The Falcon and the Flower Part 2

Jasmine had heard Meg and the other girls giggling and whispering for a week and she had a pretty good notion what it was al about. May Day meant a celebration of spring rites that harkened back to pagan times and the old religion.

However, Jasmine had been aware for years now that there was more to it than innocent maypole dancing in the vil age and choosing a May queen.

It was whispered that at Stonehenge, under cover of darkness, a baccha.n.a.lia took place. When Meg came to change her bed linen, Jasmine questioned her. "Meg, I wonder what it's like at Stonehenge?"

Meg blushed and said primly, "I don't know, my lady, I've never seen the goings-on."

"But you must have heard things," Jasmine pressed. "What goes on?"

"Wel . . . 'tis said there is a feast and dancing. They light bonfires and dance about the flames."

"I should like to go," Jasmine said with conviction.

Meg lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Me too, my lady. I'm planning to slip out and join in the fun."

Estel e was worried about the spring rites that took place amid the ancient Druid stones. She knew exactly what went on under cover of darkness, and the results would be a b.u.mper crop of swol en bel ies. The peasants could be counted on to obey their basest instincts, then come crying to her once the seeds had been sown. She sighed, knowing she could not turn the tide against human nature, but she would do what she could to prevent the young maids of the manor from attending the revels She and Jasmine had taken part in the May Day holiday with the vil agers, joining in the maypole dancing and crowning the buxom la.s.s chosen as Queen of the May, but she whisked her charges back to the manor house before dusk had fal en and took Meg aside to give her extra duties.

"I want you to be sure to stay with Lady Jasmine until she fal s asleep tonight. I think she has looked very peaked lately, and she is not robust at the best of times. Make sure she drinks lots of the mead and honey tonight. It is a potion that wil make her glow with health and beauty."

Meg bobbed a curtsey, resenting the restricting duty with which Lady Estel e had charged her. She came tight-lipped to Jasmine's bedchamber and made a halfhearted attempt to set it in order as the long minutes stretched into an hour.

Jasmine had a difficult time concealing her amus.e.m.e.nt; she knew Meg had been sent to her as a jailer of sorts. Jasmine watched as the maid poured her a goblet of honeyed mead and held it out to her. Suddenly she became aware of an unusual aroma. She surrept.i.tiously sniffed the mead and realized Estel e had laced it with poppy. A secret smile turned up the corners of her lips as a wicked idea came to her.

"You drink the mead, Meg. I know you're going off to Stonehenge in a little while and it wil fortify you on the long walk." Meg needed little urging for mead was not often on the servant's menu.

Jasmine poked up the fire and watched in silence as first Meg yawned, then her eyelids drooped, and final y she slumped on the stool as Morpheus claimed her. Jasmine quickly changed into the servant girl's clothes, cov- ering her hair with the rough linen coif, then she lay Meg in the bed and pul ed the covers high to conceal her ident.i.ty from a casual glance if someone opened the chamber door. With her heart beating wildly she donned Meg's shabby, dark cloak, pul ed up the hood to doubly conceal her pale hair, and slipped from her chamber.

She walked briskly, lest her nerve fail her at the last moment, and hummed a happy tune to ward off the darklings. She took a black pony from the paddock beside the stables so that even the young grooms could not know of her departure. The moon seemed to keep her company as it sailed above her, disappearing beneath a cloud, then when the darkness made her heart thump, it glided from behind the cloud so serenely she chided herself for being a coward. She knew it was close on midnight and hoped she had not come too late for the revels. Her excitement built as she neared Stonehenge. She realized there would be men there as wel as women, but she intended to be very careful and observe only from a distance.

