Marie is removed from her cross, her body drops onto the ground as the last nail is pulled from her wrist. There are noises behind us as a large wooden contraption is being positioned behind us, the length of it being pointed toward the village. It is well down the hill so the village cannot see it. A few of the mercenaries knock the wedges free from the base of the cross that Marie had been nailed to and lift it from the hole and lay it on the ground. Marie’s body is dragged down the hill while another woman is dragged screaming up it. They have no need to gag her as we had been; the village knows they are here.
Marie’s body disappears behind the wooden thing they have brought and I see it’s my younger sister they are dragging up the hill! A swarm of mercenaries grab her and slam her down on Marie’s empty soiled cross. I call down to her “Connie, oh, Connie, I am so sorrow!”
“Mary! What are they doing to us?”
The centurion steps between me and the hole that my sister’s cross will soon occupy. He calls down the hill. “You refused to negotiate with my captain. I take no joy in crucifying your women but I will continue to do so until you talk with me. To let you know how serious I am I am sending the first woman to you. You have a quarter of an hour to agree to talk or I will crucify the next one.”
There is a loud thump behind me and a shadow streaks past me. I look out from my cross and watch Marie’s body hurl through the air towards the village. Her body lands in the market square. Her head hits the cobblestone and splits open like a watermelon. I fight to keep from throwing up…
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