Page 82 of Queen of the Hollow Hills

We both wept once more, holding each other tightly, feeling like our heartbreak would never end.

By nightfall the next day,Onnen arrived, too late to help but in time to see to the rites for the princesses. I let Corva and the others handle the details while Cormag and I found ourselves lost in a bewildering blur of anguish.

It was very late in the evening when there was a knock on the door.

“Cartimandua?” Corva called gently.

I was sitting beside the open window casement. My daughters had been moved from the room and taken by the priestesses who would prepare them for their rites.

Cormag lay sleeping in bed. His head had been aching badly. After hours of tossing and turning, he finally rested.

I rose and went to the door. Gesturing for Corva to be quiet, I led her into the hallway and away from our chamber door.

“We will hold the rites at sunrise tomorrow. Onnen will see them interred alongside your father. They will be buried together. Some of the chieftains have come. They would not disturb you and Cormag. An advance rider has come from King Eddin. He will be here sometime this night.”

“Very well,” I said, feeling empty.

“I will come for you and Cormag in the morning.”

I merely nodded.

Corva eyed me carefully. “Can I do anything for you, Carti? Can I get you anything? They say you have not eaten…”

“No. Thank you,” I said, then turned to go back to my chamber but paused a moment. “Has Môd come?”

“No. She… There was some discussion between her and Onnen. It was decided that Onnen and the priestesses of Brigantia would see to the rites.”

I nodded once more, then made my way back to my chamber.

I entered quietly, then slipped into bed beside Cormag.

“What is it?” he whispered groggily.

“They will be buried by Onnen at sunrise with the rites of Brigantia.”

“Good,” Cormag replied, then drifted back to the void of sleep.

When I woke again,Corva, Hilda, and Damhan were in the bedchamber, moving about as silently as possible.

“My queen,” Corva whispered. “It is time.”

I woke slowly, setting my hand on Cormag’s shoulder to rouse him. He sat up sleepily, then went with Damhan to change.

“My lady,” Hilda said, her eyes looking red and puffy. She gestured to the black dress she had set out for me.

Feeling hollow, I followed her and went to change.

Everything felt so distant, so far away from me. It was like I was watching myself from above. I saw myself preparing, letting Hilda brush my hair, dress me in a black gown, and set a ringlet on my head. I saw that Cormag, too, had been dressed in black and that Damhan had painted his eyes with heavy kohl, whichthe Votadini man also wore. Like a mask to hide his pain, Cormag was a crow once more. And again, I was the grieving Brigantes lady who was beginning to feel as though my life would be forever surrounded by death.

We left the fort in darkness and rode across the landscape to the plain beyond the henge of the three sisters. Brodi, who had also marked his face with kohl, rode alongside Damhan.

This loss wasn’t just Brigantes. The Votadini, too, had lost their princesses.

At the plain, the priestesses and others waited beside the smallest grave I had ever seen.

But what both surprised and moved me was the enormity of people who had gathered. Hundreds had come to see my daughters to the Otherworld. Amongst the crowd, I saw familiar faces of the people of Rigodonum, and along with them, my chieftains—including Venutiux and Alys, Ystradwel and Lord Gregor, Aedan and Amma, and with them, Eddin.

To my surprise, I also found that Queen Mael Muire had come with a delegation of Votadini.

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