Bradley Zimmer - The Forest House

Marion Zimmer Bradley

The

Forest House

For my mother, Evelyn Conklin Zimmer, who

has borne with my working on the book for

most of my adult life

To Diana Paxson, my sister and friend, who anchored

this book firmly in time and space and added Tacitus

to the cast of characters

Author's Note

Those who are familiar with Bellini's opera Norma will recognize the origins of this story. In homage to Bellini, the hymns in Chapters Five and Twenty-two are adapted from the libretto of Act I Scene i, and those in Chapter Thirty from Act II Scene ii. The hymns to the moon in Chapters Seventeen and Twenty-four are taken from the Carmina Gadelica, a collection of traditional Highland prayers collected in the late nineteenth century by the Reverend Alexander Carmichael.

PEOPLE IN THE STORY.

* = historical figure

() = dead before story begins

ROMANS

Gaius Macellius Severus Siluricus (called Gaius, native name, Gawen), a young officer, born of a British mother

Gaius Macellius Severus, senior (called Macellius), father of Gaius,

Prefectus Castrorum of the II Adiutrix Legion at Deva, Equestrian rank

(Moruadh, Royal Woman of the Silures, mother of Gaius)

Manlius, physician at Deva

Capellus, Macellius's orderly

Philo, Gaius's Greek slave

Valerius, secretary to Macellius

Valeria (later called Senara), half-Briton niece of Valerius

Martius Julius Licinius, Procurator (financial officer) of Britannia

Julia Licinia, his daughter

Charis, her Greek maid

Lydia, nurse to her children

Licinius Corax, the Procurator's cousin in Rome

Marcellus Clodius Malleus, senator, Gaius's patron

Lucius Domitius Brutus, Commander of the XX Valeria Victrix Legion

after its move to Deva

Father Petros, a Christian hermit

Flavius Macro & Longus } two legionaries who try to raid the Forest House

* (Gaius Julius Caesar, "the deified Julius", who began the conquest of Britannia)

*(Suetonius Paulinus, Governor of Britain during Boudicca's rebellion)

* (Vespasian, Emperor AD 69-79)

* (Quintus Petilius Cerealis, Governor of Britain AD 71-4)

* (Sextus Julius Frontinus, Governor of Britain AD 74-7)

* Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Governor of Britain AD 78-84

* Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, his son-in-law and aide, a historian

* Sallustius Lucullus, Governor of Britain after Agricola

* Titus Flavius Vespasianus, Emperor Titus AD 79-81

* Titus Flavius Domitianus, Emperor Domitian AD 81-96

* Herennius Senecio, a senator

* Flavius Clemens, a cousin of Domitian

BRITONS

Bendeigid, a Druid living near Vernemeton

Rheis, daughter of Ardanos and wife of Bendeigid

Mairi, their eldest daughter, wife of Rhodri

Vran, her young son

Eilan, their middle daughter

Senara, their youngest daughter

Gawen, Eilan's son by Gaius

Cynric, foster son of Bendeigid

Ardanos, Arch-Druid of Britannia

Dieda, his younger daughter

Clotinus Albus (Caradac), a Romanized Briton

Gwenna, his daughter

Red Rian, an Irish raider

Hadron, one of the Ravens, father of Valeria (later called Senara)

* (Boudicca, "The Killer Queen", queen of the Iceni, leader of the revolt in AD6i)

* (Caractacus, a leader of the rebellion)

* (Cartimandua, queen of the Brigantes who betrayed Caractacus to Rome)

* Calgacus, Caledonian chieftain who led the tribes at Mons Graupius

PEOPLE OF THE FOREST HOUSE

Lhiannon, Priestess of the Oracle, High Priestess of Vernemeton (the

Forest House)

Huw, her bodyguard

(Helve, High Priestess before Lhiannon)

