Chapter 17
Eclipse
Morgon returned from the north with his new army and set up camp. His first priority was a meeting with Ardolf, the new War Master of Gorm. He summoned the clansman to his tent and lost no time asserting his authority.
'What's this I hear about the princess?'
He towered over Ardolf and breathed garlic in his face.
'Is the little whore dead or isn't she?'
'The people think she's returned from the dead,' Ardolf replied meekly.
'I know that.' Morgon bellowed. 'She was a big enough danger before. Now those simpletons think she died and has been resurrected. That makes her ten times more dangerous.'
'The Catti have girls dressed like her,' Ardolf said. 'They ride through the villages and vanish before anyone can get a good look at them.'
'How do you know one of those girls isn't the princess?'
'I don't,' Ardolf confessed.
'By Bithras.' Morgon thumped the table. 'That slip of a girl is undermining your authority. What are you doing about it?'
'Tomorrow is the Festival of Our Lord's Ascendancy. The Sky Warrior has challenged the authority of the Duideth. He has told the people that the countenance of Lady Moon will not be dimmed. He says the Great She Whore will triumph over Our Lord Sun.'
'Who do you believe?' Morgon grunted.
Ardolf stared at the big man. 'The holy brothers, of course.'
Morgon stroked his chin. 'If they're right that will strike a great blow against the Sky Warrior.'
'Aye. That's what I'm trying to tell you, Lord Morgon. After tomorrow the Sky Warrior will be nothing.'
***
The night of the full moon was a holy occasion for the Catti. It was the time when the mother goddess manifested herself in all her glory and shone forth her radiance through her sister, Lady Moon. Those who had been converted to the religion of the Lord Sun saw the occasion differently. For them, full moon was a time of evil when witches rode upon the backs of giant crows and feasted on the flesh of newborn infants.
Accordingly, it was with some trepidation that the people of Gorm left the safety of their homes to make the arduous journey to the sanctuary of the Duideth to witness the ascendancy of the Lord Sun over the one they called the Great She Whore.
They entered the sanctuary before nightfall, anxious to be there before the blood-red disc of Lady Moon rose into the winter sky. Few noticed that their ranks had been infiltrated by a group of hooded figures. One was walking with bent knees to disguise his height. Another wore the robes of a high priest of the Duideth under his long cloak.
Tom led his party to the shelter of a large standing stone and waited for the night's proceedings to begin. Thunder stood on one side and Aaroen on the other. They crouched down and watched as the priests left the sacred grove and walked in procession towards the awaiting crowd.
They were led by their Grand Master, Grimwald, who strode in front dressed in a white robe and carrying a staff. The crowd parted to let him through. Tom noticed that the men stood on one side and the women on the other. In Gorm there was no such segregation. The sexes mixed and festivals were noisy affairs with lots of booze and laughter.
The procession entered the circle of stones and Grimwald advanced to the centre. Cymbals clashed and he held up the staff with the golden disk, grasping it in his outstretched arm as a wizard might hold a wand. The crowd fell silent.
Tom didn't like the way Grimwald had captured their attention. And he didn't like the way he was watching the moon as it passed between the stones. The Grand Master looked far more like an astronomer than the bungling idiot Aaroen had described.
Some might regard the staff with the golden disc was an instrument of divine power. To Tom it looked more like an astronomical instrument. Grimwald was moving it from side to side as if taking measurements.
It wasn't difficult to see why the Duideth were held in such awe. The circle of standing stones was like a vast outdoor theatre. Grimwald no longer looked small. The Grand Master stood, in his flowing robes, silhouetted against the moonlit sky.
'Blessed Lord. Send us a sign.'
He cried out it the native language.
'Let your ascendancy begin.'
He raised his staff and the crowd watched as the moon passed over the big dolmen at the top of the hill. Tom guessed that the crucial moment had arrived. If the priests had got it right the eclipse would start and no one would doubt the supremacy of the Duideth.
Minutes passed and Tom began to relax. Apprehension turned to boredom. There was no sign of an eclipse. His initial hunch had been right. Eclipses were dammed difficult to predict. The chance of getting it right with a ring of stones was exceedingly low.
'Send us a sign, Great Lord.'
Grimwald was starting to sound anxious.
Tom wondered how long the priest could hold the tribesmen's attention. It was only a matter of time before they realised that nothing was going to happen. Then a shadow appeared at the edge of the moon and the Grand Master was ecstatic.
'The whore is dimmed.'
He raised his staff.
'Her foul radiance is extinguished.'
He raved on and was close to ecstasy when a figure appeared on the hillside. Tom recognised Adrina. She came down the slope from the big dolmen, in a gown of shimmering white, and sang a hymn in praise of the goddess.
'Holy Mother. Let your radiance ever shine.
Let its fullness never cease.
Give us your bounty as we give you our devotion.
Protect us, Great Mother.'
Women in the crowd ran to greet her. She wore a cloak embroidered with the chevron pattern of the House of Gorm. An image of the goddess hung about her neck. Hands reached out to touch her.
Tom glanced towards the moon and saw that the shadow was fading. He guessed it had more to do with cloud than an eclipse and guessed that Grimwald had seen it too.
The priest seemed unnerved by the turn of events.
'Foul creature of the Great She Whore.'
He raised his staff as Adrina emerged from the crowd.
