Foretold Page 6

  She placed the first candle with hazel for wisdom at the stone in the east; the candle containing oak for intuition at the south stone; the one with rowan for divination at the west stone; the candle with alder for clarity at the north stone. Dara placed the last candle with herb sweetgrass in front of the tallest standing stone. She walked back towards the fire pit, bowed towards the tall stone upon leaving the circle and set the basket outside the ring.

  From her basket she picked out the last item, a long stick. She pulled her sleeves back while walking to the small fire, then lit the tip, keeping it in the fire until it glowed.

  Cupping her hand around the little flame, Dara bowed once again upon entering the circle. She walked back to the tallest stone, bowed, and called out to the goddess while she lit the candle.

  “Danu, Mother Goddess, I invoke thee, and welcome your divine grace, in my quest to discover my true path.”

  With her hand protecting the stick’s glowing embers, she proceeded to the eastern quarter.

  “Using the element of air from the east, I call upon Dagda, to whisper on the wind the way to truth.” Dara lit the candle and bowed, then moved to the next candle.

  “Using the candle’s flame in the south, I call upon Lugh for wisdom, to lead me along my true path.” She moved on again.

  “I call upon Cerridwen, in the west, for flowing tranquil waters of divination.”

  Then she walked to the final candle.

  “For the element of Earth, I call upon Dana in the north, to keep me grounded in seeking clarity.”

  With the last candle lit, she poked the stick into the ground, smothering the ember. She returned to the largest standing stone, set the stick beside the candle, bowed her head and held out her arms.

  “May the invoked Goddess Danu be strengthened by the four elements, quarters and deities I welcomed into this sacred circle; may their energies combine to enlighten my journey. Please guide me to what I should do.” Dara wrapped her arms over her chest and bowed deeply.

  “I have taken another into my home and into my life. He is not from our shores and I sense there is a danger that follows him. He has not harmed any one that did not deserve it.” Dara thought how Lothar saved her from humiliation by Park and Serle, when he could have easily just walked away.

  “Goddess,” Dara continued, “the danger is not only of physical harm, I fear that follows him, but of my heart and mind that has claimed him deeply. I do not believe I could truly ever release him from my soul, should he want to return back to his own people. I am unsure if he would willingly leave his own kind and rebuild his life here with me.

  “If I don’t let him go soon, my father will learn of my visitor, if he hasn’t already. Although my father forgave me after he learned of Vaughn’s duplicity, and has quietly helped in my continued independence over these last three years, he will use his authority to force me to return home, and to relinquish my role as priestess.”

  Dara took a deep breath and continued. “I have listened to Lothar battling in his dreams, and I truly believe they are past events he relives in his sleep. His nightmares have calmed since he first arrived, but I wonder still, if it is over, or just a pause in his own life’s battle.”

  Dara walked closer to the standing stone.

  “Goddess, use the combined energy within this circle to guide me, show me what may come.” Dara placed her hands on the stone.

  Bowing her head, she watched the swirled circles turn radiant against the gray stone where her hands touched. She noticed the manacles on her wrists glowed white, matching the stone symbols.

  Closing her eyes, Dara’s head and shoulders arched backwards from the jolt flowing between the stone and into her body.

  Images flashed before her eyes so quickly she caught only a glimpse of being surrounded by fire, then the image of swords clashing near the river, and bright white around her. She turned her head, unable to examine the events fully. Dara understood that, although these were events that might happen, her choices affected the outcome. These views could change for better or worse.

  Dara opened her eyes when the impressions faded. Glancing down, she noted the swirled circle manacles returned to their original silver color, as did the stone.

  Dara stepped back from the standing stone, bowed and picked up the stick.

  “Bless you, Danu, Mother Goddess, I thank you and release you from this circle.”

  Dara walked to the center of the ring of stones.

  “I bless the four quarters, the deities and all the elements, for their guidance this day.”

  Dara walked to the northern quarter and candle. “I thank you for your clarity and release you.” Using the end of the stick, Dara snuffed out the candle. She walked to the rest of the candles in the reverse direction she had placed them, thanking each deity, element and quarter for their guidance as she released them.

  “All is done; I now close the sacred Stone Circle space.”

  Walking the circle once more counter-clockwise, Dara picked up the remains of the cooled candles, bowed towards the center of the circle and departed.

  She set the candle bits into the basket and stirred the last embers of the small fire, remembering the white glow that matched the stones, and the feel of the energy flowing through her, until finally extinguished.

  Chapter 12

  “Lothar?” Dara drawled when she entered the hut.

  “Valkyrie,” Lothar said and turned toward the door, “this is Abbott Sean, the local knee-bender.”

  “Valkyrie?” Sean questioned.

  “My name is Dara,” she said and glared at the round man in brown robes sitting at her table. “I know who you are.”

  “And I know you, too, Priestess.”

  “Good,” Lothar intervened. “I invited the knee-bender here to dine with us tonight.”

  “On what?” Dara asked.

  “Trout,” he stated. “This time I’m cooking it, with the help of the knee-bender.”

  Dara sneered at Lothar as he placed the fish into hot oil.

