black starting to swing. She screamed, "No, stop," as she threw herself over the man who was on the ground to protect him, making the man in black stop, mid swing. She turned around, looking down, facing the man in black, putting her back against the man on the ground, put her hand up, and said, "Don't hurt him, please." 

She lowered her hand, and the man in black pointed the sword at her neck, making her look up at him. Lightning flashed, and she saw the man's teddy bear brown eyes piercing through his black mask staring intensely back in her teary green eyes. She slowly shook her head, saying, "Don't," and the man in black gritted his teeth, put his sword away, and ran off, disappearing into the dark forest. 

She put her hand on her mouth and began shaking from adrenaline and fear and turned around, looking at the man on the ground. She put her hand down and thought, 'He's passed out, and he'll die out here if I don't help him.' 

She took a deep breath, standing up, and thought, 'Lord give me strength.' She bent over, grabbing the man's arms, throwing it around her shoulders, and stood up. She began walking back to her home, dragging the man alongside her as she walked. 

After 30 minutes of walking, she finally made it back home and dragged the man inside her house. She stood in her living, looking around her. Her living room had a gray stone fireplace with a gray mantle, a brown bookshelf full of books, a tan rug that sat beneath an old beige couch and wood coffee table, a window that had a white curtain covering it, and shelves that had plants in flower pots on them. 

She dragged the man over to the couch, laying him down on it, and closed the front door, thinking, 'Who is this man, and why am I drawn to him? I've never seen him before in my life… He certainly doesn't come from this part of the kingdom if this kingdom at all… I've never seen him around the village before. I'll have to wait until he wakes up before I get any answers… For now, I'll let him sleep.' She felt an intense heaviness in her heart and heard a whisper in her ear, saying, 'Look at your hands.' She looked down at her hands, seeing them shimmer. She rubbed her fingers together, seeing the shimmer start to become thick and white. She gasped, quickly looking up at the man, thinking, 'He's been poisoned.'