‘Praise be to the Great Elen,’ murmured Maud. ‘Should we escape detection till the morn, I shall pay homage to her benevolence with an offering.’
‘That be a most wise decision, daughter. The Great Elen doth once again prove her word be true. How long doth she offer her protection to us within this dale? It be time to honour her with the naming of our settlement.’
Maud smiled at her father’s suggestion. ‘As her handmaiden, I shall inform her of thy decision, Father.’
‘It be most fortuitous that the Romans did pass through the valley. They did miss our settlement, and I once again sense Elen’s hand. Come nightfall, we shall return to our homes, but until then we should gather the animals together.’
While they all gathered the animals, none of the inhabitants spoke of that day’s events. They all knew how lucky they were to have escaped detection, and each was well aware that the Romans might return. When the last of the goats had been carefully rounded up and penned in alongside the cows and ponies, the inhabitants returned to their cluster of eight roundhouses.
When Hrothgar had gathered some firewood and kindling from beneath the thatched eaves, he set about making a fire in the central rock hearth to combat the encroaching chill of the autumn evening, and Maud huddled close to the flames.
‘Ye all be most brave this day,’ said Hrothgar with unreserved pride as he began preparing the evening meal.
‘We all be afeared, Father,’ Maud responded in a small voice. ‘I wish those Romans had not come to our land.’
‘Indeed do we all wish that, daughter, but here they be, and until all the tribes of our land come together as one to defend this isle, here they shall stay. Should we prove our worth to the Romans, we might yet remain free.’ Hrothgar turned to his daughter in the glow of the firelight. ‘Thy visions did forewarn of their arrival, and I wish now we did speak to the others of this.’
‘Father, thou dost know what would happen had we done so. Would we not both face banishment from the tribe, or worse, death? We did agree it best to not tell the others that I be cursed with the gift of sight.’
‘Did they not believe me when I said the message came from our neighbouring tribe that the Romans be approaching?’
‘I reckon so, Father.’
‘Hast thou any further visions this day?’
‘None, save the one I cannot explain.’
‘Again, it doth visit thee?’
Maud nodded. ‘Aye, Father, I be afeared by it.’
Hrothgar came round the fire and hugged her tight. ‘On the morrow, when thou dost pay homage to the Great Elen, thou must seek an answer from her about thy visions.’
*
Elen lived deep within a copse of trees at the near end of the valley, and to disobey her order that none but her handmaiden might enter her domain was to cause her great displeasure. She had protected the tribe for countless decades; never once had she allowed one of the neighbouring tribes to seize any of their lands.
Only a girl selected by the Great Goddess herself set eyes on Elen, and the last had been Maud’s mother, who some years earlier died during the particularly harsh winter. When she was old enough, Maud was appointed to take her place, but it was no task to the child; it was an honour and a privilege. As handmaiden, Maud was required to take offerings of fruits, vegetables and flowers once a month throughout the year to give thanks for Elen’s continued protection of the tribe. In return, the handmaiden would be granted words of wisdom, for Elen could see future events.
She had confirmed Maud’s own premonition about the coming of the Romans, informing the child what the tribe must do, and again, her words of wisdom saved the tribe.
It pained Maud that the great Elen could have done nothing to save her mother, but Elen explained on their second meeting that she could not interfere in the natural order of things. Time and nature could not be stopped – they were the two forces in the world that were bound by the laws of creation and could not be undone, though some might try. It was most unwise to try; to attempt such a feat could lead only to certain death.
At the time, Maud had thought it a curious statement, implying as it did that Elen’s previous statement was in fact a lie, and that nature and time could indeed be undone in some way.
Maud though knew better than to incur the wrath of Elen by questioning her.
It was not long after making her first offering to Elen that Maud suffered her first vision. She dreamed that a fire would sweep through the settlement; she knew where and when it would start, and was able to prevent it spreading before it blazed out of control. More visions followed the first, all came true, and many were averted because of her foreknowledge.
Only Hrothgar and Elen knew of Maud’s gift.
Hrothgar knew it would be unwise to let the rest of the tribe know of Maud’s gift, for the others would see it as a curse, so father and daughter conspired to keep it secret. Upon broaching the subject to Elen, Maud was informed that every handmaiden shared in her gifts of foresight, but Maud could recall no single time that her mother predicted anything.
Elen had informed Maud that she was as gifted at keeping secrets as her mother had been, and there had been no more discussion on the subject.
Maud had told Elen all but one of her visions. The one that most troubled her was the one she understood the least. None of the images she could see made much sense to her, bearing no resemblance to anyone or any place Maud knew; the people she saw dressed in strange clothing and spoke in a strange tongue, and even though she could understand most of their words, she understood none of their meaning.
It was also the sole vision that visited her repeatedly.
She stood beyond the boundary of the trees, holding the basket of autumn berries and the last of the summer blooms, speaking the incantation of thanks that would alert Elen to her presence, and then she entered the copse.
Though the copse was not especially large, she seemed to walk for an age before reaching the central clearing, where she placed the offerings upon the rock altar at the far end and seated herself upon one of the fallen trees placed strategically around the edge of the clearing.
