Darkwitch Rising (82 page)
Authors: Sara Douglass
Tags: #General, #Fiction, #Historical, #Fantasy, #Great Britain, #Epic, #Fantasy fiction, #Brutus the Trojan (Legendary character), #Alternative histories (Fiction), #Charles, #Great Britain - History - Civil War; 1642-1649
Charles had come to the cathedral with a score of courtiers and guards, but he had waved all bar one of them away as he picked his way through the rubble. Louis de Silva was the only one he wanted to accompany him into the dark heart of the cathedral.
Louis and Charles walked slowly and carefully through the rubble. They did not speak, and, although to the watchers it appeared that it was the king and the courtier who walked through the ruins, in reality Charles and Louis slipped into the Faerie almost as soon as they had stepped out alone.
Now, in the heart of the cathedral, standing before what had once been the altar, the Lord of the Faerie and Ringwalker stood looking down at a jumbled pile of scorched bones.
“Is it…” Ringwalker said.
“Noah?” said the Lord of the Faerie. “No. She is safe. For the moment.”
“Then to whom do these bones belong?”
“Not to whom, Ringwalker, but to what. They are a warning of what will come if you and Noah do not complete the Troy Game.” He paused. “They are the bones of all our hopes and dreams.”
Ringwalker stood in silence for a long time, his eyes not leaving the pathetic jumble of bones.
“What can we do?” he whispered finally.
“I do not know,” said the Lord of the Faerie.
In the Realm of the Faerie Noah sat with her baby daughter in her lap. Behind her, his hand on her shoulder, stood Weyland Orr. Before them stood the assembled mass of the faerie folk, as well as the Lord of the Faerie and the Caroller.
Noah looked down on her daughter, and wept, and all wept with her.
They had flung everything they knew at the baby, every power at their command, and yet still faint red lines of fire glowed about her wrists.
She had been their joy. Now she would prove to be their doom.
All Noah could think of, as she sat there and wept, was her prophetic request to Christopher Wren: Build me a casket, Master Wren. Build me a coffin of hopes and dreams.
And so he would, save that now the cathedral would prove to be her casket, and not that of the Troy Game.
1675
After years of wrangling, of planning, of heartache, of arguing and of desperate pleading, Sir Christopher Wren finally had the approval of the city and church officials to rebuild the ancient cathedral church of St Paul’s in a cruciform layout with a magnificent dome.
On this day in the second half of the year, Wren stood on the site of the demolished cathedral. It had taken nine years, and far more lives, to bring the charred walls down. Now, Wren could start the intricate work of laying out the foundations.
It was an important day, and a crowd had gathered to watch. Wren, hatless, his curls blowing a little in the breeze, walked slowly about the levelled site, finally choosing a spot where one day would rise the great dome as that place most suitable from which to measure out the rest of the cathedral.
Impatient, his booted foot tapping, Wren called to a nearby labourer. “Bring me a stone, a flat stone, so that I may the more permanently mark this spot.”
The man hurried off, conscious of everyone’s eyes on him.
To one side of the churchyard was a pile of flat stones. The labourer grabbed one, and hurried back to Wren.
“Humph.” Wren took the stone, turning it over in his hands.
He stilled as he saw the stone’s front surface, and a chill of supernatural awe ran down his spine.
The stone was an old tombstone, broken and scorched in the Great Fire. But despite the dirt and ash which coated its surface, Wren could clearly read the single word inscribed there.
Resurgam.
I will rise again
.
Wren breathed in deeply, trying to still his emotions. Then he raised the broken tombstone high above his head, showing it to all gathered about, and shouted, “Resurgam! Resurgam!”
Resurgam!
As the shouting died down a movement at the edge of the crowd caught Wren’s eye.
A little girl, not more than five or six, stood there. She was very lovely, with black snapping curls cascading down her back and with deep blue eyes in her pale face.
Shadows danced about her eyes and form, and for a moment Wren felt coldness envelop him.
In one hand she held a large rolled up sheet of paper, which she allowed to unravel once she realised she’d caught Wren’s eye.
See here
, she said in his mind, gesturing to the paper with her free hand,
I have a plan here for you. A plan of London as it should be rebuilt. It shall be our Game, yours and mine alone. Will you play
?
ALBA
: ancient, and now vanished, city on the banks of the River Tiber in Italy.
ANCIENT CAROL
: that which is sung by the
CAROLLER
within the
FAERIE
to welcome in both dawn and dusk.
ARIADNE:
ancient
MISTRESS OF THE LABYRINTH
at Knossos in Crete of the
GREAT FOUNDING LABYRINTH
. She was the half-sister of
ASTERION
, the Minotaur, as also his lover. She betrayed him to Theseus.
ASTERION:
the ancient Minotaur who inhabited the
GREAT FOUNDING LABYRINTH
in Knossos on Crete. Murdered by Theseus, and recalled from death by
ARIADNE
, he has ever since been locked in a battle with
BRUTUS
for the kingship bands of
TROY
and control of the
TROY GAME
. In this current life he is known as
WEYLAND ORR
.
