Page 78 of Queen of the Hollow Hills

“The priestesses delivered you on a litter. Aedan and Môd had very harsh words. I don’t think I have ever seen my brother that angry before. And I have never seen anyone speak to the priestess in such a manner. It was…harrowing. Well, that is of no importance now. Are you in any pain, your majesty? What can I do for you?”

“My head and hands ache. Where is Môd?”

“Gone. Only Corva remains.”

“Typical,” I grumbled, then sipped once more.

Amma adjusted my pillows so I might lean back.

The door opened a moment later, Corva entering in a rush. I was surprised to see her in a sleeping gown, her long, red hair unbound. She had hastily pulled a robe over her shoulders.

“Cartimandua,” she said, looking worried.

Amma set the cup aside. “I will leave you now and find my brother. He insisted on knowing when you were awake. Please ask our servants for anything you need,” she told me, then departed.

“Corva,” I said, exhaling deeply.

“Cartimandua,” she said worriedly. “Are you all right?”

“My head aches,” I said. “And these?” I lifted my hands.

“Burned. We bandaged your hands,” Corva told me. “The burns will heal, but it will take a few days. I will fetch you something for your head,” she said, then moved to rise.

“Wait. Rome? What news?”

“I sent eyes to Gaul. Cartimandua, what did you see? What did you do? You said it was done. What happened?”

“Caligula is a madman,” I whispered. “I saw inside his mind. Such thoughts… It was simultaneously like a hundred versions of reality, and so much rage and shame. He was so desperate to make his god speak to him. So… So,Ispoke.”

“You?”

I nodded.

“And he heard you as his god?”

“Yes. I told him to make battle with the sea and collect shells as spoils of war.”

Corva stared. “And did he?”

“Yes. When it was done, he sent his men home. If it is true, if the vision is real…”

“Then they will not sail,” Corva said, gaping. “May the goddesses be thanked.”

“Let us pray it worked.

“Oh, Cartimandua, what you did, though… The Cailleach cannot have been pleased. A blood sacrifice is required to make that magic, which is why we never perform such rites. That is an old magic from a time before us all, a world before us all. It is too great a risk. And yet, I saw the magic myself, emanating from you like a bright blue light rising from the hollow hills below you, circling the stones, and then darting away like an arrow to the south. I… It was like nothing I have ever seen before.”

“If it is real, true, the danger has passed.”

“May it be so.”

A moment later, the door to the chamber burst open, and Conall rushed in.

“Conall?” I asked in alarm, confused by his abruptness. “What is it?” I asked, rising.

A second later, Brodi appeared.

“Brodi?”

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