England, 1245

"Burn it all to the bloody ground. Not one stone, brick or wood is to be left untouched. " he shouted furiously.

"I want his head on a pike." he hissed between clenched teeth. Blood red eyes held those of his brothers. Enraged he gave the order as he stood trembling with fury and grief while he held Tara in his arm.

He swore with every fiber of his being that Marlaude would die this very day.

With the arrows removed from her back. He wrapped her gently in his cloak and mounted his horse with her.

He held her tight to him with one last glance towards his men ridding out to do what was commanded. The screams and cries of the people from afar could be heard as many of them ran from the keep. Soon flames from the stone structure licked at the skies. Smoke and ash filled the air around them as his men lit fire to everything in their path.

Numb and in denial he held her close and rode with her home in his arms. He would not stop until he reached his keep.

He spoke to her and rubbed his cheek against the softness of her hair. He rubbed her arm and told her all be o.k. as if she would respond.

By nearly nightfall he rode through the gates as those that awaited him stood by in silence. The sorrowful glances toward him werent seen as he slid from his horse gently cradling her body.

He carried her slowly towards the entrance of the greathall where Moira and his father stood with reddened eyes. This tragic moment had the whole keep in silence. Onlookers stared with pitty, sadness and shock as the lord of the keep disappeared into the greathall with Tara limp in his arms.

He took the long ascent up the steps until he reached their chamber shutting him in with his love and the world out. He placed her on the bed and climbed in beside her. His gaze swept over her paled feature.

He couldn't assimilate the loss. He refused to. His fingers shook as he raised them to her cheek and flinched at her cold skin. It was at that moment he broke down and lowered his face to hers and wept like he never had in his life.

"What am I supposed to do without you love?" he sobbed wrapping his arms around her petite form.

He burried his face in her hair and inhailed its floral scent that still lingered there. She faded away from him but her scent was there. But for how long he wondered.
He settled in at her side and closed his eyes. Grief and heartache would lull him and help him drift off into restless sleep.

*********

It wasn't until the darkened ours of the night he awoke to the soft knock on the door and the saddened voice of Aidan begging him to open up.

They were coming for her and he refused to let them take her.

"Brother please open up. We must lay her to rest." Aidan pleaded.

He turned his head away and sobbed more as they continued to tap on the door.

It seemed they would not stop as the tapping continued and the voices on the other side gently begged him to let them in.

He finally stood and on shaking legs he walked to the door and lifted the latch. He stood back and let Aidan enter slowly.

He watched as his father and Moira entered with 4 of his men. His eyes followed them then landed sadly on Moira as she approached him.
Soft warm hands cupped his cheek and held his gaze.

"We will miss her dearly but know that she is in a good place lad." she let him pull her close for a tight embrace.

He slowly pulled away and watched his father lean over and place a kiss on Tara's forehead. His chest constricted in pain as he saw his men bow to her before lifting the sheets to wrap her up.

They had begun removing her and he posessively began to protest but Aidan held him back as Duncan told them not to touch her.

Aidan held him back as Duncan struggled in his hold to get free and go to her. He shouted furiously and wept the moment Aidan wrapped his fingers around his nape and shook him.

"Let us prepare her for her burial brother. Rigors is setting in." he croaked staring at him with reddened eyes that mirrored his own.

Duncan frantically shook his head as a rush of air left his lungs watching her being carried out the door.

"Let Moira clean her up and dress her. Then you can see her." he assured Duncan.

He stared into Aidans eyes. He took a shakey breath of air before more tears fell.

"She is gone, Aidan." he whispered. His broken voice let out another sob.

Death was no stranger to him. He had delivered countless souls on the battlefield during his fights along the kings side. But this. Was too much for him.

"She will be given the proper burial befitting of a Queen," he whispered to his brother.

And so it was said. So it was done.

His legs felt like stone as he walked through his chapel lit with candles towards the Altar where she was laid to rest.

He stood over her admiring how beautiful she looked even in eternal sleep. He brushed his finger across her cheek and lowered his head to press his lips to hers. It would be his final kiss. One he will never forget.

He stepped back and listened to the priest they had sent for as he prayed over her body. After, she was layed to rest in the family grave site near a beautiful willow tree.

*********

The stages of Duncans grief had finally began to set in as the weeks went by without Tara.

He sat with her belongings and spoke as if she were beside him.
"Your square box is making sounnds I do not know what to do love," he drunkinly shook his head. His eyes rested on her image on her phone. He lifted a flask of wine to his lips and drank it. He was in denial.

He continued on this path until it took a toll on him. His nights were restless and his days were unbearable. Aidan and his fathers could do nothing but order his men to carry him up to his bed, stand back and respect his emotional descent. A deep depression was his plight this time.