BANKS, NOAH: CORNELIA
reborn and
EAVING
, the goddess of the waters. In her previous life she was Caela, wife to Edward the Confessor, and in her first she was
CORNELIA,
wife to
BRUTUS.
BEDFORD, EARLS OF:
see
RUSSELL.
BRAGANZA, CATHARINE OF:
princess of Portugal, and wife to
CHARLES II
.
BUTTERED BEER:
a rich brew of beer, sugar, spices and butter, served warm. It was drunk by all but the poor.
CAROLLER, THE
: the songstress who carols in the dawn and the dusk in the
REALM OF THE FAERIE
.
CARTERET, MARGUERITE
: daughter of the governor of Jersey, Marguerite became
CHARLES II’S
mistress when he was in exile and bore him several bastard children.
CATASTROPHE, THE
: after Theseus left
ARIADNE,
she responded by destroying much of the ancient Aegean world in revenge. This is known as the Catastrophe.
CATLING:
daughter of
NOAH BANKS
.
CHARLES I
: King of England 1625-49. Executed by Parliament at the end of the English Civil War.
CHARLES II
: son of
CHARLES I
and
HENRIETTA MARIA
, lived most of his youth in exile following the
ENGLISH CIVIL WAR
. Regained the throne in 1660.
CIRCLE, THE
: the means whereby three or more people can recreate the ancient magic of the
STONE DANCES
.
CLARENDON, EARL OF
: See
HYDE, EDWARD
.
COEL
: a man of the Bronze Age and a friend and lover of
CORNELIA.
COMMONWEALTH, THE:
that period in England between the death of
CHARLES I
in January 1649 and the restoration of his son
CHARLES II
to the throne in mid-1660.
CORNELIA:
wife to
BRUTUS
when the
TROY GAME
was first constructed. Now she lives as
NOAH BANKS.
CROMWELL, OLIVER:
Protector of England during the period of the
COMMONWEALTH,
leader of the Parliamentary forces against the royalist forces during the
ENGLISH CIVIL WAR
.
DANCING FLOOR, THE:
literally the labyrinth as it is carved into rock or stone. The
MISTRESS OF THE LABYRINTH
and the
KINGMAN
use the dancing floor to raise the Game from the labyrinth. Dancing floors—labyrinths—could be found in many medieval European cathedrals.
DOLBEN, JOHN:
Dean of Westminster School.
EAVING
: the goddess of the waters who takes the mortal form of
NOAH BANKS
. In the Anglo-Saxon language, Eaving meant “shelter”, or, “the unexpected haven from the storm”.
EAVING’S SISTERS:
in
God’s Concubine
EAVING
was reborn in Caela (now
NOAH BANKS
). She drew fiercely loyal women about her who became known as Eaving’s Sisters. Chief among them is Ecub, reborn now as
MARGUERITE CARTERET
; Erith, Judith in her previous life and now reborn as
KATE PEGGE
; and Matilda of Normandy, now reborn as
CATHARINE OF BRAGANZA.
ELIZABETH:
a prostitute working in
WEYLAND ORR’S
brothel in
IDOL LANE
.
ENGLISH CIVIL WAR
:
CHARLES I
, like his father, James
I
, believed in his divine right to rule (i.e. he believed he was answerable only to God). In a country which had long believed the king was subject to his nobles before God, this attitude caused great friction, resulting in civil war between the forces of the king and Parliament between 1642 and 1646. From 1646 to 1649
CHARLES I
was held captive by Parliament until his eventual execution in January 1649.
FAERIE, LORD OF THE
: an ancient being who watches over the
FAERIE.
He is often confused with the Green Man, an ancient mythical figure in English village culture closely associated with the forests, and with the May-tide celebrations. Figures of the Green Man, or the Lord of the Faerie, can be found carved into the decorations of myriad English (as European) cathedrals and churches.
FAERIE, REALM OF THE
: the faerie world which exists side by side with the mortal world. Governed by the
LORD OF THE FAERIE
.
FELTON, BESS:
a goodwife of Easthill, who took in
NOAH BANKS
after her father’s death.
FOX, SIR STEPHEN:
one of
CHARLES II’S
companions in exile.
FRANCES:
a prostitute working in
WEYLAND ORR’S
brothel in
IDOL LANE
.
GARDIEN, HELENE:
mother of
LOUIS DE SILVA
.
GOG:
one of the legendary giant protectors of London, closely associated with the Guildhall (you can still see him there); his brother is
MAGOG.
Once a
SIDLESAGHE
.
GOG MAGOG HILLS
: a line of hills a few miles south of the town of Cambridge.
GREAT FOUNDING LABYRINTH, THE:
the original labyrinth in Knossos on Crete, where the Minotaur
ASTERION
was imprisoned, and where
ARIADNE
betrayed him to Theseus.
