Blood and guts erupted like heavy rain. The deer’s intestines burst from the body and with a wet sounding heave, spilled bloody red onto the earth.
The hunter groaned a disgusted grunt as blood splattered all over him.
The image both awed and horrified me. The blood and heap of guts made a massive dark pool at the hunter’s feet. The red of innards and blood glimmered in the firelight. The image of it so unsettled me that I swooned. I gazed up at the moon. My head felt dizzy.
For a brief moment, I saw the world in double vision. Everything around me suddenly felt very far away. I held on to the stone window casement, but my body felt like it was spinning.
The men’s voices grew increasingly distant. Everything became dark.
The world glimmered from blackness to a rainbow of opalescent colors then to darkness once again and everything became very still and silent and black. The spinning sensation stopped and my feet were on solid earth, but I didn’t know where. The only thing that was certain was that I was not in my chamber anymore.
I saw the light of a fire in the far distance and traveled to it with the speed of thought. I moved as if on the wings of a bird. Propelled through time and space, wings beating in the wind, I soon found myself standing beside a cauldron. A fire was burning underneath. Two women stood aside the fire. One was ancient looking, the lines on her face deeply grooved. The other was more middle-aged; her hair was deep red.
“Twice the raven has cawed,” said the ancient matriarch.
“Twice the star flower has bloomed,” said the red-haired woman.
“’Tis time, ’tis time,” they said together.
“Are you…are you the ladies of the nine?” I asked.
The ancient one laughed a long and heady laugh. “Hail daughter of Boite.”
The red-haired woman bowed to me. “Hail Queen hereafter.”
“Cauldron queen, old one reborn, come join, come join,” they called to me. They joined their hands, extending their free ones to me, motioning for me to join them in their circle.
“Round the cauldron come and sing,” said the elder.
“Like fey things in a ring,” said the younger.
The hair on the back of my neck rose, and my skin chilled to goose bumps. These were not Madelaine’s women. I knew who they were: the Wyrd Sisters. Their dark magic was known only in ancient lore. It was said that they meddled in the world of men. They had not been seen since the time of my ancestor, Kenneth MacAlpin, when their prophecies helped him unite old Alba. My body chilled from head to toe.
“I know who you are,” I whispered. “What do you want from me?”
“A deed with a heavy name,” answered the ancient one with a laugh.
“A service, Lady,” said the younger.
“Nay, nay…say Queen,” said the elder.
“But more yet, say Sister,” replied the younger, red-haired one.
“Even more,” the elder said mysteriously. The old woman let go of her younger companion and drew close to me. She was ancient. As she neared me, the sharp smell of flowers effervesced from her, familiar and sweet. While her words frightened me, her eyes were soft and loving. “Bubble of the earth, and Goddess hereafter,” she said then reached up to draw a mark on the center of my forehead. “Wake.”
My eyes opened with a jolt. I was lying on my chamber floor staring up at the ceiling. Pain shot through my body. I sat up and touched the back of my head. It was wet. In the dim candlelight, I could see blood on my fingers. I must have fainted.
I rose slowly and glanced outside. The men were skinning the stag. I went over to my water basin to rinse the blood from my fingers, but I gasped when I caught my reflection. On the center of my forehead, drawn in blood, was a flower with five petals. I leaned forward to look at it better. For just a moment, I spied the image of the Wyrd Sisters standing behind me. I turned to see…nothing. And when I peered back into the basin, the vision was gone. The bloody flower, however, remained. I wiped a wet cloth across the symbol, washing away the flower…the symbol of the Cauldron Goddess, the Goddess Cerridwen.
Chapter 6
On the morning of the full moon, Madelaine, Tavis, and I rode into the countryside. My pup slept lazily in a sling I’d strapped to my chest. Alister hadn’t bothered to wake to see me off, for which I was grateful. We rode past the loch we’d visited just days before. The trees were still loaded with sweet smelling pink and white blossoms. As we rode, I thought about the Wyrd Sisters. Had I really seen them or was it just a dream? The notion that they had appeared to me thrilled and frightened me all at once. After all, the Wyrd Sisters were ladies of legend, dark legend. The Wyrds could be dangerous. Magical beings, they lived in the otherworld. But usually, there were three of them. Where was the third?
“Bid Tavis farewell. We’ll travel alone from here,” Madelaine called when we reached the stream where I’d met the huntress Madelaine had called Uald.
Tavis smiled sadly at me. “Don’t get into too much mischief,” he warned.
I smiled at him. His hair shimmered sunflower-yellow in the morning light. “Who? Me?”
Tavis shook his head and turned to Madelaine. “Are you sure you want me to wait for you here? Shouldn’t I come deeper into the woods? If anything were to happen to you…”
Madelaine smiled gently at him. Leaning from her horse, she reached out and cupped his chin. “I’ll be fine,” she said, passing him a wink.
Tavis nodded, but his forehead wrinkled with worry.
“Let’s go,” Madelaine said. Clicking to her horse, she led us into the woods. After just a few minutes’ ride, Tavis was out of sight, and we were lost to the forest. Madelaine, however, seemed assured of the path.
“You remember the way,” I said, surprised. How long ago had she last come here?
“Somewhat. But even if I’d forgotten, I could follow the pattern of trees,” she said, pointing. “Oak, ash, and thorn. Nine oak. Nine ash. Nine thorn. Where things are in nines, you will find the Great Lady.”
“Are you sure you can’t stay with us? I’m worried about you alone in the castle,” I told her. “You are so at peace in the woods. Can’t you get away, tell Alister you want to retire to the convent as well?”
She shook her head. “I wish I could. You forget, I am still of breeding age. I’m not my own,” she said, and I saw a dark shadow cross her eyes.
“Can’t you go to Malcolm? Wouldn’t he let you join court life, at least until I am married? Then maybe you can join me?”
Madelaine shook her head. “I’ve asked…pled. Malcolm knows. He wants me where I am. Please don’t worry about me. It’s my lot in life, and sick as it is, I’ve grown used to it. At least you will be away from all the misery.” I could tell from the look on her face that talking about it was only making her unhappier, so I stopped.
Madelaine sighed deeply then gazed at the canopy of trees. Blobs of sunlight shone down on her, shimmering off her red hair. Her green riding gown matched the new leaves. I wished she could just run away with Tavis, but she was no freer to love anyone she chose than I was.
Late in the day we came upon a mountain pass that was thick with foliage. In fact, it looked impassable. Madelaine, however, moved toward it.
“There? But it’s a tangle,” I said.
“Exactly,” Madelaine replied with a laugh. “What fool would go in there?” Encouraging her horse, she rode into the narrow passage. I followed. Our horses snorted in complaint as we pushed our way through. We passed into what looked like a gap in the mountainside, barely tall enough for the horses to fit. I bent low above my horse’s neck so my head wouldn’t scrape. On the other side, we emerged into an open space where five small houses sat around an open garden. High mountains and thick, dense, foliage surrounded the space. It was a completely hidden forest grove.