Gradually, he began to return as the man they all knew before Tara came along. Strict, fierce and to a point unbearable as he knew now to accept the truth which was that fate bitterly played with his heart.

Two months on the eve of her death had everyone on pins and needles.

He trained wrecklessly that day with gruesome force that some of his men could not keep up and he lashedout at them angrily.

"That is enough Duncan," Aidan shouted walking towards his brother as Duncan shoved one of his men.

Aidan the only one that could get through to him finally was tired and iiritated had confronted him.

"Your anger is not going to bring her back, nor is drilling them to the ground." he said taking in deep breaths.

Duncans steel gaze clashed with his brothers. His heart tightened in his chest. The mention of her slowly worked his emotions.

"I miss her as well brother. We all do," Aidan grabbed his nape and pulled him close as Duncans shoulders slouched and his eyes reddened.

They all looked on saddend as Aidan convinced him to go.

"I will continue training brother you must rest."

He turned to his men, guilt of his harsh treatment squeezed his gut but slowly disappeared seeing that none of them were upset with him. They held sympathy for him in their exhausted faces.

He walked slowly out of their sight towards the courtyard past the greathall.
His gaze rose up to the darkening skies noticing the weathers sudden change. A slight breeze picked up and he inhaled the scent of humidity and the signs of rain coming.

He continued on towards a rocky path in the east corner of the keep and stood looking down the narrow path that led to the keeps cemetery.

His first steps felt shaky as his heart felt heavy. His eyes stared at the Willow tree in the distance.

The cool droplets of rain fell as he continued followed by a clap of thunder that shook the ground. He paid it no mind as he continued on then it began to pour.

By the time he got to the stone that held her name he fell to his knees and wept.

"Why did you leave me?" he placed his hands in the wet soil.

His lungs constricted with his breathless cry as he continued angrily questioning her abscense.

"It is not wise to question death," he heard the familiar voice of Liora.

Looking up he stared at the woman standing a few feet away from him.

Angrily he stood to face her.

"And why not it took her from me," he spat.

He scowled as she shook her head with a snicker.

"Her body yes but not her soul, it lives on in another dimension," She smiled.

It angered him that she would mock him with such talk.

"Begone with you old woman. I don't have time for your lies." he hissed.

She shook her head again and gently made her way towards him. Dripping wet and facing eachother in the rain she held his furious gaze with a knowing smile. It urked him.

She softly cupped his cheek and he flinched at the coldness.

"You chose wisely to bury her here near this Willow." she said.

Frowning his lips thinned. "Why do you say that?"

"The Willow enables us to realize that within every loss lies the potential for something new," she whispered with a radiant smile.

He shook his head refusing to understand her. He stepped back with an angry glare.

"Your words have no cause, no meaning.," he swirled around frustrated that she was pestering him.

"You do nothing but speak in riddles, I am wary of....," he turned to face her but she was gone.

More angry now than he was when he arrived he stormed off and stomped back up the path towards the keep. He was going in search of wine to drink his anger away.

Storming through the doors he mumbled angrily stomping up the steps to his fathers solar. Without knocking he entered intime to see his father and Aidan in game of chess.

Ignoring them he walked over to a nearby table that held a decanter of wine and yanked it up furiously and pressed it to his lips.

In large swallows he gulped it down ignoring the dazed glances of his father and brother.

"I will leave you where you fall drunk brother take it easy." Aidan said dryly staring at the board.

"What ails you son?" his father sadly looked up to him.

He wiped his sleeve on his lips and turned to face his father.

Agitation etched in his face he answered him.

"Other than the fact that I lost the love of my life?" he sarcastically laughed. " what ails me father is that adle minded daft old woman you insist on keep near the keep." he angrily frowned.

Their puzzled gazes lifted from the board.

"Her and her talk of dimensions has me wary she has the nerve to mock my intelligence with her daft talk that Tara is alive somewhere else." he took another swig of the wine.

Aidan gave a confused look at Duncan.

"Brother what are you talking about?"

"I am talking about Liora. She has ruined my day with her presence. Of all days she chose this very day to anger me," he grumbled pacing.

Aidan and Ardolf stared at one another in silence.

"What is it? The two of you look as if I said something wrong," his lips tightened.

They exchanged silent glances again.

"That can not be possible, son," Ardolf shook his head.

"And why not?" Duncan spat.

"Liora has been dead over a month now." Aidan said with awe and confusion on his face.

Duncan lowered the canter to his side and stood silent and in shock staring at Aidan then his father. A chilling coolness slipped up his spine as he slumped to the chair behind him.

"How could this be? She was before me in the cemetery......she.....touched...me," he whispered.

They sat in silence.

Her words came to him again.

"The Willow enables us to realize that within every loss lies the potential for something new."

********

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