The great fire inside the circle of stones crackled noisily and lit up the sky. The revelers were making a great din, fil ing the air with wild laughter, shrieks, and screams. As she crouched behind a large boulder to watch the human forms dancing, she was shocked to her soul to see that the men and women cavorted naked! Mesmerized, she watched the naked bodies silhouetted against the flames and realized with horror that most of them were not dancing, they were coupling! She averted her eyes to stare across at the stark outline of the Druid stones. Her attention was drawn to a smal group wearing hooded robes and became riveted upon a female figure that seemed to be carrying a baby. They walked toward a stone that formed an altar and the woman raised the child up to the sky, its white swaddling blanket clearly visible in the darkness, then she lay it down upon the altar. A man drew forth a long dagger and plunged it down into the baby.

Jasmine stood up and screamed, "No!" As fast as she could, she began running toward the stone altar.

Falcon de Burgh had made the journey of thirty miles from Berkley to Castle Combe in one day, and he hoped to better that distance on the journey from Castle Combe to Salisbury.

He had not counted on the Cotswold Hil s, some of which seemed more like mountains. He had had no word about King Richard and pressed his men as hard as he could so they would reach Salisbury without delay. If Richard died, the Earl of Salisbury would go to Normandy immediately.

When darkness overtook them, Falcon estimated they were stil a good ten miles from their destination. They set up their tents on Salisbury Plain. As they did so, he noticed that some of the men were gathering in groups with worried faces.

Ordinarily he would have consulted with his most trusted knight and friend Gervase, but he had not yet caught up from his journey to Mountain Ash.

Falcon went to the men who were tethering the horses for the night and asked bluntly, "Montgomery, what's amiss? Speak up, man!"

The knight glanced at his companion Fitzgerald and back to de Burgh. "Some of the men are afraid to make camp near Stonehenge."

Fitzgerald nodded, "Aye, my lord, 'tis a most unsettling place, haunted by ancient spirits."

De Burgh threw back his head in laughter. "G.o.d's bones, since when were Norman knights crippled by superst.i.tion?"

Montgomery offered quick denial. " 'Tis not the knights, my lord, but some of the men-at-arms who are from these parts.

They say we are camping too close to Stonehenge for comfort."

"Rubbis.h.!.+ We're miles from the place. This is an excel ent spot to make camp flat ground, close to the River Avon. Tel them to stop their idle chatter and put them to work gathering wood for cooking fires." He grinned. "The fires wil ward off the evil spirits."

Though the hour was late and most of the camp slept, the horses were decidedly unsettled. De Burgh heard their nervous whickering hour after hour and heard them mil ing about long after they should have quieted to rest. Perhaps there were wolves about or a wildcat come down onto Salisbury Plain from the mountains. He had been lying wrapped in a thick fur rug pleasantly conjuring up pictures of Wil iam's two daughters when a disturbing thought came to him. Perhaps the animals could pick up a strange unsettling atmosphere from Stonehenge. He shook his head to dispel such a ridiculous notion, threw back the furs, and stepped to the tent's opening. Was it his imagination, or could he hear chanting on the air? He stepped out into the darkness and listened. Faint cries and music were coming from a distance and the horses, with their keener hearing, were strangely disturbed by it.

He untethered Lightning and rubbed him behind his ears.

Stonehenge was beckoning and his curiosity got the better of him. He mounted the destrier without a saddle and guided him in the direction of the singing.

The scene laid out before him angered him. Excess had always disgusted him. In any raid on castle or town his men were forbidden to rape on penalty of death. Self-discipline was a virtue he valued highly in himself and others. These people had no discipline and in fact were out of control. The veneer of civilization was so thin they reverted to savage, feral beasts at any opportunity.

He was appal ed to see some hooded figures flee an altar, leaving behind a blood sacrifice of some sort. His sensibilities were affronted to see such an ancient and hal owed place as Stonehenge defiled.

As Jasmine flew to the altar like an avenging angel, her eyes fastened upon the tiny bundle swaddled in the blanket, the hooded figures melted into the darkness. Her hands trembled uncontrol ably as she lifted the blanket. Her eyes fil ed with tears as she saw that it was a newborn lamb that had been sacrificed. Her sadness was min-. gled with relief that it had not been a baby. Suddenly fear gripped her.