Caillean, a senior priestess assisting Lhiannon

Latis, the herb mistress

Celimon, instructor in ritual

Eilidh & Miellyn} Eilan's friends

Tanais & Rhian } entered Vernemeton after Eilan became High Priestess

Annis, an old deaf woman who serves Eilan during her pregnancy

Lia, nurse to Eilan's son Gawen

DEITIES

Tanarus, British thunder god, equated with Jupiter

The Horned (or Antlered) One, archetypal god of beasts and woodlands

with many local variations

Don, mythic mother of the gods, and by extension, the British people

Cathubodva, Lady of Ravens, a war goddess similar to the Morrigan

Arianhrod, Lady of the Silver Wheel, maiden goddess associated with

magic, the sea, and the moon

Ceres, Roman goddess of grain, agriculture

Venus, Roman goddess of love

Mars, Roman war god

Bona Dea, the Good Goddess

Vesta, goddess of the sacred hearthfire of Rome, served by virgins

Mithras, a Persian hero-god worshipped by soldiers

Jupiter, king of the gods

Juno, queen of the gods, his wife, patroness of marriage

Isis, an Egyptian goddess worshipped in Rome as protectress of commerce on the sea

PLACES

Britannia Superior - southern England

Mona - the island of Anglesey

Segontium - a fort near Caernarvon

Vernemeton (most holy grove) - the Forest House

Hill of the Maidens - Maiden Castle, Bickerton

Deva - Chester

Glevum - Gloucester

Viroconium Cornoviiarum Wroxeter

Venta Silurum - Caerwent

Isca Silurum - Caerleon

Aquae Sulis - Bath

The Tor - Glastonbury

The Summer Country - Somerset

Isca Dumnoniorum - Exeter

Lindum - Lincoln

Londinium - London

Britannia Inferior - northern England

Eburacum - York

Luguvalium -Carlisle

Caledonia - Scotland

Bodotria estuary - Firth of Forth

Firth of the Tava - River Tay

Sabrina Firth - Solway

Trimontium - Newstead

Pinnata Castra - Inchtuthil

Mons Graupius - location uncertain, perhaps near Inverness

Hibernia - Ireland

Temair - Tara

Druim Cliadh - Kildare

Germania Inferior - upper western Germany

Colonia Agrippensis - Cologne

The Rhenus - the Rhine

Prologue

A cold wind was whipping the torches into fiery tails. Angry light glittered on the dark waters of the strait and the shields of the legionaries waiting on the other side. The priestess coughed at the reek of smoke and sea fog and listened to the clangor of camp Latin echoing across the waters as the Roman commander harangued his men. The Druids sang out in answer, calling down the wrath of the skies, and thunder shook the air.

Women's voices rose in a shrill ululation that sent a chill through her body, or perhaps it was fear. She swayed with the other priestesses, arms raised in imprecation; their dark cloaks flaring out like raven wings.

But the Romans were howling too, and now the first rank surged into the water. The Druid war harp throbbed with a dreadful music, and her throat was scraped raw with shrieking, but still the enemy came on.

The first red-cloaked soldier set foot on the shore of the Holy Isle and the gods did not strike him. Now the singing faltered. A priest pushed the priestess behind him as Roman steel caught the torchlight; the sword fell and blood sprayed across her dark robe.

The rhythm of the chant was lost. Now there was only screaming and she ran for the trees. Behind her the Romans were scything the Druids down like grain. Too quickly, they finished, and the red tide swept inland.

The priestess stumbled through the trees, seeking the sacred circles. An orange glow filled the sky above the House of Women. The stones loomed up ahead, but from behind her came shouting. She turned at bay, clinging to the central altar stone. Now, surely, they would kill her ... She called out to the Goddess and straightened, waiting for the blow.

But it was not weapons of steel they meant to use against her. She struggled as hard hands grabbed at her body, tearing off her robes. They forced her down upon the stone, and then the first man battered against her. There was no escape; she could only use the sacred disciplines to withdraw her mind from this body until they were done. But as awareness winged away, she cried out: "Lady of Ravens, avenge me! Avenge!"