The sky was turning red. I couldn’t believe the day had passed so quickly. Night was coming, and I could feel it in my bones. The puppy scampered from the door frame of my new home. I picked her up and carried her to Epona’s house.
Sid emerged from her cottage. She had rid herself of her furs and wore a plain gray dress that was far too large for her. Her hair, however, remained as I had seen it earlier. I set the pup down and joined Uald in washing my hands in a basin near the door. The fuzzy pup went to Sid.
“Oh my, oh my,” she said as she bent down to scratch the pup’s head. “Better get a talisman,” she said to Epona who stood in the open doorway.
The white-headed woman nodded.
“Why?” I asked.
“Oh, the little meddlers are always up to mischief,” Sid said then scolded her shoulder. “No, no, not you.”
Inside, Ludmilla, Druanne, Aridmis, and Bride had already seated themselves. I sat beside Sid. Her face looked quite sunken, and her body was very thin. Despite her peculiarities, or perhaps because of them, I found I liked her both instantly and intensely.
Epona, who had taken the head seat, looked at each of us and then bowed her head. I followed her in the gesture.
“Mother, we thank you for providing us with food, and we thank you for bringing our ninth to us. Guide us in your will. Protect Tully, who is far from us. Use us, Mother, for your ends. We are your daughters. Blessed be.”
The women stirred, and I opened my eyes. I was filled with warmth and light, the comforts of the hearth. They passed flatbread and crocks of stew around the table. Honeyed butter perfumed the room. Everything looked and smelled wonderful.
“I hope this meager food is to your taste, My Lady,” Druanne said then.
At first I did not realize she was speaking to me. Everyone at the table grew still. I looked up to find Druanne’s eyes on mine.
“You must be used to more sophisticated tastes,” she added. She smiled weakly at me, but her eyes were cold.
I saw Uald shift uncomfortably. She passed a glance to Epona, but the white-haired woman held her tongue.
“Nothing tastes better than a meal made by the loving hands of a mother or sister,” I replied, feeling the warmth I’d felt only moments before leave me. What reason did this woman have to dislike me? I’d only just arrived.
“Droll, droll. Like a beetle clicking. Pick a new tune, Druanne,” Sid said then shoved a bite of bread into her mouth.
Uald chuckled.
Aridmis cleared her throat. “When will we begin planning for Beltane?” she asked Epona.
Druanne looked away.
Epona smiled. “Is your blood stirring?”
“Me?” Aridmis said with a laugh that sounded like a chiming bell. “If I recall correctly, last year it was you who disappeared with that bald-headed Druid into the night.”
Everyone, save Druanne, giggled.
“True,” Epona said. “True enough,” she said with a wink. “You’re right. We should begin our plans. Balor and his men, including a new student, will be coming for the festivities. I have also asked the bards of the North to return. They seemed pleased at the invitation.”
“Of course they were pleased,” Uald grunted.
“Who is Balor’s new student?” Bride asked.
“A very promising acolyte; his name is Banquo.”
“Will you be here, Sid?” Aridmis asked.
“I should, but you know the barrows.”
“So when you say you’ll be back at Beltane, it means we’ll see you at the festival of Lughnassadh?” Uald said with a laugh.
Sid grinned at Uald.
“Will we have a maypole?” Ludmilla asked.
Druanne nodded. “As is customary. Pardon me, Epona, but I have already put together a list of tasks that need to be completed for the celebration. I will, however, need to make some adjustments since I didn’t know you invited additional guests.”
Epona only smiled then turned to me: “Druanne is in charge of the holiday celebrations. As one of the last female acolytes of the Druidic ways, she can best teach you the mysteries of the high holy days,” Epona told me.
“When will I begin her training?” Druanne asked Epona.
“She is going with Sid tomorrow, so I don’t know when she will be back. When she returns, however, I’d like to place her in Uald’s care until Beltane. By then, Ludmilla and Corbie will both be ready for their name-taking.”
“She will begin with Uald? Are you sure that is the wisest—”
“That is what we shall do,” Epona replied, cutting Druanne off.
Sid, arguing with the phantom of her shoulder, distracted us all. After some heated discussion she said, “I am told Corbie’s goddess has already revealed herself, that she already has a name.”
Epona set her spoon down. “And?”
Sid frowned.
“They won’t tell you?”
Sid shook her head.
“Come, Nadia, tell us,” Epona said, addressing Sid’s shoulder.
“They are forbidden to speak,” Sid answered.
“Who dares forbid our Good Neighbors?” Epona asked, looking very upset.
The other women looked from Epona, to me, to Sid.
I listened.
“You know who. Who has the courage and power to dare?” Sid replied then turned back to her food.
Epona looked at me then frowned. “Well, we will learn soon enough.”
One by one, each of the sisters departed after their meal. Druanne, I noticed, left in a huff without speaking to the others. Bride was still finishing her meal and chatting with Uald and Epona when I rose to leave. I filled a cup with a little cream, as Sid had suggested, then wished everyone goodnight.
Outside, I spotted Aridmis sitting at the side of the well. She held a large piece of parchment in her hands and was drawing on it as she looked toward the heavens.
“What do you see in those stars for me, seer?” I jested.
“Under what moon where you born?”
“I was born of the water bearer in the year 1010.”
“Let me look,” Aridmis said and peered into the night’s sky. She scribbled on her paper. “What do you want to know, fair or foul?”
I shrugged. “Often, what’s fair is foul and foul is fair.”
“You will wear a crown.”
“A crown?” Quite involuntarily my hand drifted toward my head.
“It’s not so bad a fate,” she said, looking again to her papers.
“But wed to whom? To Duncan?”
Aridmis smiled. “That I can’t quite see. But I do know one thing about Duncan.”
“What’s that?”
“He should beware of valkyries.”
Speechless, I stood quietly at her side for several minutes.
“Goodnight, sister,” Aridmis said, looking up. Her voice prompted me from my stillness.
“Yes, goodnight.”
I would wear a crown. What crown? At the side of what king? My mind boggled at the idea.
That night I dreamed I lay in Sid’s bed and cried. I saw Epona’s white hair and could hear her comforting voice, but I could not see what was the matter. All I knew was that I was hurt. Some part of my body ached terribly, and the room seemed very hot. It seemed to me that Madelaine was there, but I could not be certain. I heard Druanne chanting, her dry droning voice calling the Goddess. My body was soaked with sweat.
Then the pain cleared, and I was in a soft bed with rich coverings. I rolled over to find a pure white back in my face, masculine muscles curving smoothly. My hands roved upon his skin. The man turned to look at me. He had raven-black hair and clear blue eyes, and those eyes were filled with love.