Her face was pale, but her lips were a deep red, which seemed darker against the alabaster whiteness of her skin. Her eyes were large and sad looking, as if remembering a sorrow from a distant time. She paused a few steps from the bottom of the staircase and crossed her arms, tucking her hands into her sleeves. Swi?gar and Ecgbryt knelt in front of her. Daniel and Freya, unsure what to do, stood behind the knights, their hearts pounding in anticipation, overwhelmed with awe. Daniel thought her face the most beautiful he had ever seen-it filled his mind and made him forget, for a few seconds, all the things he had gone through to get here. Freya’s awe was sharp and felt like a cold wind blowing through her; for some reason the woman’s grandeur and self-possession made her afraid.
“Greetings, Modwyn, Richeweard,” said Swi?gar.
“Well betide you, ni?ercwen,” said Ecgbryt humbly.
The stately lady in green curtsied. “You are welcome in Ni?ergeard, Swi?gar and Ecgbryt, noble knights both. Rise.” A servant woman in a velvet dress appeared from a doorway beneath one of the stairs, approached her mistress, and handed her a silver pitcher and a small cupped dish. Stepping forward, Modwyn poured some golden liquid into the bowl and handed it to Swi?gar.
He raised it to his lips and drained it while looking Modwyn in the eye. Taking the bowl from him, she refilled it and gave it to Ecgbryt. He likewise emptied it and handed it back.
Modwyn’s eyes then flitted to Daniel and Freya as the two knights rose to their feet. Her expression remained stern and serious, but her eyes seemed to grow more intense and lively.
“My lady, I bring before you Daniel Tully and Freya Reynolds, two lifiendes who have awoken us. We have escorted them here to beg your protection and petition your counsel.”
“I accept their charge,” Modwyn said in a low, emotionless voice. “Daniel and Freya,” she continued, turning her eyes to them, “do you accept my hospitality?”
Daniel and Freya did not speak. For some reason everything felt as if it was happening a long way away, and to someone else.
They looked to the knights.
“Children, this is Modwyn, the ward and protectress of Ni?ergeard. It is her constant and capable hand that ensures the safe and easy governance of this land. She is asking if you wish to have her protection.”
Daniel looked back to Modwyn and managed to force out, “Yes, please.”
Freya looked to Modwyn and blurted, desperately, “We need to go home now, please!”
Modwyn regarded Freya. “In time,” she said so softly that they were not sure she had said it at all.
“I welcome you,” Modwyn said, stepping past the two knights to stand before them. “Our doors are open and our fires high. Find rest and safety here.” She poured another bowl of drink and offered it to Daniel. He took it uncertainly and sniffed it. He was met with a sweet smell and tingling sensation in his nose.
“It is well,” Swi?gar assured him. “Drink.”
It was sweet like honey, slightly fizzy, and had a spicy flavor, which pricked at his throat and excited his stomach. There was also something in it that warmed Daniel and made him shiver slightly.
He returned the bowl to Modwyn and she filled it again and gave it to Freya. Looking into the bowl, Freya saw the shimmering dance of refracted golden light, which showed a deep golden hue. The scent made Freya’s nose tingle and warmed her face. She stifled a sneeze.
“You are both wet and chilled,” Modwyn said, reclaiming the bowl. “Please dry yourselves and take some rest. We will talk when you have taken some sleep.”
At the mention of the word “sleep,” Freya felt herself becoming very drowsy. “If you please, miss,” she said hesitantly, “we would like to go home.”
“I understand,” Modwyn said, smiling a thin smile that failed to light her dark eyes. “But you have come very far and will have farther to return. That will be for Ealdstan to decide. For now, it would give me great pleasure to provide some food, dry clothes, and a bed for you both. Will you accept these offerings?”
Freya did not answer, only nodded.
“Okay . . . ,” Daniel said, his head starting to swim and his eyelids becoming extremely heavy.
Modwyn inclined her head. “I am glad.”
Two servants appeared from behind Daniel and Freya, entering so quietly that they were unnoticed. They were dressed almost to the knees in dark-green shirts, bound around the waist with bronze belts that also held up loose light-green leggings. Both had light-brown hair and broad faces. “This is Cnafa and Cnapa,”
Modwyn said. “They will fetch and provide you with everything you might require. Now they will show you to your rooms.”
“Will Swi?gar and Ecgbryt be here when we wake up?” Daniel asked.
“Yes, assuredly,” answered Modwyn.
“What about Ealdstan?” Freya asked. “Will we see him?”
The two knights smiled encouragingly. “Go take your rest,” said Swi?gar. “We will meet again once you have been refreshed.”
Daniel and Freya followed Cnafa and Cnapa very sleepily up one of the spiral staircases. Below them they watched Modwyn gesture to Swi?gar and Ecgbryt and lead them off through a towering doorway beneath the opposite set of stairs.
They were led up to the second level and down a hallway that ran along the tower wall. The high windows gave them a view of the tower’s courtyard, and the city of Ni?ergeard.
“This will be your room, young master,” either Cnafa or Cnapa said to Daniel, opening a large wooden door to a spacious bedroom.
“And this,” said the other servant, walking one door farther down the hallway, “will be your room, young mistress.”
“You will find dry clothes and linens on the table, as well as clean water in the jug,” Daniel’s servant informed him. “May your sleep be guided, your body rested, your mind restored, and your soul renewed.”
Daniel and Freya said their thanks and, before stepping into their rooms, glanced at each other from down the hall.
“Scared,” mouthed Freya.
“Me too,” Daniel replied, as the two servants pushed them each into their rooms.
CHAPTER FIVE
A Leaf from Another Forest
1
Now . . .
Freya trudged through the wet streets, walking so fast that her shins hurt. As she approached St. Michael and All Angels, she saw Daniel, looking agitated, leave the church and run down the path. He looked up, recognised her, and raised his arm-in warning?
He opened his mouth, as if to shout, and at the same time put a hand on the low wooden gate that led out into the street. He pushed it open and, with his foot raised to take a step forward, seemed to stumble, and disappeared into thin air.
Freya yelped and jumped backwards. Danger was the only thought in her mind. She wanted to run, but didn’t know where. Daniel had been taken from the open air, underneath the rickety wooden arch of the lych-gate-she didn’t think that was possible. What was to say that she wouldn’t be as well? She became paralysed. Any step in any direction could be a step across a threshold that might send her into peril. In full panic, Freya’s mind closed up and terror filled her. She fell into a crouch and buried her head in her arms.
She was aware of a sound growing around her, which built and trickled down her spine. It was laughter. Raising her head, she found herself looking up at the vicious figures of two yfelgopes, their lips curled in a sneer around their needle-like teeth. Freya, now more terrified than ever, flinched instinctively away from them, sprawling on the pavement. She closed her eyes and covered her face.