The Wise Women

Chapter 12

Dawn found Nesta, Theresa and all the Village's Wise Women sitting cross-legged on the dewy grass inside the ancient stone circle. A small thrill tickled Nesta's heart as her eyes roved the Wise Women's sacred ground. Each of the lead-coloured, lichen-speckled standing stones was about as tall as Nesta. Once they would have been arranged in two concentric circles but now some had toppled over and lay on their sides and others were missing altogether.

'What can you tell me about the stone circle?' Nesta had asked Theresa while they were getting ready for bed the night before.

'Well, the Burned One told me that it was created by the very first Wise Women, back in the mists of time.' Theresa pulled a brush through her tangled black hair. 'It's designed to concentrate the energies of the land and intensify any magic performed within them,'

'How did they move them?' Nesta draped her tunic over one of the chairs. 'It sounds like they're much too big to be lifted and too heavy for a horse and cart.'

'Oh, the ancient Wise Women could do many things that we can't do anymore. The Burned One said they could control the gravitational force of the earth. When they wanted to, they could neutralise it and make a heavy object weightless so even a child could carry it.

'That knowledge is lost to us now, but the circle remains to help us harness the power of the land.'

In the early morning cool, the Wise Women sat in silence, the Burned One at the centre in a white dress and cloak. Above them, the sky lightened from deep blue to fiery orange and then rose pink. The stones cast long shadows and the birds sang in cadences to greet the day. The world felt fresh, new and vibrant as if the night had washed away the dust of the past to welcome in the pristine day with new hope and new promise.

When the dawn colours had faded and the sun shone gently behind a screen of white clouds in a pale blue sky, the Burned One sounded a long sustained note. Just as it had the night before, the note became words and the words became melody - a different song this time. The Wise Women added their voices, weaving their harmonies and the birds responded, chirping louder, joining in the song until it felt like the whole forest was singing. Nesta let the sound carry her soul on its wings, borne aloft, like a feather floating on the breeze until the music dissipated and the last note faded into silence. The Burned One reached out a hand and Leonia, who was seated on her right, helped her to her feet.

'Dear ones,' she turned in a circle, twinkling eyes darting from upturned face to upturned face, acknowledging every one of them. 'Let us welcome the sisters who joined us yesterday.'

'Welcome, welcome,' voices chorused on every side of Nesta. She flushed, smiling shyly, warmed by the feeling of acceptance, and looked at the ground.

'Nesta and Theresa will train with me, with Leonia as my assistant. Rosamund will work with the gardeners and apothecaries, where her talents with plants will be most welcome.' The assembly murmured their ascent. 'Ada will use her Shifting powers to travel to Chesterley and bring us back the latest news.'
The Chief Wise Woman drew her eyebrows together and looked at her feet before addressing them in a deeper, more serious tone.

'Sisters, the Village has always been our haven, our sacred space, protected from the harshness of the outside world. Long may it continue so. But as Wise Women, we've sworn to devote our lives to the service of the Goddess in all human and animal kind. We cannot ignore what's happening outside our enclave, in the towns and cities of Skaliff – the tyrannical rulings of Empress Sapphira, the threat of war, the fear that governs the lives of so many of our fellow citizens.
It is time for us to act. Together we must find a way to prevent the war and bring peace and harmony to our country.' All around her, the Wise Women mumbled their agreement.