They were Devil wors.h.i.+ppers. The sacrificial x lamb had been used to conjure the Prince of Darkness himself.

De Burgh, towering above, his face dark with fury, saw the mutilated lamb and reached out a punis.h.i.+ng hand to grasp her. She glanced up and shrank back in terror. It was the Devil! She had seen him before in the crystal!

Jasmine trembled from head to toe. Fear gripped her heart.

Why had she so wil ful y disobeyed and come to this wicked place? Satan had caught her in a face-to-face confrontation.

Quickly she covered her eyes so that he would not be able to look into her soul.

He took hold of her shoulder and shook her roughly. "Wicked wench, have you no shame? Look at me when I speak to you!"

"No, no," she cried, "if I look into your eyes you wil be able to steal my soul!"

"What gibberish is this? You ignorant little peasant." He took hold of her hands and forced them down from her face.

She saw the Prince of Darkness in al his splendor. He was richly garbed in black velvet, the hilt of his dagger encrusted with blood-red rubies. He was a head tal er than a mortal man and broader too. His face was darkly, wickedly handsome, and his eyes gleamed with green fire. They narrowed suspiciously as he felt her silken, soft hands.

"These are not the hands of a peasant girl." He pul ed off the shabby cloak and looked at her closely. Though she wore the dress and rough linen coif of a servant, he knew she was no such thing. "You are a spoiled, bored lady come to amuse yourself in the guise of your servant," he accused.

Her throat constricted as half a scream was torn from her.

With al his cosmic powers of darkness, he would identify her any minute. When he discovered she was a white witch who practiced only good, he would surely kil her. "Please don't kil me," she begged, terrified.

"I should beat some decency into you," he threatened. "You are a wayward little baggage, sneaking out at night for thril s.

Your parents probably cannot do a thing with you."

The moon came from behind a cloud and bathed them in its silvery light. He realized suddenly she was hardly more than a child and that she trembled with fear. Instead of the saucy, pert features he had expected, he was looking into the face of an angel. Suddenly his anger melted and turned to amus.e.m.e.nt.

Obviously this was the first time she had ever dared come to this place, and her encounter with him had real y put the fear of the Devil in her. Wel , before he was done with her, he would make certain she would never venture forth again in the name of temptation.

He held her hands fast so there was no hope of escape. "Why did you come here?" he asked.

She swal owed hard. Her heart beat wildly in her throat, choking her words. "I ... was . . . c-curi-ous," she managed to gasp.

His eyes glittered with amus.e.m.e.nt as he accused, "You came to dance naked."

"No, no," she denied, shocked at his words.

Beginning to enjoy himself, he teased, "You came to find a man, a lover."

She shook her head in shocked denial, but words failed her.

"Wel , you have found a man . . . you have found me."

Lurid s.n.a.t.c.hes of folklore came to her about Satan having his way with human females. "Do not take my virginity, I beg you,"

she said, sobbing.

His lips twitched. "But surely that's what you had in mind when you ventured forth tonight? Surely, 'twould be a shame to come here and miss al the fun?"

"Fun?" she whispered in horrified fascination.

"Admit the truth and shame the Devil," he said, laughing. "If I hadn't caught you, you would have thrown off your clothes and danced naked round the fires." His fingers went to the b.u.t.tons at the neck of her gown and deftly undid them. "Dance for me now," he invited, peeling the dress down to bare her shoulders.

She was experiencing firsthand the power he had over a female. The touch of his hands was strong and persuasive.

"You cannot tempt me, Satan!" she cried. She felt dizzy, but knew if she fainted she was lost forever. The moment she swooned, he would deflower her. To be raped by Satan would be a worse fate than death! "Rape!" she cried hoa.r.s.ely.

He laughed again. "Rape? Do you know the old definition of rape is to 'affect with rapture'?"

