winter and is with us at Imbolc – soon she will return to the land.” Say the words!’
She managed to repeat this, with a little more prompting from Kestrel, then everyone donned their cloaks and went out onto the Village Green for the archery displays. It passed in a blur for Leveret. The trees appeared to be moving around the Green, engaged in their own Imbolc dance. She sat on a special carved chair that had been set up on the little dais, pale-faced and impassive in her white and silver robes, the great head-dress giving her a regal aura. She attracted a great deal of attention for she looked so lovely and many people hadn’t seen her transformation at the Outsiders’ Dance. Celandine came up shyly and told her she was the most beautiful Maiden she’d ever seen, but Leveret could only gaze down at the little girl with unfocused eyes and Celandine crept away, disappointed.
As the morning wore on she felt more and more surreal. People were moving strangely, their voices coming as if from the end of a long tunnel. Faces loomed suddenly in front of her, mouths stretched in odd grimaces, and then disappeared again. She looked at the arrows arching through the sky and saw rainbows trailing from the fletchings, each arrow briefly silhouetted against the cold, grey winter’s sky. Finally the competitions came to an end and she must present the winners with their silver trophies – a miniature bow and arrow mounted on a piece of yew. She stood and the world swam sharply around her, faces and trees and lots of green grass. Silently she handed out the trophies, feeling as if she were balancing on stilts and scared she might topple over.
Rufus won in his age-category and came up to the dais to collect his trophy. Like Celandine, he smiled shyly at Leveret remembering their conversation that day in the Dining Hall.
‘Thank you, Bright Maiden,’ he said, lowering himself to one knee before her as was the custom. Prompted by Kestrel, she handed the boy his trophy but didn’t say a word, looking straight through him with no recognition at all. His face fell.
‘Excellent bowmanship!’ said Kestrel kindly, trying to compensate for his partner’s increasingly worrying behaviour. ‘I shall have to watch out for you, Rufus – you’ll be challenging me soon.’
Everyone then moved indoors for the lunch laid out on long trestle tables up and down the Barn. Leveret, whose outer robes had now been removed, sat at the centre of the top table with Kestrel by her side. She looked down at the plate in front of her in surprise; it appeared to be spinning around very fast. People were putting bizarre objects in their mouths and making a lot of noise. Maizie, frantically busy helping organise the food, appeared at her shoulder.
‘What’s the matter, love? Have something to eat, for goddess’ sake – you look so pale. You got all the dancing and chants to do this afternoon, Leveret. ‘Tis your busy time so keep your strength up, my girl.’
Kestrel tried to make conversation but she merely stared at him. Her pupils were enormous, like a cat’s eyes in the dark. Her brothers had always said she was weird and they were right – she was making him feel uncomfortable and he couldn’t understand how the shy but competent girl he’d rehearsed with had turned into this silent automaton. He spoke to Faun instead, on his other side, Rowan having somehow secured her daughter a place right next to him at the top table. Faun was in her element, tossing back her blond ringlets and flashing her dark eyes at him, loving every minute of his attention. She flirted quite outrageously in a way an older girl couldn’t have done, but at the same time played on the fact that it was her thirteenth birthday which she said made her feel very grown up all of a sudden. She also made much of the fact that she was Magus’ daughter and had true Hallfolk blood in her veins. Then she began to make funny comments about the unresponsive Maiden seated next to him, who stared around her slowly in unnatural wonder. Before long Faun and Kestrel were roaring with laughter at their oblivious victim.
The feast was well underway when the Barn doors were thrown open to the cold and in came three unexpected visitors, cloaked against the wintry weather outside. There was a ripple of shock – it