vipers and things. He couldn’t get her out of the Barn fast enough, could he?’
‘It were perfect! And Old Violet spoke the truth – things were run properly when Magus was here. We need to get back to how things were and after what’s happened today, things’ll start to change I’m sure. We’ll be ready, you and I, ready for whatever comes and whatever the future brings. Now you must go to sleep, my beautiful girl. I want you to sleep in tomorrow and Granny will bring you breakfast in bed.’
Faun smiled and closed her eyes contentedly as her mother stroked her forehead soothingly, just how she liked it. What a successful day it had been.
Leveret woke gradually and opened her eyes in the darkness. She couldn’t think where she was or what day it was. Imbolc? The ceremony up in the Stone Circle would be starting soon … but then the memories started to flood in and she closed her eyes in despair. No, no, she’d done that. She’d sat with Sylvie in the carriage going back to the Village. She remembered the breathing walls and Sylvie asking her about the strange man in the Circle. She vaguely remembered the archery display and the rainbow-trailing arrows. After that there was little more other than violently-coloured images and strange, illogical incidents. The whole day was a snaking nightmare of disjointed, jumbled up events.
There’d been a long table that stretched away into eternity and someone by her side, someone she felt good with but couldn’t talk to because there was a glass cage around her. Three black birds had pecked up crumbs and a great white cloud of snowdrops had swirled around her in a snow-storm as she sat in the glass coffin, dead but not dead. So many things had confused her. But then her raven had flown in through the purple skies and bright blue clouds and had sat at her feet. It had spoken wisely of the darkness and the vipers, the shadows and the danger.
Then – she cringed at the thought of it – Yul had smashed the glass coffin and hauled her away, the darkness that hovered around him trying to stain his soul. She remembered a ring of snowdrops with the silver crescent moon rolling across the floor like a wheel and coming to lie at the feet of a man who stood among the crowd of gaping onlookers. She’d seen him clearly as she hung over Yul’s shoulder. It was the same man she’d seen in the Stone Circle at dawn, and once again he’d made that little bow of greeting. He wore the same lazy smile and his eyes danced with mirth.
Leveret lay in her bed and tried to piece it all together. What on earth had happened? She vaguely remembered the jolting journey home down the lane, Yul’s shoulder driving into her sore stomach and him kicking the door open as the stream of invective poured from his mouth like a spilled jar of dark honey. He’d almost thrown her on her bed, shouting at her and berating her, and then he’d started waving mushrooms about and had shouted even louder right in her face. She’d been terrified of his venom and had closed her eyes. But he’d yanked her upright on the bed and shaken her violently, more angry than she’d ever seen him before. She didn’t remember anything after that; great black clouds had rolled in and obscured everything.
Alone in the darkness Leveret began to cry. She sobbed and sobbed until her throat hurt, her eyes stung and there were no more tears to shed. What had gone wrong? Gradually, for her mind was still not functioning normally and lucidity came only in short bursts, she worked out the sequence of events and realised what must’ve happened. It could only be the cakes … it had to have been Sweyn last night when he went out to the privy – there was no other explanation. She knew nothing of the potion they’d forced down her throat under the elm tree. She only knew that Imbolc had been a complete disaster. She’d failed as the Bright Maiden and let her mother down, along with her sister, Kestrel, Celandine, Clip, Magpie, Mother Heggy’s spirit, the folk of Stonewylde – everyone. They must all be so disappointed in her, so sad that she’d failed them once again, betrayed their love and their pride in her. And as for Yul – he’d really punish