GREAT ORDEAL, THE:
whenever a woman is trained as a
MISTRESS OF THE LABYRINTH
, she must undergo a final test to determine whether or not she is capable of controlling the powerful sorceries of the labyrinth. It is the Great Ordeal, and not all novice Mistresses of the Labyrinth survive it.
GREAT MARRIAGE, THE:
the formal union between the
STAG GOD
and the goddess of the waters (see
EAVING
), signifying that forest, water and land exist in harmony.
HAMPSTEAD HEATH:
lying in the north-west of modern-day London, the Heath comprises 800 acres of parkland and woods; Parliament Hill rises in its south-east quadrant. To its east, close to the village of Highgate, are a number of natural springs which in the seventeenth century became popular for medicinal purposes.
HENRIETTA MARIA:
French-born wife of
CHARLES I
, mother to
CHARLES II
, Queen of England.
HENRIETTE-ANNE, PRINCESS
: daughter of
HENRIETTA MARIA
and
CHARLES I
, and sister of
CHARLES II
.
HYDE, ANNE:
daughter of
EDWARD HYDE
.
HYDE, EDWARD:
adviser and friend of
CHARLES II
. Later Earl of Clarendon.
IDOL LANE:
one of London’s many remaining medieval lanes, Idol Lane is now a fairly mundane passageway watched over by office blocks and CCTV cameras. It does, however, bear exploration if ever you’re in London.
JAMES, DUKE OF YORK:
younger brother to
CHARLES II
, eventually James
II
1685-88 before he was deposed. Loth-reborn.
KINGMAN, THE:
the
TROY GAME
is constructed and controlled by two people, the
MISTRESS OF THE LABYRINTH
and the
KINGMAN.
The Kingman was traditionally the king or ruler of the city which needed to be protected by the Game. In
TROY
, the original Kingman was Aeneas, and his descendant Brutus later took on the role.
KINGSHIP BANDS OF TROY, THE
: when Brutus originally constructed the
TROY GAME
with Genvissa, he used the power of the ancient and magical six kingship bands of Troy he wore about his limbs. But when
CORNELIA
killed Genvissa, and
ASTERION
threatened to invade, Brutus took the kingship bands and hid them about London as part of a protective enchantment. Ever since then both Brutus-reborn and
ASTERION
have competed in the effort to locate them. In Book Two,
God’s Concubine
, Caela (Cornelia-reborn and
NOAH BANKS
in this book) took them and hid them in different locations about London. Possession of the bands enables the wearer to control the
TROY GAME
.
LIBERTY OF THE TOWER
: see
TOWER LIBERTY
.
LLANGARLIA:
the ancient name of England during the Bronze Age (about 1500
BCE
).
LONG TOM:
a
SIDLESAGHE
, and a close friend of Noah Banks, particularly in her previous life as Caela. In medieval and early modern England, individual standing stones were often called Long Tom.
LONQUEFORT, SIMON GAUTIER, MARQUIS DE:
French nobleman, father of
LOUIS DE SILVA
.
MAG
: goddess of the waters in ancient
LLANGARLIA
, now reborn in
NOAH BANKS
as
EAVING
.
MAGALLAN:
the priestess who acted as the living representative of the goddess
MAG
in ancient
LLANGARLIA
.
MAGOG:
one of the legendary giant protectors of London, closely associated with the Guildhall (you can still see him there); his brother is
GOG
. Once a
SIDLESAGHE
.
MARY, PRINCESS:
daughter of
HENRIETTA MARIA
and
CHARLES I
, sister of
CHARLES II
, and wife of William of Orange.
MESOPOTAMA:
in the Bronze Age, Mesopotama was a Dorian city on the River Acheron on the west coast of Greece. It was ruled by Pandrasus, who was
CORNELIA’S
father.
MISTRESS OF THE LABYRINTH:
the
TROY GAME
is constructed and controlled by two people, the
MISTRESS OF THE LABYRINTH
and the
KINGMAN
. The Mistress is an ancient office which derives from the Great Founding Labyrinth in Knossos in Crete. In previous lives Genvissa, reborn as Swanne (now
JANE ORR
), has been the Mistress of the Labyrinth.
MONTAGU, SIR EDWARD, EARL OF SANDWICH:
General-at-sea, or Admiral, of the English fleet which sailed to bring home
CHARLES II
to England.
NAKED, THE:
the greatest of the holy sites within the
REALM OF THE FAERIE
, and the site of the
LORD OF THE FAERIE
’s throne.
OG
: see
STAG GOD
.
ORR, JANE:
sister to
WEYLAND ORR
, and a prostitute working at her brother’s brothel in
IDOL LANE
, London. She is Genvissa-reborn, who lived her last life as Swanne, wife of Harold of Wessex.
ORR, WEYLAND:
procurer and brothel keeper living in Idol Lane in London.
ASTERION
-reborn.