  “Lothar, I believe you’ve upset her over something you said.”

  Dara looked between the two men and said nothing, but noticed that Lothar’s beard was gone. “I like seeing your face again,” she remarked.

  “I asked him why he had not cut his beard as the others do,” Sean began. “To my surprise, he took his knife and shaved himself. I was quite impressed.”

  “I stopped shaving when the colder weather set in,” Lothar explained.

  “The King wants his people to be clean of face all year round. So, remember more often.”

  “Dara told me of this custom, and I didn’t believe her.”

  “Just keep your face shaved,” advised Sean.

  Lothar glanced at Dara, watching her eyebrow lift and her lips draw up into a smirk.

  “Where are you from, Lothar?” Sean continued. “Your dialect is different from others around here.”

  Lothar stiffened.

  “North of here,” he said. “I want you to tell me more about your way of fishing.”

  Dara noted that Lothar changed the subject.

  “I always caught them with a hook.”

  “I find it hard to believe the fish willingly bite it,” Lothar continued as he turned the fish in the oil.

  “It’s the bait and the Lord’s good grace.”

  “How exciting.” Dara yawned, rolling her eyes.

  Lothar stabbed the fish with the knife, removed the battered trout from the hot oil, and placed them on a platter.

  “We usually eat bread, cheese, and fresh vegetables from the garden with the fish at our evening meal. Brother Michael goes fishing daily, and shares the catch with everyone, including Simon.”

  “Who’s Simon?” Dara asked.

  “Simon is my cat.”

  “A knee-bender with a furry friend,” Lothar commented.

  “Lothar, please refrain from calling me knee-bender. Sean would be better if you do not want to call me Abbott, or
Brother Sean.” He slumped on a stool.

  “Why do you call him knee-bender?” Dara settled on the other stool.

  Lothar just gazed at her and raised an eyebrow. Dara shook her head and loudly sighed. She thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers.

  “Knee-bender is an appropriate name for what you do. I’ve seen the monks kneeling.” She glanced at Lothar, who gave a slight nod of approval as he settled on the edge of the pallet.

  “We kneel as part of our prayers, to humble ourselves before God, to ask forgiveness for our sins and those of others,” Sean stated.

  Dara smiled when Lothar winked at her.

  Another new way to pray that Dara had not tried, she thought. Lothar’s way was to stand before the Gods and let destiny take its course. The Christian way was to ask for forgiveness, for mercy for wrongdoing, and blessing from the Christian God. Both ways differed from her practice in the stone circle.

  She watched as Sean bowed his head, crossed himself, and clasped his hands together.

  “May the Lord truly bless us and our friends both old and new, Amen.”

  Dara glared at Sean, then at Lothar, who coughed loudly after the Christian prayer had been said.

  “Let’s eat,” Lothar said. Dara waited as Lothar passed the platter of trout. She placed the smallest piece on her plate.

  Reluctantly, she took a bite of the fish. She was pleasantly surprised at the unfamiliar taste of the batter on the trout.

  “BEST FISH I’VE HAD in a long time,” Lothar professed while he rubbed his full stomach. He smiled when he glanced over at Dara, who glared at him once again.

  “Brother Michael goes out fishing in the early morning after prayers. Would you like to have him show you how to use the hook so you have more meat on the fish next time?” Sean asked and rose off the stool.

  “The attack is part of the thrill,” Lothar admitted. He got up quickly, following the knee-bender to the door, and opened it.

  “Where did you say you were from again?” Sean asked.

  “North.” Lothar strode outside.

  Sean quickly followed behind. “When were you two married?”

  “We are not married.”

  “Hand-fasted, then?”

  “No.”

  “A good Christian man would marry her, and make living with her proper.”

  “I am not Christian.”

  “Well, marry her proper anyway.”

  Lothar stopped suddenly, watching the smaller man grin as he strode calmly past him, then up the path before he turned at the fork.

  “Knee-benders,” Lothar groaned and shook his head. “Odin, help me.”

  Chapter 13

  On his way to feeding the animals, Lothar thought about the day’s unexpected events. Dining, even with the knee-bender, reminded him of the friends he had back in Oseberg. Good comrades who challenged him and his skills in friendly battles. Friends to go hunting for bear or elk, share stories of their kill, or go net fishing as well, returning with enough to feed the village for a week.

  Lothar recalled, as a child, he’d used hooks to catch fish. Now, he enjoyed the challenge and quickness of the skill necessary in the hunt for food, going after the meal, not waiting for it to come to you. The power of the final battle displayed for all to see in the end, although hunting just enough of what you need, and nothing more.

  Lothar strolled over to the sheep pen and spread dry hay around so each would have enough to eat, and then to the corral for Sinséar.

  Returning to the hay shelter, Lothar spied a small section of knotted branch in the corner. He picked up the wood, removed the bark, and examined the smooth texture. He withdrew the knife from his belt and whittled away bits of wood, making intricate cuts here and there.

  Lothar examined the final shape. The carved figure was of Odin holding his beard. He asked for Odin’s help after the knee-bender had departed, and now here was his image in his hand.