Her eyes closed with anguish and he took pity on the little maid. "Wel , wel , when a pretty girl is caught by the Devil she must pay some sort of forfeit. You have refused me your life and you have refused me your virginity, what forfeit wil you pay?" he mused.

She had no money, she wore no jewel, her mind took a quick inventory.

"Let's see . . . you could dance naked." He hid a smile at her look of outraged innocence. "Or you could pay with a kiss . . .

you choose."

"A k-kiss," she said quickly, wil ing to pay such a price to be rid of him. He smiled at her slowly and her heart turned over in her breast. He reached for her and she knew she would never be the same again. She had never been kissed before. His mouth was warm and persuasive, inviting her to lose control of her senses as his kiss took away her breath, her thoughts, her very wil . But in truth he was the one most affected. He could tel she had never been kissed before, and her mouth was as sweet as wild honey. Her fragrance fil ed his nostrils and his head until he was dizzy with the scent and taste of her. He realized in that instant that a virgin's kiss was a thing to treasure.

His voice roughened with a peculiar protective need she had aroused in him. "Begone from this place and mend your wicked ways," he bade her, loosening his hold on her shoulders.

She made the sign of the cross and flung herself back from him into the deep shadow of a mighty stone and sped off in the darkness to where her pony was tethered. At that moment Lightning screamed and de Burgh, uttering a foul oath of frustration, reluctantly tended to his frightened war-horse.

Estel e, busy in the stil room, kept glancing over at Jasmine.

She was very quiet and subdued this morning, and her grandmother decided not to dose her again with a sleeping draft of poppy. Estel e had made dyebaths of marigold orange, day-lily yel ow, and walnut brown, and had picked dozens of early purple saffron crocus, one of the world's best dye plants. She was busy dipping skeins of yarn and lengths of cloth. Jasmine was silently occupied mixing the dyes and pigments into her paints, while the air was redolent from boiling beeswax and bayberry as Meg made candles.

A steward arrived from Salisbury Castle bringing a cartload of supplies for the manor and wool freshly sheared from the sheep to be expertly dyed by Dame Estel e. He was bursting with the news that Wil iam was returned from Wales because King Richard had been wounded in Normandy.

Estel e nodded knowingly. "So," she said porten-tiously, "it has begun."

Jasmine shuddered. She knew that when the steward had loaded his wagon with the things that were going back to Salisbury Castle, her grandmother would prepare to do magic this night. Usual y Jasmine looked forward to partic.i.p.ating in the rituals and spel s, but to see what the future would bring would necessitate crystal gazing and suddenly she was afraid of a vision that had appeared to her twice. Once in the gla.s.s bal and once in living flesh and blood!

Jasmine made a special visit to the herb garden to gather plants to make herself a "tussiemussie." She would carry it as a talisman to protect her from al evil. She picked sprigs of sweet basil, wild thyme, rosemary, spiderwort, bloodroot, and tansy and bound them together with a red thread. Each was renowned for its protective quality and fragrance, which wooed the senses with an almost sacred promise.

Later, as the veil of darkness descended over the tower room, Jasmine was visibly relieved when Estel e said, "I wil do the seeing tonight, child, but it is most important that if I go into a trance you must write down everything I say. My visions wil need interpreting and every detail wil be vital."

The circle of candles was lighted and Jasmine robed her grandmother in the black cloak covered with cabalistic symbols in silver thread. The old woman wore wide amulets of copper studded with amber and turquoise and anointed her forehead with sacred oil from an ivory vial. She stepped inside the circle of candles and with long, slim fingers crushed the herbs and set them to smolder. The air was fil ed with the scent of cloves as if the room had been suddenly fil ed with pinks and carnations.

Estel e took up the chalice majestical y to drink the wine and began her chanted command. "I cal upon al the Powers of the Universe to enlighten me tonight. Reveal to me the future."

the Universe to enlighten me tonight. Reveal to me the future."