It always struck Maud as odd, when only one person was allowed into the copse, that the clearing always seemed like it was waiting for a gathering of people. In the end she had come to the conclusion that it was all pure coincidence, that the trees had fallen due to age or disease and had just been left where they fell.
She heard movement behind her and stood, turning to bow low as Elen appeared in the clearing.
Having no desire to frighten the young girl, Elen had abandoned her natural forms and adopted a purely human physical appearance. In her human form, she required sustenance, and was pleased to see Maud had brought fruits with her, although she was glad she needed less food than other humans for a bowl of fruit would not last a whole month. At times she wondered what it might be like to live amongst the humans – but so far that desire remained small and relatively unfulfilled.
Elen walked towards Maud and tilted the girl’s head so she might better look into her haunted eyes. ‘Thou art troubled by something, my child. Pray, tell me what it be?’
‘Oh Great Elen, I be troubled by persistent visions that I cannot explain.’
Elen indicated that Maud should sit, and seated herself beside the girl. ‘Pray, tell me of these visions.’
‘I be uncertain I can explain them, oh Great Elen. They be filled with images not of this time.’
Elen gasped. ‘A vision of the future? How can this be? Thou should have only visions that be available to me.’ She closed her eyes and placed her hands on either side of Maud’s head, concentrating her thoughts on the images she located within the girl’s mind. She clenched her teeth as she forced deeper concentration. ‘My child, thou must focus upon my mind. Thy thoughts be cluttered. Thou must focus upon the images thou hast seen, and exclude all else.’
‘It be difficult, oh Great Elen,’ gasped Maud. She closed her eyes, struggli
ng to do as Elen asked, and a few minutes later, Elen’s eyes snapped open and her hands flew apart from either side of Maud’s head. Maud opened her eyes, as out of breath as Elen was. ‘What didst thou see?’
Elen frowned. ‘I be uncertain. Thy mind be too unfocussed to see clearly. I believe it to be thy death, sometime from now, at the hands of a man named–’ She shrugged. ‘In the chaos of thy mind, all I could see was a name that doth begin with ‘L’.’
‘But Elen, why did I not recognise the places I saw? Why were there people I did not recognise?’
‘I be uncertain of that, also, my child. I know not whence those images come, so I cannot explain them. They be not images of my making, so I understand not their meaning.’
‘Be there one who might understand them further?’
Elen shook her head. ‘I know of only one such person. She be one of my daughters, but she be not upon this Earth yet. I be most apologetic, Maud. I can offer thee no more words of wisdom than this: should this man succeed in killing thee, then the remainder of thy family shall most assuredly be dead too and there shall be no stopping his quest for ultimate power.’
Though she did not recognise the name or the face, nor hear the name properly through Maud’s undisciplined jumble of confused and frightened thoughts, Elen knew exactly whom the vision depicted.
Her own brother was to kill the girl, in this life or the next. She did not reveal what she knew to Maud; how could she tell Maud her killer was the son of Father Time?
So, thought Elen, I came to this place to keep watch over him, and he be not here yet, but now I have viewed terrible visions of a future time when he will continue his evil. At least it doth prove I be in the right place, for here my brother shall return, though I know not when.
Now Elen knew this was the right place, if not the right time, she determined to remain until her brother resurfaced, for only she had the power to return him to Avalon where he could do no harm.
She would have to be patient.
As Elen lapsed into silence, her attention drifted away from Maud, and sensing her audience was ended, the child bowed low, gave thanks once more, and left the copse.
*
Leaving the valley behind her, Maud rounded the curve of the hill and made her way back to the settlement.
She could not fully comprehend the words Elen had said regarding her visions. It had not occurred to Maud that her visions were actually Elen’s and that the deity shared them with whoever was her handmaiden, but it was clear that the vision troubled Elen as much as it troubled her. Where had the unexplained vision originated, if not from Elen?
Nothing made sense to Maud’s increasingly confused mind. How was it possible for Elen to have a daughter who was not yet on this Earth? Why would that child be more predisposed to understanding the vision than the Great Elen herself? That would mean the child would have a more clearly defined gift of foresight than Elen, and the fact that Elen had children meant she had shared several intimate liaisons with men – which Maud could not bring herself to believe, for she had always thought Elen to be chaste and pure, unsullied by the imperfections of human touch. But then, if the child was more powerful than Elen, was it not more probable that the father was one such as Elen?
Maud realised a great many mysteries surrounded the Great Elen,. She was a Goddess, so the mysteries were just as things should be – one should not have too much intimate knowledge of one’s Gods and Goddesses, she reasoned.
She would not question Elen’s lack of answers. It would not do to question one’s Goddess; if answers were not forthcoming to her questions, it was because Elen had decided she should walk the path to enlightenment personally. The answers were there to be found, if she knew where to look, and if she did not know where to look, she would have to search constantly until she found them.
She thought of what Elen had actually revealed.