  Perching himself on the rail, Lothar stared at the figure. Odin’s long beard signified ageless wisdom, a symbol of his leadership of all the Gods that Lothar believed in. He realized the meaning of what he carved. Odin challenged him to face a new direction in his life, to choose from the traditions of his people or the other path Lothar envisioned—loving Dara.

  After examining the figure, Lothar noticed Odin’s beard was larger on one side. He began shaving down the area with his knife.

  “There you are,” Dara blurted.

  “Ahhh!” Surprised, Lothar sliced across his thumb with the knife, then instantly put the injured digit in his mouth.

  “What did you do?” she asked.

  “Another question,” he slurred with his thumb in his mouth. He glowered at Dara when he heard her snort.

  “Questions are a way to be strong, not show weakness, by challenging answers to determine a path to choose,” she countered.

  He removed the injured thumb from his mouth. “Very well. I have been thinking about home.” He examined his thumb. The bleeding stopped.

  “Are you returning home soon?”

  “I have been gone several seasons, and I want to return.” He placed the knife back into its sheath. “My father has not been well since my mother’s journey to the afterlife two years ago.”

  “You mentioned your father is the chieftain. Correct?”

  “True, and if he should journey on, I hold the right as his successor there.” He showed the cuffs to her again. “These were given to me as heir, to signify my right to become chieftain, when his journey comes.”

  “What about your brother?”

  “Ulin has limited rights to lead our people. As third in line, he cannot claim the role of chieftain until after my father and I are dead. He has to have both cuffs to assume leadership, proving that we are no longer able to do so.” Lothar knew if his father had joined his mother in the afterlife, Ulin would quickly turn the village back to raiding after the many years their father had ceased going ‘a-Viking’ and become a lucrative trader.

  “How are you going to get there?”

  “By ship.”

  “There are not many trading vessels that come by during this season.”

  “Hmmm,” Lothar murmured. “I know the weather this time of year can affect the journey.”

  He looked at Dara, and his head and heart desired to protect her. He knew he must return home and, Odin willing, prevent any attacks in the area by his village. He worried he may already be too late.

  He jumped from the rail, landing next to her. “This represents Odin.” He handed her the carved figure. Lothar watched Dara cradle the wooden image in her hands, then turn the figure while she studied it further.

  “He appears to be in a stance of power,” she observed. “Tell me more about this God.”

  “Odin is the leader of all the Gods, such as Thor, the God of thunder, and Loki, a trickster who has tempted and given other Gods trouble.” He gazed at her while he explained further. “There are other Gods we believe in, as well as Goddesses. Valkyries are part of them, nine powerful women who choose, from amongst the dead, the valiant warriors who go to Aegir’s Hall or to Valhalla.”

  “Your description of Odin sounds like Goddess Danu.”

  “Tell me about your Goddess.”

  “Danu is the mother of the Gods, as well as the Moon Goddess. She watches over all of us as we sleep, protecting us as a mother would her children. She brings water from the sky to fill our rivers and wells, providing life for all her followers.”

  He watched Dara twist the manacle on one of her wrists.

  “We, the Sisters of the Stone Circle, pray to Goddess Danu. As Priestess, I have been given these by the Goddess, and only she can remove them.”

  “Interesting.” He raised her hand and gently turned the manacle around her wrist.

  “After Colleen was taken last year, I went to the stone circle one night during a full moon. While I meditated, a voice spoke to me. I closed my eyes and listened. The voice told me I am the Priestess, c
hosen by the Goddess and the stones. Next, there was silence. When I opened my eyes, I found these manacles upon my wrists.”

  “You talk to Stones...” Lothar scoffed.

  “Only when they have something to say, unlike men who talk, but say little,” Dara retorted.

  “I wasn’t sure if you were crazy or not.”

  “These three swirls interlinked together represent Danu as a Triple Goddess, in three stages of her life, as maiden, mother and crone. I consult Danu through meditation at the circle of stones. Where do you speak to Odin or your Gods?”

  “I listen to my heart,” Lothar revealed. “I can call for his wisdom about the path chosen.”

  “Odin and Danu are quite alike.”

  “I want to know more about Abbott Sean and that Christian God of his,” Lothar stated.

  “I have seen some of my Sisters of the Stone Circle and other locals relinquish the old ways. Their change, whether from truly believing that this Christian God will make a difference, or that they are just following the King. Nevertheless the number of people following traditions has dwindled.

  “My...” she started. “The King still permits his High Druid, Rowland, to practice the fire festivals to appease the farmers with their crops, while these Christians alter the aspects behind the fire celebrations for their own use. I feel our way of life here will irrevocably change and I will be the last one still following the ways of the Goddess.”

  Lothar said, “In talking with the knee-bender, I found these Christians continue to believe that, in the end, their religion will be their salvation. I’m unclear about why he sought me out today. I will find out more.”

  He gently closed his fingers over her fingers on the wooden figure as he looked into her green eyes.

  “I would like to learn more about your goddess,” he said huskily.

  “I sought her out today for guidance, regarding those I care for.”

  “Including me, I hope.” He raised her hand and pressed his lips on the back of it.