The Highlander

Chapter Nineteen

Rosaline

Alistair was breathing hard, his breaths coming out in deep pants, puffing smoke out in the air. The nature around us were silent, like they were shocked, scared...confused- like me. All bearing witness to the scene that presented itself in the small clearing.

The scene looked like something from a Shakespeare tragedy only it was missing the star-crossed lovers and a dagger. Blood seemed to pool around my body in deep puddles. Not my blood however, the blood of the two men, the two foreign warriors. The blood seemed pure and clear a sharp contrast with the personalities and purpose of the two warriors whose purpose was clear when they tried to rape me.

Yet my knight in shining breeches was here to save me.

Blood dripped from his hands slowly, like the tap dripping in the bathroom sink because you didn't completely turn it off. The plop, plop, plop sound of blood droplets meeting bloody puddles sounded in my head, a memory I knew I would not be able to erase for a long time to come.

His hair, once a shiny gold seemed to have turned a muddy strawberry blonde, faintly pink because of the blood that had seeped into the curly strands. Crimson blood was drying on his forehead, around his eyes, making it seem like Alistair was crying tears of blood, weeping for the lives he had taken. They were more likely to be bloody tears of joy than sadness. If Alistair would ever cry, which I suspected he would not. A man of his pride and egotism would never succumb to the low level of crying.

My hand felt wet.

I glanced down in the silence to my side to see my hand drenched in blood, not a surprise considering Alistair had seemed to turn the small meadow into a small pool of red liquid.

My hand was beside my red dress- no, my dress was pink, but died red in the blood pool I sat in. It was such a beautiful dress. The money Finn spent on it, wasted after a day. I remembered how only this morning he seemed so worried I wouldn't like it.

I needed Finn. But I needed to sound less piny as well. I would blame it on the shock if being sat amongst pieces of warrior.

"We need to leave lass. Now." Alistair spoke for the first time since the murders. I expected him to sound more...rough or tense. I mean, he had just killed two people yet he sounded like it was just another day on the job. Which for him it probably was.

I nodded my head and quickly scrambled to my feet, slipping in the blood, landing on my hands hard. My head spun and I felt disorientated slightly. I wanted to lie down again. It was like I had fallen off a horse again yet this time my slight fear of blood was boiling in my stomach and rising as bile up my throat. I held it down with a strong blockade of pride and displeasure of the action.

"If we stay here the stench will bring animals and possible more curious warriors here. And I'm quiet tired and in no mood to save yer ass again." Alistair threw a half smile my way before offering his hand to me.

I slipped my small hand into his and allowed him to pull me up from the blood sodden floor. Fear started to sink in, as if the fear from the warriors diffused from their blood and into mine.

Alistair had saved me from those men, yet was I safe from him?

Alistair strode out of my line of view before returning with the reins of the horse in his hand, the large beast trotting behind him. Alistair motioned to the horse with his head and I stepped towards it before gently swinging my body onto its back.

The horse made a small startled noise before starting to walk forwards slowly. Alistair held tightly onto the reins, pulling the horse behind him as he walked further into the dark forest.