A man whose name began with the letter ‘L’ would enter her life at some point in the future, a man who sought ultimate power, and who would ultimately destroy her and her living relatives – which after the death of her mother left only her father. In her confused mind, Maud reasoned this man must surely be a Roman, on a quest to enslave the tribe; Elen would save the tribe, but somehow she and her father would not escape.
Was it possible to prevent the terrible tragedy from occurring?
Although she had not yet attained her thirteenth year, the thought of killing someone to prevent such a happening was not entirely repellent to Maud. She had not yet met this mysterious man, and since he would be a stranger to her, he would have no emotional attachment to her, so his death would cause her no ill.
How would she recognise him though?
Deep in thought, she failed to notice the figure that trailed some distance behind her, and as she approached the boundary of the settlement, Maud paused, closing her eyes as she struggled to recall the man’s voice. In the repeated vision, he spoke several times, but in wakefulness, she could recall neither his words nor his voice. All she could recall was that his words and his manner of speech were strange, almost foreign.
Her eyes widened. ‘He be not of our land,’ she said aloud. He was definitely a Roman then; it was the only explanation.
She struggled to recall the strange surroundings in which she had found herself within the visions: as the man tried to kill her in the unknown location, she called out for help, but her father was powerless to help; she begged for pity – but the stranger spared no thought for her as he stole her lifeblood.
The strange place might be Rome, then. She and her father would be taken there to become slaves – or perhaps she was to become a bound concubine; she would die trying to escape, while her father probably died in enslavement.
With sudden clarity, it all made sense to Maud, except for how the vision came to be in her mind without it being part of Elen’s design. That did not matter though. She knew what was to happen, and she knew what must be done to prevent it from happening: she must wait for the Roman to make his presence known, and then she would strike first.
‘Excuse me.’
The sudden voice from behind startled Maud, and she turned around sharply – to be confronted by a man wearing all but the armour of a Roman Centurion.
‘My apologies, child,’ he said, smiling in what he clearly hoped was a friendly manner when he saw the fear in her eyes. ‘I did not mean to startle you.’
‘What dost thou want of me?’ Maud whispered, backing away slightly as the man struggled with the native tongue.
He held up his hands. ‘Please, do not be afraid, I mean you no harm. My men and I passed through here yesterday, on our way to the coast. I sensed there were people hiding hereabouts, and up in the caves on that hill.’
He pointed behind to the hill on the other side of the River Dryad where yesterday Hrothgar and the other adults hid, and at that moment, Maud recognised him as the lead rider who had almost spotted her in the tree.
‘Why hast thou returned here this day?’ she questioned with a frown, seeing no other reason for his return than to hunt down locals for enslavement.
‘These past days, as we have left Londinium behind, we have encountered and fought numerous members of the tribes of this land. They fought valiantly and put up much fierce resistance… most worthy opponents. Amid much bloodshed, they have been subdued and the survivors have been sent to Londinium, where they will be put to the torture and sold into slavery. Those who resist the Roman might will be put to death.’
Maud was appalled, though not surprised. That fate would have befallen her tribe had they not hidden from the aggressors, but now it seemed their lives were forfeit… perhaps the unexplained vision was nearer to becoming reality than she had thought.
‘Be that the fate thou hast in store for mine own people?’
The Roman shook his head. ‘Had that been my intent, I would have brought the century with me. No, there has been much bloodshed since leaving Londinium, but I have heard rumour amongst
the captured Cantiaci of a mythical creature of immense power in this region. They refer to her as the Green Woman protecting the inhabitants of a settlement on the outskirts of a valley. They all wish she protected their own settlements.’
Maud’s eyes widened in shock at his mention of the Green Woman. ‘Thou dost know of Elen?’
The Roman centurion’s face betrayed his awe. ‘Then she is real, this Green Woman of whom they speak? I had feared she might be a myth.’
‘She be real enough, and her powers do indeed protect us. Why dost thou seek her out?’
‘I have deserted my century in the hope that she is real. If she truly has such immense power, I thought perhaps she might have the power within her to stop all the killing.’
‘Thou dost seek her power to halt the bloodshed? Art thou certain thou dost not seek to use her power for thine own purpose?’
The centurion shook his head. ‘One of such great power would not be enslaved to the will of a mere man such as I. No, I seek her for the reason I have given.’
‘Wouldst not thy men have missed thee by now? Be thee not their leader, after all?’
‘If I bring danger to your settlement, it was not by design. Surely this Elen can protect you from such danger?’
Maud nodded. ‘Mayhap thou art correct. I shall take thee to her.’
‘Thank you, child.’
‘My name be Maud.’
‘And I am Lucius.’
Maud felt as though her heart stopped beating for a fraction of a second at the mention of his name, but though her blood ran cold, she managed to smile disarmingly. ‘Come, thou must follow. I shall lead thee to Elen.’
Maud thought fast. She had been about to believe him, seduced by his charm and charisma… until he told her his name. Now, though, she knew he could not be trusted. Elen could look after herself, and would ensure the tribe remained safe, but the vision clearly indicated that both she and her father would be captured.
The Master of Prophecy (The Sawyl Gwilym Chronicles Book 2) Page 33