'You who is accursed in the eyes of Our Lord.'
She arrived by his side and looked around like an innocent child who had stumbled on something she didn't understand.
'Grand Master. What is going on?'
'Foul creature. Do not mock me.'
'Grand Master. You said that Lady Moon's radiance is diminished. I see no change. She shines with all her glory.'
Eyes turned to the heavens and a gasp went out from the crowd. The tribesmen became restive and the priests of the Duideth started to chatter.
'Brethren.' A voice boomed out.
Tom saw Aaroen striding through the ranks of the assembled priesthood. He carried a staff surmounted by two golden discs and wore a gown emblazoned with the smiling face of a child.
'Grimwald, you are damned.'
He reached the Grand Master and thrust out his staff.
'You have transgressed the tetriach and usurped the septaggin ...'
It was some of the most highly developed gobbledegook Tom had ever heard. Yet it had the attention the priests. Murmurs passed amongst them. The Grand Master's failure to come up with a correct eclipse prediction weighed heavily against him. The way in which Adrina had intervened was doubly damning.
Aaroen pointed a finger of scorn.
'Trial by Stones,' he hurled out the challenge.
'Trial by Stones,' the priests echoed.
Grimwald glared at them.
'Very well ... so be it.'
A space was cleared for them. Tom watched as each man sank to the ground and a wooden board was set on his chest followed by a stone. He had a strong sense of déjà vu. It was the trial he had experienced in his dream, back in his former realm, before he and Alison made their fateful journey.
The contestants were told the rules. Each was to ask the other a riddle. A correct answer would result in a stone being removed. A wrong answer would cause a stone to be added.
The trial started with a riddle from Grimwald. A pot was turned upside down and sand began to trickle from a hole in its lid. The riddle was about rabbits and hares. It didn't make sense to Tom and Aaroen seemed equally baffled.
The sand ran out. Grimwald supplied an answer and a stone was placed on Aaroen's chest. The answer made no more sense than the question. Tom was beginning to wonder if Aaroen had fallen into a trap when the man's deep voice boomed out a question of his own.
This was about ducks and drakes. Grimwald failed to answer and a stone was added to his chest. The little man squirmed uncomfortably and asked his next question, which was about a mouse.
Aaroen failed to answer the mouse riddle and another stone was added to his pile. He countered with one about a hedgehog and a donkey. Grimwald didn't reply and received another stone.
Tom was baffled. Neither man was giving a correct answer. The piles of stones seemed destined to grow until one of them was crushed to death. Then he realised that both men were asking nonsense riddles with nonsense answers.
It wasn't a trial of intellect; it was a trial of strength ... so why was a frail old man like Grimwald taking part in such an unequal contest?
Two more rounds followed. The piles grew higher. It was incredible that flesh and blood could stand such a crushing weight.
Why hadn't Grimwald snuffed it?
There was no logical reason why such a frail frame could support such a towering heap of rocks. Aaroen was close to collapse. The Grand Master either had supernatural powers or some foul play was going on. Tom bent down and squinted beneath his board.
'Hey! Take a look at that!'
He grabbed one of the tribesmen and pointed to the rods sticking out from the base of the board that covered Grimwald's chest.
'That's cheating ... that is.'
The tribesman swung his club and smashed through the rods. The board sank and there was a splintering noise as Grimwald's ribcage cracked. His last breath wheezed from his body ... and his tongue stuck out.
Beneath the other pile of stones, Aaroen had stopped breathing. Tom dashed to his side and dragged the stones away. The tribesmen lifted the board and examined the crumpled figure below. Aaroen looked oddly flat. Then his face regained some of its former colour. He struggled for breath and pulled himself up. His first words were about the primacy of the septaggin and why he was the best man to fill the recently vacated office of Grand Master.
Tom heard women's voices, chanting Adrina's name and set off towards them. On the way, he glanced up to the heavens and received a tremendous shock. The edge of the moon was in shadow. He tried to convince himself that the phenomenon was caused by cloud but without success. Stars were visible, right up to the edge the lunar disc. There could be little doubt that the eclipse had started. He quickened his pace, anxious to be amongst friends when the appalling truth took hold.
The women were singing hymns in praise of the Goddess and the Good God. They saw him coming and formed two lines, holding out their arms to form a tunnel. Adrina sat at the far end.
'Tomas. Tomas...'
To his horror they knew his old name. He ducked down and ran between them. Fingers tore at him. Bits were pulled from his clothing. The fringe of his cloak suffered most and he arrived before Adrina with a lot of fur missing.
She rose to meet him and held out a garland of mistletoe. He knelt to receive it and whispered as she hung the white berries about his neck.
'The eclipse has started.'
'You mean Our Lady is dimming her countenance?'
'That's right. I got it wrong. I misled you. There will be an eclipse.'
Adrina stroked his cheek.
'Don't look so sad. There's nothing to be worried about. I've seen what's happening and I've prayed to Our Lord of Cloud and Mist asking him to bring comfort to Our Lady in her time of shame.'
'Nothing can be done,' Tom lamented.
'I'm sure the Good Lord will find a way.' Adrina tweaked his ear and looked up. 'Oh. I think I see him racing towards us.'
Tom raised his head and saw a dense black cloud rolling across the sky. One by one the stars went out and the sky was bathed in total darkness.