She caressed the crystal globe and suddenly it began to swirl with bril iant colors. A stil ness came upon her as her concentration deepened into a trancelike state. Her voice became urgent and husky as she began to relay her visions to Jasmine, who sat with quil and parchment at the ready.

"Animals . . . lions . . . three golden lions and a lion cub with a crown. A great black oxen . . . the lions flee in three directions, but the black ox tramples the first lion to death ... it seeks out the second lion and kil s it . . . now the third golden lion is trampled by the black ox ... a pig, no it is a wild boar, drags the cub into a dark cave . . . now the boar picks up the crown where it has fal en . . . the black oxen comes to trample the boar but it swims across the water and escapes. The ox submerges into the water to await the boar at a future date . . .

now comes a jackal to devour the dead lion. It is not satisfied and seeks out another lion's carca.s.s to swal ow it whole. The jackal has a pup to feed . . . they seek out the carca.s.s of the third golden lion and rend it to pieces and devour it ... stil their greed is not satisfied . . . they look toward the water and see the boar on the far sh.o.r.e . . . yes, they are going after the boar.

They know it is weak and vain, caring for only the jewels in the crown rather than the power the crown represents. Al is fading . . . come back, come back . . ."

Dame Estel e opened her eyes and shuddered. "Did you take down everything I said?" she asked anxiously. Jasmine helped her to a chair by the fire and handed her the parchment. Estel e read it careful y, considering the images she had spoken of. "I know what most of it means, but I wil sleep on it and my dreams wil interpret the rest. Tomorrow I wil translate what is written and foretel the future."

"Is it good?" Jasmine asked hopeful y.

The old woman shook her head. "It is like everything in life good and bad, kind and cruel, happy and sad. However, in this case there wil be a veritable surfeit of bad before the ultimate good."

Jasmine pondered her grandmother's words as she undressed for bed. There was only one question to which she desired the answer. Would she go to court? She shrugged philosophical y; tomorrow may give her the answer. She picked up a large chunk of amethyst crystal quartz that contained al the cosmic energy of earth and heaven. She pressed it to her forehead and to her heart and made a wish.

Before she got into bed she took Quil , the little hedgehog that was curled into a bal on the hearth, and put him into her slipper for his own safety. She did not want a red-hot coal from the fire to fal onto the little creature and singe him.

The beautiful May suns.h.i.+ne was in direct contrast to the fateful picture Estel e was painting. Jasmine set the dish of luscious strawberries aside as Estel e's words affected her appet.i.te.

"The three golden lions are on King Richard's s.h.i.+eld. As we al know, the black ox is the symbol of death. King Richard is already dead, it is simply that the news has not had time to reach England yet. The lion's cub with the crown is, of course, Richard's nephew, Prince Arthur, Geoffrey's son, who is next in line to be king. The wild boar who drags the cub into the dark cave and takes the crown must be Prince John of Mortain.

The boar under cover of the dark cave must kil the lion cub in order to succeed."

"Grandmother, you are saying that John wil murder Arthur! You did not see the wild boar kil the cub!"

"You are correct, I did not. A great mystery wil surround the disappearance of the cub, and it wil be a long, long time fil ed with rumor and disbelief before anyone has the courage to charge John with the heinous crime." Estel e took a deep breath and continued. "The boar takes the crown across the water, which means he wil bring it to England and dwel here as England's king." She paused, hating to put the thought into words. "The jackal is Philip of France, his pup is his son Louis. By devouring the three lion carca.s.ses they wil swal ow whole the Angevin possessions of Anjou, Bordeaux, and Gascony, then Brittany and final y even Normandy. Then because of King John's weakness they wil covet England itself and eventual y try to invade us."

Jasmine was shocked at the black picture Estel e had painted of John. After al , he was half brother to her father and thereby her uncle. According to Estel e's prophecy he was to be the new King of England. "Is he truly so evil?" she whispered.

Estel e's laugh cracked out. "Innocent one! Al kings are evil.

How else would they attain their high position and sustain it?